Elston R. Blair
Elston R. Blair, farmer, P. O. Mantua Station, was born August 8, 1826, in Mantua Township, this county, son of Alfred and Julia (Miller) Blair. His grandfather, John Blair, came to Mantua Township, this county, in 1806, and built and conducted the first hotel in Mantua, the same being constructed of frame, supplied with glass, etc., purchased at Pittsburgh. The venerable building is still intact and stands on the farm of Chauncy Blair. Our subject was married June 15, 1852, to Lucy A., daughter of Avery and Annie Patterson. Mr. and Mrs. Blair have no children. Mrs. Blair's father, Avery Patterson, was born in Chautauqua, N. Y., October 27, 1792, and came to Ohio when but sixteen years of age, and here married Annie Blair, born in Blandford, Mass., in 1802, daughter of John and Pattie (Smith) Blair, who bore him two children, only one now living—Lucy A., wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson, pioneers on the borders of civilization, began life in the most primitive manner, and lived to see cities rise up in the wilderness and the fields to blossom as the rose. Mr. Patterson at one time owned over 900 acres of land. He died in 1859. His widow, now over eighty-two years of age, resides with Mr. Blair.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885