Author: Maurice Duke

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John Buchanan (1748–1822)

John Buchanan was an Episcopal clergyman who served as the rector of Henrico Parish (1785–1822) and the treasurer of the Diocese of Virginia (1793–1822). Born in Scotland, he may have attended university there and received his license to minister in Virginia in 1775. A decade later he became rector of Henrico Parish and, after inheriting a large estate from his half brother, lived an easy and social life. Buchanan, who preached at Saint John’s Church in Richmond, was famously close friends with the Presbyterian minister John D. Blair, and after the Richmond Theatre fire in 1811 the two helped raise money for the construction of Monumental Church on the site of the disaster. While they may have intended to share the church, the Episcopalians appropriated it for themselves. Buchanan died in 1822.

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John D. Blair (1759–1823)

John D. Blair was a Presbyterian minister in Hanover County and Richmond who preached variously at Pole Green Church, the Henrico Parish Church, and the Virginia State Capitol. Born in Pennsylvania and educated at what is now Princeton University, Blair may have served briefly in the American Revolution (1775–1783). After moving to Virginia he taught in Hanover County and served as president of the Washington-Henry Academy there from 1782 to 1790. He served as minister of Pole Green Church from 1785 to 1821 and as chaplain of the House of Delegates from 1800 to 1801. Blair was famously close friends with the Episcopal minister John Buchanan and after the Richmond Theatre fire in 1811 the two helped raise money for the construction of Monumental Church on the site of the disaster. While they may have intended to share the church, the Episcopalians appropriated it for themselves. He died in Richmond in 1823.

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