Richard M. Blatchford

Richard Milford Blatchford (April 23, 1798 – September 4, 1875) was an attorney and political figure in New York City. A longtime political and legal associate of college classmate William H. Seward, Blatchford is most notable for his service in the New York State Assembly and as U.S. Minister to the State of the Church. He was also the father of Samuel Blatchford, who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Early life Blatchford was born in Stratford, Connecticut on April 23, 1798. He was the ninth of seventeen children born to Reverend Samuel Blatchford and Alicia (née Windeatt) Blatchford. Blatchford's grandnephew, also named Richard M. Blatchford, was a career officer in the United States Army. He attained the rank of major general, and was a veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I. He was educated in Connecticut and Lansingburgh, New York, and graduated from Union College in 1815. Blatchford maintained his association with Union College for the rest of his life. He was a member of the college's board of trustees, and received the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1864. He also served as a member of the board of visitors that oversaw management of the Knott Trust Fund, which college president Eliphalet Nott left for the school's benefit. In addition, Blatchford endowed Union College's Blatchford Oratorical Prizes, medals which were presented by faculty judges to the top student competitors at an annual speech making competition.