Samuel Blatchford (university president)

Samuel Blatchford (August 1, 1767 – March 17, 1828) was the first president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[1]

Reverend
Samuel Blatchford
Blatchford, from the frontispiece of the 1912 book Blatchford Memorial II
1st President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
In office
1824–1828
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byJohn Chester
Personal details
Born(1767-08-01)August 1, 1767
Devonport, Devon, England
DiedMarch 27, 1828(1828-03-27) (aged 60)
Lansingburgh, New York, U.S.
Spouse
Alicia Windeatt
​
(m. 1788)​
Children17
EducationDissenting College of Theology at Homerton, Cambridge
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionPresbyterian
OrdainedNovember 4, 1789

Early life

Blatchford was born in Devonport, Devon, England on August 1, 1767.[2] He was the oldest of four children born to Henry Blatchford and, his second wife, Mary (nee Heath) Blatchford, who married in 1766. From his father's first marriage, he had an older half-brother, John Blatchford, "who was eminent for his piety." His younger siblings from his parents marriage were Jane Blatchford, Joseph Blatchford (who died aged five) and William Blatchford (who died in infancy).[3]

He was educated at the Dissenting College of Theology at Homerton, now called Homerton College, Cambridge.

Career

On November 4, 1789, he was ordained and became pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Kingsbridge, Devon.[4] In 1791, he became pastor of the church in Topsham, Devon.

In 1795, Blatchford moved from England to the United States, where he became pastor of a church in Bedford, New York, and later pastor of a church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and pastor of Greenfield Hill Congregational Church in Fairfield Connecticut. In 1804, he became pastor of the Presbyterian churches in Lansingburgh and Waterford (which later merged).

Educational career

Upon becoming pastor of the church in Lansingburgh, Blatchford was also asked to be principal of Lansingburgh Academy.[5] In 1805, he was appointed a trustee of Union College and later a member of the Board of Examiners.[5]

In 1824, Stephen Van Rensselaer appointed him trustee and the first president of the Rensselaer School, which grew to become Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

He was given an honorary master's degree by Yale College in 1798 and the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by Williams College in 1808.[6]

Personal life

On March 25, 1788, Blatchford was married to Alicia Windeatt (1767–1846), a daughter of Thomas Windeatt of Bridgetown, Totnes. Together, they were the parents of seventeen children, including:[3]: 63–65 

  • Henry Blatchford (1788–1822), a pastor of the Rehoboth and Manokin Presbyterian Churches.[3]
  • Mary Milford Windeatt Blatchford (1790–1847)[3]
  • Alicia Windeatt Blatchford (1791–1808).[3]
  • Thomas Windeatt Blatchford (1794–1866), who married Harriet Wickes (1789–1875).[3][7]
  • Harriet Peacock Blatchford (1795–1819).[3]
  • Samuel Milford Blatchford (1797–1864), who married Betsey Hunt Kellogg (1799–1873).[3][8]
  • Richard Milford Blatchford (1798–1875), a prominent attorney and politician in New York City.[3]
  • John Blatchford (1799–1855), who married Frances Wickes (1805–1875) and was the first pastor at the First Presbyterian Church, Chicago.[9]
  • Sophia Blatchford (1800–1875).[3]
  • Frederick Blatchford (1801–1883), who married Almira Capen Jones (1803–1865).[3][10]
  • George Edgecumb Blatchford (1803–1805), who died young.[3]
  • Charles Baynham Blatchford (1804–1804), who died young.[3]
  • Ethelinda Jane Blatchford (1805–1879), who married Pliny Moore Corbin (1801–1874).[3][11]
  • George Edgecumbe Blatchford (1807–1808), who died young.[3]
  • Edgecombe Heath Blatchford (1811–1853), who married Mary Ann Hubbard (1820–1864).[3][12]

Blatchford died in Lansingburgh on March 27, 1828. Eliphalet Nott, the president of Union College and later the third president of RPI, delivered the sermon at the funeral services.[13]

Descendants
Coat of Arms of Samuel Blatchford

Through his son Richard, he was the grandfather of Samuel Blatchford (1820–1893), an attorney and judge who became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.[14]

Through his son Rev John Blatchford, he was the grandfather of Eliphalet Wickes Blatchford (May 31, 1826 – 1915).

A great-grandson, also named Richard M. Blatchford (1859–1934), was a career officer in the United States Army who attained the rank of major general, and was a veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I.[15][16]

References
  1. Nason, Henry B., ed. Biographical Record of the Officers and Graduates of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1824-1886, Troy, NY: William H. Young, 1887, page 28
  2. The Blatchford Memorial, New York, 1871, page 1
  3. Blatchford, Eliphalet Wickes (1912). Blatchford Memorial II: A Genealogical Record of the Family of Rev. Samuel Blatchford, D.D. Chicago, IL: E. W. Blatchford. pp. 67–69.
  4. The Blatchford Memorial, New York, 1871, page 9-10
  5. The Blatchford Memorial, New York, 1871, page 33
  6. The Blatchford Memorial, New York, 1871, page 32, 38
  7. Fairbanks, Mary Mason (1898). Emma Willard and Her Pupils: Or, Fifty Years of Troy Female Seminary, 1822-1872. Mrs. R. Sage. p. 440. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  8. Hopkins, Timothy (1932). John Hopkins of Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1634, and Some of His Descendants. Stanford University Press. p. 324. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  9. "Inventory of the Blatchford Family Papers - Additions, 1841-1947, bulk 1870-1914". mms.newberry.org. Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  10. Dwight, Benjamin Woodbridge (1871). The History of the Descendants of Elder John Strong, of Northampton, Mass. J. Munsell. p. 10. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  11. Lawson, Harvey Merrill (1905). History and Genealogy of the Descendants of Clement Corbin of Muddy River (Brookline), Mass. and Woodstock, Conn: With Notices of Other Lines of Corbins. Hartford Press. p. 180. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  12. Greene, George Sears (1903). The Greenes of Rhode Island: With Historical Records of English Ancestry, 1534-1902. Knickerbocker Press. p. 427. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  13. Otis, Philo Adams (2007). The First Presbyterian Church 1833-1913 | A History of the Oldest Organization in Chicago | With Biographical Sketches of the Ministers and Extracts from the Choir Records. Chicago, IL: Clayton F. Summy Co. p. 232. ISBN 9785882302176. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  14. "Samuel Blatchford." Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928–1936. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.
  15. Blatchford Memorial II, pp. 67–69.
  16. Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press. ISBN 1571970886. OCLC 231779136.
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