His father died shortly before his birth, and as one of the 5 surviving children he received a fair share of the paternal estate, totaling almost US$123,000.

At the age of 20, he embarked on a two-year cultural tour of Europe accompanied by Horace,[13] initially to London in October 1854, and then onto Paris.

Inspired by this time in Aigen, Salzburg, he purchased Erdenheim Farm in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in 1855, however he did not return to sign the deed, and nominated a third party.

Again he chose not to return home to Philadelphia, choosing to continue his journey into Spain, and onto the Levantine region and Egypt.

[6] During the American Civil War he served as one of the directors of the United States Sanitary Commission, a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers, with Blight having access to General George B. McClellan.

[23][24] Greenough's best-known work is probably a statue of Benjamin Franklin which stood in front of the Old City Hall (Boston).

Greenough's daughter caught the attention of Blight during his visit to Europe and they eventually married.

[25] In addition to keeping a personal diary, he authored a number of articles, including "The Critical, Reflective Period" in 1901.

[26] His granddaughter's second husband was Roger Marie Vincent Philippe Lévêque de Vilmorin [es], the illegitimate son of Alfonso XIII.

[29] On September 1, 1897, his daughter Edith Blight[30] married William Payne Thompson, from a wealthy family from Westbury, Long Island.

[6] Blight never remarried and spent more time in Europe, with summers in Newport, taking part in prominent society there.

His daughter, Alice Atherton Blight was a frequent feature in society magazines.Alice married Sir Gerard Augustus Lowther, 1st Baronet (1858–1916) after a 3-year engagement in 1905.

By 1907, Blight had acquired 89–95 Webster St, Newport, located near the corner of Bellevue Avenue.

Known as the Frank W. Andrews Residence, it was previously owned by Augustus Whiting (1796–1873), a Merchant of New York & New Orleans.

Blight was one of the best-known millionaires of American Society of the Gilded Age, died of heart failure on November 8, 1909.

His final years coincided with widespread social activism and a desire for political reform, marking the start of the Progressive Era.