Blair Joshua Fishburn

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Genealogy of Blair Joshua Fishburn

This genealogical account was constructed from the family information contained in the biography below. No relationships or life facts have been added from outside sources.

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Blair Joshua Fishburn was born June 25, 1876, at Big Lick, the Virginia community that became Roanoke. He was the only son of Reuben Harvey Fishburn and Emma Virginia Phillips Fishburn. His four sisters were Annie L., Fannie T., Sallie C., and S. Ella Fishburn. Fannie was deceased when the account was written. Sallie, also deceased, was identified as Mrs. J. K. Fulton.

Blair’s father, Reuben Harvey Fishburn, was born February 27, 1835, at Sydnorsville in Franklin County. The biography names Tipton T. Fishburn and John Robert Fishburn as Reuben’s brothers. It also reproduces an earlier family account naming eight of Reuben’s “immediate forebears”: Jacob and Ann Waggoner Fishburn; John Melcher and Elizabeth Heiner Waggoner; Willie and Amarilla Goode Tinsley; and William and Elizabeth Camden Goode. The source does not specify the exact generational relationship of each person to Reuben, so none is assigned here.

Blair’s mother, Emma Virginia Phillips, was a daughter of Joshua Phillips and Sallie Hughes Phillips of Campbell County, Virginia. Emma married Reuben Harvey Fishburn on April 27, 1873. The biography states that Blair Joshua Fishburn was unmarried and therefore identifies no spouse or descendants for him.

Family outline

• Blair Joshua Fishburn
• Father: Reuben Harvey Fishburn
  • Brothers of Reuben: Tipton T. Fishburn and John Robert Fishburn
  • Eight people identified collectively as Reuben’s “immediate forebears,” with their exact generations unstated:
    • Jacob and Ann Waggoner Fishburn
    • John Melcher and Elizabeth Heiner Waggoner
    • Willie and Amarilla Goode Tinsley
    • William and Elizabeth Camden Goode
• Mother: Emma Virginia (Phillips) Fishburn
  • Maternal grandfather: Joshua Phillips
  • Maternal grandmother: Sallie Hughes Phillips
• Sisters:
  1. Annie L. Fishburn
  2. Fannie T. Fishburn, deceased
  3. Sallie C. Fishburn, Mrs. J. K. Fulton, deceased
  4. S. Ella Fishburn
• Marital status: unmarried

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Source

This biography appeared in History of the Shenandoah Valley: Family and Personal Records, Volume III (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1952), pages 63-65.

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Verbatim biography

The following is a faithful transcription of the original biography. OCR errors have been corrected against the printed page images, but the original wording, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and factual claims have not been rewritten.

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BLAIR JOSHUA FISHBURN — Blair Joshua Fishburn is the present-day representative of a family which has long been influential in the commercial affairs of Roanoke. Primarily identified with the manufacture of tobacco, as was his father, Mr. Fishburn has continued in a family tradition of varied business interests. Today he holds position on the boards of several banking and commercial organizations. His long record of able business direction and civic service has made him one of the most highly esteemed residents of his city.

Born at Big Lick, now Roanoke, Virginia, June 25, 1876, Mr. Fishburn is a son of Reuben Harvey and Emma Virginia (Phillips) Fishburn. Reuben Fishburn was one of the pioneers of Roanoke in commercial and civic affairs. He was born in Sydnorsville, Franklin County, February 27, 1835. To quote an earlier historical account of the family:

An unusual fact of family history is that at the time of his birth eight of his immediate forebears were living, namely: Jacob and Ann Waggoner Fishburn, John Melcher and Elizabeth Heiner Waggoner, Willie and Amarilla Goode Tinsley, and William and Elizabeth Camden Goode. He was old enough to converse with seven of these, and the eighth lived in Kentucky and died there at the age of one hundred and four years.

