54 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



to settle permanently. He was an Englishman, and was invited here 

 by a committee appointed by the church, from Topsham, England, to 

 settle here with the people in Bedford. He resigned his charge in Top- 

 sham, and sailed at once for this country. The captain of the vessel on 

 which he sailed was present and heard his farewell sermon in Topsham, 

 and so deeply was he affected by it, that he immediately offered to take 

 him and his family at a greatly reduced price, that he might have the 

 benefit of his instructions during the passage; though previous to that, the 

 price talked of was so much beyond Mr. Blatchford's means that he 

 almost regretted having projected the enterprise. He left his native 

 shores on the 19th of June, 1795, and arrived within the Hook at New 

 York on the 1st day of August. Without any unnecessary delay he 

 made his way to Bedford, the anticipated field of his labors, but several 

 adverse circumstances occurred in connection with his arrival here which 

 occasioned his disappointment and even despondency. The most morti- 

 fying thing of all was, that one of the individuals with whom he had corre- 

 sponded informed him that, as his arrival had been delayed beyond their 

 expectations, they had actually filled the place, and a Mr. Benedict was 

 engaged to supply the pulpit for one year. When Mr. Benedict, how- 

 ever, came to understand the circumstances of the case, he generously 

 insisted on withdrawing in favor of Mr. Blatchford; but the result was 

 that they were both retained to supply alternately the congregations of 

 Bedford and Poundridge. At the next meeting of the Presbytery of 

 Hudson, to which the congregations then belonged, Mr. Blatchford, giv- 

 ing assent to the Presbyterian Confession of Faith and form of govern- 

 ment, was appointed the sole supply for Bedford, as many Sabbaths as 

 convenient for him. But in 1 796 he received a call to Greenfield, Conn., 

 in the church that was formerly in charge of the Rev. Dr. Dwight. In 

 1 797, he was invited to the church at Stratford (now Bridgeport), to preach 

 for them six months with reference to a final settlement. ■ He was finally 

 installed here and remained for a number of years both as a preacher 

 and a teacher in an Academy built by his special request. In 1 804 he was 

 invited to take charge of the Churches of Lansingburgh and Waterford, 

 in the State of New York, where he remained for seven years and died 

 March 17th, 1828, in the sixty-second year of his age and the forty-first 

 year of his ministry. Dr. Nott, president of Union College preached 

 his funeral sermon. He was the father of seventeen children, of these, 

 seven died before him ; two of his sons were ministers, one a physician, 

 and one a lawyer — all respectable and useful in their professions. After 

 Mr. Blatchford left, the Rev. Josiah Henderson of Martha's Vineyard, 

 was called as pastor and installed over the church by the Presbytery of 



