TAPPING REEVE.
OJnitntg, (Ennnecttcut
irn9-i9nn
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MEMBERS
HISTORY AND CATALOGUE OF THE
LITCHFIELD LAW SCHOOL
HISTORICAL NOTES
BY
DVVIGHT C. KILBOURN
Clerk of Superior Court, Member of the Connecticut Historical
Society, Member of the Kansas Historical Society, Vice-
President of the Litchfield Historical Society.
rUBUSHED
BY THE AUTHOR
LITCHFIELD, CONN.
1909
5^
J \j I J^r-
COPYRIGHT
BY DWIGHT C. KILBOURN
1909
Edition Limited to 500
THE MATTATUCK PRESS
WATERBURY. CONNECTICUT
(To tuxr iivcthxHnt
of tit c
fitchficlrt (Coitttty gar
tUict XiooU to nic»ot
^tTcctic>natcIvj
Iiciticatcit
CONTENTS
¥ ¥
List of Illustkatiuxs xi.
Statk:\ikxt in- tiik Cask xiii
Judge Cjiikcil's Ckxtexxial Address i.
First settlement of the towns. County organization. County Officers.
Character of the people. Iron Works. Religious matters. Colonial
and Revolutionary Wars. Newspapers. ^^lerchants. Slitting Mills.
Xail rods. Scythes. Iron Mines. Paper Mills. Woolen Mills. Emi-
gration to Vermont and the Western Reserve. Education. Morri.s'
Academy. -Mis.s Pierce's School. The Law School. Fu'st Law Re-
ports. Lawyers. Doctors. Authors. Foreign Missionary Society.
Mission School at Cornwall. Temperance Movement. Infidelity. The
future.
BoAki).M.\x"s Early Lights 39
Partridge Thatcher. Daniel Everett. Tapping Reeve. John Allen.
Barzillai Slosson. Samuel W. Southmayd. John Cotton Smith.
Nathaniel Smith. Noah P.. Benedict. James Gould. .A.sa Bacon.
Elisha Sterling. Jahez W. Huntington. Phineas Miner. Leman
Church.
Sedgwick's Fifty Years ai' riii-: V>.\\< 68
Correspondence. Organization of the Courts. Chief Justice Hosmcr.
Judge Peters. Judge Chapman. Judge Brai'nard. Judge Bristol.
Judge Daggett. The Superior Court. The County Court. Judge Petti-
hone. Judge Strong. Judge Welch. Judges Burrall. ^\dodruff and
Boardman. Clerk Frederick Wolcott. Sheriff Seymour. Messenger
John Stone. Business of the County Court. .Admission to the Bar.
Practice. Authorities in 1808. Judge Gould. Noah B. Benedict. A.sa
Bacon. General Sterling. Judge Boardman. Phineas Mmer. William
G Williams. John Strong. Tr. William M. Burrall. Col. William
Cogswell. Seth P. Beers. Perr\ Smith. Roger Mills. Michael F.
Mills. Charles B. Phelps. Matthew Minor. Holbrook Curtis. Isaac
Leavenworth. Royal R. Hmman. Joseph H. Bellamy. Theodore
North. Leman Church. William S. Holaliird. George S. Boardman.
Reflections.
Jl'dgk \\'arxi:r's Re.mixisci:xges 100
Experiences in the General .\ssemhly. History of the Act allowing
prisoners to testify. Story about Dwight Morris. Adoniiah Strong.
Col. Joshua Porter. John G. Mitchell. Phdander Wheeler. Aunt
Polly. John H. Hubbard. Roger Averill. Norton J. Buell. John
Elmore. Leman Church. ^liles Toln Granger. Col. Jacob B. Har-
denburg. George W. Peet. Michael F. ^lills. William K. Peck. Jr.
William S. Holabird. Gideon Hall. Roland Hitchcock. Roger H.
Milks. Jared B. Foster. Nelson Brewster. George Wheaton. Julius
B. Harrfson. Solon B. Johnson. Frederick Chittenden. John G. Reed.
X. COXTKXTS
lllSToUJeAl. XoTKS 118
The first Court Record. Early Attorneys. Present Attorneys. Gov-
ernors. Judges. State Attorneys. Clerks. Sheriffs. Court Houses.
Jury matters. Witnesses. Stenographers. Students. Libraries.
\\ hite Fund. County Centennial. Judge Daggett's Letter. Ancient
Court K.\i)enses. County Court.
Noted Tki ai.s 144
The Sellick-Osborne case. Blaspliemy. Wrong Verdict Stands. A
Funeral Order. Rabello. Robert Drakcly. Bernice White. William
H. Green. James LeRoy. Burglars on a hand car. Liquor Prosecu-
tions. Masters vs. Warren Robbins vs. Cofiin. Higgins" (Hadley)
escape. Michael Bion. Borgesson. Tax case. Mannering. Norman
Brocks' Will case. John T. Hayes. Haddock vs. Haddock.
CoL'NT\- C(»K()Xi:u. Hi:. \i, 'I'll OfficivK, At'i'okxi'V Gex'Krai 165
First L.\\\ Reports 168
The preface. Fac-similie. Ephraim Kirby. His law bocks.
The CofXTv J Air 176
The Litcii I'Ii;i.i) L.wv Scitooi 178
Chas. C. Moore's article from the Law Notes. Charles G. Loring's ad-
dress. A Students letter. Augustus Hand's letter. The Buildings.
The Catalogue.
BlOGK.\l'llK-\l, XoTl'.S Al.l'IIAl',ETlC.\LEY AkRAXC.i;1) 215
LioAX^s 307
Ex-Governor and Ex-Chief Justice Andrews address. A demurrer de
Kickapoo Indians. Sound Advice of .\ll)ert Wadhams. The Annual
Banquets. President Huntington's address. Rev. A. N. Lewis' letter.
Hurlbutisms. Felicities. Poetry. Jokes. Judge's Evidence. Old
Grimes. Complimentary dinner to Judge O. S. Seymour at Bridgeport.
Watertown trial. New Milford Power Company. Sermon at the Ex-
ecution of John Jacohs, 1768. Truman Smith. Jury Commissioners.
County Commissioners. Court Messengers. The Judgment File.
IxDi'.x di' .\.\.\ii;s
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
«l 4
Old Litchfield n
Tearing down King George Statue 17
Old Writ 4^
Count}- Centennial 1851 ,U
Superior Court in Session 122
Court Houses 128
Judge Preston's Tombstone 143
First Law Report, fac-simile 168
County Jail 1/6
Law School Buildings 180
Reeve's Building 192
Gould's Buildmg iy4
May- it please the Court 308
Kickapoo Lidians 3^4
Banquet 316
Old Grimes 320
Judges I'.vi deuce, fac-similic 328
Title i^age of Old Sermon 340
PORTRAITS
Allen, Henry J.
Andrews. Charles B.
Bacon, Asa (Group)
Francis
Epaphroditus C.
Baldwin, Birdseye
George H.
Barnes, Andrew G.
Beers, Seth P.
Beeman. Frederick D.
Ballamy. Joseph H.
Benedict, Xoah B.
Botsford. Henry A.
Brinsmade. Daniel N.
Buel. Chauncey J.
Cantield. Judson
Col. Samuel
Case, Hubert B.
Catlin, Abijah
George
164
310, 220
63
63
63
115
22 ^
34-'
93
138
7^
38
229
231
336
232
i8
344
236
234
Church. Samuel
Coe. William G.
Cogswell, Leonard W .
Cothren. William
Dowd, Wheaton F.
Ellsworth, William W.
Etheridge, Frank W.
Fenn. Augustus A.
Foster. Jared B.
Gould, James
Granger. ^liles T.
Graves. Henry B.
Guernsey, Howard M.
Hall, Gideon
Harrison, George C.
Herman, Samuel A.
Hickox, George A.
Higgins, Richard T.
Hitchcock. Roland
Holcnml), ^Lircu> H.
Hollister. Gideon H.
Home. Samuel B.
Hubb-ard. John H.
Huntington. Jame>
Hurlbut. Wdliam F.
Karl. John J.
Kilbourn. Dwighl C.
Kirby, Ephraim
McMahon, James H.
Middlebrooks. Chesterfield
Mills. Michael F.
Mosher, Lewis W.
Nellis. Edward A.
Nickerson. Leonard J.
Nettleton. Charles
Pierpont. John
Pettibone. Augustus
Phelps. Charles B.
Porter. Charles J.
Piatt. Orville H.
C.
I
78
132
150
144
242
166
154
116
184
156
152
344
113
342
250
250
165
114
167
253
254
106
256
142
344
119
170
136
266
78
33C^
162
163
269
2. 345
78
94
160
276
XI
II.I.ISTRATIOXS
Ransom. William L.
1^4
Reeve. Tapping — Frontispiece
Roraback, Alberto T.
133
Ryan. Thomas F.
^77
San ford. David C.
278
Henry S.
280
Sedgwick. Charles F.
71
Albert
281
Seymour. Edward W.
130
Origen S.
210
Ozias
2S7
Origen S.. 2nd
287
Alorris W.
287
Closes. Jr.
-''1=;
Sherman, Roger
1 7-'
Smith, Jdlm Cotton 28,
290
Truman
96
Wellington B.
158
Willey T.
33C^
Turkington, Frank H.
299
Tuttle, Byron
34-'
Warner, Arthur D.
167
Donald J.
100
Donald T.
126
Welch, Gideon H.
141
Wessells. Col. L. W.
30 r
Wheaton, George
115
Williams, Frederic ]M.
300
Huliert
298
Wolcott, Frederick
81
Gen. Oliver
173
Gov. Oliver
302
Woodruff, George C.
195
George M.
200
Lewis B.
206
Morris, (Group)
306
James P.
306
County Coroners
344
Messengers
344
Jury Commissioners
343
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The practice of the law in the Enghsh speaicing- colonies of the
new world previous to the organization of Litchfield Count\" is an
interesting study of various methods of procedure all founded upon
the practice of the mother country. Some were copied from the
common law courts, and some from the other courts and in hardlv
any two colonies was there similarity of practice, while the old com-
mon law of England was a general guide to the interpretation of the
statute law, with such modifications in the Puritan colonies as the
mosaic law suggested to the religious teachers and pastors thereof.
About the time our county was organized, these difl:"erent modes
of practice began to be cr_\stallized into a more established form.
There were practically no attorneys, as We now understand the
term, "men learned in the law." In many sections there was some
infiueiitial man who was generally known as "the Squire," and
whose opinions ruled the circle of his acquaintance. In this county
there were only five or six men who pretended to be lawxers.
Directly after the formation of the county and the establishment
of the county court, these men were admitted to practice as at-
tornews with slight examinations, and with little knowledge oif the
law;, Ijut they were strong-minded and of sterling character, oracles
in their own communities, and the\- verv soon brought the decisions
of the county court of this county to the front rank of judicature.
It was in this op])ortune i)eriod that Tapping Reeve located at
Litchfield and unintentionally began that process which e\-entually
overthrew the common law^ of Lngland, for a common law of our
own, and changed the old forms, rules and precedents which had so
long prevailed. The close of the Revolutionary War utterly de-
stroyed the doctrine that "the king coukl do no wrong" and swej^t
away his prerogatives and common laws : and while we now quote
the good contained in the "wisdom of ages," we decide questions
by Reeves, Swift and Gould, and modern "wise instances."
Ten }ears ago the compiler of this l)ook conceived the idea of
Collecting and [)rescr\ing in a permanent form a mass of material
which was then available relating to the legal history and tradition
of his native county, and in the midst of his active duties as the
Clerk of its courts, has gathered these items and now* presents them
for N'our consideration, believing his work to be a somewhat valuable
contrilnitiim t(^ our earlier historv.
XIV STATEMENT OE THE CASE
The reprint of Chief justice Samuel Church's Address at the
Centennial Celebration of the orij;anization of the county, in 1851,
gives a very concise and thoroui^h analxsis of the elements which
have conduced to give oiu' count}- ,^-reat inliuence in the religious,
social, political and legal affairs in both the state and nation. The
address, however, was made too early to include Henry Ward
Beecher and Harriet IJeecher Stowe among the writers and speak-
ers who have done so much to uplift the world's ideas, and wonder-
fullv advance its progress towards its present power and greatness.
The reprint of Hon. David S. Boardman's "Early Lights of the
Litchfield County Bar," being the reminiscences of a man nniety
years of age, of his colleagues and associates in the earlier \ears
of our county's history, will I am sure be of great interest to every
one, and it is worthy of permanent preservation. The original
pamphlet containing them has long been otit of print, and is very
rare. I regret very much ni}- inability to procure his portrait for
insertion in this work.
Li the re-publication of Sedgwick's address, "Fifty Years of
the Litchfield County Bar," I am enabled to bring the biographies
of most of the prominent old lawyers down to modern times, pre-
pared by an associate and Ijrother in the legal arena, while Judge
Warner's "Reminiscences" completes the chain of those living and
practicing at the Bar during his life. Charles I'>. Phelps published
obituaries of a number of his attorney friends in some of the
earlier volumes of Connecticut Reports, but as these are easily ac-
cessible 1 have referred to them without republishing.
In the Biographical Xotes I have endeavored to include the name
of every member admitted to our Bar, or coming from elsewhere
to practice, excluding however, those who have been debarred for
cause. These notes are not intended to be genealogies or eulogies,
but onl\- the legal life brief] \- told, and the\- have nearly all been
prepared by myself. I dee])ly regret that there are so man}- whom
I have been unable to trace be}ond the mere fact of their admission.
The section on the Law School contains the list of its students
alphabetically arranged, with some other interesting matter relating
thereto. So man}- references are made throughout the volume to
Judges Reeve, Gould, Huntington, Bacon and others i)rominently
connected with its instruction and management, that I did not think
it wise to devote more space to the further histor}- of the Law
School.
