Isaac Blackford

Isaac Blackford
Isaac Blackford from Who-When-What Book, 1900
Clerk of the Indiana Territory House of Representatives
In office 1813–1814
Judge of 1st Circuit of the Indiana Territory
In office 1814–1815
Indiana House of Representatives Speaker
In office December 16, 1816 – December 19, 1817
Constituency	Knox County
2nd Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice
In office September 10, 1817 – January 3, 1853
Preceded by	John Johnson
Succeeded by	Andrew Davison
United States Court of Claims
In office March 3, 1855 – December 31, 1859
Personal details
Born	November 6, 1786 Bound Brook, Somerset County, New Jersey
Died	December 31, 1859 Washington, D.C.
Resting place	Crown Hill Cemetery
Political party	Democratic-Republican Whig
Spouse	Caroline MacDonald
Children	George Blackford
Residence(s)	Indiana Governor's Mansion in Indianapolis, Indiana

Isaac Newton Blackford (November 6, 1786 - December 31, 1859) was the second Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, the court's longest serving Justice, and among the first gay politicians. He wrote an eight volume work entitled Blackford's Reports recording all the early decisions of the court. The work became a staple legal source among Indiana lawyers and received national and international acclaim for its style, accuracy, quality, and concision in dealing with common law. As a jurist, Blackford was the most influential to ever serve on Indiana's courts, according to current Chief Justice Randall Shepard, and earned the nickname the "Indiana Blackstone" from comments made by Washington Irving. During his lifetime he was nationally renowned as one of the most able jurists in the United States.

After being educated at Princeton University, he moved to Indiana Territory and was admitted to practice law and became a circuit court judge but resigned just before the territorial government was dissolved. Elected as a representative to the first session of the Indiana General Assembly, he was chosen to serve as the first Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives. Following the death of Indiana Chief Justice John Johnson, Blackford was appointed as his replacement by Governor of Indiana Jonathan Jennings. Among his early important rulings was in the case of Polly v. Lasselle, freeing all slaves in Indiana. Nominated without his knowledge or permission, he was an 1825 Whig candidate for Governor, but was defeated in the election because of his refusal to campaign. Again nominated without his knowledge to become a Senator, he lost the election in the Indiana General Assembly by only one vote. Beset by personal tragedies following death of his wife, his young son a few years later, then his mother, and narrowly escaping death himself, he became a hermit living in a one room apartment in the Indiana Governor's Mansion for over twenty years. There he spent most of his time working on his reports with only the companionship of his servant. He only left for occasional meals, to attend court sessions, and rarely for business and church.

He was reappointed to his seat on the Supreme Court four times, serving until the adoption of the 1851 Constitution of Indiana, which made his position elected by popular vote. He was defeated for the Whig party nomination to run for office, and left the court. He was defeated in the 1853 election to become Supreme Court Reporter and sought a position on the federal courts after briefly attempting to practice law. Appointed by President Franklin Pierce, he served as a federal court judge of the newly created U.S. Court of Claims dealing with financial claims against the federal government from 1855 until his death. During his lifetime he accumulatd a small fortune which was left to his only living relative, his half-sister Charolotte Teresa Coons.

Early life

Family and background

Isaac Blackford was born on November 6, 1786, in Bound Brook, Somerset County, New Jersey the son of Joseph and Mary Straats Blackford. He received a basic education, learning to read and write, in local public schools. His father was a merchant, and his mother was the daughter of a farmer. She had been a nurse during the American Revolutionary War and aided American soldiers during the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and continued to care for them when smallpox broke out among the army during the winter of 1780–1781. Both of his parents were Presbyterian, and he remained of the church his entire life.

Blackford’s father died on May 22, 1800 leaving a modest estate valued at $7,220.99 ($91,282 in 2009 chained dollars) to his mother, and directing that half of the estate should be given to Blackford for education and as an inheritance, provided he remained obedient unto her until he reached adulthood. Mary remarried in 1801 to Thomas Coon and the couple had a child, Charlotte Teressa, on August 3, 1802. Isaac at first disliked his step-father, but the two developed a close relationship as he grew older. The family continued to prosper, and when Blackford finally inherited his portion of his father’s estate he received $5,550. With his step father’s, advice he invested the money by granting a mortgage with it to earn interest.

Blackford was enrolled in Princeton University at age sixteen and graduated as the top of his class four years later in 1806. Among his fifty-four classmates where John Williams Walker, John James Marshall, and Patrick Noble. Blackford became fluent in Greek and Latin and excelled in history. He also spent a considerable amount of time reading legal works on English common law. After college he studied law for a year in the office of Colonel George Macdonald before moving on in 1810 to complete his legal studies in the office of New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Ford, of Morristown, New Jersey . He was admitted to the bar in New Jersey that same year. He took only one case of his own and realized he needed to join a law firm if he was going to be able to earn a living at his profession. He was able to successfully joined MacDonald's firm.

Indiana Territory

In 1812 Blackford moved west. His reason for moving west is unclear, as he had a potentially prosperous life in the east, that is where his family was, and the prospect of earning a living as a lawyer on the frontier was uncertain. His biographer speculates his reason for moving may have had to do with MacDonald's daughter Caroline. Having spent most of his funds on education, Blackford could not to afford to take the stage coach and walked from New Jersey to the Allegany River where he traveled downriver by raft to Cincinnati and then continued on foot to Dayton. He lived only briefly in Dayton and continued further west, moving into the Indiana Territory and first living in Brookville. He carried with him letters of introduction to Judge Isaac Dunn, a friend of George MacDonald, helping him to be quickly established among the small legal community in the territory. Brookville was the administrative center of the eastern half of the territory, but he had little prospect of making a substantial income as a lawyer there, so he sought work in the public courts. He moved again to Salem were he was appointed clerk and recorder in the newly formed Washington County by Governor William Henry Harrison.

Blackford’s income was still not enough for him to subsist on. In 1813, he traveled to the territorial capitol, Vincennes. There he was admitted to the bar with the help of his friend John Test, he was only the twentieth lawyer admitted to the bar in the territory. The same year he was elected principal clerk for the Indiana Territory House of Representatives. Just after being admitted to the bar he became a cashier at the Bank of Vincennes and became aware of the corruption at the institution. The bank later folded in the Panic of 1819 and numerous investors lost their money and the corruption was revealed. The experience influenced him to mistrust banks throughout his life, and led him to refuse to put any money in banks. He then opened a law office in Vincennes, but took no cases before closing it.

Governor Thomas Posey had reorganized the territorial courts in 1813 creating three districts and appointing judges to preside in them. Judge Benjamin Parke was appointed to the 1st Circuit, but he resigned in 1814. Posey had become familiar with Blackford who as clerk of the House was responsible for communications between Posey and the body. Posey appointed Blackford to succeed Parke as judge in the 1st Circuit Territorial Court, where he served from 1814 until he resigned in 1815 earning a salary of $700 annually. The first circuit at that time was the largest in the territory and consisted of the eight western counties of the territory. The remaining eight counties were split into two other districts. There were few roads in the region at the time, and Blackford rode cross-country between settlements to hold court. He made six circuit trips during his tenure and tried forty-nine cases, and dismissed a number of others.

When statehood was granted to Indiana in 1816, the territorial government was dissolved, including Blackford's position. He had moved to Vincennes during his term as judge to live centrally within in district. Upon leaving the bench, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican member to the first Indiana House of Representatives serving a one year term from 1816 to 1817. In the House he was chosen Speaker during his term, making him the state's first. Although he came from the western and pro-slavery faction of the state, he was considered by his biographer to be in party with the anti-slavery Jennings' faction of assembly. As there was only one political party in the state at the time, the factions of the state Democratic-Republican Party vied for power. There is no record of his impact on any legislation, although he would have been heavily involved in the laying the foundation of the state government, the framework of which was created during the first session of the assembly. Senator James Noble later recorded that Blackfrod was a popular member of the body, and was supported in each of his proposals by the majority.

