Eliza Violet Gist Blair

Eliza Violet Blair ( Gist; November 10, 1794 – July 5, 1877) was an American journalist and political hostess who developed a network of political figures which provided contacts for newspaper articles and editorials and to help build her husband's and son's careers. Blair and her husband Francis Preston Blair managed the Washington Globe. She was the mother of Montgomery Blair, Postmaster General and a judge. Daughter Elizabeth Blair Lee was manager and directress of the Washington City Orphan Asylum. James, a naval officer and a fortune-maker, died of exposure during the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). Son Francis Preston Blair Jr. was a Union Army officer of William Tecumseh Sherman's Army during the Civil War. He campaigned for vice president with presidential candidate Horatio Seymour.

Blair hosted events up to six times per week. Among their friends and political connections were Presidents Andrew Jackson and his family, Martin Van Buren, and Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. The Blairs became very influential within Washington, D.C. politics, but President James K. Polk was not interested in Preston's support and had him sell the Washington Globe. Preston supported John C. Frémont and helped get him nominated as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party, to his wife's chagrin.

Early life Eliza Violet Gist, the daughter of Nathaniel Gist and Judith Cary (Bell) Gist was born November 10, 1794. Nathaniel Gist was a colonel in the Virginia Continental Line during the American Revolutionary War. or 1794. Her father, a planter and Indian Agent, Her brothers were Henry Clay and Thomas Cecil Gist. Montgomery was Postmaster General for President Abraham Lincoln and before that a judge in St. Louis, Missouri. James L. Blair was a lieutenant in the Navy, and he went to California and put the first steamboat on the Sacramento River and made a fortune. He died of exposure during the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842), led by Charles Wilkes. which helped build the careers of her sons and husband.

Political relationships and activities

The Blairs socialized and vacationed with Andrew Jackson. Blair's daughter Lizzie had tuberculosis and Jackson invited the Blairs to stay at the White House on cold nights and while Blair House was renovated; a welcome invitation since the Blairs lived in rooming houses initially in Washington, D.C. They lived at the White House in 1834 when Jackson was away. Blair and her family joined Jackson for several vacations. Known for her healing ability, she cared for Jackson family members if they were ill as well as other friends and family members. Eliza and Lizzi provided comfort as Jackson mourned the death of his wife Rachel.

Preston supported subsequent presidents Martin Van Buren, who tried to reduce Blair's influence on her husband, and James K. Polk, but Polk was not interested in his support and had him sell the Washington Globe. Politicians from Washington, D.C. sought the Blairs counsel, whose political viewpoints seated in Jacksonian principles, at their house in Silver Spring. They entertained up to six days a week.

Her husband supported John C. Frémont and helped get him nominated as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party after slavery was extended to western territories with the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. Blair did not support Frémont. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the Blairs developed relationships with Mary Todd Lincoln, who appreciated Blair's southern graciousness, and Preston advised Lincoln.

During the Civil War, she cared for wounded soldiers and brought healthy food, medicine, and flowers, some men were treated in her home. She was concerned about Confederate and Union military personnel. When Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, was imprisoned after the war, she called on President Andrew Johnson to allow his wife, Varina Davis, to visit him.

Death Blair died July 5, 1877. The funeral, which took place at the Blair homestead in Silver Spring, Maryland, was attended by President Rutherford B. Hayes, Attorney General Charles Devens, General Montgomery C. Meigs, Col. Wright Rives, Franklin Rives, and other friends and relatives from Maryland and Washington, D.C. She was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery next to her husband.

Her papers and letters are primarily held by the Library of Congress in the Blair Family Papers collection. There are also relevant documents at Princeton University in the Blair-Lee Papers.