Aaron Vale Blackford

Aaron Vale Blackford (18 December 1871 – 31 August 1948) was an American politician from Iowa.

Life
Aaron Vale Blackford was of Scottish descent. His family could trace its ancestry to Martin Blackford, who emigrated from Scotland in 1751. Martin's son Joseph, grandson Aaron, and great-grandson John were born near Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. John Blackford and his wife, Nancy Atland, settled in Van Buren County by 1864. Aaron Vale Blackford was born on 18 December 1871. He graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1897, became a teacher for two years, and then went into business with his brother, selling farming equipment and cars in Bonaparte. Blackford was also a farmer and vice president of the Bonaparte State Bank.

A thirty-second degree Freemason associated with the Order of the Eastern Star and Knights Templar, Blackford was politically active as well. He served as a school board member in Bonaparte for two decades. Subsequently, he was elected to the first of two terms in the Iowa House of Representatives in 1926. He represented District 2 as a Republican legislator. He won election to the Iowa Senate in 1928 and held the Senate's 2nd district seat until 1933. He died on 31 August 1948, in Bonaparte.