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Joseph Paxton Blair

Lawyer

Centurion, 1916–1942

Born 5 December 1859 in Columbus, Mississippi

Died 15 November 1942 in New York (Manhattan), New York

Buried Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Louisiana

Proposed by John C. Spooner and Beverley Robinson

Elected 4 March 1916 at age fifty-six

Century Memorial

A distinguished railroad lawyer, Joseph Paxton Blair was for fifteen years Counsel for the Southern Pacific Railroad and for seven years President of the Association of Railroad General Counsel. He was graduated in 1881 from the University of Virginia and for two years taught mathematics until admitted to the bar in Louisiana where he practiced for thirty years before coming to this city. He was a delightfully keen and witty talker whose quick repartee enlivened many a men’s dinner, and he was also a lover of the out-of-doors, especially on the golf links. An extraordinarily ardent and persistent fighter for his clients, so, in the same spirit, was he a warm and devoted friend whose rather rare visits to the Club were highly prized by his fellow Centurions.

Geoffrey Parsons
1942 Century Memorials