The Historical Xotcs include onlv a few of tlie man}- trials aiid
incidents which could be gathered from the Court Records, but in
very niany cases the account of trials, especially those of a criminal
nature, might give ])ain to sonie friend or relative of the accused,
which I have tried to avoid doing.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE XV
Probably no county in the state furnished the Supreme Court
in its earher days, more knotty problems to solve and adjudicate,
than Litchfield County, and a full history of its "Leadin,!:^- Cases"
would make an interesting- volume of itself.
I have obtained all the subjects for illustration which I coukl
and the pictures have been made from originals, many of them from
old and faded paintings, as I desired to place in everlasting re-
membrance the faces of those gone before. In two or three in-
stances I have duplicated, taking another and different jjortrait for
the second picture, after the first one was already in print. If any-
one thinks it is easy to collect a hundred pictures of as many per-
sons who have long since deceased, a trial will dispel the illusion.
It is unavoidable that many errors will occur in such a work as
this. Great care has been given to make it as nearly accurate as
possible, and the compiler will be very glad to have his attention
called to an\- such error, so that in due time proper corrections can
be made.
To the verv many friends who have aided me in this work, I
wish to return my heart-felt thanks for their assistance. I have
refrained from making any acknowledgment of quotations ov ex-
tracts because I have thought that the matter itself would indicate
the source from which it was taken. In conclusion I wish to say
that I hope the perusal of this book will aft'or<l the reader as much
pleasure as it has the compiler to prepare it.
Litchfield, May I. ujoy.
D. C. K.
1851
LITCHFIELD COUNTY
HISTORICAL ADDRESS
DELIVERED AT LITCHFIELD, CONN,
ON THE OCCASION OF THE
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, 1851
BY
SAMUEL CHURCH, LL. D.
CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE STATE
«r*;
Hun. Sa.mukl CiiLiaii, C I,
Judge Chvirch's Address
Fellow Citizens: —
I have no leisure now to offer apologies for my unadvised con-
sent to appear before you, in this position, on the present occasion.
Declining years, and the constant pressure of other duties, should
have excused me.
My residence of sixt_\-six years from my nativity in this County,
and an accjuaintance of half a century, of some intimacy, with the
events which have transpired, and with the men who have acted in
them here, and having been placed within traditional reach of our
early history, I suppose, has induced the call upon me to address
you. In doing this, I shall make no drafts upon the imagination,
but speak to you in the sim])k' idiom of trutliful narrative.
Among the most ancient and pleasant of New England usages,
has been the annual gathering of children and brethren around the
parental Ijoard on Thanksgiving day. The scene we now witness
reminds me of it. Litchfield County, — our venerable parent, now
waning into the age of an hundred years, has called us here, to
exchange our nmtual greetings, to see that she still lives and thrives,
and hopes to live another century.
A little display of vanity on the part of such a parent, tlius
surrounded b\- her children, may be expected; but speaking by me,
her rei)resenLative. it shall not be excessive. She must say some-
thing of herself — of her birth and parantage — of her early lift
and progress, and of the scenes through which she has passed.
She may be indulged a little in speaking of the children she has
borne or reared, and how they have got along in the world. To tell
of such as she has lost, and over whose loss she has mourned ; and
in the indulgence of an honest parent's pride, she may boast some-
what of many who survive, and who have all through this wide
country made her name and her family respected.
We meet not alone in this relation, but we come together as
brethren, and many of us after long years of separation and absence,
to revive the memories and associations of former years.
Some of you come to visit the graves of parents and friends —
to look again into the mansions where the cradle of your infancy
was rocked, or upon the old foundations where they stood — to look
4 LITCHFIELD COLXTV 15LXCH AND BAR
again upon the favorite tree, now full grown, which your young
arms clasped so often in the climbing, or upon the great rock upon
and around which many a }oung gambol was performed. You
come to enter again, perhaps, the consecrated temples at whose
altars the good man stood who sprinkled you with the waters of
baptism, and from whose lips you learned the lessons which have
guided your footsteps in all your after life.
These are but some of the pages in the history of early life,
which it is pleasant after the lapse of years to re-peruse. And now,
if the spirits of these dead can pierce the cloud which hides our
view of heaven, they look down with a smile of love upon your
errand here ; and when you shall leave us on the morrow, many
of you will feel in truth, as did the patriot Greek, "moriens rem-
iniscitur Argos."
A stranger who looks upon the map of Connecticut, sees at its
north-west corner a darkly shaded section, extending over almost
the entire limits of the County, indicating as he believes, a region
of mountains and rocks — of bleak and frozen barrens. He turns
his eye from it, satisfied that this is one of the waste places of the
State — affording nothing pleasant for the residence of men. He
examines much more complacently the map of the coast and the
navagable streams. But let the stranger leave the map, and come
and see ! He will find the mountains which he anticipated — but
he will find streams also. He will find the forests too, or the ver-
dant hill-sides where they have been ; and he will see the cattle
on a thousand hills, and hear the bleating flocks in many a dale and
glen, and he will breath an atmosphere of health and bouyancy,
which the dwellers in the city and on the plain know little of.
Let him come, and we will show him that men live here, and
women too, over whom it would be ridiculous for the city popula-
tion to boast : a yoemanry well fitted to sustain the institutions of
a free country. We will show him living, moving men ; but more
than this, we will point out to him where, among these hills, were
born or reared, or now repose in the grave, many of the men of
whom he has read and heard, whose names have gone gloriously
into their country's history, or who are now almost every where
giving an honorable name to the County of Litchfield, and doing-
service to our State or nation.
The extensive and fertile plains of the Western country may
yield richer harvests than we can reap ; the slave population of
the South may relieve the planter from the toil experienced by a
Northern farmer ; and the golden regions of California may sooner
fill the pockets with the precious metals ; — and all this may stand
in strong contrast with what has been often called the rough and
barren region of Litchfield hills. But the distinguishing traits of a
New England country, which we love so well, are not there to give
sublimity to the landscape, fragrance and health to the mountain
atmosphere, and energy and enterprise to mind and character.
CHURCH S CEXTEXXIAL ADDRESS 5
Xot many years ago, I was descending the last hill in Xorfolk
in a stage-coach, in comi)any with a lady of the West, whose for-
mer residence had been in that town. As we came down upon
the valley of the Housatonic. with a full heart and suffused eyes,
she exclaimed. "Oh. how I love these hills and streams ! How
much more pleasant they are to lue than the dull prairies and the
sluggish and turbid waters of the ^^'estern country." It was an
eulogy, which if not often expressed, the truth of it has been a
thousand times felt before.
Our Indian ])redecessors found but few spots among the hills
of this Country, which invited their fixed residence. Here was
no place for the culture of maize and beans, the chief articles of
the Indian's vegetable food. Their settlements were chiefly con-
fined to the valley of the Housatonic, with small scattered clans
at Woodbury and Sharon. The Scaticoke tribe, at Kent, was
the last which remained among us. It was taken under the pro-
tection of the Colony and State : its lands secured for its sup-
port. These Indians have wasted down to a few individuals, who,
I believe, still remain near their fathers' sepulchcrs, and remind
us that a native tribe once existed there.
We now see but little to prove that the on'a^iiial .American race
ever inhabited here. It left no monuments but a few arrow-heads,
which are even now occasionally discovered near its former homes
and upon its former hunting grounds, — and a sculptured female
figure made of stone, not many rears ago was foiuid in this town,
and is now deposited at Yale College.
There are other monuments, to be sure, of a later race of In-
dians ; but they are of the white man's workmanship, — the quit-
claim deeds of the Indians' title to their lands ! These are found
in several of the Towns in the County, and upon the public re-
cords, signed with marks uncouth, and names unspeakable, and
executed with all the solemn mockery of legal forms. — These are
still referred to, as evidence of fair ])urchase ! Our laws have
sedulously protected the minor and the married woman from the
consequences of their best considered acts ; but a deed from an
Indian, who knew neither the value of the land he was required
to relinquish, nor the amount of the consideration he was to re-
ceive for it, nor the import or effect of the paper upon which he
scribbled his mark, has been called a fair purchase !
The hill-lands of this County were only traversed by the In-
dians as the comiuon himting grounds of the tribes which inhab-
ited the valleys of the Tunxis and Connecticut rivers on the east-
ern, and the valley of the Housatonic on the western side.
The first settlers of this County did not meet the Indian here
in his unspoiled native character. The race was dispirited and
submissive — probably made up of fugitives from the aggressions
of the early English emigrants on the coast, — the successors of
^ more spirited tribes, which, to avoid contact with the whites, had
6 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
migrated onward toward the setting sun. These Indians were
Hke the ivy of the forest, which dis])lays all its beauties in the
shade, but droops and refuses to flourish in the open sunshine.
Previous to the accession of James II. to the throne of Eng-
land, and before our chartered rights were threatened by the ar-
rival of Sir Edmund Andros, the territory now comprising the
County of Litchfield was very little known to the Colonial Gov-
ernment at Hartford. The town of Woodburw then large in ex-
tent, had been occupied some years earlier than this, by Rev.
j\Ir. Walker's congregation, from Stratford. The other parts of
the County were noticed only as a wilderness, and denominated
the Western Lands. Still it was supposed, that at some time they
might be, to some extent, inhabited and worth something. At
any rate, they were believed to be worth the pains of keeping out
of the way of the new government of Sir Edmund, which was
then apprehended to l^e near. To avoid his authority over these
lands, and to preserve them for a future and lietter time of dispo-
sal, they were granted, by the Assembly of the Colony, to the
towns of Hartford and Windsor, in 1686. — at least, so much of
them as lay east of the Housatonic river. T do not stop to exam-
ine the moral quality of this grant, which ma_\' be reasonably
doubted ; and it was soon after followed hx the usual consequences
of grants, denominated by law\-ers. consfrucfivciv fraudulent — dis-
pute and contention.
Upon the accession of William and Mary, in 1688, and after
the Colony Charter liad found its way back from the hollow oak
to the Secretary's office, the Colonial Assembly attempted to re-
sume this grant, and to reclaim the title of these lands for the
Colony. This was resisted lyv the towns of Hartford and Wind-
sor, which relied u])on the inviolabilit}' of plighted faith and pub-
lic grants. 'I'he towns not only denied tlie right, but actually
resisted the power of the Assembly, in the resumption of their
solemn deed. This i)roduced riots and attempts to break the
jail in Hartford, in which se\-era] of tlic resisting inhabitants of
Hartford and Windsor were confined.
It ^vould 1)e found difficult for the Jurists of the present day,
educated in the ])rinciples of Constitutional Law, to justify the
Asseml)l\ in tlie recision of its own grant, and it can not but ex-
cite a little sur])rise, that the ])oliticians of that day, who had not
yet ceased to complain of the mother country for its attempts, by
writs of qiio warranto, to seize our charter, should so soon be en-
gaged, and witliout the forms of law, too. in attempts of a kindred
character against their own grantees. Xo wonder that resistance
followed, and it was more than half successful, as it resulted in
a compromise, which confirmed to the claimants under the towns
the lands in tlie town of Litchfield and a part of tlie town of Xew
Mil ford. The other portions of the territory were intended to
be e(|uall\- divided between the Colony and the claiming towns.
CHURCH S CENTENNIAL ADDRESS 7
Thus Torrington, Barkhamsted, Colebrook, and a part of Har-
winton, were appropriated to Windsor ; Hartland, Winchester,
Xew Hartford, and the other ]>art of Harwinton, were reUnquish-
ed to Hartford ; and the remaining lands in dispute, now consti-
tuting the towns of Norfolk. Goshen. Canaan, Kent, Sharon and
Salisbur\-. were retained by the Colony. These claims having
at length been adjusted, the western lands began to be explored,
and their facilities for cultivation to be known.
Woodbury, as I have before suggested, by several \ears our el-
der sister in this new family of towns, began its settlement in 1674.
The Church at Stratford had been in contention, and the Rev. Mr.
Walker, with a portion of that Church and people, removed to the
fertile region of Pomperauge. soon distinguished by the name of
Woodbury, and then including, beside the present town, also the
region composing the towns of Southbury, Bethlem and Roxbury.
Pomperauge is said to have felt some of the effects of Philip's
war — enough, at least, to add another to the many thrilling scenes
of Indian depredation, so well drawn by the author of [Mount Hope.
Xew Milford next followed in the course of settlement. Thi<v
commenced in 1707. Its increase of population was slow until
1716, when Rev. Daniel P)oardman, from Wethersfield, was or-
dained as the first minister. This gentleman was the ancestor of
the several distinguished families and individuals of the same
name, who have since been and now are residents of that town.
His influence over the Indian tribe and its Sachem in that vicinity,
was i)owerful and restraining, and so much confidence had this
good man and his family in the fidelity of his Indian friends, it is
said, that when his lady was earnestly warned to fly from a threaten-
ed savage attack, she coolly rci)lied, that she would go as soon as
she had put things to rights about her house, and had knit round
to her seam needle ! The original white inhabitants were emigrants
from Milford. from which it derives its name.
Emigrants from the Manor of Livingston, in the Xew "S'ork
Colony made Indian purchases and began a settlement at Wea-
togue. in Salisbury, as earlv as 1720. After the sale of the town-
ship in 1737, the population increased ra])idly, — coming in from the
towns of Lebanon. Litchfield, and man\- other places, so that it ^\■as
duly organized in 1741, and settled its minister. Rev. Jonothan
Lee, in 1744.
The first inliabitants of Litchfield came imder the Hartford and
\\ inds(M- title, in 1721. and chiefly from Hartford. \\'indsor and
Lebanon. This territoiy, and a large lake in its south-west sec-
tion, was known as r.antam. Whether it was so called bv the In-
dians, has been doubted, and is not well settled.
