American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Archive associated with the prominent Blatchford family of New York, including documents, ledgers, photographs, and a silk menu signed by President Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886) and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Blatchford (1820-1893).

Silk menu, 6 7/8 x 11 in., verso with 22 signatures and date, 27 February 1885. Signatures include, in part, President Chester A. Arthur ("Chester A. Arthur"), US Senators John Percival Jones and John Franklin Miller, Supreme Court Justices Samuel Blatchford, Stephen J. Field, Horace Gray, and Samuel F. Miller, Attorney General of the United States Benjamin Harris Brewster, and First Lady of the United States and sister to the President, Mary Arthur McElroy. Arthur's presidential term ended 4 March 1885, indicating this menu was signed in the final week of his presidency. 

[With:] A group of 2 photo albums (one with heavy wear and completely separated at the spine), one album housing 51 images and the other with approximately 160, containing a mix of CDVs, cabinet cards, and tintypes, most unidentified portraits, but containing identified images of Samuel Blatchford, Richard M. Blatchford, Samuel A. Blatchford, as well as multiple views of the family residence in Newport, Rhode Island. Backmarks include photographers in New York, Boston, and Newport among others. -- A small assortment of loose photographs, including a panoramic photograph identified in the negative as "Machine Gun Troop Squadron A N.Y. NG / McAllen Texas 1916" and another panoramic photograph identified in the negative "1st Annual Dinner 10th Co. P.T.R. / Plattsburgh NY / Nov 10th 1917," both likely associated with the military service of United States Army officer Richard Milford Blatchford (1859-1934).

[With:] Loose documents, primarily of a legal and business nature, associated with various members of the Blatchford family including attorney and New York politician Richard Milford Blatchford (1798-1875), attorney and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Blatchford (1820-1893), and attorney Samuel Appleton Blatchford (1845-1905).

[With:] A group of 4 ledgers, spanning approx. 1893 - 1905, each approx. 11 1/2 x 16 in., and identified to Samuel Appleton Blatchford, containing business and personal accounting for various individuals and entities including, in part, Samuel A. Blatchford, Caroline F. Blatchford (1817-1901), Sophia E. Blatchford (1836-1908), Wilhelmina Bogart Conger Blatchford (1848-1944), Blatchford & Sherman, and the Estate of Samuel Blatchford. 

[Also with:] Holy Bible (1823) identified via typed note inserted into bible as belonging to the Blatchford family;  The New Testament (1857) inscribed to "Samuel Appleton Blatchford / A dying gift from / His Grandmother / Dec: 22. 1857";  A True History of the Class of 1867 of Columbia College During Its Undergraduate Career, as compiled by Samuel A. Blatchford and with his bookplate (1867); The History of the Class of Seventy-One of Columbia College The History of the Class of Seventy-One of Columbia College During Their Undergraduate Career: As Read on Class Day, June 9, 1871, by Clarence Rapelye Conger (1871) with Samuel A. Blatchford's personal bookplate; Y Bibl Cyssegr-lan (Welsh Bible, 1870); notebook with gilt title "Hon. Samuel Blatchford, U.S. Circuit Judge, New York" and containing notes relevant to cases, 1881-1882; Synopsis of Record for a case tried before the Supreme Court of New York related to the estate of Richard M. Blatchford (1907); a check register identified to Samuel Appleton Blatchford, 1894-1895; and 5 other small volumes. 

[Also with:] Assorted ephemera including a Victorian-era scrapbook, a postcard album with 18 postcards many from Canadian and US National Parks, and a pictorial souvenir of the Queen Mary. 

Provenance: Collection descended in the Blatchford family to current consignor.

Samuel M. Blatchford descended from a prominent and well-connected New York family. His father Richard M. Blatchford was an attorney, diplomat, and close associate of politicians William H. Seward and Daniel Webster, while his stepmother was the granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton. His wife Caroline Appleton Blatchford was the daughter of an equally well-connected and moneyed New England family. Together, their circle of family and friends constituted members of the New York political and societal elite. Samuel Blatchford established himself as a lawyer in New York City in 1854, starting the firm Blatchford, Seward & Griswold and specializing in admiralty law and patent law. On March 13, 1882, Blatchford was nominated by President Chester A. Arthur to serve as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. When Blatchford was confirmed by the United States Senate, he became the first person to serve at all three levels of the federal judiciary, as a District Judge, Circuit Judge, and a Supreme Court Justice.