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John Taggard Blodgett (May 16, 1859 – March 4, 1912) was a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1900 until his death in 1912.
Born in Belmont, Massachusetts, to William Alfred and Anna Maria (Taggard) Blodgett, he received his early education in the public schools of Belmont and of Watertown, Massachusetts, and graduated from the Watertown High School in 1875 and from Worcester Academy in 1876. He received an A.B. from Brown University and graduated in 1880, being made a member of the Society of Phi Beta Kappa. He received an A.M. from the same institution in 1883.[1][2][3]
Upon graduation he entered upon the study of law in the office of Benjamin N. Lapham in Providence. At the end of the customary three years' study in the office of a lawyer, he passed the bar examinations with brilliancy and was admitted to practice. He was United States commissioner for the District of Rhode Island, 1890-97, and supervisor of Federal elections in Rhode Island in 1891, remaining in that office until the repeal of the Federal election law. The familiarity with election laws thus acquired led him to prepare and to carry through a state law providing for the appointment and defining the powers and duties of the Board of Canvassers and Registration. Upon its passage in 1895, he was appointed a member and he was its chairman until elected to the Supreme Court of the State.
He was a member of the House of Representatives from Providence, 1898–1900, and took a leading part in drafting and securing the adoption of important legislation relating to Providence. His experience upon the Board of Canvassers led to his appointment in 1900 as chairman of the commission to revise the ward lines of the city. He was chairman of the Rhode Island Commission to the Jamestown Exposition of 1907. In 1900 he was elected by the General Assembly, associate justice of the Supreme Court and he died in office March 4, 1912.
He was a member and vice-president for Rhode Island of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, a member of the Rhode Island Society of Colonial Wars and of the Rhode Island Society of Sons of the American Revolution. He was also a corresponding member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and he contributed to its transactions in 1909 a paper upon “The Political Theory of the Mayflower Compact."
He married, March 28, 1883, Amelia Wilson Torrey, daughter of Moses E. and Amelia (Wilson) Torrey of Providence, and their daughter Gwendolen survives her parents. August 15, 1900, he married his second wife, Amy de Lacy Bemiss, daughter of Dr. Samuel M. and Frances (Lockert) Bemiss, of New Orleans, La., who survives him.[1]
Was admitted to the Rhode Island bar at Providence in 1883. Has been United States Commissioner from the District of Rhode Island; United States Chief Supervisor of Elections, District Rhode Island; Representative in General Assembly from Providence, and has been Associate Justice of the Supreme Court since 1990. Republican.[3]
John Taggard Blodgett, a resident member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society from 1906, and elected its Vice-President for Rhode Island at the annual meeting preceding his death was born in Belmont Massachusetts, May 16, 1859, the son of William Alfred and Anna Marcia (Taggard) Blodgett.
Upon graduation he entered upon the study of law in the office of Benjamin N. Lapham in Providence. There he completed the regular course of three years' study, and passing with brilliancy the bar examinations, he was admitted to practice, in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in 1895, his law practice relating principally to corporation and banking business. He was United States Commissioner for the District of Rhode Island from 1890 to 1897; and he became supervisor of Federal elections in Rhode Island in 1891, remaining in that office until the repeal of the Federal election law, the duties of the office being to inspect the list of voters and to see that no fraud was practiced in Federal elections. The familiarity with election laws thus acquired led him to prepare and to carry through a state law relating to the appointment and defining the powers and duties of the Board of Canvassers and Registration. Upon its passage in 1895 he was appointed a member and became its chairman, remaining so until he became a member of the Supreme Court of the state.
He was a member of the House of Representatives from the city of Providence from 1898 to 1900, and took a leading part while a member in drafting and securing the adoption of important legislation relating to the city. His experience upon the board of canvasses led to his appointment in 1900 as chairman of a commission to revise the ward lines of the city of Providence.
He was chairman of the Rhode Island Commission to the Jamestown Exposition of 1907.
In 1900 he was elected by the General Assembly Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, remaining in that office until his death, at Providence March 4, 1912.
An examination of his opinion in the Rhode Island Reports illustrates his throughness of research, his scholarship, capacity for work, and independence of judgement, especially in some of the dissenting opinions he delivered. Besides his association with this Society, Judge Blodgett was a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society of Sons of the American Revolution. He was also a corresponding member of The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and contributed a paper upon "The Political Theory of the Mayflower Compact" to its Transactions in 1909.
He married first, March 28, 1883, Amelia Wilson Torrey, daughter of Moses Eddy and Amelia (Wilson) Torrey of Providence, by whom he had a son, Moses Torrey, who died soon after his birth, and a daughter Gwendolen. On August 15, 1900, he married his second wife, Amy de Lacy Bemiss, daughter of Dr. Samuel Merrifield and Frances (Lockert) Bemiss of New Orleans, Louisiana, who survives him, with the daughter by his first wife, Gwendolen Blodgett.[2]