The settlenient of the other towns commenced soon after, and
progressed .--teadily. \et slowly. The town of Colebrook was the
last enrolled in this jraternity. and settled its first minister. Rev.
Jonathan Edwards, in 1795. Rev. Rufus Rabcock. a Baptist min-
8 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
ister, had, tor some' time before this, resided and officiated in the
town.
One general characteristic marked the whole population ; it was
gathered chiefly from the towns already settled in the Colony, and
with but few emigrants from Alassachusetts. Our immediate an-
cestors were religious men. and religion was the ruling element ;
but it would be a mistake to suppose that it absorbed all others.
I shall not detain you with an eulogium on Puritan character.
This may be found stereotyped every where — not onl_\' in books and
speeches, but much more accuratel\- in its influence and eft"ects, not
in New England alone, but throughout this nation. Our American
ancestors were Englishmen, descendants of the same men, and in-
heritors of the same principles, by which Magna Charta was estab-
lished at Runny-mede. — They were Anglo-Saxons, inspired with
the same s])irit of independence which has marked them every where,
and especially through the long period of well defined English his-
tory, and which is destined in its further developments to give tone
and impress to the political and religious institutions of Christen-
dom. So much has been said and written of the Puritans, I have
sometimes thought that some believe that they were a distinct race,
and i^erhaps of a different complexion and language from their
other countrymen ; whereas, they were only Enghshmen, generally
of the Plebian caste, and with more of the energies and many of the
frailties and imperfections common to humanity. If our first settlers
here cherished more firmly the religious elements of their character
than any other., the spirit of independence to which I have alluded
developed another — the love of money, and an ingenuity in grat-
ifying it.
Since the extent and resources of this Count\- have been better
known, the wonder is often expressed, how such an unpromising
region as this County could have invited a population at first : but
herein we misconceive the condition of our fathers. Here, as they
supposed, was the last land to be explored and occupied in their
day. They had no where else to go, and the growing population
of the east, as well as the barren soil of the coast, impelled them
westward. Of the north, beyond the ]\Iassachusetts Colony, noth-
ing was known : only Canada and the frozen regions of Nova Scotia
had been heard of. On the west was another Colony, but a dif-
ferent people; and still beyond, was an unknown realm, possessed
by savage men, of whom New England had seen enough ; and not
much behind this, according to the geography of that day, was the
Western Ocean, referred to in the Charter. A visible hand of
Providence seems to have guided our fathers' goings. Had the
vallev of the Susquehanna been known to them then, they would
but the sooner have furnished the history of the massacre of
Wyoming.
li there were here the extensive and almost impenatrable ever-
:>-lade of the Green-Woods, the high hills of Goshen, Litchfield
g-i
CHL^RCHS CENTENNIAL ADDRESS 9
and Co'-nwall, and heavy forests every where — these were trifles
then ill the way of a Xew England man's calculation, and had been
ever since the people of the May Flower and the Arabella and their
descendants had been crowding their way back among the forests.
These, and a thousand other obstacles, were surmounted, with hard-
ly a suspicion that they were obstacles at all, and every township
began ere long to exhibit a well ordered, organized society.
This was no missionary tield, after the manner of modern new
settlements. Every little Colony, as it became organized and ex-
tended from town to town, either took its minister along with it, or
called him soon after. He became one v>ith his people, wedded
to them almost by sacramental bonds, indissoluble. A Prinuis
inter pares, he settled on his own domain, appropriated to his use by
the ]:)roprietors of every town, and he cultivated with his own hands
his own soil, and at his death was laid down among his parishoners
and neighbors in the common cemetery, with little of monumental ex-
travagance to distinguish his resting place. The meeting-house was
soon seen at the central point of each town, modestly elevated above
surrtiunding buildings, and by its side the school-house, as its
nursling child or younger sister, and the minister and the master
were the oracles of each community. The development of the
Christian man, spiritual, intellectual and physical, was the necessary
result of such an organization of society as this.
The original settlers of this County were removed two or three
generations from the first emigrants from England, and some of
the more harsh pecularities of that race may well be supposed, ere
this time, to have become modified, or to have subsided entirely.
If a little of the spirit of Arch-Rishop Laud, transgressing the
boundaries of Realm and Church, had found its way over the ocean,
and was developed tmder a new condition of society here, it is not
to be wondered at : it was the spirit of the age, though none the
better for that, and none the more excusable, whether seen in Laud
or Mather — m a Roya' Parliament, or a Colonial Assembly.
Less of these peculiarities appeared in Connecticut than in Mass-
achusetts ; and at the late period when this County was settled, the
sense of .oppression inflicted by the mother country, whether real
or fancied, was a little forgotten, and of course neither Quakers,
Prayer Books nor Christmas were the object of penal legislation.
A more tolerant, and of course a better spirit, came with our fathers
into this County, than had before existed elsewhere in the Colony,
and, if I mistake not. it has ever since been producing here its legiti-
mate effects, and in some degree has distinguished the char-
acter and the action of Litchfield County throughout its entire his-
tory, as many facts could be made to prove.
Before the year 175 1. this territory had been attached to dif-
ferent Counties — most of it to the County of Hartford : the towns
of Sharon and Salisbury to the County of Xew Haven ; and many
of the early titles and of proliate proceedings of several of the
lO LITCIIFIKLD COLXTV UHNCli AND BAR
towns, before their org-anization or incori)oration, may be found on
the records of more early settled towns. The first settlements of
estates in Canaan are recorded in Woodbury, and many early deeds
are on record in the office of the Secretary in Hartford.
In 175 1, the condition of the population of these towns was such
as to demand the organization of a new County, and the subject
was extensively discussed at the town meetings. As is always
true, on such occasions, a diversity of opinions as well as the or-
dinary amount of excited feeling existed, regarding the location
of the shire town. Cornwall and Canaan made their claims and had
their advocates — but the chief contest was between Litchfield and
Goshen. The latter town was supposed to occupy the geographical
center, and many persons had settled there in expectation that
that would become the fixed seat of justice, and, among others,
Oliver Wolcott, afterward Governor of the State. But at the
October session of the General Court in 1751, the new County was
established with Litchfield as the Count \- Town, under the name
of Litchfield County.
Litchfield County, associated with the thought of one hundred
vears ago ! A brief space in a nation's history ; but such an
liundred years ! — more eventful than any other since the intro-
duction of our Holy Religion into the world. This name speaks
to us of home and all the hallowed memories of youth and years
beyond our reach, — of our truant frolics, our school boy trials, our
youthful aspirations and hopes ; and, perhaps, of more tender and
romantic sympathies ; and many will recall the misgivings, and yet
the stern resolves, with which they commenced the various avoca-
tions of life in which they have since been engaged. And from this
point, too, we look back to ties which once bound us to parents,
l3rothers, companions, friends — then strong — now sundered ! and
which have been breaking and breaking, until many of us find our-
selves standing, almost alone, amidst what a few years ago was an
unborn generation.
Litchfield County ! Go where you will through this broad
country, and speak aloud this name, and you will hear a response,
"That is my own, my native land." Tt will come from some whom
you will find in the halls of Legislation, in the I'ulpit, on the liench,
at the Bar, by the sick man's couch, in the marts of Trade, by the
Plow, or as wandering spirits in some of the tried or untried ex-
periments of life. And sure I am, that there is not to be found a
son of this County, be his residence ever so remote, who would not
feel humbled to learn that this name was to be no longer heard
among the civil divisions of his native State.
The usual officers, made necessary by the erection of the new
County, were immediately appointed by the General Court. William
Preston, Esq., of Woodbury, was the first Chief Justice of the
County, and his Associates were John Williams. Esq., of Sharon,
Sanmel Canfield, of Xew Milford, and b^benezer Marsh, of Litch-
CHURCH S CENTEXXIAL ADDRESS II
field. Isaac oaldwin, Esq., was the first Clerk, and the first Sherifif
was Oliver Wolcott, of whom I shall speak again. The County
Court, at its first session in December of the same year, appointed
Samuel Pettibone. Esq.. of Goshen, to be King's Attorney, who
was, within a few years, succeeded by Reynold ]\Iarvin, Esq., of
this village, and these two gentlemen were all in this County, in
this capacity, who ever represented the King's majesty in that ad-
ministration of criminal justice.
The tenure of official place in the early days of the Common-
wealth, was more permanent than since party subserviency has in
some degree taken the place of better ([ualifications. The changes
upon the bench of the County Court were not frequent. The office
of Chief Judge, from the time of Judge Preston to the time of his
successors, who are now alive, have been John Williams, of Sharon.
Oliver Wolcott, Daniel Sherman, of Woodbury. Joshua Porter, of
Salisbury. Aaron Austin, of Xew Hartford, also a member of the
Council, and Augustus Pettibone, of Xorfolk. T can not at this
time present a catalogue of Associate Judges. Tt has been com-
posed of the most worthy and com]ietent citizens of the County —
gentlemen of high influence and resj^ect in the several towns of their
residence.
In the office of SherifiF. GovcruDr Wolcott was succeeded by
Lynde Lord, David Smith, John R. Landon. ]\Ioses Seymour, Jr..
and Ozias Seymour, of this village, and the successors of these
gentlemen are still surviving.
Mr. Marvin was succeeded in the office of State's Attorney, by
Andrew Adams. Tapping Reeve. Uriah Thacy, Xathaniel Smith,
John Allen, Uriel Holmes, and Elisha Sterling, whose successors,
with a single exception, still survive.
Hon. Frederick Wolcott succeeded Mr. luildwin in the office
of Clerk, and this place he held, undisturl)e(l by party influences,
for forty years, and until nearly the time of his death in 1836.
The common Prison first erected was a small wooden building,
near the late dwelling house of Roger Cook, Esq., on the north
side of East street. This stood but few years, and in its place a
more coiumodious one was built, nearly on the same foundation.
The present Prison was built in 1812, and essentially improved
within a few years. The first Court House stood on the open
grounds a little easterly from the West Park, and ma\' still be seen
in the rear of the buildings on the south side of W'est street. Tt
was a small building, but in it were often witnessed some of the
most able efforts of American eloquence. In this humble Temple
of Justice, Hon. S. \A'. Johnston of Stratford. Edwards of New
Haven, Reeve. Tracy, Allen, and the Smiths of this County, ex-
hibited some of the best essays of forensic power. The present
Court House was erected in 1798.
The early progress of the County presents but a few incidents
of sufficient note to retain a place in its traditionary history. The
12 LITCliFllvJa) COL X'iV J'.KXCJl AND JiAR
apprehension of savage incursions had passed away, and the ]:)eople
were left unchsturhed to carry out, to their necessary results, what
might have heen expected from the spirit and enterprise which
brought them hitlier. The old French War, as it has since been
called, disturbed them but little. Some of the towns in the County,
moved b\- a loyal im])ulse, and a legitimate hatred of France, as
well as hostilitv to Indians in its service, furnished men and officers
in aid of some of the expeditions to the northern frontier.
The pioneers here were agriculturists. They came with no
knowledge or care for any other pursuit, and looked for no greater
results than the enjoyment of religious privileges, the increase of
their estates b\' removing the heavy forest and adding other acres
to their original purchases, and with the hope, perhaps, of sending
an active boy to the College. Of manufactures, they knew nothing.
The grist-mill and saw-mill, the blacksmith and clothier's shops, —
all as indispensable as the plow and the axe, — they provided for as
among the necessaries of a farmer's life.
Thus they toiled on, till the hill-sides and the valleys every
where showed the fenced field and the comfortable dwelling. The
spinning wheel was in every house, and the loom in every neigh-
borhood, and almost every article of clothing was the product of
female domestic industry. Intercourse with each other was diffi-
cult. The hills were steep, and the valleys miry, and the means
of conveyance confined to the single horse with saddle and pillion,
with no other carriage than the ox-cart in summer and the sled in
the winter. The deep winter snows c^ften obstructed even the use
of the sled, and then resort was had to snow-shoes. These were
made of a light rim of wood bent into the form of an ox-bow,
though smaller, perforated and w'oven into a net work with thongs
of raw-hide, leather or deer skin, and Avhen attached to the com-
mon shoe enabled the walker to travel u|)on the surface of die
snow. Four-wheeled carriages were not introduced into general
use until after the Revolution. Ladies, old and young, thought no
more of fatigue in performing long journeys over the rough roads
of the County, on horseback, than the ladies of our times in mak-
ing trips by easy stages, in coaches or cars.
The County Town constituted a common center, where the
leading men of the County met during the terms of the Courts,
and they saw but little of each other at other times. The course
of their business was in difiierent directions. The north-west towns
found their markets on the Hudson River — the southern towns at
Derby and New Haven — and the eastern ones at Hartford. In
the mean while, and before the breaking out of the war of the
Revolution, nearly every town had its settled Pastor, and the schools
were every where spead over the territory.
No manufacturing interest was prevalent in the County at first.
The policy and laws of the mother country had discouraged this.
r)Ut the rich iron mine which had been earlv discovered in Salis-
church's cextexnial address 13
burw and the iron ore found in Kent, could not lie neglected. Iron
was indispensable, and its transportation from the coast almost
mipracticable. The ore bed in Salisbury had been granted by the
Colonial Assembly to Daniel Uissell of Windsor, as early as 1731,
and produces a better quality of iron than any imported from abroad
or found elsewhere at home.
The manufacture of bloomed iron in the region of the ore. com-
menced before the organization of the County. Thomas Lamb
erected a forge at Lime Rock, in Salisbury, as early as 1734, —
probablv the first in the Colony. This experiment was soon ex-
tensively followed in Salisbury. Canaan. Cornwall and Kent, and
there were forges erected also in Norfolk, Colebrook and Litch-
field. The ore was often transported from the ore beds to the
forge in leathern sacks, upon horses. I'ar iron became here a sort
of circulating medium, and promissory notes were more frequent-
ly made payal)le in iron than in money.
