Background
William was born on October 11, 1828, in Holly, New York, United States; the fifth son of James and Fannie Blair. He grew up on a farm near Amboy, Illinois, United States.
William was born on October 11, 1828, in Holly, New York, United States; the fifth son of James and Fannie Blair. He grew up on a farm near Amboy, Illinois, United States.
For several years William owned and operated a mercantile store in East Paw Paw, Illinois. Much of his life was dedicated to service as a missionary for the RLDS. The course of Blair’s life was set by his conversion to the Latter Day Saint religion, in 1851. He was baptized by William Smith, whose brother Joseph Smith II, founder of the movement, was killed in 1844. However, in less than a year Blair became disaffected with William Smith’s teachings. When missionaries from the newly formed RLDS visited him in 1856, he felt led by the Holy Spirit to join the organization. The group fiercely opposed polygamy, and believed Joseph Smith III, son of the original prophet, would eventu- ally lead them. On April 7, 1857, Blair was baptized, and ordained a High Priest the next day. Within a year he was an Apostle.
No person except Joseph Smith III, who was the Prophet/President from 1860 until 1914, served in more offices or exercised more influence over the church than W. W. Blair during his lifetime. Blair’s official activities included being church recorder, from 1859 to1860; on the board that established the first church paper, the True Latter Day Saints’ Herald, in 1859; Apostle with extensive missionary activity, from 1858 to 1873; counselor to Joseph Smith III in the First Presidency, from 1873 to 1896; on the committee to contact Emma Smith Bidamon, widow of Joseph Smith II, to obtain and publish Smith’s manuscript revisions of the Bible, in 1867; on the church’s Board of Publication, from 1875 to 1896; associate editor of the church paper, the Latter Day Saints’ Herald, from 1885 to 1896; and editor of the Saints’ Advocate, a magazine designed to convert followers of Brigham Young in Utah, from 1875 to 1885. Blair’s missionary activity ranged from California to Massachusetts, with an emphasis on the Midwest. He made hundreds of converts across Iowa from persons connected with the original Latter Day Saint church or its offshoots. He was on the committee that, in 1874, selected the area of Lamoni, Iowa, as the new location for the church headquarters and its press. In 1885 Blair and his family moved to Lamoni. Blair’s marriage to Elizabeth Doty, in 1849.
Blair’s numerous writings centered on defending the prophetic nature of Joseph Smith II, validating the claim that Joseph Smith III was his father’s rightful successor to the Latter Day Saint church, and trying to solve internal disputes within the Reorganized Church. The last emerged from the membership’s disparate doctrinal background and complex relationships among administrative groups in the church.
W. W. Blair usually spoke his mind directly. That, and his tendency toward literalism and conservative interpretations of the scriptures, often embroiled him in controversies. He even occasionally found himself at odds with Joseph Smith III, who was generally more open to diverse expressions of the faith and tried to lead the church with a combination of patience and firmness. Despite their disagreements, Blair and Smith remained cordial: Smith prominently displayed a photograph of Blair in his home and named a son William Wallace.
Blair died on April 18, 1896, at Chariton, Iowa, returning from a church conference to his home in Lamoni. With his sudden death, his church lost a staunch and talented supporter, and Iowa lost an influential religious leader who helped establish numerous congregations throughout the state.
In 1849 William married Elizabeth Doty. They had seven children, four of whom became prominent in Lamoni’s mercantile, banking, real estate, and utility businesses and in local politics.
