About Bob

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Robert Condé Bickford (Bob) was born on October 28, 1935, in New York City, New York. During his early years, Bickford lived on Bleecker Street.

Among his neighbors, David Beer and his family, with whom he, along with John Pope, would eventually room together at Harvard in a three bedroom corner suite, with a large living room, on the first floor of Wigglesworth overlooking the Lamont Library entrance.  Those two kindly ignored the fact that they had to put up with the messiest roomie imaginable. Fortunately, one that kept his door shut most of the time.

He went to Bank Street School for preschool. Following Bank Street, Bob moved uptown to 70 East 96th Street and went to The Day School.   

His brother Nathaniel (Nat) was born on January 6, 1940. 

Also in 1940, the family moved from New York City to Ardsley-on-Hudson, a train station on the New York Central line to Albany that Bob’s father Albert used to commute to his law practice in the City at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett. Bob attended the Irvington, NY public school until he began at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, NY  where he met Lang Stevenson.

Education

Eventually Robert, known as Bob,  developed values that would guide him throughout his distinguished career in law and public service.

During his Hackley years, he took the school bus from Ardsley Avenue to Tarrytown. His academic excellence and promise led him to Exeter and then to Harvard, following in the footsteps of his father, Albert, earning his A.B. degree in Political Science.  

After graduation from Harvard College, Bob went to Albany, and was a public administration intern for New York State for one year.  Bickford then pursued legal studies at Harvard Law School, graduating with his J.D. in 1960. 

A note on ancestry

Bob and Nat’s parents were Albert Bickford and Esther Horan, descended from British and Irish ancestors, respectively. On the Bickford side, ancestors arrived on the New World shores in advance of the American Revolution. One of these was Eli Bickford, a veteran of the War of Independence who used his pension to buy a farm in North Danville, Vermont, where he lived to be over 100 years old. Among his descendants was Bob’s Great Uncle, George Bickford, the President of the Woodbury Granite Company, which played a prominent role in the expansion of the granite industry during the late 19th Century.

Bob’s grandfather, Herbert Bickford, attended Boston Law School, starting a trajectory of lawyers in the family, which included Bob’s father, Albert C Bickford (Harvard Law School) and his brother Nat, and continues to the present day: both Harry and Jay are lawyers.

On the Horan side, the family was also based in Vermont, having immigrated from Ireland in the 19th Century and taken up residence in Saxton’s River, where John Horan was a superintendent at the Saxton’s Riven Wollen Mill. Many of these ancestors were named John Horan, so tracing ancestry is challenging, but they seem to have arrived in North America in the mid-1800s.  

The Vermont connection is strong. Elizabeth Bickford and her family live in Burlington, and Louis spent a decade living in Vermont, during which time he worked for a young mayor and then congressional candidate named Bernie Sanders. 

Bob’s middle name, Condé, is a reference to his paternal grandmother’s lineage. Among those ancestors was Adam Conde, killed during the short-lived King George’s War at the Battle of Beukendaal (sometimes called an “Indian Raid”) near Albany in 1748.

Legal Career

Bickford was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in 1961, marking the beginning of a long career. He was also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 and in the District of Columbia in 1961.

His professional path took him through law firms, corporations, and foundations. In 1986, he became associate general counsel at Kidder Peabody & Co., and in 1989, he moved to public service as assistant corporation counsel in the Economic Development Division of New York City, from which he retired in 1994. Following his retirement from city government, Bickford continued practicing pro bono law in Cold Spring, New York, where he maintained an office Peekskill Road and then on Rockwald Road.

Robert Bickford married Jane Simmons Bickford, with whom he had two children: Louis (b. 1965, New York) and Elisabeth (b. 1969, Nassau, Bahamas). 

Later, in he married Wendy Murphy, and they had twin sons, Harry and Jay. The family made their home in Cold Spring, New York, in the Hudson Highlands, and in New York City.

Upon moving to Philipstown, Bickford immersed himself in community service with remarkable dedication. His entry into volunteer work began when he joined the St. Philip's Church choir, where he met influential community members including Holly Evarts, Doug Banker, and Nan Gordon. Gordon invited him to join both the vestry of St. Philip's Church and the board of the Putnam County Historical Society, where he served as treasurer of both organizations and eventually became president of the historical society.

