Archives: Characters

Born in 1855 to Norwegian pioneers in the Utah territory, Pauline Larsen Blair traveled with her family by wagon to El Dorado County at just 5 years of age. During the journey across Nevada, their wagon train was attacked by Indians, but Pauline and her family survived. Upon settling in El Dorado County, the Larsens […]

Born in Placerville in 1870 to a successful frontiersman and merchant, Truman Wilcox, and his wife, Mary Robertson, Mollie was the niece of John and Jane Robertson Blair. Her father, Truman, was not only bound to the Blairs by marriage but also through several lucrative business partnerships. The Wilcox store and warehouse were located on […]

Matthew Blair was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1822, the eldest son among six children. Matthew grew up in a respectable working-class family of weavers. In 1846 he married Isabella Murray, and they began a family of their own. By 1850, Matthew was bound for the United States with his brother James Blair, the two […]

Born in Placerville in 1878 to Matthew Blair, II, and Pauline Larsen Blair, Marion Blair Harris was the eldest daughter among her eight siblings. She was raised between the family home on Clay Street and the historic Blair mill site/ranch in Pollock Pines. As a student at El Dorado High School, Marion excelled at academics, […]

Born in 1877 as the youngest child of John and Jane Blair, Mabel lived in Placerville with her 3 living siblings until the age of 10 when her family relocated to Sacramento to expand the Blair business empire. In Sacramento, Mabel attended high school and became the Belle of Sacramento’s young social scene. In 1898, […]

Lora Kyburz was born on the Clarksville ranch of her late pioneer grandfather, Samuel Kyburz, in 1877. Though they were working-class dairy farmers, the Kyburz family was proud of their rich heritage in the state of California. Samuel was actually an assistant to John Sutter at his fort in Sacramento well before the start of […]

Born in Paisley Scotland in 1824, John Blair was the first of his family to arrive in El Dorado County in 1852. Shortly thereafter he acquired the Sportsman’s Hall, which with his brother James Blair, John expanded into a thriving inn along the busy Carson Rd. John and James soon acquitted thousands of acres of […]

Born in 1909 in Placerville to James Blair, II, and Erla Blair, James “Bud” Blair III was the grandson of Amanda Schooley and James Blair I. Ernest W. Blair was his uncle. Well known for his athleticism, Bud was active in the athletics programs of El Dorado High School. In 1928, he left Placerville to […]

Born in Placerville in 1882, Ernest William Blair was the second son and fifth child to James and Amanda Blair. Ernest was a precocious teenager and excelled at anything he put his mind to. At a young age he took an interest in photography and even had a dark room/development space in his parents’ home […]

Amanda Schooley was born in 1842, the middle of 8 children to Ezra and Nancy Schooley of upstate New York. Amanda was a cousin to the family of William H. Seward, U.S. Secretary of State in the administration of Abraham Lincoln, and was a frequent inhabitant of the Seward household as the companion to their young […]