The books became a staple legal source among Indiana's lawyers and received national and international acclaim for their style, accuracy, quality, and concision in dealing with common law.

After holding several civil service positions, he was appointed a circuit court judge but resigned just before the territorial government was dissolved in 1816.

Nominated without his knowledge or permission, in 1825 he was the Whig candidate for Governor of Indiana, but was defeated in the election because of his refusal to campaign publicly.

He began to live a reclusive lifestyle in a one-room apartment in the Indiana Governor's Mansion, where he remained for over twenty years.

He was reappointed to his seat on the Supreme Court four times, serving until the adoption of the 1851 Constitution of Indiana, which made his position subject to election rather than appointment.

During his lifetime Blackford accumulated a small fortune through the sale of his reports which was left to his only living relative, his half-sister Charlotte Teresa Coons.

He also spent a considerable amount of time reading legal books on English common law, especially the works of William Blackstone.

[8][10] After college he studied law for a year in the office of Revolutionary War hero, Colonel George MacDonald in Bound Brook.

Brookville was the administrative center of the eastern half of the territory, but Blackford had little chance of making a substantial income as a lawyer there, so he sought work in the civil service.

By early 1813, he moved again to Salem where he was appointed by Governor William Henry Harrison to be clerk and recorder in the newly formed Washington County, a position he held only for a few months.

[14][16][18] The position proved disappointing to Blackford who reported that his chief responsibility was "to record marks on cattle which strayed at large in the absence of stock enclosures.

He became aware of corruption at the bank which later folded in the Panic of 1819; numerous investors lost their money and scandalous abuses were revealed to the public.

James Noble commenting on his election said, "His great fairness and unyielding integrity, to say nothing of his experience and natural fitness, won the respect and hearty good-will of us all and we could not find it in our hearts to oppose him.

There is no record of Blackford's specific impact on any legislation, although he would have been heavily involved in laying the foundation of the state government, the framework of which was created during the first session of the assembly.

[32] Seven other men served with him on the court, including James Scott, Jesse Holman, Stephen Stevens, John McKinney, Jeremiah Sullivan, Charles Dewey, Samuel Perkins, and Thomas Smith.

In the decision, Blackford wrote, "Courts of record have exclusive control over charges for contempt, and their conviction or acquittal is final and conclusive.

This great power is intrusted to these tribunals of justice for the support and preservation of their respectability and independence; it has existed from the earliest period to which the annals of jurisdiction extend, and, except in a few cases of party violence, it has been sanctioned and established by the experience of ages.

It was valid until Judge Buskirk investigated the precedent Blackford cited and discovered the underlying decision (Lord Mayor of London, 3 Wils.

"[36] In Deming v. Bullit Blackford ruled that parties could cancel contracts of sale even after payment was made, provided they refunded the fees.

[37] Because Indiana as a new state had a very limited civil and criminal code during the nineteenth century, Blackford relied heavily on English common law treatises to base his own decisions on, including Coke's Reports and Blackstone's Commentaries.

Burying his son in Kentucky, he returned to Vincennes where he arrived in the night and entered the home of his friend John Coburn.

[5] Shortly thereafter while returning to Indianapolis after attending business in Vincennes, he attempted to ford the swollen White River on his horse as he neared Martinsville.

By the 1830s his rental income was enough to sustain his lifestyle, and he no longer needed his judicial salary, which he chose to leave in the state treasury to draw interest at 6% per annum.

He began maintaining a personal collection of the Supreme Court decisions in hopes the Indiana General Assembly would eventually authorize funds to create an official report.

[35] After his personal tragedies while he remained locked in his room, Blackford began working on a book to report the important decisions of the Supreme Court and provide a legal source to state lawyers and judges.

He was also opposed to the election of William Henry Harrison as president, who had been governor of the Indiana territory when he had first moved; his opposition stemmed from his experience with his style of governing and support of slavery.

[57] Governor Ray reappointed Blackford as chief justice in 1826 in an attempt to win electoral support from the Whigs on a number of laws he was advocating for passage.

He was successfully nominated to run for the position of court reporter on the Whig ticket in 1853, but was defeated in the election by future Vice President of the United States Thomas Hendricks.

He found the change of position embarrassing and was occasionally offended by the public and the court system for not showing him what he considered due respect.

[63] Blackford was nominated by President Pierce, who remarked that there was no better qualified candidate in the nation, on March 3, 1855, to the Court of Claims, to a new seat authorized by 10 Stat.