Richard M. Blatchford (attorney)
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.
Blatchford in New York, July 1859
Pencil sketch of Blatchford c. 1820
William Henry Seward was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a prominent figure in the Republican Party in its formative years, and was praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the Civil War. He also negotiated the treaty for the United States to purchase the Alaska Territory.
Seward in 1859
Seward's wife Frances Adeline Seward
Seward around 1844. Painting by Henry Inman.
Seward in 1859