Gist Blair (1860-1940)

He was born at the Blair House in Washington D.C. He was educated the Emerson Institute, Princeton University and George Washington University Law School. In 1893, he was admitted to the bar in St. Louis and for a time was President of the city's Board of Public Schools. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1908 and 1912. Before taking up residence at the Blair House, he re-opened the Post Office at Silver Spring - where his grandfather had built Silver Spring Mansion - and was Postmaster there for several years. During World War I he served as attained the rank of Major while serving as one of the 24 Judge Advocates in the Provost Marshal General's Office. He was President of the Emergency Hospital (1937 to 1940) and a trust officer of the National Savings & Trust Company. In later years, he was Historian General and a member of the general staff of the Military Order of the World War, establishing their archives at LeLand Stanford University. He died at Blair House.