The first Furnace in the Colony was built at Lakeville, in Salis-
bury, in 1762, by John Hazelton and Ethan Allen of Salisbury,
and Samuel Forbes of Canaan. This property fell into the hands
of Richard Smith, an English gentleman, a little before the war
of the Revolution. Ui)on this event he returned to England, and
the State took possession of the furnace, and it was employed, un-
der the agency of Col. Joshua Porter, in the manufacture of can-
non, shells and shot, for the use of the army and navy of the
countrw and sometimes under the supervision of Goverucur Mor-
ris and John Jay, agents of the Continental Congress: and after
the war, the navy of the United States received, to a considerable
extent, the guns for its heaviest shi]:)S, from the same cstalilishment.
Tt will not be any i)art of my purpose to become the Ecclesiasti-
cal historian of the County. This duty will be better performed
1)\- otiier pens. And yet, the true character and condition of a
people can not be well understood without some study of their re-
ligious state.
T have alread\- suggested, that there was here a more tolerant
and better spirit than existed among the first emigrants to Ply-
mouth and Massachusetts. The churches were insulated, and in
a manner shut out from the disturbing causes which had agitated
other ])ortions of the Colony. I do not learn from that full and
faithful chronicler of religious dissensions. Dr. Trumbull, that there
was in this County so nmch of the metaphysical and subtle in the-
ology, as had produced such bitter effects at an earlier time, in the
churches at Hartford. New Haven. Stratford ard Wallingford.
The Pastors were men of peace, who had sought tli( retired ]iarishes
over here in the hills and valleys, without much p/ide of learning,
and without ambitious views. The influence of the Pastor here
was Daternal ; the eloquence of his example was more potent than
the eloquence of the pulpit. Tt might be expected, that by such a
Clergy, a deep and broad foundation of future good would be laid, —
14 LlTCUFlIiLU COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
a fixed Protestant sentiment and its legitimate consequence, in-
dependent opinion and energetic action.
There was here, also, very early, another element which modi-
fied and liberalized the temper of the fathers, who had smarted,
as they supposed, under the persecutions of an English home and
English laws. A little alloy was intermixed in the religious
crucible, which, if it did not, in the opinion of all, render the mass
more precious, at least made it more malleable, and better fitted
for practical use. There was not in this Country an universal
dislike of the Chuch of England. We were removed farther back
in point of time, as I have said, from the original causes of hostility.
\\'e were Englishmen, boasting of English Common Law as our
birthright and our inheritance, and into this was interwoven many
of the principles and usages of English Ecclesiastical polity.
This respect for the institutions of the mother country, though
long felt by some, was first developed in the College, and extended
sooner and more widely in this County than any where else ; so
that congregations worshiping with the Liturgy of the English
Church were soon found in Woodbury, Watertown, Plymouth,
Harwinton, Litchfield, Kent, Sharon and Salisbury, and were com-
posed of men of equal intelligence and purity of character with
their neighbors of the Congregational Churches. And yet, enough
of traditional prejudice still remained, uncorrected by time or im-
partial examinations, often to subject the friends and members of
the Church of England to insult and injustice. Some of it remains
still but too little to irritate or disturb a Christian spirit.
The spirit of emigration, that same Anglo-Saxon temperament
which brought our ancestors into the County, and which constantly
])ushes forward to the trial of unknown fortune, began its mani-
festitations before the Revolution, and sought its gratification first
in Vermont. Vermont is the child of this County. We gave to
her her first Governor, and three Governors besides : as many as
three Senators in Congress, and also many of her most efficient
founders and early distinguished citizens, — Chittendens, Aliens, Ga-
lushas, Chipmans, Skinner and others. The attitude assumed by
\^ermont in the early stages of the Revolutionary War, in respect
to Canada on the north and the threatening States of New York
and New Hampshire on either side, was peculiar and delicate, and
demanded the most adroit policy to secure her purpose of inde-
pendence. Tn her dilemma, her most sagacious men resorted to
the counsels of their old friends of Litchfield County, and it is said
that her final course was shaped, and her designs accomplished,
by the advice of a confidential council, assembled at the house of
Governor Wolcott in this village.
Perhaps no community ever existed, with fewer causes of dis-
turbance or discontent than were felt here, before the complaints
of British exaction were heard from Boston. But the first mur-
murings from the East excited our fjuiet population to action, and in
church's ce:nte;nnial address 15
nearly every town in the County, meetings of sympathy were holden,
and strong resolves adopted, responsive to the Boston complainings.
The tax on tea and the stamp duty were trifles. The people of
this County knew nothing of them, and probably cared no more.
The principle of the movement was deeper — more fundamental ;
the love of self government — -"the glorious privilege of being in-
dependent!" The excitement was general throughout the Country.
Individuals opposed it, and from different, though equally pure mo-
tives. Some supposed resistance to the laws to be hopeless at that
time, and advised to wait for more strength and resources ; others
were influenced by religious considerations, just as pure and as
potent as had influenced their fathers aforetime ; others had a deeper
seated sense of loyalty, and the obligations of sworn allegiance.
But the County was nearly unanimous in its resistance to British
claims, and saw in them the commencement of a Colonial servitude,
degrading, and threatening the future progress of the country, in
its destined path to wealth and glory. T believe no individual of
distinction in the County took arms against the cause of the country.
Our remote position from the scenes of strife and the march of
armies, will not permit me to speak to yovi of battle-fields, of vic-
tories won or villages sacked any where in our sight. We were
only in the pathway between the dift'ercnt wings of the American
army. I have no means of determining the amount of force in men
or money furnished by this County in aid of the war. From the
tone of the votes and resolves passed at the various town-meetings,
and front the many officers and men. Continental and militia, who
joined the army, I may venture the assertion, that no county in New
England, of no greater population than this, gave more efficient
aid in various ways, or manifested bv its acts, more devoted pa-
triotism.
Sheldon's was, I believe, the first regiment of cavalry which
joined the army. Tt was raised in this County chiefly, and com-
manded by Col. Elisha Sheldon of Salisbury. The services of
this regiment have been favorably noticed by the writers of that
day, and on various occasions called forth the public thanks of
the Commander-in-Chief. Among other officers attached to it, was
IMajor Benjamin Tallmadge, afterwards and for man\' years a dis-
tinguished merchant and gentleman of this village, and, for several
sessions, a valuable member of Congress in the Connecticut dele-
gation. ?^Iajor Tallmadge distinguished himself by a brilliant ex-
ploit against the enemy on Long Island, for which he received the
public approbation of General Washington ; and through the w^hole
struggle, this officer proved himself a favorite with the army and
the officers under whom he served. Besides these, several other
officers of elevated as well as subordinate rank, were attached to
the Continental armv, from this Countv. Among them were Col.
Heman Swift of Cornwall, ^lajor Samuel Elmore of Sharon, Col.
Seth Warner of Woodbury, Major Moses Seymour of Litchfield,
l6 1 ITCIIFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND 1!AR
Major John Webb of Canaan, Capt. John Sedgwick and Edward
Rogers of Cornwall. Col. Blagden and Major Lnther Stoddard of
Salisbury, and many others not now recollected.
Contributions in support of the war were not confined to the
payment of heavy taxes, but voluntary aid came from associations
and individuals in every town. The jiggregate can not be com-
puted. — if it could, it would show an amount, which, rich as we
now are. I think could not be demanded of our citizens for any
cause of patriotism or philanthropy without murmurs, and perhaps,
resistance.
- Nor was the Patriot spirit confined to men and soldiers. — it
warmed the bosoms of wives, mothers and sisters, in every town.
An equestrian statue of the King, of gilded lead, before the war,
had stood upon the Bowling Green in New York. As soon as
the news of the signing of the Declaration of Independence reach-
ed New York, this was missing. Ere long it was found at the
dwelling-house of Hon. Oliver Wolcott, in this village, and in
time of need was melted down into the more appropriate shape of
forty thousand bullets, by the daughters of that gentleman and
other ladies, and forwarded to the soldiery in the field. Other la-
dies still, and in other towns, were much employed in making
blankets and garments for the suffering troops.
I have no means of determining the number of killed and
wounded soldiers belonging to this County.
Mr. Matthews, the Mayor of the city of New York, was for
some time detained in this village, a prisoner of war. and it is said
that his traveling trunk, and some jjarts of his pleasure carriage,
still remain in possession of the Seymour family. Governor
Franklin, the Royal Governor of New Jersey, and a son of Dr.
Benjamin Franklin, was confined as a prisoner of war in our jail
whicli was often used to detain English prisoners as well as Tories.
Although the treaty of peace brought peace to other parts of
the State, it did not bring it to the whole of tliis Count}'. One
town was left. — not to the continued and merciless inroads of
British soldiers and savage Indians, as before, but to the unjust
oppressions of Pennsylvania. — Westmoreland, better known to the
readers of Indian tragedy by the name of U^yoiiiiiii:^. Its history
is 'one of melancholy interest. This territory is in the valley and
region of the Susquehanna River, and included the present flourish-
ing village of \\'ilkesbarrc. Its extent was as broad as this State.
It was su]iposed to be embraced within (^ur chartered limits, and such
was the opinion of the most eminent counsel in England and in
the Colony. Under this claim, a company associated about the
year 17^4. by the name of the Susquhanna Company, and purchased
the Indian title to the country, for two thousand pounds. New York
currency. This was a voluntary movement. — a people's enterprise,
unsanctioned by any direct Legislative act. but unforbidden, and'
probably encouraged. Within a few years, a settlement was ef-
CHURCH S CENTENNIAL ADDRESS 1/
fected upon the choice lands of the Susquehanna, chiefly by emi-
grants from the counties of Windham and Xew London, with sev-
eral from this County, among whom was John Franklin of Canaan,
the brother of the late Silas Franklin, Esq., of that town, a gentle-
man whose fortune and history were closely interwoven with the
fortunes of that colony. The Authorities of Pennsylvania, though
claiming under a later Charter, opposed this settlement, and kept
up a continual annoyance until the breaking out of the war with
England, and even then sympathized but little with our people
there, under the dreadful afflictions which that event brought upon
them.
Sad indeed was the condition of the colonists of Wyoming ! —
persecuted by their Pennsylvania neighbors, and left defenceless
to the ravages of British troops and their savage allies ! The
Legislature of this Colony recognized this interesting band of its
own children, and incorporated them into a township, by the name
of Westmoreland, in 1774, and annexed it to the Count \- of Litch-
field. They would have been protected from the aggressions of
Pennsylvania, if the war of the Revolution had not prevented, and
the good friends of that Commonwealth would have been compelled
to doff the Quaker a while, or (|uietl\' to have left our fellow-citizens
in peace, lender the protection of their parent power, this little col-
ony now looked for security. They were a town of the Connecticut
Colony, organized witli Selectmen and other ordinary Town Of-
ficers, and semi-annually sent their Deputies to the General Court
at Hartford and Xew Haven ; chose their Jurors to attend the
Courts of this County, and their Justices of the Peace were mag-
istrates of the County of Litchfield, and all writs and i)rocess.
served there, were returnable to the Courts of this Countv. and
remain now upon our records. But their securitv was transient ;
the war of the Revolution brought down upon tiiem a combined
force of British Provincials and Tories, from Pennsylvania. Xew
Jersey and X'^ew York, and a lartre bodv of Indians, commanded
by Brant, a celebrated chief. This whole force was directed by
Col. John Butler, of infamous memorv.
I have no leisure to describe, in its details, the progress of the
tragedy of the \\\voming massacre. Cols. John Franklin and
Zebulon Butler were consnicious in their efforts to avert the sad
destiny of the citizens. It was in vain. The battle opened on
the 3d day of July. 1778. and it closed with the entire destruc-
tion of the settlement. Men, women and children, whether in
arms or defenceless, were devoted to the bayonet and scalping knife,
and such as were so fortunate as to escape, were driven awav.
houseless and homeless, many of them to be dragged from their
hiding places to the slaughter, and others to escape after many
perils by the way. That massacre was without a likeness in modern
warfare, and a stain upon the English character, for which English
historians have found no apology.
l8 LITCHFIELD COUXTV BENCH AND I!AK
"Accursed Brant ! he left of all my tribe
Nor man, nor child, nor any thing of living birth :
No, — not the dog that watch'd my household hearth
Escaped that night, upon our plains, — all perished !"
Men, maidens, widowed mothers and helpless infants, flying-
from this scene of death, are remembered by many still living,
passing on foot and on horseback through this County, back to
their friends here and to the eastern towns. Such was the fate
of a portion of the citizens of our own County. Nine years Wy-
oming had been a part of us, and after the war was over, Penn-
sylvania renewed her claims and her oppressions. Our Pilgrim
fathers could recount no such afflictions! Our jurisdiction ceased
in 1782, after a decision by a Board of Commissioners ; but a great
portion of those who had survived the conflict with the Indians,
gathered again around the ruins of their former habitations, and
still refused submission to the claims of Pennsylvania. Col. Frank-
lin was the master spirit of resistance, and upon him fell the weight
of vengance. He was arrested, imprisoned, and condemed to death
as a traitor. After a long confinement in iail, he was at length
released, and survived many years, and was a respectable and in-
fluential member of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, from
the County of Luzerne.
The result of the compromise of our claim to the town of West-
moreland, was the acknowledgment, by Congress, of the claim of
Connecticut to the Western Reserve, from wliich has been derived
the School Fund of the State.
