MEMORIAL 
OF THE LATE 
THOMAS W. BLATCHFORD, I. D., 
READ AT A MEETING OF THE GOVERNORS 
OF THE 
MARSHALL INFIRMARY, TROY, N.Y., 
JANUARY 29, 1866, 
BY JAMES THORN, M, D. 
TROY, N. Y.: 
FROM THE STEAM PRESSES OF THE DAILY AND WEEKLY TIMES. 
1866. ME MORIAL 
Of the late Thomas TV. Blatchford, M. D., read at a Meeting of the 
Governors of the Marshall Infirmary, January 29, 1866, by 
James Thorn, M. D. 
The President, in some pertinent and affecting remarks, 
alluded to the decease of the late Dr. Tjioma.s W. Blatchford, 
one of the Governors of the Infirmary, and a member of the 
Medical Board from the foundation of the Institution, and stated 
that at his request Dr. Thorn had prepared an obituary notice 
of the deceased, which was then read: 
DR. THORN’S ADDRESS. 
Mr. President: Our community at large, and the institution 
which we here represent, have met with a severe loss in the 
death of Dr. Thomas W. Blatchford. I take the opportunity of 
this meeting of the Governors of the Marshall Infirmary, to 
give a slight tribute to the memory of our departed friend. Dr. 
Blatchford was born in Topham, Devonshire, England, July 20, 
1794, and at the early age of nine months was brought by his 
parents to the United States of America. His early life was 
mostly spent in Lansingburgh, in this County, where he re- 
ceived his preliminary education, and in 1811 fitted himself for 
Union College, at which institution he graduated in 1815, com- 
mencing his medical education in New York city. In the win- 
ter of 1815 and 1816, he attended two courses of medical lec- 
tures in London, under Professors Cline and Astley Cooper. The following year, having returned to New York, he finished 
his medical education by graduating at the College of Physicians 
in 1819. He practiced his profession in New York and Jamai- 
ca, Long Island, for some years, and came to Troy in 1828, 
where he has since resided. 
For nearly forty years Dr. Blatchford has been known to us 
as one of the most upright, conscientious and truly good men. 
To say he was respected by all, would be but a small modicum 
of praise. Indeed, 1 may truly say, I never heard the voice of 
censure, or the whisper of calumny, uttered against his charac- 
ter. His fine mental talents, cultivated by an education of a 
superior order, made him a mark of observation and honor not 
only in this and neighboring cities, but throughout all parts of 
our country. In this city his memory will be endeared not only 
in the hearts of his many patients, whose sufferings he ever 
stood ready to alleviate, but as a philanthropist he devoted him- 
self to the cause of education especially. Having been elected 
Trustee and School Commissioner, he served for several years as 
President of the Board of Education, arid so energetically did 
he devote his time to the cause of free schools, that on retiring 
from that position he received the warm thanks of the whole 
community—one of our large buildings bearing the name of the 
Blatchford School. 
Ill 1862, when so much suffering was produced in our city 
by the ravages of the great fire, Dr. Blatchford was appointed 
one of the relief committee, and devoted all his spare time to 
the relief of the sufferers—going from house to house, to find 
out their most urgent wants. Being associated with him as 
Mayor of the city at the time, I was enabled to bear testimony to his great kindness and good judgment in the distribution of 
the funds contributed for the relief of the sufferers. 
As I before stated, his fame as a scientific physician was ap- 
preciated and honored in other cities besides this, his place of 
residence. In 1S47, he was elected President of the New York 
State Medical Society; in 1849, he was elected member of the 
American Association for the advancement of science ; in 1856, 
he was elected Vice President of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation ; in lb57, he was elected Corresponding Fellow of the 
Academy of Sciences, St. Louis, Mo.; in 1860, he was elected 
Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York ; 
and in 1861, was made President of the Alumni of that College. 
He has also been elected an honorary member of the State Med- 
ical Societies of Connecticut and New Jersey. 
The Marshall Infirmary has lost one of its strong supporters 
and faithful physicians. His attention to the wants of the sick 
was constant, never allowing anything of a private nature to in- 
terfere with his public duties—giving his professional services 
with a kindness of manner peculiar to himself. By his will he 
has bequeathed his large medical library, over six hundred 
volumes, to this institution ; giving thus a proof of the 
esteem he held it in. 
As a physician, Dr. Blatchford was emphatically a scientific 
man. His varied literary acquirements, both in medical sub- 
jects, as well as the arts and sciences generally, placed him in a 
very elevated position. His professional character was deser- 
vedly held in high esteem. His useful life was one of untiring 
labor, in order to respond to the duties of his calling. Punc- tuality in his association with his medical brethren, was one of 
the cardinal points in his character, and to do good was his con- 
stant aim, never stopping to consider, when called on to admin- 
ister medical services, anything, but that his patients were fel- 
low-beings in distress. He made sacrifices, both of time and 
comfort, for the suffering poor, often contributing from his own 
means to relieve their necessities. He showed the kindest feel- 
ings of humanity to all, irrespective of wealth or station, and 
though strongly attached to his own religious tenets, he never 
interfered with the convictions and opinions of others. It may 
be truly said that Dr. Blatchford “ died in the harness.” He had 
attended two night calls just before he was seized with his last 
illness, going from his sleigh to the bed, from which he never 
rose again. 
And so lias gone from among us the large-hearted friend, the 
good citizen, the skilled physician—the man whose character 
was without blemish or reproach. His life was not spent in 
vain. Although dead, his memory lives, a peerless example to 
us who survive him. While every citizen mourns that the 
sickle of death has cut down one whose Autumnal years prom- 
ised continued usefulness, his brother physicians appreciate most 
keenly his loss. They know the trials, the labors, the anxieties 
by day and night, that formed the warp and woof of his exist- 
ence; and thus over the fresh grave of an associate, are not these 
lines a fitting epitaph? 
Fear no more the heat of the Sun 
Or the tedious Winter blast, 
Thou thy worldly task hast done, 
And the dream of life is past. 
Monarchs, sages, peasants, must 
Follow thee and come to dust. 
On motion of Dr. Thorn it was Resolved, That we, the Governors of the Marshall Infirmary, 
have sustained an irreparable loss in the death of our late asso- 
ciate, Dr. Thomas W. Blatchford. His place in the councils 
of our Board can never be wholly filled, and his labors in the 
care of our institution have been such as few can ever equal. 
Faithful, untiring, kind and courteous, he combined traits rarely 
seen united in one man ; and while thus deploring his death, we 
commend to all the legacy of his life and character as a treasure 
more enduring than any earthly riches. 
Resolved, That in the bequest by the deceased of his valuable 
medical library to the Marshall Infirmary, we recognize his uni- 
form pride in this institution and generosity towards it at the 
close of his life. Thus one of the latest of many acts of kind- 
ness, displayed “ the ruling passion strong in death.” 
Resolved, That we gratefully accept the legacy bequeathed to 
us by the deceased, and that we will cause the books to be 
placed separately in an apartment to be called the Blatchford 
Medical Library of the Marshall Infirmary. 
On motion of Mr. Edwards it was 
Resolved, That we have listened to the memorial read by Dr. 
James Thorn, the life-long friend of the deceased, and regard it 
as an appropriate tribute to the memory of our departed friend ; 
that the thanks of this Board be tendered to Dr. Thorn for the 
same, and a copy be requested for publication. 
Resolved, That a copy of the memorial just read by Dr. Thorn, 
and of these resolutions, be presented by the President to the 
family of the late Dr. Blatchford.