page_title: Richard M. Blatchford (attorney)
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Richard M. Blatchford (attorney) / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Richard Milford Blatchford (1798–1875), pencil sketch made circa 1820 date QS:P,+1820-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 after graduation, while tutor in Chancellor Livingston's family. Copy made by Bierstadt.
context_page_description: Richard Milford Blatchford 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.
context_section_description: He taught school in Jamaica, Queens while studying law, and attained admission to the bar in 1820.
  Blatchford practiced law in Manhattan and Auburn, New York with fellow Union College student William H. Seward and other partners, and became a highly skilled corporation and banking attorney as one of the founders of the firm now known as Cravath, Swaine & Moore.  In 1826 he was appointed U.S. counsel and agent for the Bank of England, and he served in the same capacity for the Second Bank of the United States.  When the charter for the Bank of the United States expired in 1836, Blatchford was responsible for concluding all pending business and resolving all remaining obligations between the two institutions.
  Blatchford was also a successful investor and businessman, and his holdings included New York City real estate, as well as land development ventures as far away as Florida.  He also owned shares of stock in several companies, and by 1845, his net worth was over $200,000 (equivalent to $5.3 million in 2018).  He was a longtime friend of Daniel Webster, and was one of the executors of Webster's will.
  Blatchford served on the boards of directors of several New York railroads that were subsequently consolidated to form the New York Central, including the Saratoga and Whitehall.  After the mergers, he was appointed as a vice president and director of the consolidated company.  In addition, he was a director of other corporations, including the North American Fire Insurance Company.
  A Whig Party activist, Blatchford was affiliated with Seward in politics and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1855.  He served one term (the 78th session), and was chosen to act as Speaker pro tempore during the absence of Speaker DeWitt Clinton Littlejohn.  Blatchford was also a trustee of Bellevue Hospital Medical College.
caption: Pencil sketch of Blatchford c. 1820
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