Judge David E. Blair

Home County: Jasper

 Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1921 - December 1930

Judge David Ellmore Blair was born on August 16, 1874, in Salina, Kansas.[i] He was educated at Salina public schools, then attended Kansas Wesleyan University at Salina. Before completing law school, he worked as a Deputy County Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the District Court.[ii] In 1899, he graduated from the University of Kansas Law School, with an LL.B.[iii] In June of 1899, he began practicing law, in Joplin, Missouri, at the law office of Galen and A.E. Spencer.[iv] In 1900, Blair formed a law partnership with Perl Decker, who he had attended law school with, and they went into legal practice together, as Blair and Decker.[v] In 1903, the firm became Blair, Decker & Blair, when his father, also an attorney, joined the firm.[vi] When Perl Decker, left the firm in 1906, the law firm was changed to Blair & Blair.[vii]

Blair served as Assistant Prosecuting attorney in Jasper County from 1903 to 1904[viii] before serving as a judge of the circuit court of Jasper county from November 1908, to February, 1917.[ix]  In November of 1920[x] he was elected to the Supreme Court of Missouri, for a ten-year term, that began on January 1, 1921.[xi] Judge Blair served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from October, 1925 to March, 1927.[xii]

After the completion of his judicial term, on December 31, 1930,[xiii] Blair moved to St. Louis to practice law until 1934.[xiv] Blair then moved back to Joplin to practice law for an additional six years.[xv] In addition to practicing law, he served as a member of the U.S. Bar Examination Committee for the Western District of Missouri in November of 1940.[xvi]  In November of 1940,[xvii] he was elected to the Springfield Court of Appeals, as Presiding Judge.[xviii]  Judge Blair was retained, for a twelve year term in 1944.[xix] Judge Blair remained on the Springfield Court of Appeals until his retirement on September 1, 1954.[xx]

In addition to his judicial service, he was a member of The American Bar Association, The Missouri Bar, and the Jasper County Bar Association.[xxi] He was also an honorary member of the Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, at the University of Missouri.[xxii]


Judge Blair passed away at 80 years old in Springfield, Missouri on December 28, 1954.[xxiii]

[ii] Cornelius Roach, compiler, Cornelius Roach, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri for the Years 1915-1916, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Printing Company, 1916), 180, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 17, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/9587/rec/20

[iii] John L. Sullivan, compiler, John L. Sullivan, Secretary of State, compiler, Official Manual of the State of Missouri for the years 1917-1918, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Co. Printers, 1918) 108, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 7, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/10297/rec/21 See also: “Biographical Material, David E. Blair,” authored by his son, Mr. Henley Blair, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated January 27, 1986, with materials that Mr. Henley Blair donated to the Supreme Court of Missouri, page 1. Information located in file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[iv] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to David Ellmore Blair, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), February 20, 1957, 2. Publication located in file in the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: “Biographical Material, David E. Blair,” authored by his son, Mr. Henley Blair, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated January 27, 1986, with materials that Mr. Henley Blair donated to the Supreme Court of Missouri, page 1. Information located in file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[v] “Biographical Material, David E. Blair,” authored by his son, Mr. Henley Blair, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated January 27, 1986, with materials that Mr. Henley Blair donated to the Supreme Court of Missouri, page 1. Information located in file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[vi] “Biographical Material, David E. Blair,” authored by his son, Mr. Henley Blair, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated January 27, 1986, with materials that Mr. Henley Blair donated to the Supreme Court of Missouri, page 1. Information located in file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[vii] “Biographical Material, David E. Blair,” authored by his son, Mr. Henley Blair, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated January 27, 1986, with materials that Mr. Henley Blair donated to the Supreme Court of Missouri, page 1. Information located in file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[viii] Cornelius Roach, compiler, Cornelius Roach, Secretary of State, Official Manual of the State of Missouri for the years 1911-1912, (Jefferson City, MO: The Hugh Stephens Printing Company, 1912), 82, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 21, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/7480/rec/18

[ix] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to David Ellmore Blair, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), February 20, 1957, 2. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, compiler, Official Manual for the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 125, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/15272/rec/27

[x] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Manual for the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 125, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/15272/rec/27

[xi] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Manual for the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 125, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/15272/rec/27

[xii] “Jefferson City.-Judge David E. Blair of Joplin was elected chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court,” The Jasper County News, October 8, 1925, information courtesy of The State Historical Society of Missouri Newspaper Digital Database, accessed on June 3, 2021, available from https://shsmo.newspapers.com/image/581179558/?terms=david%20blair&match=1  See also: Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, compiler, Official Manual For Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Printing Press, 1930) 125, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 12, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/15272/rec/27

[xiii] Charles U. Becker, compiler, Charles U. Becker, Secretary of State, Official Manual for the Years Nineteen Twenty-Nine and Nineteen Thirty, (Jefferson City, MO: Botz-Hugh Stephens Press, 1930), 131, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 21, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/15278/rec/27

[xiv] Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to David Ellmore Blair, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), February 20, 1957, 2-3. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xv]  Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to David Ellmore Blair, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), February 20, 1957, 3. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xvi] “M’Reynolds Named as U.S. Bar Examiner. State Senator of Carthage Succeeds Judge David E. Blair to Post,” Southwest Mail and the Weekly Post, (Nevada, Missouri), November 29, 1940, information courtesy of the State Historical Society of Missouri Digital Heritage Newspaper Project, accessed on June 23, 2021, available from https://shsmo.newspapers.com/image/588955045/?terms=David%20Blair&match=1

[xvii] Walter H. Toberman, Secretary of State, Official Manual for the Years 1951-1952, (Kansas City, MO: Smith-Grieves, Printers, 1952), 251, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed June 21, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/26836/rec/38

[xviii] Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, Official Manual for Years Nineteen Thirty-nine and Nineteen Forty, (Jefferson City, MO: Midland Printing Company, 1940), 147, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed June 24, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/19751/rec/32 See also: Dwight H. Brown, compiler, Dwight H. Brown, Secretary of State, Official Manual for the Years Nineteen Forty-one and Nineteen Forty-two, (Jefferson City, MO: Mid-State Printing Co., 1942), 159, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed June 21, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/21920/rec/33

[xix] Wilson Bell, compiler, Wilson Bell, Secretary of State, Official Manual for Years Nineteen Forty-Five and Nineteen Forty-Six, (Jefferson City, MO: Mid-State Printing Co., 1946), 217, information courtesy of the Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 24, 2021, available from https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/bluebook/id/23122/rec/35

[xx]  Supreme Court of Missouri, Memorial to David Ellmore Blair, (Jefferson City, MO: Supreme Court of Missouri), February 20, 1957, 3. Document located in file, Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xxi] “Biographical Material, David E. Blair,” authored by his son, Mr. Henley Blair, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated January 27, 1986, with materials that Mr. Henley Blair donated to the Supreme Court of Missouri, page 3. Information located in file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xxii] “Biographical Material, David E. Blair,” authored by his son, Mr. Henley Blair, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated January 27, 1986, with materials that Mr. Henley Blair donated to the Supreme Court of Missouri, page 3. Information located in file at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.

[xxiii] “David E. Blair,” The Division of Health of Missouri, Standard Certificate of Death, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1970 Database, information courtesy of Missouri Digital Heritage website, Missouri State Archives, accessed on June 24, 2021, available from https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1954/1954_00040592.PDF

Biographical Information authored by Hannah Loera, 2021, Truman State University. 

Back to top