The war of the Revolution had ceased, and left us an exhausted
people. The extravagant hopes of many were disappointed : they
felt the present pressure, but anticipated none of the future prosper-
itv and glorv in reserve. This disappointment, in a neighboring
State, had produced open resistence to the laws, — re]:»ellion ! It
was a contagious spirit, and such as municii^al lines could not con-
fine, ^lucii was feared from it here. A spark from that flame
in Berkshire county had flown over into Sharon. One Dr. Hurl-
but, an emissary of Shay's, visited that town, in the spring of 1787,
to enlist men in his cause. He made soiue impression. The
General Assembly was then in session, and took efficient measures
to jjrevent the spread of the treasonal)le contagion. Col. Samuel
Canfield, of New ATilford, and Uriah Tracy, of this village, were
sent to suppress it. Several individuals were arrested and im-
prisoned in the iail of this County; but, as the disturbance in the
sister State subsided, the advocates of resistance to the laws were
disheartened, the prosecutions were finally abandoned, and these
disciples of the treasonable doctrine of resistance were oermitted to
go at large, punished enough b\- the contempt which followed them.
Although tlie resources of our citizens had been consumed by
a wastino- war and a l)ankrui)t government, the elasticity of our
Col. Samuel Caxfield.
church's cextknnial address 19
former enterprise was not relaxed. Released, now, from Colonial
dependence, and free to act without foreign restrictions, the ener-
gies of our citizens soon recovered all they had lost. A Consti-
tution of Government, uniting the former Colonies into a great
nation, was proposed to the State for adoption ; and, in January,
1787, a convention of deligates from the several towns met at
Hartford to consider it. The votes of the deligates from this
County, upon this great question, stood, twenty-two in the affirm-
ative, and nine in the negative. The negative votes were from
Cornwall, Norfolk, and Sharon. Harwinton, New Hartford, and
Torrington were divided.
No portion of the country sooner revived under the new im-
pulse, given by the establishment of a National Constitutional
Government, than this County. Our resources were varied. Our
soil was every where strong on the hills and by the streams. \^ar-
ious sections possessed their peculiarities of production. Wheat
was a staple of the western towns. Dairy products were yielded
in abundance in the northern and central regions ; and. in almost
everv location, everv species of grass, fruit, and grain, indigenous
to an\- northern latitude, by reasonable culture, was found to flourish.
We were rich in the most useful mineral in the world, and our
streams of purest water afforded privileges every where for con-
verting our ores into iron and our forests into building materials.
Rut we had more — that, without which, all these were worthless ;
we had an industrious, and what was better, an economical and an
intelligent yeomanrw We had a few slaves, to be sure ; not enough
of these, nor enough of a degraded foreign population to render
the toil of our own hands, in the fields, or of our wives or daughters,
in the kitchen or the dairy, dishonored or disgraceful. Our people
were Native Americans! And liere is the secret of our prosperity
and progress.
In 1784 the first newspaper press was established in this County
by Thomas Collier, and was continued under his superintendence
for more than twenty years. Tt was called the "Weeklv ATonitor."
Tt was a well conducted sheet, and it is refreshing now. after the
lapse of many years, to look through its columns, as through a
glass, and see the men of other days, as they have spoken and acted
on the same ground on which we stand. Mr. Collier was an able
writer, and his editorial efforts would have done honor to anv
journal. Tt is a Litchfield monitor now. and whoever shall look
over its files will see, at a glance, the great changes which have been
introduced, in later days, into all the departments of business and of
social and political life.
Then, the intercourse between the several towns in this County
and the market towns was slow and difficult. The Country mer-
chants were the great brokers, and stood between the farmer and
the markets. Thev received all his produce and supplied all he
wished to buv. The thriftv farmer, on settlement, received his
20 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
annual balance from the merchant. This enabled him to increase
his acres. He did not invest it in stocks ; of these he knew nothing,
except such as he had seen attached as instruments of punishment, to
the whipping post in every town.
The merchants, thus employed, almost all became wealthy.
A broken merchant in the County was seldom heard of. Among
the most successful and respectable of these gentlemen, whom I
now recollect, were Julius Deming and Benjamin Tallmadge, of
this town ; Tallmadge, of Warren ; Bacon, of Woodbury ; Lea-
vitts', of Bethlem and Washington ; Starr. Norton, and Lynians',
of Goshen ; Battel, of Norfolk ; King, of Sharon ; HoUey, of Salis-
bury, and Elijah Boardman, of New Milford, afterwards a highly
respectable Senator in the Congress of the United States. At
that time, Derby was the chief market town for many of the mer-
chants in the southern towns of the County.
The age of Turnpike Roads commenced about the year 1800,
and no portion of the country was more improved by them than
this County. Before this, a journey through the Green Woods
was spoken of as an exploit. — a region now accommodated by the
most pleasant road in the County. The roads constructed about
the same time, from New Haven to Canaan, from Sharon to Goshen,
and from Litchfield to Hartford, changed very much the aspect of
the County and its current of business, and if they have not been
profitable to stockholders, thev have been invaluable to the people.
The spur given to agriculture by the wars following the French
Revolution was felt in every thing. If our farmers have failed
in anv thing, it has been in a proper appreciation of their own calling.
Thev have vielded a preference to other employments, to which they
are not entitled. Tf we are to have an Aristocracy in this country,
I say, let the farmers and business men. and not our idlers, be our
Princes! — not such as are ashamed of their employments and with-
draw their sons from the field and their daughters from domestic
labor. T would have no such to rule over me. But, in spite of
some such false notions, agriculture has kept pace even with other
branches of industry in the Countv, as the appearance of our farms
and the thrift of our farmers attest. Much of this may be attributed
to an Agricultural Society, which was formed here several years
ago. and has been well sustained until this time.
1 have alluded to the condition of manufactures as it was before
the Revolution — limited to iron and confined to the furnace in Salis-
bury and a few forges in that vicinit\ : to which mav be added, the
manufacture of maple sugar, to some extent by the farmers in some
of the towns.
Even a few vears ago, this Count} was not believed to be destined
to become a manufacturing comnumitw During the Revolutionary
War, Samuel Forbes, Esq.. commenced a most inu:)ortant experi-
ment in Canaan — the manufacture of nail rods. Before this, nails
were hammered out from the bar iron — a slow and expensive process.
CHURCH S CKXTEXNIAL ADDRESS 21
Tlierc was a slitting-mill in Xew Jersey, in which nail rods were
made, but the machiner_\- was kept hidden from pubhc inspection.
Forbes wished to obtain a knowledge of it. and for this purpose
employed an ingenious mechanic and millwright, Isaac Benton, of
Salislmrw Benton, disguised as a traveling mendicant, obtained
admission to the mill, and so critically, and without suspicion,
marked the machinery and its operation, as to be able immediately
to make such a model of it as to construct a mill, of the same sort,
for Forbes. This was the fixmdation of his great fortune in after
life. He afterwards erected another slitting-mill in Washington,
(now Woodville. ) By these he was able to suppl\ the great de-
mand for this article. This was a great improvement upon the
former mode of nail-making, but was itself superseded, some years
afterwards, by the introduction of cut nail machinery. Esquire
Forbes, as he was afterwards familiarly called by every body, may
justlv l)e deemed the pioneer of the manufacturing interests in this
Countv. His efforts were confined, generally, to the working of
iron. His forge he extended, and accommodated to the manufactur-
ing of anchors, screws, and mill irons. He introduced this branch
of the iron business into this County, if not into the State. It was
not long after followed by those enter])rising manufacturers. Russell
Hunt ct' I'rothers. at South Canaan, by whom the largest anchors
for the largest ships of the American Xavy were made.
The manufacture of scythes by water-power, was commenced
in this County first at \Mnsted. by Jenkins & Boyd, in 1794. These
enterprising gentlemen, with the brothers Rockwell, soon extensive-
Iv engaged in various branches of the manufacture of iron and steel
in Winsted and that vicinitw from which originated, and has grown
up to its present condition, one of the most flourishing manufactur-
ing villages in the State.
The furnace, in Salisljury. continued for many years in most
successful o])eration under its active proprietors, and es]x^cially
its last owners. ]\Iessrs. Holley cS: Coffing, by whose energy and
success, the iron interest, in Salisbury, has been most essentially
jiromoted : and it has extended into the towns of Canaan, Corn-
wall Sharon, and Kent. Ames' works, at Falls \'illage. are not
equalled by any other in the State.
In speaking of the iron interest. T cannot but allude again to
the Salisbury iron ore, which is found in various localities in that
town. It stands superior to an\- other for the tenacity of the iron
which it produces, with which the armories of Si)ringfield and
Harper's Ferrv are supplied, and froiu which the chain cal^les and
best anchors for the Xavy are made. And I am confident, if the
machinery of the steam vessels and railroad cars were made ex-
clusivelv from this iron, and not from a cheaper and inferior ma-
terial, we should know less of broken shafts and loss of life in our
public conveyances.
Paper was first made in this County, at the great Falls of the
22 LITCHFIELD COUXTV BLNCH AND BAR
Housatonic, in Salisbury, by Adam c^' Church, as early as 1787,
and soon after in Litchfield. The first carding-machine erected,
I think, in this State, was built at the great falls in Canaan, about
1802. Previous to this time, wool was carded only by females, at
their own firesides.
A general manufacturing policy was suggested by the measures
of government, and not long after a more extensive experiment
was made in the manufacture of woolen cloths by the late Gov.
Wolcott, and his brother Hon. Frederick Wolcott of this place,
than had been made in this County before ; and although the trial
was disastrous to its projectors, it was the parent of the subse-
quent and present prosperity of the village of Wolcottville.
The same policy has spread into almost every town in the
County, and has not only extended the manufacture of iron, from
a mouse trap to a ship's anchor, but has introduced, and is intro-
ducing, all the various branches of manufactures pursued in thi.=
country ; and of late, the elegant manufacture of the Papier Alache.
Plymouth, New Hartford, Norfolk, Woodbury, as well as the
towns before mentioned, have felt extensively the beneficial efifects
of this modern industrial progress, so that our County may now
be set down as one of the first manufacturing Counties in the
State ; and this confirms what I have said, that here are all the
varied facilities of profitable employment, which can be found in
any section or region o fthis country. ( )ur voung men need no
longer seek adventure and fortune elsewhere ! Neither the desire
of wealth, nor the preservation of health and life, should suggest
emigration.
As soon as the war was over, and the Indians subdued into
peace, our ])eople rushed again to A'ermont, and to the W'hites-
town and Genesee countries, as the\' were called ; so that, in a few
years, let a Litchfield County man go where he would, between the
top of the Green Mountains and Lake ChamplaiiL or between Utica
and the Lakes, and every day he would greet an acquaintance or
citizen from his own County.
And then followed the sale and occu]iati(^n of the Connecticut
Western Reserve. Many of its original proprietors were our citi-
zens : and among them, Messrs. Boardman, of New Milford : Holmes,
Tallmadge, and Wadsworth, of Litchfield ; Srarr and Norton, of
Goshen ; Canficld, of Sharon ; Johnston. Church, and \\'aterman,
of Salisbury. For a time it seemed as if de]:)opulation was to fol-
low. The towns of Boardman, Canficld, Tallmadge, Johnson, Hud-
son, and several others on the reserve, were soon filling up with
the best blood and spirit of our County : and since then, we have
been increasing the population of other ])arts of the States of New
York and Ohio, as well as of Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana, so
that now there is not one of us who remain, who has not a parent,
a brother, or a child, in New York, A^crmont, or the States of the
West. And we believe that these children of our own raising, have
CHURCH S CKXTKXXIAI, ADDRESS 23
transniittc(l the impress and image of Litchfield County, to the gen-
eral condition of societ}' where they have gone, and that they have
fixed there a moral likeness which proves its parentage. This em-
igrating propensity has characterized the Saxon race in all times
of its history ; and it is still at work, scattering us into every corner
and climate, and away to dig for gold and graves in the barrens of
California ! Notwithstanding this exhausting process of emigration,
our population which, in the year 1800. was 41,671, has increased
to the number of 46,171.
1 do not know that before the Revolution there was a public
Grammar School in the County. The preparatory studies of young
men, intended for collegiate course, were prosecuted with |)rivate
instructors — generally, the Clergy; and this course was pursued
still later.
Among the clergymen of the County most distinguished as in-
structors, and in fitting young men for college, as it was called,
were Rev. Daniel Farrand. of Canaan, Ammi R. Robbins, of Nor-
folk, Judah Champion, of Litchfield, and Azel Backus, D. D., of
Bethlem. This last named gentleman was afterwards President
of Hamilton College.
Soon after the war, .Academies were instituted, and among the
first and best of them was the Morris Academy in the parish of
South Farms, in this town, which was commenced in 1790, by
James Morris, Esq. Esquire Morris was no ordinary man. He
was a distinguished graduate of Yale College, and an active officer
in the Revolutionary Army. His learning was varied and practical,
and under his direction the Morris Academy became the most noted
public school of the County, and so continued for many }ears.
An Academy at Sharon, not long after, acquired a deserved repu-
tation, under such instructors as John T. Peters, Elisha Sterling,
and Barzillai Slosson. Alanx- vears afterwards an Academy was
conducted in Ellsworth Society, in the same town, under the super-
intendence of Rev. Daniel Parker, which soon attained a high
reputation.
Our relative position in the State, and the controlling influence
of the cities, have left us without College. Asylum, or Retreats ;
but our district schools have been doing their proper work, so that
Judae Reeve remarked while alive, that he had never seen but one
witness in Court, born in this County, who could not read. And
these schools have not only made scholars, but scliool-mastcrs. and
these have been among the best of our indigenous productions, and
have found a good market every where. \\'hen Congress sat in
Philadelphia, a Litchfield County man was seen driving a drove
of mules through the streets. A North Carolina member congratu-
lated the late Air. Tracy upon seeing so many of his constituents that
morning, and enquired where they were going, to which he facetious-
ly replied, that they were going to North Carolina to keep school
24 UTCHFIELD COUNTY BEXCII AXD BAR
A new tone to female education was given by the establish-
ment of a Female Seminary, for the instruction of females in
this village, by Miss Sarah Pierce, in 1792. This was an un-
tried ex])eriment. Hitherto the education of young ladies, with
few exceptions, had been neglected. The district school had limit-
ed their course of studies. Miss Pierce saw and regretted this,
and devoted herself and all of her active life to the mental and
moral culture of her sex. The experiment succeeded entirely.
