BLACKFORD COUNTY, INDIANA
BIOGRAPHY OF
ISAAC BLACKFORD
Torch Bearer in the Interpretation of
the Law in Early Indiana
Among the lawyers who have acquired
distinction in the state of Indiana, the name of Isaac Blackford takes
high rank. His fame depends upon no adventitious accomplishments. He
was not an orator, and is said to have spoken but little, and that
little not very well. But he was discriminating and logical.
The seven volumes of his Reports,
consisting of cases selected from the large number that came before the
court, published from 1830 to 1850, are regarded so sound that they are
quoted in all the American states and in England. So the judicial dicta
of Judge Blackford not only have been the governor-wheel that started
Indiana law on a substantial and even career, but have assisted in
molding the legal thought of a nation. It is true many of his decisions
have been overthrown, he himself reversed many of his earlier ones, but
the changes came largely with that growth of the community in
intelligence, breadth of vision and orderly conduct which made those
changes necessary.
Blackford's decisions were founded on
the best judicial opinions obtainable in his day. He slowly, but
clearly, logically and concisely constructed his chain of legal
thought, and when it was complete there was no necessity for another
carefully reasoned decision on the same points. His decisions rested
very largely on precedent, and the argument that could overthrow in his
mind the weight of established principle had to be strong indeed. This
tendency of his mind aided the community and the bar in making
reasonably certain at all times just what was the law. A more
progressive, less cautious judge might easily have done considerable
damage by leaving the law in a more chaotic condition.
Isaac Blackford was born in Bound
Brook, New Jersey, in 1786. He was of pure English lineage, and was
educated in the classics in Princeton college. At the age of nineteen
he took up the study of Blackstone. After leaving Princeton, he read
law in the office of Gabriel Ford, one of the best lawyers in New
Jersey. Governor Jennings also came from New Jersey and from the same
neighborhood as Blackford. Jennings and Blackford belonged to the same
political party and both voted with the eastern settlers of Indiana in
opposition to Governor William Henry Harrison. At the funeral of Judge John Johnson, one of the
members of the first supreme court, Governor Jennings told Blackford
that he had decided to appoint him to the vacant place on the bench.
Previous to this, Blackford had served as cashier of a Vevay bank, as
clerk of Washington County, as clerk of the House of Representatives in
1813, as president judge of the First Territorial Circuit, as speaker
of the General Assembly convened at Corydon in 1816. He was cashier of
the Vincennes State Bank at the time of his appointment to the supreme
bench. Blackford is said to have urged that older, better, more
experienced men could be found for the place, but nevertheless he
accepted the position and remained on the bench for thirty-seven years,
till the old court was dissolved. His service was practically
coincident with the life of the old supreme court, as only one short
session had been held before he came to the bench.
Blackford was a poor politician, as
is shown in his successive defeats for governor, for United States
Senator, for judge, for supreme court reporter and for a congressional
candidacy. President Pierce, in 1855, appointed him judge of the United
States Court of Claims at Washington. He remained on this bench till
his death at midnight of December 31, 1859.
In spite of adverse criticism for
trying to make too much money out of his reports, his integrity on the
bench was never assailed. Lawyers generally agreed that his decisions
were strictly according to law and were eminently fair. While in
Indianapolis he lived the life of a recluse with a colored servant,
William Franklin. He did not belong to a club, church or lodge.
Governor Porter, who was a representative in Congress when Judge
Blackford died, said at the bar meeting in Washington, "There is not a
community in Indiana in which the name of Judge Blackford is not a
household word. He has been identified with our state since the first;
he may be said to be part of our institutions. Judicial ability,
judicial purity, private worth singularly blending the simplicity of
childhood with the sober gravity of age, were represented in the mind
of the profession and in the popular mind of Indiana in the person of
Isaac Blackford." General Lew Wallace, in his autobiography, speaks of
making the acquaintance of Isaac Blackford and Charles Dewey, who were
"in the annals of Indiana, the first, last and greatest of her
old-school judiciary."
Source: Some Torch Bearers in Indiana
By Charity Dye Published by Printed by the Hollenbeck press, 1917