Isaac Blackford was born on November 6th, 1786, in Bound Brook, New Jersey. He was the only child of Joseph and Mary Blackford. Joseph, a merchant and revolutionary war soldier, died in 1800 when Isaac was 14. His mother remarried Thomas Coon in 1801. Isaac's half-sister Charlotte was born in 1802.
Blackford attended Princeton and graduated in 1806. He studied law under his mentor and future father-in-law, Colonel George McDonald, for a year before accepting a position at a large firm in the area. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1810. Isaac married Caroline McDonald in 1820 and had a son, George Blackford. Caroline McDonald died shortly after George's birth in 1821. George Blackford died in 1846 due to medical complications in Kentucky. Isaac never remarried.
He left the Supreme Court in 1853. Two years later, he took a job as a justice in the Court of Claims in Washington, DC. He died on December 31st, 1859, due to complications from pneumonia. Blackford was transported back to Indianapolis with the help of his friend, an Indianapolis lawyer and land speculator, Calvin Fletcher. On January 12th, his body was placed on display in the Capitol and then buried in Greenlawn Cemetery on Friday, January 13th, in an iron coffin. His remains were moved to Crown Hill Cemetery in 1868, a few years after that cemetery opened.
]]>The Condit House, now serving as the Indiana State University president's home, was built in 1860. The two-story brick residence has a prominent band under the roof with brackets. The symmetrical front facade and large windows make it an excellent example of Italianate architecture. Originally constructed by Jabez Hedden for Lucien Houriet, a jeweler and watchmaker, the house was purchased by Blackford Condit in 1863.
Blackford Condit, born in 1827, was the son of Daniel and Charlotte Coon Condit. He was named after his uncle, Isaac Blackford, the longest-serving Indiana Supreme Court Justice. Blackford married Sarah Mills, the daughter of Caleb Mills, an educational leader in the state. Blackford and Sarah remained in Terre Haute throughout their lives, where they were influential figures.
In 1870, the Indiana State Normal School (now Indiana State University) was established across the street from the Condit House. As the university expanded over the decades, it grew around the property. In 1965, Helen Condit, Blackford's daughter, donated the house to the university in her will. The university restored the building to serve as the president's residence. Major renovations included reconstructing the back wing and incorporating modern residential and entertainment amenities. The Condit House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 for its architecture and its association with education.
]]>On April 1st, 1835, Isaac Blackford purchased three land parcels on the southwest corner of North and West Streets. Covering 27.42 acres, the properties— known at the time as Lots 152, 153, and 154 — stretched as far west as today’s Blackford Street on the West and New York Street on the South, for a combined amount of $553.00. This area, now part of the IU Indianapolis Campus, was undeveloped at the time and not yet incorporated into the city. Blackford began subdividing the land in the 1850s, yet much of the development started in that area in the 1860s years after his death. Looking at the 1917 Baist Maps of Lots 152, 152,153, and 154, his half-sister Mary Coon Condit who inherited Blackford’s wealth, profited from these lands as many of the subdivisions are in her name.
Once, a subdivision was located at the corner of Blackford Street and Vermont, where Erie and Rachel Locke purchased land off Blackford in September 1857. The Lockes held the land until 1869, when they sold one of their lots to Elizabeth and William Chamberlin. Elizabeth Chamberlin appears in the 1880 census as a widow whose father was from Ireland and mother from New York. Ultimately, Indiana University acquired the property from Fannie Hyde, a schoolteacher, in the late 1960s to early 1970s.
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