Growing up on a farm, Reuben Fishburn accustomed himself to the tasks of farming and tanning, but also obtained a rural school education. He volunteered for service at the outbreak of the War Between the States, and served in Company A of the 37th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry. During the first year of the war, he was in southwestern Virginia and West Virginia, participated in the campaigns in the Valley of Virginia, and was in action until the close of the war. On his return to peace-time pursuits, he engaged in the mercantile business and conducted a general store at Rocky Mount, Virginia. In 1873 he removed to the village of Big Lick, which in subsequent years was to become the present city of Roanoke. There he and his brothers, Tipton T. and John Robert Fishburn, engaged in the manufacture of tobacco, under the name of Fishburn Bros., and set up one of the earliest and largest such establishments in the annals of the city. Reuben Harvey Fishburn continued active in business until 1905, and after his retirement traveled extensively. He was in San Francisco at the time of the earthquake and fire in 1906. In 1910 he published a history of Company A of the 37th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry. This he issued in a neatly bound volume, and he presented a copy to each of his living comrades, and to the widows of those who were deceased. He had done much during his successful career to aid less fortunate comrades at arms. He was a liberal contributor to the Confederate monument now standing in the Court House Square at Rocky Mount. Prominent in the business affairs of his community, Reuben Fishburn was a director of the National Exchange Bank, the Southwest Virginia Trust Company, the Brand Shoe Company, and the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company. He was a stockholder in a number of other corporations at the time of his death. At the time the community was still the village of Big Lick, in 1877, Mr. Fishburn served as a member of the town council.

Reuben Harvey Fishburn married, on April 27, 1873, Emma Virginia Phillips, daughter of Joshua and Sallie Hughes Phillips, of Campbell County, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Fishburn were active members of the Greene Memorial Methodist Church of Roanoke, the former at one time being a member of the board of stewards. To Reuben Harvey and Emma Virginia Fishburn were born five children: one son, Blair J., and four daughters: Annie L., Fannie T. (now deceased), Sallie C. (Mrs. J. K. Fulton, deceased), and S. Ella.

Born in the village of Big Lick which is now Roanoke, Mr. Fishburn attended local public schools and as a boy was familiar with the growing city at the time of its transformation to its present status. He was subsequently a student at Randolph-Macon Academy at Front Royal. Part of his education was acquired by travel abroad in Europe and the Holy Land, in his youth. After leaving Randolph-Macon Academy, he became associated with R. H. Fishburn and Company, successors to Fishburn Bros., and in 1905 he bought an interest in the S. P. Hite Company, manufacturers of flavoring extracts and drugs, becoming its secretary and treasurer. Later he became president and manager of that well-known firm, which grew to a substantial place in Roanoke commercial life during the period he headed it, and he still holds a directorship in the company. He is also a director of the First National Exchange Bank, the Johnson-Carper Furniture Company, the Thaden-Jordan Furniture Company, and the Mullens Grocery Company of Mullens, West Virginia. He is a director and vice-president of the Memorial and Crippled Children’s Hospital of Roanoke, and vice-president of the People’s Federal Savings and Loan Association. He is a past director of the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company, the Brand Shoe Company, the Roanoke Candy Company, and the Southwest Virginia Trust Company. He was at one time a member of the Executive Committee of the National Flavoring Extract Manufacturers Association.

Mr. Fishburn is a steward in the Greene Memorial Methodist Church, and is prominent in fraternal organizations, being a member of Lakeland Lodge No. 190, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and with the various Scottish Rite bodies. He has attained the thirty-second degree, and is a member of Kazim Temple, of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to Osceola Lodge No. 47, Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a Past Grand Counselor of the Order of United Commercial Travelers. He was for four years treasurer of the Grand Jurisdiction of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the Shenandoah Club, the Roanoke Country Club, the Roanoke Gun Club, and of Rotary.

During World War II, Mr. Fishburn served on Selective Service Board No. 3 in Roanoke, and is now chairman of the Roanoke City Selective Service Board. His effective and unstinting service to his city dates back many years. For twelve years he was a vital factor in the city government. He became a member of the city council before the old councilmanic form of government was changed and he served continuously from 1907 to 1918. In 1922, four years after the city of Roanoke had come under the city manager form of government, he was chosen one of the council of five, and subsequently became president of the body, and by virtue thereof mayor of the city. To this position he devoted himself whole-heartedly, proving his appreciation of the confidence of his fellow citizens, and effectively promoting the welfare of the community. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for two terms, from 1932 to 1936. He is president of the Roanoke Recreation Association and for years was president of Roanoke Travelers Aid Society. In 1933 he gave the city a twenty-seven and one-half acre tract of land, which was named Fishburn Park after him. Mr. Fishburn is unmarried. He lives at 1736 Grandin Road.

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