Bickford's volunteer work expanded considerably over the years, reflecting his deep commitment to the Hudson Highlands region. His extensive civic involvement included:

Board Leadership:

• Chair of the Putnam County Board of Ethics (2006-present), having served as vice chair from 2000-2006
• Board Member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2008-2017), representing Putnam County for nine years
• Vice President and Director of the Philipstown Depot Theatre Development Corp. (since 1998)
• Treasurer and Director of Friends of Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands State Parks (2007-2017)
• Trustee of the Constitution Island Association (2008-2010), serving as Treasurer in 2010
• Treasurer and Trustee of Mekeel's Corners Chapel Association (since 1999)
• Secretary and Director of Friends of Philipstown Recreation (since 2011)
• Director of the Canterbury Choral Society (1998-2011), also serving as Treasurer
• Member of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council (2001-2005)
• President and Trustee of Building Bridges, Building Boats (1999-2010)
• Trustee of the Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum (1994-2004), serving as president from 1996 to 2003
• Treasurer and vestry member of St. Philip's Church, Garrison (1992-1999)

Additionally in 2008, Bickford was appointed Board Member of the NY Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).

Bickford's particular value to nonprofit boards stemmed from his legal expertise, especially his familiarity with the tax filings required of nonprofit organizations. Claudio Marzollo, who served with him on the Depot board, praised Bickford as a "legal eagle" who helped establish the 501(c)3 status in 1996 that allowed the depot to operate as a theater nonprofit. Marzollo also commended Bickford's negotiation skills, noting that he had been "the calm, intelligent voice; the wise counsel" who proved "tremendously helpful" to the organization.

According to Bickford himself, a well-functioning nonprofit board requires "a good mission," and he understood the challenges of recruiting board members, particularly those still working full-time who could only contribute on weekends.

Now following his 90th birthday, Robert Bickford continues to live in Cold Spring, New York, with Wendy and Maybelle, their dog. . He enjoys spending time with his four children—Louis, Elisabeth, Harry, and Jay—and his five grandchildren—Eli, Tolo, Theo, Harry, and Aurora Jane—as well as seeing friends and family. His life stands as a testament to engaged citizenship, demonstrating how nearly six decades in the legal profession, combined with an extraordinary commitment to volunteer service across dozens of organizations, can make an indelible mark on a community.

Through his work navigating complex legal matters, stewarding historic properties, advocating for ethical government, and supporting the arts and recreation, Bickford has shown that one person's dedication to community service can indeed make a profound difference. His ongoing legacy lives through the many institutions he helped build, strengthen, and sustain, and through the example he continues to set for civic engagement and public service.

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Sources

1* See “A memoir of Eli Bickford : a Patriot of the Revolution”, by Charles Bushnell, published in 1865, which contains “many pleasing anecdotes” about Eli Bickford during the Revolutionary War. (https://archive.org/details/memoirofelibickf01bush) 

*2 George Hamilton Bickford was born in Barton, Vermont, in 1868. His father, one of Eli Bickford’s sons, a Methodist minister, died less than a year later. As Elizabeth Dow writes, “Young Bickford attended Montpelier Seminary, where his mother taught, and graduated from Wesleyan College, Middletown, Connecticut, in 1891, second in his class, with honors in history and English literature. After a year of teaching and a stint at selling textbooks, he married Alice Holden in 1894 and went to work for her father at the Bennington mill. The partnership between Bickford and Holden is a classic story of capitalist success- a poor but bright young man marries a rich man's daughter and forms a partnership with his father-in-law. In 1898 the Bickfords moved to Hardwick. Bickford had intelligence, charm, and ambition; Holden understood business and passed his knowledge on to Bickford”. See Elizabeth H. Dow, 1990, “Hardwick on the Map, 1895-1915: Industrialization in Direct Democracy”in Vermont History: The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society (Vol 58, No. 4, Fall).

*3 The battle of Beukendaal “occurred on July 18, 1748. It was the only battle of King George's war, which took place in the Mohawk Valley or the Albany-Schenectady district. This bloody affray is sometimes referred to as a massacre, but, while it began as an ambuscade, it developed into a combat between armed forces and had all the character of a small battle. It was fought at a locality called Beukendaal, about three miles west of Schenectady, at the old De Graff house, only the cellar of which now remains. Beukendaal is Dutch for "Beechdale", and it was so called from the number of beech trees growing there. While the enemy was driven off the Schenectady militia suffered a great loss for so small a force” See https://www.schenectadyhistory.org/resources/mvgw/history/039.html. 

“There is a story told about Adam Conde, formerly High Constable of Albany, who was among the slain. As the wagons passed through the streets, Conde's wife, watching the mournful procession, saw the arm of one of the slain hanging over the side of a wagon. On its hand she saw and recognized a ring belonging to her husband, and knew for the first that he was among those who gave their lives”. (See https://www.townofglenville.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3161/f/uploads/the_battle_of_beukendaal.pdf)