Jacob Beeson Blair was born on April 11, 1821 in Parkersberg, West Virginia. He was a lawyer, county prosecuting attorney, state legislator, Congressman from Virginia and West Virginia, and minister to Costa Rica. On February 14, 1876, President Grant appointed him as associate justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court. After resigning on April 23, 1888, he moved to Utah where he served as a probate judge and surveyor general. Blair died in Salt Lake City on February 12, 1901.