Sam Blair

Samuel Alexander Blair (1897-1968) was a prominent businessman in Scott County and served as the sixth mayor of Oneida from 1933 to 1937.

See Also: Mayors of Oneida
Preceded By: Inman Terry • Succeeded By: C.W. Wright

Early Life

Sam A. Blair was born Jan. 9, 1897 in Cincinnati, Oh., the son of Noble Royce Blair and Mamie C. Tyner Blair. He spent most of his adult life in Oneida and Scott County.

By 1919, when he was in his early 20s, Blair was working at a sawmill in Dungannon, Va. There, he met his future wife, Gladys Virginia Taylor, who was a coworker. They were engaged and were married on Nov. 1, 1920.

The Blairs moved to Norma early in their marriage to accept employment at the New River Lumber Company, which operated a sawmill there.

Business & Civic Life

In 1927, Sam Blair moved to Oneida and took a position as bookkeeper of the Tennessee Railroad Company, which linked the Southern Railway in Oneida to the mining and lumber towns along New River into Anderson County. He would later serve as auditor for the railroad.

Blair was an active member of First Methodist Church of Oneida. He served as the church’s treasurer and was a member of the board. He taught a Sunday school class, as well. Interestingly, his wife, Gladys, served as treasurer and secretary at First Baptist Church of Oneida for many years.

Blair was a president of the Oneida Kiwanis Club.

In 1941, after his tenure as mayor, Blair was named general manager of the Tennessee Railroad. He and his wife lived in a company-owned home on 2nd Avenue in Oneida. They also owned a cattle farm at Winona, which was a stop along the railroad.

Later in life, Blair served as Vice President of Tennessee Railroad Company and vice chairman of the Board of Directors of First National Bank. He also served as secretary and treasurer of the American Short Line Railroad Association.

Mayor of Oneida

Blair was elected mayor of Oneida in 1933, replacing Inman Terry. He was re-elected in 1935 and served a total of four years as mayor. It was during his second term in office that his daughter, Nancy Jane, was born. Prior to being elected mayor, Blair served as an alderman in Oneida.

Blair left office in 1937, and was succeeded by C.W. Wright.

Interestingly, Blair sang in a gospel quartet with another mayor of Oneida, Arnold Colditz. Lori Smith and Lillard Human completed the quartet, and Blair’s wife, Gladys, played the piano for them.

Death

On Aug. 23, 1968, Blair died unexpectedly of a heart attack at his 2nd Avenue home in Oneida. He was 71. He was Vice President and general manager of the Tennessee Railroad, and vice chairman of First National Bank, at the time of his death.

Blair was buried at Carson Memorial Garden. His wife, Gladys, was later buried there, as well.

The Blairs’ only daughter, Nancy, left Oneida as an adult and became a prominent church musician, serving at Briarlake Baptist Church in the Atlanta, Ga. area for many years before she retired in 2002. She died in 2010 and is also buried at Carson Memorial Garden.