This Acedeni}- soon became the resort of young ladies from all
portions of the country — from the cities and the towns. Then,
the country was preferred, as most suitable for female improve-
ment, away from the frivolities and dissipation of fashionable life.
Now, a different, not a better practice, prevails. ]\Iany of the
grandmothers and mothers of the present generation were educated
as well for gentcl as for useful life, in this school, and its influence
upon female character and accomplishments was great and extensive.
It continued for more than forty years, and its venerable Principal
and her sister assistant now live among us, the honored and honor-
able of their sex.
I)efore this, and as early as 1784, a Law School was instituted
in this village. Tap]Mng Reeve, then a young lawyer from Long
Island, who had commenced the practice of his profession here,
was its projector. It is not known whether in this country, or any
where, except at the Inns of Court at \A'estminster, a school for
the training of lawyers had been attempted. Xo Professorships
of Law had been introduced into American Colleges ; nor was the
Law treated as a liberal science.
Before this, the law student served a short clerkship in an at-
tornev's office, — studied some forms and little substance, and had
within his reach but few volumes beyond Coke's & \\'oo(rs Insti-
tutes. Plackstone's Commentaries, Bacon's Abridgment, and Jacob's
Law Dictionarw and, when admitted to the lUir, was better instruct-
ed in ])leas in abatement, than in the weightier matters of the Law.
Before this, too, the Common Law, as a system, was imperfectly
understood here and in oiu' sister States. Few lawyers ha.d master-
ed it. The reputation of this institution soon became as extensive
as the country, and young men from Maine to Georgia sought to
finish their law studies here.
Judge Reeve conducted this school alone, from its commence-
ment until 1798, when, having been appointed to the Bench of the
Sui)erior Court, he associated with him. as an instructor. James
Oould. Fs(|. These gentlemen conducted the school together for
several vears, until the advanced age of Judge Reeve admonished
him to retire ; after which. Judge Gould contijiued the school alone
until a few years before his death. It may be said of Judge Reeve,
that he first gave the Law a place among liberal studies in this
countrv. — that "he found it a skeleton, and clothed it with life,
color, and complexion." This school gave a new impulse to legal
CnrKCIl's CKXTEXXIAL ADDRESS 2^
learninjT and it was felt in the Jurisprudence as well as in the
Legislation of all the States.
A new subject of study, not known in any other country, had
been presented to the legal student here, — the Constitution of the
L'nited States and the Legislation of Congress. Uniformity of in-
terpretation was indispensable.
At this institution students from every State drank from the
same fountain, were taught the same principles of the Common
and Constitutional Law : and these principles, with the same modes
of leg-al thinking and feeling and of administration were dissemin-
ated throughout the entire country. More than one thousand
lawyers of the I'nited States were educated here, and many of
them afterwards among the most eminent Jurists and Legislators.
Even after Judge Gould's connection with the school, an inspection
of the catalogue will show, that from it have gone out among the
States of this Union, a \'ice President of the United States, two
Judges of the Supreme Court of the L^nited States, forty Judges
of the highest State Courts, thirteen Senators, and forty-six Repre-
sentatives in Congress, besides several Cabinet and Foreign Min-
isters.
I have said that this school gave a new impulse to legal learn-
ing in this country. Soon after its establishment, and not before,
reports of judicial decisions appeared. Ephraim Kirby, Esq an
able lawyer of this village, ])ublished the first volimie of Reports
of Adiudged Cases, in this country, — a volume which deserved
and received the approbation of the profession here and elsewhere.
This was soon follow^ed by Reports in Massachusetts and New York.
Standing at this point of time, and looking back over the events
of an hundred years, we would recall, not only the scenes which
have transjMred, but revive our recollections of the men who have
acted in them. Memory cannot raise the dead to life again : yet
it ma\ bring back something of their presence, — shaded and dim,
but almost real ; — and through the records of their times we may
hear them speak again. To some of these I have made allusion. I
would speak of others.
The allusion to the Law School of the County suggests to me
a l:)rief notice, also, of the legal jirofession here, and of its most
distinguished members, as well as a further allusion to others of
the sons of Litchfield County, distinguished in other professions
and employments of life. Tn si^eaking of these I must confine
myself to the memor\- of the dead. And here. T feel that T am
under a restraint, which, on any other occasion. I would resist. I
feel this chain which binds me the more as T look around on this
gathering and see some here, and am reminded of others — so many,
who have contributed by splendid talents and moral worth, to make
our name a j^raise in the land. As the reoresentative of the County.
T would most gladlv do them livin<T homage before you all. T re-
gret that T have h^d so brief an opnortimity to make this notice
26 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BKXCII AND BAR
as perfect as it shoukl be. — a favorite theme, if I could but do it
justice.
I have not been able to learn much of the Lawyers who practiced
in this territory before the organization of the County in 1751-
Samuel Pettibone. Esq., of Goshen, and Reynold Marvin, Esq., of
Litchfield, (a native of Lyme,) are all of whom I can speak.
Mr. Pettibone lived to a great age and died in reduced circum-
stances, in 1787. Mr. Marvin was respectable in his profession,
and was King's Attornev at the time of the Revolution. His resi-
dence was at the dwelling of Dr. William Buel, in this village.
Among the Lawyers of the new County who appeared in its
Courts, were Mr. Thatcher, of New Milford. Hezekiah Thompson
and Edward Hinman. of Woodbury, Mr. Humphrey, of Norfolk,
John Canfield. of Sharon. Andrew Adams, of Litchfield, Mr. Catlin.
of Harwinton, and Joshua Whitney, of Canaan. Of these. Messrs.
Canfield and Adams became distinguished at the Bar and in public
life. Mr. Canfield was the son of Samuel Canfield, of New Mil-
ford, one of the Associate Judges of the County. He was a])point-
ed a member of Congress under the Confederation, but died before
he took his seat. We can appreciate his character when informed
that he was the chosen colleague of Johnson, Ellsworth, and Trum-
bull. Mr. Adams succeeded Mr. Marvin as State's .-\ttorney. He
was esteemed an eloquent advocate, and his reputation at the Bar
was distinguished. He was well versed in theological studies, and
in the absence of his minister, often officiated in the pulpit. He
was a member of the Continental Congress, and after the Revolu-
tion, became an Associate, and then Chief Justice of the Superior
Court.
Before the Revolution there were but few eminent lawyers in
the County, and professional gentlemen from abroad attended our
courts and were employed in the most important causes. Among
these were Thomas Seymour. Es(|., of Hartford, and Hon. Samuel
W. Johnson, of Stratford, then standing at the head of the Con-
necticut Bar. A colonial condition was. as it ever will be, un-
favorable to the development of forensic talent.
The change in the state of this Bar, after the War. and especi-
allv after the settlement of the government, was sudden and great;
and, within a few years after this event, no Count \- in the State
and but few in other States, could boast of a Bar more distinguished
for legal talent and high profession and moral excellence, than this.
Reeve. Tracy, Allen, Kirby, Strong of Salisbury, Smith of W^ood-
bury. Smith and Canfield, of Sharon, are names which revive proud
recollections among the old men of the County. And while these
gentlemen stood before our courts there came to their company a
vouneer band, destined, with theuL to perpetuate the high stand-
ing of the profession here ; — Gould. Sterling, of Salisbury : Benedict.
Rue:2:les, r.oanlman. Smith, of Litchfield; Slosson, Southma\-d,
CHURCH S CENTENNIAL ADDRESS 27
Swan, Pettibone, and afterward. Miner, Williams, Bacon, and
others.
Tapping Reeve was a native of Long Island, and a distinguished
gradute of Nassau Hall, New Jersey, and a tutor in that college.
He commenced practice here in 1783, and was one of the most
learned lawyers of the day in which he lived. He loved the law
as a science, and studied it philosophically. He considered it as
the ])ractical application of religious principle to the business affairs
of life. He wished to reduce it to a certain, symmetrical system
of moral truth. He did not trust to the inspiration of genius for
eminence, but to the results of profound and constant study, and
was never allured by political ambition. I seem, even now. to see
his calm and placid countenance shining through his abundant
locks, as he sat, poring over his notes in the lecture room, and to
hear his shrill whisper, as he stood when giving his charge to the
iur\ . He was elevated to the Rench of the Superior Court in 1798,
an(i to the office of Chief Justice in 1804, and retired from public
life at the age of seventy \ears and died in 1827. He pulilished a
vahialdc treatise on Domestic Relations, and another on the Law
of Descents.
Gen. Triah Tracy was a native of Xorwich. and one of the
first of the pupils of Judge Reeve. As a itu-\- advocate he obtained
a high distinction. His wit was pungent and his powers of oratory
imcommon. He was a i)olitician. often a member of our own Legis-
lature : for several years a memlu'r of Concfress. and he died in 1807,
while a member of the Senate of the United States, in which body
he was eminently distinguished.
Col. Adonijah Strong, tlie father of the late Hon. Martin
Strong, was unique in genius and manner, of large professional
business, sound practical sense, and many anecdotes of his say-
ings and doings are still remembered and repeated in the County.
Hon. Nathaniel Smith, of Woodbury, a native of Washington,
commenced life under discouraging circumstances. He had neither
fortune nor the ]M-os]:)ect of any, nor early education, to stimulate
him. Like man\- other New England boys, he fought his way to
eminence : and eminent he was ; and T cannot tell by what process
he became so. He. too, was one of the early members of the Law
School here. He was not a man of many books. He seemed to
understand the law. as did ^Tansfield and ^Marshall, by intuition,
and to have acquired the power of language by insoiration. His was
a native elof|uence yet chaste, and ''when unadorned, adorned the
most." T think he was one of the most nrofound lawyers and judges
of this C(^untr\-. He was a member of the Council, a member of
Congress, and was elevated tr> the Lench of the Suoerior Court in
1806.
Hon. Nathan Smith was a vonnger brother of Nathaniel Smith,
and though born and reared in this County, his professional and
~8 l.nCHFlKlJ) COUNTY BENCH AND BAR.
public life was passed in Xew Haven Conntw but he often appeared
at this I'>ar. He was less profound than his brother, more ardent,
and i)erhaps more effective as a jury lawyer. He died, while a
Senator in Congress, in 1835.
Hon. John Allen was a native of Massachusetts and instructed
by Mr. Reeve, and for several years held a commanding position
at this Bar.
Hon. John Cotton Smith, of Sharon, was the son of Rev. Cotton
Mather Smith, of that town. A graduate of Yale College and of
the Litchfield Law School, he soon took a prominent place by the
side of Tracy and Nathaniel Smith at the Bar of the County. He
was known as a fluent speaker, and of easy and graceful address ;
he became a popular advocate. For several sessions of the Legis-
lature of the State he was speaker of the House of Representatives.
In Congress he sustained an enviable reputation as a presiding offi-
cer. Upon retiring from Congress he was soon placed upon the
Bench of the Superior Court, from which he was promoted to the
office of Governor of the State. From this he retired, and from
public life, in 181 7. The remainder of his life was spent in doing
good, either as President of the American Bible Society, or in dis-
charging the duties of a virtuous citizen in his native town, until
his death in 1845.
Hon. James Gould was a native of Branford, a graduate and
a tutor of Yale College. He pursued his professional studies with
Judge Reeve, and, soon after coming to the Bar of this County,
he became associated with him as an instructor of the Law School.
Judge Gould was a critical scholar, and alwa^■s read with his pen
in his hand, whether Law book or books of fiction or fancy, for
which he indulged a passion. In the more abstruse subjects of the
law, he was more learned than Judge Reeve, and. as a lecturer, more
lucid and methodical. The Common Law he had searched to the
bottom, and he knew it all — its principles, and the reasons from
which they were drawn. As an advocate, he was not a man of
impassioned eloquence, but clear and logical, employing language
elegant and chaste. He indulged in no wit, and seldom excited a
laugh, but was very sure to carrv a listener along w^ith him to his
conclusions. \\'ith his brethren, his intercourse was always courte-
ous, and with his younger ones, kind and affectionate. He never
gave offense. In his arguments, he resorted to no artifice, but met
the difficulties in his way fully in the face, and if he could not over-
come them he vielded without irritation. He was appointed an
.Associate Judge of the Superior Coiu't in 1816. and retired from the
Bench to private life soon after. Judge Gould i>ublished an able
treatise on the Law of Pleading, in which he was governed by the
truth of Lord Coke's saying, "he knoweth not the law. who
knoweth not the reason thereof." His volume has received flat-
tering approval from the most learned Jurists in this country and
Kngland. Judge Gould died in 1838.
,'>ji<'*as<
-ih
/m
$■
/'/
Juiix CdiiiiN S\irrii.
From Cravon Sketch. 1800.
church's CENTEX X I AL ADDRESS 29
Noah R. Benedict was the son of Rev. Noah Benedict, of
Woodbury, a gentleman of no precocity of intellect or genius, and
his first appearance at the Bar did not promise the eminence which
he afterwards acquired. He studied, and the Law was the chief
subject of his study. He aspired to no higher place than distinc-
tion in his profession. He engaged in none of the ordinary busi-
ness transactions of society, and, as he once told me, he never gave
a ])roniissorv note in his life. With such an undivided attention
to his professional calling, it was not strange that he should reach
a high place at the Bar. And he did reach it, and, at the time of
his death, no man here stood before him. His example should be
a choice model for voung lawyers.
