James Blood

James Blood
Born James Harvey Blood
December 29, 1833 (1833-12-29)
Dudley, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died December 29, 1885(1885-12-29) (aged 52)
Akanten, Gold Coast
Nationality American
Occupation Union Army officer and politician
Spouse(s) Mary Ann Clapp Harrington
Victoria Woodhull (c. 1865–1876)
Isabell Morrill Fogg

James Harvey Blood (December 29, 1833 – December 29, 1885) was a Commander of the 6th Missouri Volunteer Infantry in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel, and he was elected city auditor of St. Louis. He was the second husband of Victoria Woodhull, the 19th-century suffragist and activist who was the first woman to run as a candidate for President of the United States.[1][2]

Marriage to Victoria Woodhull

In April 1864, Victoria Claflin Woodhull was billing herself as a "spiritualistic physician" in St. Louis, Missouri. In the first session with Blood, she predicted their marriage and he promptly proposed even though he was still married to his first wife, Mary Ann Clapp Harrington. Woodhull was also married at the time, and once both divorces were complete, the couple left St. Louis in 1865, moving through Midwestern cities before reaching New York City in 1867. In New York, Woodhull's sister, Tennessee Claflin, joined the couple and Blood contributed to the sisters ambitions by becoming their accountant, bookkeeper, and secretary.[3] Woodhull, in denouncing the crusades that had provided her with national attention, abandoned Blood in 1876, to try to regain her respectability. His only public response was, "The grandest woman in the world went back on me."[4] They divorced later that year.

Later life

Blood later married his third wife, Isabell Morrill Fogg, after divorcing Woodhull in 1876. He died in Akanten, Gold Coast, Africa, while on a gold mining expedition, where he had struck gold. He died on his 52nd birthday.[4]

References

  1. ↑ David Hackett Fischer Liberty and Freedom: A Visual History of America's Founding Ideas Page 399 2004 "Then she took a second husband, Colonel James Blood, who introduced her to radical causes. With Colonel Blood's encouragement, Victoria and Tennessee moved to New York City."
  2. ↑ Clarice Stasz The Vanderbilt Women: Dynasty of Death, Glamour and Tragedy Page 55 - 2000 "A key figure herein was Colonel James Blood, a free-love advocate who was for a time their manager and Victoria's lover. ... Always the loyal family member, she moved in not only her children, Tennessee, and Colonel Blood, but her parents, ... "
  3. ↑ James, L. K. (2016-12-23). Famous Women. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781483604190.
  4. 1 2 Kilgo, Dolores Ann (1994-01-01). Likeness and Landscape: Thomas M. Easterly and the Art of the Daguerreotype. Missouri History Museum. ISBN 9781883982034.
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