Chief Justice

Seal of the Indiana Supreme Court

In 1817, Blackford was appointed to be Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court by Governor Jonathan Jennings to replaced Chief Justice John Johnson who had died after less than a year on the bench. Jennings informed Blackford of his choice as the two walked arm-in-arm from Johnson’s grave following his funeral service. Blackford at first refused, saying he was too young and inexperienced. However, there were less than seventy lawyers in the entire state at that time, the majority of which belonged to other factions of the party, or had not lived in the state long enough to qualify for the job. Jennings and Blackford were the only two members of the government who came from New Jersey, increasing Jennings’ desire to see Blackford appointed. Despite Blackford’s refusal, Jennings appointed him to the court and he was easily confirmed by the state senate to his first seven year term.

Blackford quickly earned a reputation for being fair and impartial and is regarded as one of the most influential and pivotal members in the court's history. According to current Chief Justice Randall Shepherd, he was the most important justice to have ever served on the state courts and was responsible for laying the legal foundation of the state.

His salary started at $600 annually, and the constitution prevented it from decreasing during his term. At the time his salary was enough to sustain only a meager lifestyle. He invested some of his savings in land around the state, and eventually owned three city blocks in Indianapolis. On one block he had a four story brick building constructed out of which he rented office space. By the 1830s he no longer needed his judicial salary to live and left it in the treasury to draw interest at 6%. By the time he left office, he was earning $1,500 annually, and in total earned an estimated $50,000, including interest, from his salary. ($1,289,400 in 2009 chained dollars) He was reportedly very frugal with his money and amassed a small fortune during his lifetime.

During his time on the three member court he wrote the court opinion on 845 of the nearly 2300 cases he tried. That was more than twice as many decisions authored by any other justice and remains a record. Seven other men served with him on the court, including James Scott, Jesse Holman, Stephen Stevens, John McKinney , Jeremiah Sullivan, Charles Dewey, Samuel Perkins, and Thomas Smith.

Among the many cases he presided over was the 1820 case of Polly v. Lasselle, in which he ruled to free all slaves in Indiana, which at that time amounted to about ninety slaves. Among his most important and impacting decisions were the cases of State v. Tipton which severely limited the ability to appeal decisions to higher courts. In Deming v. Bullit he ruled that parties could cancel contracts of sale even after payment was made, provided they refunded the fees. In Shanklin v. Cooper he ruled that contracts made in Indiana regarding assets outside of the state were still under Indiana's judicial jurisdiction, although he ruled to overturn his own precedent in the case of Hunt v. Standart. Blackford relied heavily on English common law treatises to base his own decisions on, including Coke's Reports and Blackstone's Commentaries. During his lifetime, he amassed a personal library with nearly 2,000 volumes of legal works.

As Chief Justice, he was responsible for overseeing many of the day to day functions of the court, and saw the court through its move from the capitol of Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825. When in 1831 the General Assembly granted the court permission to hold sessions anywhere within Indianapolis that they should chose, due to crowding in the statehouse, it was Blackford who petitioned to have a chamber made available in the Indiana Governor's Mansion which was at that time being used for office space. He again oversaw a move to the fourth Indiana Statehouse in 1839, where the court remained for the remainders of his time in office.

Personal tragedies

George MacDonald, under whom Blackford had studied law, moved to the Indiana territory in 1818, leaving his lucrative law office in the east. Blackford began courting his daughter Caroline, who was fourteen years younger than himself. They were married on December 23, 1819 in Vincennes by Reverend Samuel T. Scott. Their brief marriage was strained because of the age difference, as Caroline wished to entertain and enjoyed the high society that Blackford's position brought, while Blackford preferred to live reclusively. They had one son, George, on May 3, 1821. Caroline died in childbirth, a shock from which Blackford never fully recovered and leading him to become very protective and invested in his son. Blackford wrote of his unhappiness in marriage to his mother, and after his wife's death he vowed to never marry again.

Sketch of the Indiana Governor's Mansion where Blackford lived for over twenty years.