(jcn. Klisha Sterling, of Salisbury, was a native of Lyme. N^o
one in our profession was more assiduous in its i:)ractice than this
gentleman. His causes were never neglected in their prepara-
tion. The controlling points of every case he discovered (juick,
and pressed both, in i)reparation and argument, with zeal. He
neglected the study of method and system in his arguments, but,
when concluded, nothing had been omitted.
Passing 1)y, on this hurried occasion, a more particular notice
of the galaxy of Lawyers, to whom I have alluded. I may be in-
dulged in paying an affectionate tribute to one or two, whose familiar
voices still seem sounding in oin- Com-t House.
Hon. Jabez W. Huntington earned his high nrofessiona' char-
acter here, where he commenced and continued his practice for
several years. He engaged in ])ublic life, and returned to hi? na-
tive town of Xorwich. He was elected to Congress: afterwards
he was elevated to the Bench of the Superior Court, which place
he retnined until he was api)ointed a Senator in Congress, in which
positi'-n he died in 1847. Having been associated with Tudge
Huntington at the Bar and on the Bench. T can bear true testimony
to his superior abilities in both jilaces.
Of m\- late brother. Leman Church Es(|., the proprieties of mv
connection will not permit me to sneak. The deep sensation pro-
duced at this Bar. and the grief which tore the hearts of his num-
erous friends, when he died, is the only eulogy upon his life and
character to which T may refer.
T hafl a young friend, m~)on whose opening prospects T looked
with anxiety and hope. He was of generous heart and liberal
hand and stinmlated b\ an honorable ambition, which seemed
nearl\- at the point of o-ratification. when death came for its vic-
tim. This friend was Francis Bacon. Esq., who died in 1849. ^^
the age of ;?o vears.
Hon. Oliver \\'olcott. the younger, late Governor of this State,
was also a member of this Bar, and though he engaged in public
life soon after his admission, we are entitled to retain his name
on our catalogue. I shall not speak now of his life and eminent
services. They make a prominent part of the countrv's history,
30 LITCHFIELD COLNTV BENCH AND IIAR
and have been, within a few years, faithfuHv written by his near
relative. He died in 1833, and I regret to say that his remains
lie in onr grave-yard, withont a monnment to mark his resting
place. His bust has been presented, on this occasion, to the Bar
of this County.
1 make the same claim to retain among the names of our de-
parted brethren, that of Hon. Frederick Wolcott, a son of the
elder Gov. Wolcott, of this village. He became a member of this
Bar in early life, and with high prospects of professional distinc-
tion ; but he accepted the proffered office of Clerk of the Courts
and Judge of Probate for this district, in 1793, and soon relinquish-
ed professional duties. For several years he was a prominent mem-
ber of the Council, under the Charter administration. An intimate
connexion with this gentleman, both public and private, justifies
the liigh opinion T have ever entertained of his purity of life and
character, his ])ublic spirit, and his frank and open bearing. I never
pass by the venerable mansion of the Wolcott family, in my daily
walks about this village, without recalling the stately form and
ever honorable deportment of Frederick Wolcott. The duties of
his official stations were discharged with the entire approbation of
the community for many years, and until a short time before his
death, and amidst the conflicts and overturnings in the political
revolutions of the times.
Roger and Richard Skinner, were sons of Gen. Timothy Skin-
ner of this town, and members of this bar. Roger commenced
business in this village, and gave assurance, by his early taients,
of his future standing; but he was here in the most bitter state of
Connecticut politics, and, as he believed, was compelled to escai:)e
from unmerited, opposition. He removed to the State of X"ew
>'ork ; soon attained a deserved eniinence in his profession and
was appointed a Judge of the United States Court, in the \orth-
ern District of that State. Richard Skinner removed to \'er-
mont and afterwards became an eminent Judge of the Superior
Court, and ultimately Governor of that State.
Tn the clerical profession, I have remarked before, that there
was earlv manifested a dispc^sition rather to be good than great.
The clergy of this County were nearly all educated men ; and many
of them rine scholars and profound divines, and if there were not
as man\ here as in some other regions, whose names have been
transmitted to us as among the great ones of New England, it has
been because the severer calls of parochial duty, and stinted means,
and Christian graces restrained their aspirations after fame. Di-
vinit\ lia>^ furnished tin- most c(Mni^^(Mi them'- and employed the most
pens. We are all theolgians in New England.
Rev. Joseoh Hellamy. D. D.. of Rethlem, was probably the
first and most eminent of our writers on this subject. He was
eloquent and impressive as a preacher, as well as learned and pro-
found as a scholar and writer. He published several theological
CHURCH S CEXTEXNIAL ADDRESS 3I
Avorks upon practical and controversial subjects, besides occasional
sermons, which are found in the libraries of Divines, and have
been held in high repute, not only among the disciples of his own
peculiar ojMnions, but among others, as well in Europe as in this
country ; and a modern edition of them has been recently pub-
lished. Dr. Bellamy was the grandfather of the late Josejih H.
Bellamy, Esq., of Bethlem, a gentleman of great moral and pro-
fessional worth.
Rev. Jna. Edwards was a pupil of Dr. Bellamy in his theolog-
ical studies, and, although not a native of this Countw he resided
among us for several years, as the first settled minister of Cole-
brook, and until he was called to the presidency of Union Col-
lege, in 1799. He was the author of several volumes of great
merit; and among them, a treatise upon the salvation of all men.
in reply t(^ Dr. Chauncex' : also, a dissertation on the liberty of
the will in reply to West, and observations on the language of the
Stockbridge Indians.
Rev. Chauncey Lee, D. D., who succeeded Dr. Edwards, as
minister in Colebrook, was a native of Salisbury, and a son of
Rev. Jonathan Eee, of that town. He was educated for the bar,
and commenced iiractice in his native town. This he soon relin-
quished for the clerical calling. Very early he published a Deci-
mal Arithmetic and afterwards a volume of Sermons on various
subjects. But his most elaborate work, and the one most
esteemed l.\ himself, was a i)oem, entitled "The Trial of \'irtue,""
being a paraphrase oi the book of Job. Dr. Lee was a gentle-
man of some ecceiUricitics. but a very learned divine and impres-
sive preacher.
Rev. Samuel J. Mills, a native of Torrington, and son of the
venerable pastor of one of the societies there, is entitled to a more
extended notice than T am ]:)repared on this occasion to repeat.
Not because he was the author of books, but the author and
originator of liberal and extensive benevolent effort. The nc^ble
cause of Foreign ^lissions in this country, is deei~)l\- indebted to
him as one of its most zealous and active projectors ancl friends.
Another of the most splendid charities of any age or country. —
the Colonization Society. — owes its existence to the eft'orts of this
gentleman ; and his name will be cherished b\- the philanthropists
of the world, along with those of Howard and Wilberforce.
Rev. Horace Holley. D. D.. of Salisbury, was son of ^Tr.
Luther Holley. and one of a highly distinguished and worthy
family of brothers. Dr. Holley was first ordined pastor of a
Church and Society at Greenfield, in Fairfield County, and was
one of the successors of the late Dr. Dwight, in that parish. He
subsequently removed to Boston, and became one of the most
eloquent pulnit orators among the eminent divines of that metrop-
olis. He afterwards became President of Transvlvania L^niver-
sity in Kentucky, and died, while vet a voung man on ship-board.
32 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
when on his return from Xew Orleans to New England. I am not
informed that he left any published works behind him, except
sermons delivered on special occasions. He was my class-mate
in College, and I knew him well.
The Rev. Dr. Backus of Bethlem, Rev. Mr. Hooker of Goshen,
and Rev. Dr. Porter of Washington, are remenibered as among
the most learned Divines of the County.
Of the Medical Profession and the Medical Professors here.
mv opportunities of information have not been extensive. And
yet I have known enough of them to persuade me that a more
learned and useful facult}-, has not been found elsewhere in the
State. Empiricism has always existed, and will exist ; and the
credulit}- of some good men will give it countenance. We depend
upon a learned medical influence, more than any thing else, to
save us from its death-dealing results.
As early as January. 1767, a Medical association was formed
in this County, composed of the most eminent physicians then in
practice here. Its object was to establish rules of practice and
intercourse; — promote medical science by providing for annual
consultations and dissertations, and to protect the reputation of
the profession and the health of the community, from the inroads
of ignorant pretenders to medical science. Among the names of
the gentlemen composing this body, I see those of Joshua Porter,
Lemuel Wheeler, Joseph Perry, Seth Bird, William Abernethy.
Samuel Catlin. Simeon Smith, Cyrus Marsh Ephraim Gitteau,
John Calhoun, \-c. ( )ne of the earliest ])hysicians of the County
was Oliver W^olcott. He was the son of Hon. Roger Wolcott.
of Windsor, a former Governor of the Colony. He had served
as an officer in the French war, and settled himself in Goshen
before the organization of the County, in the ])ractice of his pro-
fession. Whether he continued in practice as a physician after
his removal to this town is not known; probably, however his
official duties as Sherifif prevented it. He was subsequently
honored with almost every official place which a good man would
covet. — he was a member of the House of Representatives, of the
Council, a Judge of Probate, a Judge of the Countv Court, a
Reoresentative in Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Tn-
de;)en(lence. Lieutenant Governor, nnd Governor of his native
State, and more than aH, the father of an excellent family. He
is said to have been a man of uncommon diffidence, and dis-
trustful of his own abilitv. His oublic communications display
sound judgment, and his more confidential correspondence a
warm affection and a pure purpose.
Dr. Seth liird. of Tvitchfield, probabl\- lield the first place
among the earlv physicians of the County. His reputation was
wide-spread. For acuteness of di'^crimination and soundness of
judgment he was not excelled.
church's centennial address 33
Dr. Joseph Perry, of Woodbury, was not only eminent in his
profession, but, what was unusual in his day, he excelled as a
belles-lettre scholar and was a gentleman well read in various
branches of science. Later generations produced their eminent
and accomplished physicians. Dr. Xathaniel Perry, son of the
gentleman just named: Dr. Daniel Sheldon, of this town; Drs.
Fowler of Washington, Rockwell of Sharon, Welch of Norfolk
Ticknor of Salisbury.
Dr. Samuel Woodward, of Torrington, was not only a physi-
cian of high repute himself, but he was almost literally a father
of the faculty. Dr. Samuel B. Woodword, late of Worcester,
Massachusetts, Dr. Henry Woodward, late of Middletown, and
Dr. Charles Woodward, of the same place, were his sons, — born
and educated in this County. Few men in any community have
attained a more eminent and useful i:)Osition than Dr. Samuel ?>.
Woodward. Under his superintendance the Insane Hosoital, at
Worcester, was established and for many years conducted and
now sustains a reoutation equal with any of the noble charities
of this country. The Annual ReT)orts of Dr. Woodward and his
other professional writings, and the success of his elYorts in the
cause of humanity, have earned for him a reputation wliich will
long survive.
Among the Surgeons of note, in earlier times was Dr. Samuel
Catlin, of TJtchfield. and at a later jicriod. Dr. Samuel R. Oager,
of Sharon.
The medical profession in this County has ]iroduced some
writers of respectability. Dr. Klisha North was for several years
a physician of extensive i^-actice in Goshen, and he afterwards
removed to New London. He i^ublished an approved treatise on
spotted fever, which extensivelv prevailed in Goshen and its vicin-
ity, while he resided there.
Dr. Caleb Ticknor of Salisbury, was brother of the late ex-
cellent Dr. Luther Ticknor, of that town, and of Dr. Benajah
Ticknor, for manv vears a surgeon in the navy of the United
States : and although a young man when he removed to New-
York City, about the year 1832. he rose rapidly to a high p\ace
in his profession. He i)ublislied several medical works, the most
iwnular of which was, the Philosoohv of Living, which consti-
tutes one of the volumes of Harpers' Family Library.
The Chipman family, a numerous brotherhood, removed from
Salisbury to A'ermont immediately after the Revolutionary War:
it iM-oduced eminent men. Nathaniel was an officer of the Rev-
olution. He became Chief Justice of \^ermont. and a Senator
in Congress. He published a small volume of Judicial R'-norts
and a larger treatise upon the Principles of Government. Daniel
Chioman. a younger brother of this gentleman, was a verv prom-
inent member of the A^ermont Bar. He was the author of a verv
M I.ITCIIFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
creditable essay "On the Law of Contracts" ; and besides a vol-
ume of Law Reports, he published the life of his brother Nathaniel,
and also the life of Gov. Thomas Chittenden.
Hon. Ambrose Spencer, late Chief Justice of the State of
New York, was born in Salisbury, the son of Philip Spencer,
Esq, He was prepared for his collegiate course under the in-
struction of Rev. Daniel Farrand, of Canaan ; studied the law, I
believe, with Hon. John Canfield, of Sharon, whose daughter he
married.
Hon. Josiah S. Johnston, late an eminent member of the Sen-
ate of the L'nitefl States, from Louisania, was a native of the same
town. He was the son of Dr. John Johnston, who removed
early to Kentucky. His academical studies were pursued here.
Samuel ^loore, of Salisbury, was a profound mathmatician
and engaged much in the instruction of young men in what was
called the surveyor's art. He ]:)ublished a treatise on surveying,
with a table of logarithms. It was the earliest work on that
"branch of mathematical science i:)ublished in this country. It
intr()duced the method of com]:)uting contents by calculation en-
tirely, without measuring triangles by scale and dividers. It
was a valuable treatise, but was nearly superseded by a more
finished (nie b\ Rev. Abel Flint, in wliich he borrowed much from
Moore.
