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Blatchford, Potter, and Delano family papers

Call Number

MS 3132

Date

1796-1995 (bulk, 1796-1919), inclusive

Creator

Extent

4 Linear feet (in 2 record cartons and 2 flat boxes).

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

Correspondence, generally of a familial nature, and photographs, of the interrelated Blatchford, Potter, and Delano families, which included such illustrious members as U.S. Minister to the Papal States Richard Milford Blatchford (1798–1875), his son, jurist Samuel Blatchford (1820–1893), Richard's son-in-law, architect Edward Tuckerman Potter (1831–1904), and Potter's son-in-law, architect William Adams Delano (1874–1960).

Biographical / Historical

The three New York families represented in this collection—Blatchford, Potter, and Delano—are related through marriage. Julia Maria Blatchford (1834–1922), the daughter of diplomat Richard Milford Blatchford (1798–1875), married architect Edward Tuckerman Potter (1831–1904), a son of Episcopal Bishop Alonzo Potter (1800–1865) and grandson of longtime Union College president Eliphalet Nott (1773–1866). Among the children of Edward Tuckerman and Julia Maria (Blatchford) Potter were a son, Julian Potter (1858–1913), U.S. Consul at Nassau, Bahamas, and a daughter, Louisa Millicent Windeatt Potter (1872–1962), who married (as her second husband) William Adams Delano (1874–1960) of the architectural firm Delano & Aldrich. Delano's father, Eugene (1844–1920), a banker, was a partner in Brown Brothers & Co. (now Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.).

For more on these families, their connections, and their illustrious members, see

  1. Eliphalet Wickes Blatchford, Blatchford Memorial II: A Genealogical Record of the Family of Rev. Samuel Blatchford, D.D. With Some Mention of Allied Families (privately printed, 1912).
  2. Craig Hanyan, "Richard Milford Blatchford." American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), vol. 3, 1–2.
  3. Mark Alan Hewitt, "William Adams Delano." American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), vol. 6, 379–381.
  4. Sarah Bradford Landau, Edward T. and William A. Potter, American Victorian Architects (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1979).
  5. Bruce Leslie, "Eliphalet Nott." American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), vol. 16, 537–538.
  6. Charles W. McCurdy, "Samuel Blatchford." American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), vol. 3, 2–3.
  7. Frank Hunter Potter, The Alonzo Potter Family (privately printed, 1923).
  8. Lawrence Wodehouse, "Edward Tuckerman Potter." American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), vol. 17, 744–745.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in four series. Within each series, the archivist has attempted to maintain a subject's generational position within the family unit.

Series I.
Blatchford family, 1796-1865, 1895
Series II.
Potter family, 1804-1906, 1995
Series III.
Delano family, 1895-1948
Series IV.
Photograph albums, circa 1894-1935

Scope and Contents

The collection consists chiefly of correspondence of a general, familial nature, between various members of the interrelated Blatchford, Potter, and Delano families (see the preceding Biographical / Historical note for an outline of how the three connect).

Blatchford family: Letters between members of the family established by Rev. Samuel Blatchford (1767–1828), including his son, Richard Milford Blatchford (1798–1875), an attorney who served in the New York State Assembly (1855) and as the 4th United States Minister to the Papal States (1862–1863) [see his letters from this time to his son, Samuel, Box 1, Folders 20–21]. Richard was a college friend and law partner of William H. Seward, to whom he loaned money [see Box 1, Folder 24], and a close associate of Daniel Webster [Box 1, Folder 26]. Richard's son, Samuel Blatchford (1820–1893), the eventual Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1882–1893), served in 1840 as private secretary to Seward, who was then New York's 12th governor [see later correspondence with Seward, Box 1, Folder 45].

Potter family: Julia Maria Blatchford (1834–1922), a daughter of Richard Milford Blatchford, married the architect Edward Tuckerman Potter (1831–1904), whose plans for model tenements earned him awards at the World's Columbian Exposition [Box 1, Folders 72–77]. Edward was the son of Episcopal Bishop Alonzo Potter (1800–1865) [Box 1, Folders 69–71] and grandson of long-term Union College president Eliphalet Nott (1773–1866) [Box 1, Folder 68], for whom he designed the Nott Memorial on the Union College campus. The collection includes three year's worth of letters (1904-1906) from Julia Maria (Blatchford) Potter to her son, Julian Potter (1858–1913) [Box 2, Folders 1–7], who was then serving as U.S. Consul at Nassau, Bahamas.

Delano family: Louisa Millicent Windeatt (Potter) Sheffield, a daughter of Edward Tuckerman and Julia Maria (Blatchford) Potter, married the architect William Adams Delano (1874–1960). This portion of the collection consists mainly of letters written almost daily during the first decade of the 20th century to William by his father, the banker Eugene Delano (1844–1920), and mother, Susan Magoun (Adams) Delano (1848–1904).

Photograph albums: Three photograph albums depict various members of the Potter and Delano families at their homes (such as Muttontown Corners, the William Adams Delano estate at Syosset, Long Island), or traveling in Europe, for the years 1894 through 1935 [Box 3; Box 4; and Box 2, Folder 44].

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers.

Use Restrictions

This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder. Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day.

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as the "Blatchford, Potter, and Delano Family Papers, MS 3132, The New-York Historical Society."

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Julia Jorgenson Shelly, 2018 (accession no. MS-2018-036).

Related Materials

A number of single Blatchford, Potter, and Delano family documents may be found through BobCat, the library's online catalog. Two larger items of interest are the William Adams Delano Collection [graphic], 1899-1949 (PR 244), and the William Adams Delano papers, 1947-1954 (MS 1204).

Collection processed by

Joseph Ditta

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:32 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Processing Information

Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described this collection in June-July 2019.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024