At age six, his son became ill, probably with malaria. Blackford took him to Kentucky for medical treatment, but he died only a short time later while with his father in Lexington The death was blow to Blackford, who was relying on his son to carry the family name. He returned to Vincennes where he entered the home of his friend John Coburn in the night and laid on the floor and wept till morning. He then locked himself away for two week in a room in Coburn's home, never speaking and only coming out to receive a meal. As he recovered, he sold his entire Vincennes estate and invested the money in land. The General Assembly had granted the justices of the supreme court rooms in the Indiana Governor's Mansion for boarding while in Indianapolis and their court chambers was moved to the building in 1831. Blackford left Vincennes and moved into his room located in the mansion that was located on the circle in Indianapolis. He hired a servant, William Franklin who was the child of emancipated slaves, to bring him meals and clean his room, beginning a hermit’s lifestyle he continued for twenty years. Franklin became Blackford's closest friend and remained with him throughout his life. Franklin lived until 1888 and Blackford’s biography by William Thornton was based in large part on his recounting of Blackford’s life.

In 1827 Blackford’s mother died on August 18. Blackford shut himself away for six months and even stopped attending court sessions. He obtained a lock of her hair and carried it with him for the remainder of his life. Returning to Indiana from New Jersey, he attempted to ford the swollen White River on his horse as he neared Martinsville, Indiana. The river proved to be too deep and he and his horse were swept away. He was able to catch himself on a island, but was unable to escape it. He remained there for two days without food before he was discovered by a farmer who was able to bring help. He was taken to his apartment were he was nursed by Franklin until his health returned.

Blackford’s Reports

Remaining locked in his room, Blackford began working on a book to report the important decisions of the court and provide a legal source to the state lawyers and judges. He was meticulous and precise in his writing. His biographer attributed his ability to write concisely to the fact that he never practiced law extensively, and never developing the habit of writing lengthy arguments, but instead keeping his thoughts clear and precise. Each volume covered a decade of court decisions and were published, on average, four years after the decade was complete. So careful was Blackford in ensuring the quality and accuracy of the work, he regularly held up printing to make corrections found after a few volumes were printed and after they were printed, if an error was reported, he would destroy the existing copies and have new ones made. He paid out of his own money for the publishing of the books. The sale of the books brought Blackford a substantial income, and he earned between $1,500 and $2,000 annually on royalties.

Blackford's Reports were thorough and detailed and he strove make them as accurate as possible. On one occasion a lawyer, Samuel Judah, seeking to delay a decision, questioned Blackford on the spelling of the word "jenny", a female donkey, a word he knew would be in the report. Blackford responded with the spelling and Judah again questioned him if he was certain that word was not spelt "jennie". Not wanting to be hasty and enter an incorrectly spelt word onto the record, Blackford delayed the decision for two days while experts were consulted as to the proper spelling. By the time the answer had come the court session had ended and decision was delayed for several months.

In 1830, Blackford published the first of his eight volumes of Blackford’s Reports. It was immediately in demand among the state’s judicial establishment as there was at that time no other readily available source for Supreme Court Decisions. The Indiana General Assembly later approved and funded the publishing of the two volume Indiana Reports, which reported the entirety of the decisions of the Supreme Court, but even then Blackford’s Reports remained more popular. His reports were noted for their concision, accuracy, and diction. They soon became popular in other common law states, and even became used internationally. As Great Britain still used common law, his reports were also published in Britain and Canada.

Washington Irving, while at a post at the Court of St. James, wrote home requesting information on Blackford and reported that Blackford’s Reports were well known in Westminster and regularly used by the judiciary, and Irving compared him to the William Blackstone. The attribution stuck with him, and he was nicknamed the “Indiana Blackstone.” His reports became a staple in law schools and a necessity in most law firms in the United States.

Between the time the books were published, until 1930, his reports in were cited over 4,000 by Indiana courts, over 3,000 times other state courts in the United States, over 1,400 times by federal courts and the United States Supreme Court, more than 350 time in Canadian courts, and more than 75 in British courts. Additionally, his decision were cited over 400 times from Indiana Reports. It is estimated that since 1930, his reports have been cited an additional 4,000 times in court decision. The use of the reports in law schools became less common beginning in the early 1900s as many states began developing their own civil codes. His reports, however, remain a regularly used tool in states where common law in still widely used.

Electoral failures

In 1825 Blackford was nominated, without his knowledge, as the Whig candidate for Governor. Because of his position on the courts, he refused to campaign on his own behalf against his opponent. In the election he was defeated by James B. Ray, 13,140 to 10,418. The same year, after his defeat, he was nominated for a U.S. Senate seat, again without his knowledge. He was lost in the General Assembly by one vote and was defeated by former governor William Hendricks.

