John Blair was born in Washington County, Tennessee on September 13, 1790. A lawyer, he served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1815 to 1817 and in the Tennessee State Senate from 1817 to 1821. He then represented Washington and Greene Counties in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1823 to 1835, and as part of that post, he helped bring his constituents' pension applications before the U.S. Commissioner of Pensions. He died in Washington County on July 9, 1863.