Montgomery Blair

Montgomery Blair (1813-83), American lawyer and public official, son of Francis Preston Blair, born in Franklin County, Kentucky. He was educated at the U.S. Military Academy and Transylvania University (now Transylvania College). While engaged in the practice of law in Missouri, Blair argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court; most notably he served as chief defense counsel in the Dred Scott case. He became postmaster general in the cabinet of President Abraham Lincoln in 1861 and was responsible for such innovations as money orders, prepayment of postage by the sender, free rural delivery, and the sorting of mail on railway cars. Blair was forced to resign from the cabinet in 1864 because of his opposition to the radical leaders of the Republican Party. He later supported the Democratic Party.