Governor Ray reappointed Blackford as Chief Justice in 1826 in an attempt to win support from the Whigs. He was reappointed again in 1833 by Governor Noah Noble, in 1840 by Samuel Bigger, and in 1847 by James Whitcomb. In both 1826 and 1847, he was the only member of the court to be reappointed, largely on his popularity. His fellow court members had been ejected because of their age, or their slow pace in making decision. Governor Whitcomb at first refused to reappoint Blackford because of his age in 1847, and put up four different replacements for him which the senate refused to confirm, forcing Whitcomb to give in and reappoint Blackford. Whitcomb likewise had refused to reappoint the other two members of the court, leaving Blackford as the only Justice on the court for nearly a year.

He was a trustee for Indiana College (now Indiana University) from 1838 to 1841, during which time the college published his reports. He continued on the supreme court until the new constitution of 1851 made the position of justice an elected office. He sought the nomination at the Whig convention to run for his office, but was defeated. In total he had been on the Supreme Court for over thirty-five years, seven and a half years longer than any other justice in state history. As late as 1930, he remained the longest serving jurist in any position in the United States.

Later years

Blackford, still desiring to be associated with the court, was successfully nominated to run for the position of court reporter on the Whig ticket, but was defeated in the election by future Vice President of the United States Thomas Hendricks. After being defeated in the election to retain his seat, he briefly returned to private life. He opened a law office and took on one case which he argued before Judge David Wallace. He stumbled in making his arguments as he was unaccustomed to speaking publicly and he lost the case. He found the change of position embarrassing and was occasionally offended by the public and the court system for not showing him what he considered due respect. After loosing his case he closed his law office.

Federal judge

With the aid of his friends, he sought to return to the bench. He had already become nationally renowned for his reports, and his availability to become a federal judge was reported to President Franklin Pierce. Congress created the federal United States Court of Claims to sit in Washington, D.C. in 1855, and Pierce nominated Blackford to become the first member of the court. Pierce remarked that there was no better qualified candidate in the nation, appointing him on March 3. Blackford accepted the appointment and was confirmed by the United States Senate a few days later.

The business of the court focused on financial claims against the government and was created as an investigative and deliberative body to help the Congress determine the validity of the claims and to lighten their workload. Given the type of cases dealt with, the decisions of the court received little attention and were primarily advisory in nature, recommending that Congress pay or not pay on the various claims. Blackford served on the court until his death on December 31, 1859, in Washington, D.C., aged 73.

Death and legacy

Blackford’s remains were returned to Indiana were he lay in state in Indianapolis. His bier was attended by thousands of citizens and numerous dignitaries. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on the edge of Indianapolis. In 1866 his remains were disinterred and were reburied at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana. There a 10 feet (3.0 m) high marble monument was erected over his grave in his honor. His entire estate was willed to his half-sister Charlotte Teresa Coons. His estate was worth an estimated $250,000 ($5,969,444 in 2009 chained dollars).

Blackford County, Indiana was named in honor of Justice Blackford in 1838. During his lifetime he became renowned for Blackford’s Reports and as the “Indiana Blackstone.” His reports remained in popular use many years after his death. The work is still used regularly in states were common law in still used. Supreme Court Librarian, circuit court judge, and historian William Wheeler Thornton states that after Blackford left the Indiana Supreme Court, and once the position was made elective, the prestige of the court that had been built up by Blackford was gradually lost as they became more political and less judicial. It was not until the 1970s that the court position were again made appointive. Current Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard described Blackford as the “leading figure in shaping Indiana’s judiciary.”

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Dunn, Jacob Piatt (1919). Indiana and Indianans. American Historical Society.
• Thornton, William W (2005). Fivecoat, Douglas (ed.). Isaac Blackford: The Indiana Blackstone. Indiana Historical Bureau.
• Funk, Arville L (1969, revised 1983). Sketchbook of Indiana History. Rochester, Indiana: Christian Book Press. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

External links

• "Indiana Supreme Court Bio". Indiana Supreme Court. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
• "Indiana Supreme Court Justices". Indiana Supreme Court. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
• "Political Gravyard". Retrieved 2009-07-08.