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biography from Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
JUDGE L. C. BLANCHARD, attorney, of the firm of Blanchard & Preston, of Oskaloosa, and one of the most prominent and successful practitioners in this section of the Hawkeye State, is a native of New York, born in Diana, Lewis County, April 15, 1839. His parents were Caleb and Penelope (Aldrich) Blanchard. His father was a farmer by occupation, a native of Rhode Island, and rested from, his labors when his son, our subject, was a lad of five years old. The mother was a native of Vermont, and survived her husband many years, dying in 1862, in the State of New York. The parental household consisted of six children, of whom the record is as follows: Rosanna became the wife of A. Harris, a farmer of Jefferson County, N. Y., and is now deceased; Rosalia married Maj. Charles Newcomer, a banker of Mt. Morris, Ill., and she also is deceased; Martin resides in Newton, Iowa, and deals in real estate; Pauline married J. W. Ford, a farmer of Clay County, Iowa; Lucia, deceased, was the wife of Warren Humes, a farmer of Lewis County, N. Y.; this daughter and the subject of our sketch were twins. Mr. Blanchard was reared on a farm, and resided in his native State until about seventeen years of age, in the meantime having been a student of Carthage Academy and also having taught school in that vicinity. In 1858 he went to Mt. Morris, Ill., and entered upon a course of study at Rock River Seminary, which he pursued for two years. In the spring of 1860 he went to Pike's Peak for the benefit of his health and also to engage in mining, and remained there during the summer. He then returned as far east as Iowa, and taught school the following winter in Jasper County. He then received news of his mother's failing health, and returning home, remained with her until her decease the following year. He then returned to Iowa, intending to enter upon the study of law. His plans, however, were frustrated by the breaking out of the Rebellion, as his patriotism would not allow him to do otherwise than to proffer his services to aid in the preservation of the Union. He enlisted as a private in Co. K, 28th Iowa Vol. Inf., under command of Capt. John Myer, and served about fifteen months, being in the battles of Port Gibson, Champion Hills, and the siege and capture of Vicksburg. After this last event he was sent with his regiment to New Orleans, and then, on account of physical disability, received his discharge. He returned to Illinois to recuperate, stopping for a time at Mt. Morris, and thence going to Morrison, where he engaged in teaching school. In the spring of 1864 Mr. Blanchard, not being able to engage in manual labor, canvassed the county of Whiteside for Greeley's "American Conflict." He traveled on foot and was successful in his undertaking. After closing up this business he determined to resume his law studies, and accordingly entered the University of Michigan, where he took a thorough course and graduated in 1866. The subject of our sketch entered upon the practice of his profession June 25, 1866, in Montezuma, Iowa. He was bright and ambitious, made hosts of friends, and met with remarkable success. The following year he was appointed Judge of the County Court, and was elected to that office in the fall of the same year. He still climbed upward in his profession, and in the fall of 1868 was elected Judge of the circuit which included the counties of Poweshiek, Washington, Keokuk and Jefferson. He occupied this position four years, and was then elected to the enlarged circuit which, in addition to the afore-mentioned counties, included Jasper, Marion and Mahaska. After serving his term of four years as Circuit Judge, he was re-elected, serving another four years, and making a sum total of twelve years' service as Circuit Judge. He then declined to become a candidate for re-election, and commenced the practice of law at Oskaloosa, to which place he had removed in 1874, and has been thus occupied since that time. He was associated in partnership with J. C. Williams for two years, and after the dissolution of the firm practiced alone until November, l885, when he associated himself with B. W. Preston, his present partner. In addition to other important business, Judge Blanchard has been attorney for the county of Mahaska in important litigation, and also for the Central Railroad Company. During the existence here of the Oskaloosa Insurance Company, he had charge of its legal business, and was retained for some time after its removal to Des Moines. He is attorney for the Farmer's and Traders Bank and for some of the most important coal companies in the city, among them the Western Union Fuel and the Western Fuel Supply Companies. At the organization of the Farmer's and Trader's Bank, Judge Blanchard became a stockholder and Vice President; when this was succeeded by the Farmer's and Trader's National Bank he was elected a Director and Vice President, which office he still holds. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Oskaloosa Power and Land Company. Judge Blanchard is a warm friend and earnest admirer of the principles of the Masonic fraternity, and has been prominently connected with it for many years. As a Mason he has been Master of Triluminar Lodge, and was Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Iowa at its session in Dubuque in 1879, his oration being delivered June 4, at its 36th Annual Communication. This oration was published in many papers of Iowa and other States. It was also printed in the Masonic Record in Allahabad, India. At the same session he was elected Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, serving one year, and in 1880, in connection with Past Grand Master J. W. Wilson, was appointed by the Grand Lodge to prepare and publish a digest of the decisions of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. This work was approved, and was adopted and published by the Grand Lodge. Judge Blanchard has been twice married; first at Montezuma, Iowa, Jan. 13, 1870, to Miss Sarah Kilburn, daughter of F. A. Kilburn, then the leading merchant of that vicinity. Of this marriage two children were born who are yet living: Rosalia, born March 7, 1872, and Claude, May 17, 1875. Mrs. Sarah Blanchard died in Oskaloosa, Feb. 19, 1878. Judge Blanchard was the second time married, in Oskaloosa, June 9, 1886, to Miss Jozelle Williams, daughter of Micajah T. Williams, of Oskaloosa, a sketch of whom appears on another page in this work. The Judge and his bride, for their wedding trip, took a tour through Europe, visiting the principal cities in the British Isles and the continent. They landed in Queenstown after making the ocean voyage in safety, and proceeded to the city of Cork; then made a tour of the Lakes of Killarney and adjacent places of interest, thence to Dublin and Belfast, taking a steamer from there to Glasgow, Scotland, visiting the historic places in Edinburgh, Melrose, Abbotsford and Dryburg, names familiar in connection with Sir Walter Scott. From there they journeyed to France, spent a week in Paris, went thence to London, Antwerp and Brussels, visiting the field of Waterloo which witnessed Napoleon's last battle, and from Cologne by steamer up the storied Rhine, touching the rich city of Frankford-on-the-Main, and thence to Heidelberg, where the fete in honor of the 500th anniversary of the founding of its famous university was in progress. They then proceeded to Baden-Baden, and from there made a trip by diligence in the Black Forest, thence to Strasburg, with its famous clock on its more famous cathedral; from there to beautiful Lucerne in Switzerland, thence by steamer to Vitznan, and by rail up the Rigi, from the top of which seven beautiful lakes were seen, with dozens of Swiss villages and the whole range of the Bernese Alps; thence by the Brunig Pass to Merigen, and by ponies to the top of the great Shideck, where the glaciers are. They afterward proceeded to Bern, the capital of Switzerland, from there to Freyburg and Lausanne, and by steamer across the lake to Geneva, and then back to Paris by rail; thence to London; and embarking at Liverpool, after a very rough passage landed in the city of New York.
Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy