Montgomery Blair (May 10, 1813 — July 27, 1883), the son of Francis Preston Blair, elder brother of Francis Preston Blair, Jr. and cousin of B. Gratz Brown, was a politician and lawyer from Maryland. Despite belonging to a prominent slave-holding family, Blair was an abolitionist and a loyal member of the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln as Postmaster-General during the American Civil War.
In 1860, Montgomery Blair took an active part in the presidential campaign on behalf of Abraham Lincoln. After his election, Lincoln invited Blair to be part of his cabinet as Postmaster-General in 1861. Lincoln expected Blair, who advocated taking a firm stance with the southern states, to help balance more conciliatory members of his cabinet. While Postmaster-General, Blair instituted a uniform rate of postage and free delivery in cities. Blair also began the sale of money orders by post offices in order to reduce the mailing of currency, reducing post office robberies. He also called for the First International Postal Conference, which was held in Paris in 1863 and began the process that led to the Universal Postal Union.
Blair served as Postmaster-General from 1861 until September 1864, when Lincoln accepted an earlier offer by Blair to resign. Lincoln’s action may have been a response to the hostility of the Radical Republican faction, who stipulated that Blair’s retirement should follow the withdrawal of John C. Frémont’s name as a candidate for the presidential nomination in that year. Regarding Lincoln’s action, Blair told his wife that the president had acted “from the best motives” and that “it is for the best all around.” After he left the cabinet, Blair still campaigned for Lincoln’s re-election and Lincoln and the Blair family retained close ties.
Under Blair’s administration, such reforms and improvements as the establishment of free city delivery, the adoption of a money order system, and the use of railway mail cars were instituted.
Read more about Montgomery Blair. (Wikipedia)