Ethan Allen is deserving of notice only for his revolutionary
services, which are matters of public histor\'. He published a
narrative of his captivity as a prisoner of war, and a volume of
Infield Theology. He was a native of this county : the town of
his nativity has been a matter of dispute, but is not a question
worth solving.
We have had Poets, too, besides such as I have mentioned,
wlio deserve a remembrance on this occasion.
Hon. John Trumbull, late one of the Judges of the Superior
Court of the State, was born in ^^^atertown. in this County, in
which liis father was a minister. The Progress of Dulness. and
McFingal, the most admired of his Poems, were written in early
life. The\" are satyrica! productions, and for genuine wit have
not been excelled by any modern efifort. Judge Trumbull's ac-
tive life was passed chiefly in Hartford.
A\'illiam Ray was a Salisbur\- man. born in 1771. and while a
lad develoi)e(l a taste for noetry but earl\- destitution and mis-
fortune.«^ ])ressed upon him drove him into the Navy of the Ignited
States. He was for some time a cantive in Trii:)oli. and in t8o8
lie published the Horrors of Slavery, and in 18^1 a volume of
Poems.
Fbenezer P. Mason was a native of Washington. \^er\- few
men gave mnre early iiromise of literary and scientific distinc-
tion than voung Mason. His life and writings were published
in 1842. b\- Professor Olmsted, of Yale College.
CHURCH S CENTENNIAL ADDRESS 35
Washington has been a nursery of eminent men, of whom I
cannot now speak without violating- my purpose of speaking of the
■dead, and not of the Hving.
Mrs. Laura M. Thurston, of Norfolk, permitted to be pub-
lished by her friends, several poetical pieces of uncommon sweet-
ness and excellence. — the I'aths of Life, the Green Hills of my
Father Land, and others.
There are but few occasions, and these extreme ones, which
call out the qualifications for military life.
Gen. Peter B. Porter was the youngest son of Col. Joshua
Porter, of Salisbury, of whom 1 have spoken before. He was
a graduate of Yale College and pursued the stud\- of the law
where so manv of the noted men of the country have — at the
Litchfield Law School. He was among the early emigr^ants
from this County to the Gensee country. He was soon called
to occupy places of trust and power in the State of his adoption.
He was a member of Congress when the project of the Erie Can-
al was first suggested, and was one who, with De Witt Clinton,
originated that important national work, and is entitled to equal
hcnor with him for it'^ projection. He urged it, when in Ci^n-
gress, as a national work, in a speech of great strength, and asked
for the aid of the nation. As a member of the House of Repre-
sentatives, he was associated with Henry Clay on a Commitree to
consider the causes of complaint against Great P>ritain, and drew
up the report of that Committee, recommending the declaration
of the war of 1812. He thus early ardently es])oused the cause
of his country, and stood ])y the side of Tompkins and other
])atriots, in their efforts to prosecute that war to an honorable
result.
He was then a civilian only: but. impatient and mortified at
the ill success of our arms ui)on the northern frontier — his own
house pieced by the enemy's shot, on the banks of the Niagara
River — he threw off the civil and assumed the military attitude.
He raised a regiment of ardent volunteer troops, and at their
head, soon contributed to turn tlie tide of success. His services
at Fort Erie and the battles at the Falls, have been repeatedh-
told by the writers of the country's history. I will not repeat
them. So highly were they esteemed by the general Government
a'ud the State, that thanks and medals were presented, and l)efore
the close of the war he was offered the chief command of the
arm}-, bv the President. Under the administration of the younger
Adams he was offered, and accepted, the place of Secretarv of
^^'ar.
My time confines me to the notice of the most consjiicuous of
our sons, native and adopted : but there were others, in everv
town, perhaps of equal merit but with fewer opportunities of
displa\-. The list of our 1-1-iembers of Assembly, and of men bv
whose efforts the foundations of society were laid here, and bv
3<) LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
wliom tilis County has been brought from a repulsive region of
mountains and rocks to its present condition of fertility and wealth,
would show an aggregate of moral and intellectual worth which
no region. e(jual in extent, has surpassed.
And by whom were all these eminent and excellent men reared
and pre])ared for the stations which they have occupied in society?
B} fathers,, whose own hands have toiled — by mcjthers, who were
the spinsters of the days in which the\' lived, and who knew and
practised the duties of the kitchen as well as the parlor, and to
whom the music of the spinning-wheel and the loom was more
necessary than that of the piano and the harpsichord.
The spirit of strict economy has marked our progress from the
beginning, and by no other could our fathers have left to us this
heritage of good ! Removed from the profusion, and from what
is esteemed the higher liberality of cit}' habits, our County has not
fallen behind other kindred communities in encouraging the benev-
olent operations of these latter days.
A Alissionarv Society, auxiliary to the lioard of Commissioners
of Foreign !vlissions. was established in this County, in the year
1813, and has been in active operation since. This noble charity,
since its organization, has received and paid over, as near as I can
ascertain, the sum of about $125,000. The benevolent otTerings
of other denominations — the Episcopalians, Methodists, and Bap-
tists, to the purposes of their respective religious operations, I have
no present means of knowing ; that they have been equally liberal
in proportion to their means, with their Congregational brethren,
1 have no reason to doubt.
In the year 1817, the Foreign Mission School was established
in Cornwall, with the special object of s])rea(ling Christian truth
and the means of civilization among the heathen.. The origin of this
effort, if not accidental, was gradual in its conception and develop-
ment. Two young natives of the Sandwich Islands were, by the
directing, and almost visible hand of Providence, thrown among us
and fell under the notice of Mr. Elias Cornelius, in 181 5. then a
student in Yale College, and since distinguislied as a Divine and
Philanthropist. The names of these young heathen, as known
among us, were Henry Obookaih and William Tenoe. These young
men were carefully instructed by Mr. Cornelius. Samuel J. ^lills, and
Fdwin wight, with a chief object of preparing them to become
Christian Missionaries among their countrymen. They were soon
after placed under the care of Rev. Joel Harvey, then a Congrega-
tional minister in Goshen ; at his suggestion, the Xorth Consociation
of Litchfield County, liecame their patrons. The\- were, not long
after, joined by Thomas Hoi)oo, their countryman, and all were
l)laced under proper instruction for the great ol)ject designed. But
a more liberal and enlarged ])roject was conceived : a Seminar \ in
a Christian land, for the instruction of the heathen joined with the
purpose of preparing voung men here for luissionarv service in
church's centennial address 37
heathen lands. It was a splendid thought, and the American Board
attempted its consummation. ,
Rev. Timothy Dwight, Hon. John Treadwell, James Morris,
Esq.. Rev. Drs. Beecher and Chapin, with Messrs. Harvey and
Prentice, were authorized to devise and put in operation such a
Seminary, and the result was. the Foreign Mission School at Corn-
wall. Young natives of the Sandwich Islands, and from China,
Australasia, and from the Indian nations on this Continent, as well
as American youths, were instructed there. The school continued
successfully until 1827. The establishment of the Sandwich Island
Mission, was one of the important results of this school.
Many years before the modern movement in a temperance re-
formation was suggested, sue]-: a project was conceived in this town
and encouraged b\- the most prominent men here. A Temi)erance
Pledge was signed in May, 1789, reinuliating the use of distilled
liquors, by 36 gentlemen : and among the names annexed to it, were
those of Julius Deming, Benjamin Tallmadge, Uriah Tracy, Eph-
raim Kirby, Moses Seymour, Daniel Sheldon, Tapping Reeve,
Frederick Wolcott, and John Welch — names well known and well
remembered here. I believe the first temperance association of
modern date, in the County, was formed among the iron operatives
at Mount Riga, in Salisbury. The results of this grand effort
have been as successful here as elsewhere. If any special cause has
operated to retard the final success of this charity, it has been the
strangling, death-ensuing embrace of party politicians — the scathing
curse of many a good thing. As long ago as 1816, there were dis-
tilleries in every town in the County ; and in New Milford, as many
as 26, and in the whole County, 169! and, [resides these, there were
188 retailers of spirits, who paid licenses under the excise laws of
the United States, to the amount of $3,760. Whether there be a
distillery in the County now, I am not informed ; I believe but very
few.
I have not attempted to trace the modifications of society here
— its progressive changes in modes of opinion and consequent action.
It would lead me too far from my object, which has been only to
s])eak of events, and the men who have been engaged in them.
Before the Revolution there was little to excite. There was a
common routine of thinkino- which had been followed for vears —
somewhat disturbed, to be sure. b\' what were called "iiczc lights"
in religion. But the results of our emancipation from the mother
country turned everything into a different channel, opinions and
all. A new impulse broke in upon the general stagnation of mind
which had been, and made every body speculators in morals, religion,
])olitics, and every thing else. My own memory runs back to a
dividing point of time, when I could see something of the old world
and itczc. Infidel opinions came in like a flood. ~Slr. Paine's "Age
of Reason," the works of \'oltaire, and other Deistical books, w^ere
broad cast, and young men suddenly became, as they thought, wiser
38 UTCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
than their fathers ; and even men' in high places, among us here,
were suspected of infidel opinions. At the same time came the
ardent preachers of Mr. Wesley's divinity, who were engaged in
doing hattle with Infidelity on the one hand, and Calvinistic theology
on the other. Here were antagonistic forces and influences, which
introduced essential changes, and both have been operating ever
since, And it would afford an interesting subject of investigation,
to trace these influences to their results. The Methodist preachers
first visited this County about the year 1787, and organized their
first classes in Salisbury and Canaan. This was their first appear-
ance in the State, and, I believe, in New England. In this County
they were received with courtesy, and found many to encourage
them among those who did not well understand the old divinity.
I might detain you in speaking of the prevalence and effects of
party spirit here ; but as this, as well as denominational controversy,
is unpleasant to me, I forbear. There was a time, about the year
1806, when the spirit was rife here, and led to prosecutions, fines
and imprisonment, and a disturbance of social relations, which has
never since re-appeared to the same extent.
I need not say any thing of the present condition of the County.
This you see and know. Its Railroads, penetrating regions not long
since supposed to be impenetrable ; villiages rising up in the deep
valleys, whose foundations have been hidden for nearly a century ;
and fertility and thrift, where a few years ago were uncultivated
forests and wasting water-falls.
Of what shall we complain? Is it that we do not, all of us,
make haste to be rich? Ah! is it so, my brethren? Is there noth-
ing but wealth which can satisfy a rational mind and an immortal
spirit?
Of the future we may indulge proud hopes, while we doubt and
fear. Progress is the word of modern theorists, but of doubtful
import. Innovation is not always progress towards useful results.
Of this we, who are old, believe we have seen too much, within a
few years, and fear much- more to come. Our County is but a
small part of a State and Nation, and so our fate stands not alone.
We can but look to our political institutions as our ultimate pro-
tectors, and I urge upon you all, my brethren, their unwavering
support. Our Constitution- requires no innovating process to im-
prove it. It demands of us more than a mere political respect and
preference — almost a religious reverence. Love for it, in all its
parts, in every word and sentence which compose it, should be
interwoven into all our notions of thinking, speaking and acting.
Disturb but one stone in this great arch — but one compromise in
this holv covenant — and the whole nutst tumble into ruin !
i^atly Kioltta
SKETCHES
OF THE
EARLY LIGHTS
OF THE
LITCHFIELD BAR
BY
HON. DAVID S. BOARDMAN
1860
BOARDMAN S SKETCHES 4I
PATRIDGE THATCHER.
Patridge Thatcher was the first man who practiced the legal pro-
fession in New Milford. He was not educated to the profession, but
took up the trade, because there were none of the craft hereabout,
when this county was organized, which was after he came to middle
age. He was a native, 1 have been told, of Lebanon in this state, and
. came to New Milford, I know not how long ago. He was, how-
ever, a married man at the time. He had no children : but a large
number of negroes, whom he treated with kindness enough to put
to shame the reproaches of all the abolitionists in Xew England.
He was a man of strong mind, of rigid morality, and religious to the
letter according to tlie strictest sect of orthodox episcopacy. He
adored Charles I. as a martyr and he hated Oliver Cromwell worse
than he did the evil one. Loyalty, unconditional loyalty, was the
prime element of his political creed. Of course, his name was not
found in any list of the wacked Whigs of the Revolution, and had he
lived in these days, he would most thoroughly have eschewed democ-
racy and abolitionism. On the breaking out of the Revolutionary
war, his loyalty necessarily silenced his voice in court, and he died
soon after its conclusion. Lawyer Thatcher, as he was always
called, was undoubtedly, a very odd, a very honest and a very good
man. I wish there were many such men now, both on account of
the good example they would set, and the harmless anuisement they
would afiford.
DANIEL EVERITT.
Daniel Everitt was a native of Bethlem and settled in Xew Alil-
ford as a lawyer, some time during the early part of the Revolu-
tionary war, probably as early as '76 or '"/y, possibly earlier, as from
a record I have access to I see he was married to a daughter of the
Rev. Nathaniel Taylor on the first of January, 1778, and I remember
that he lived here some time before that event. He had not a colle-
giate education, but was a man of good education and received an
honorary degree. He read law with Judge Adams of Litchfield, and
I remember to have heard him say, that he occasionaly officiated in
Mr. Adams' place as state's attorney, when he, (Adams) was absent
in Congress, which he often was, during the war of the Revolution.
Mr. Everitt was a man of much wit, boundless extravagance of ex-
pression, quick conception, and in command of language and fluency
of utterance, unsurpassed, but not a man of much depth of mind nor
had he much legal learning: his library extended little beyond
Rlackstone and Jacobs' Law Dictionary. He had, I believe, a very
good run of practice, when the Court really opened to do civil busi-
ness, after the conclusion of the war. His success in this respect
was, however, of rather short duration ; a number of younger law-
42 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
vers having about that time commenced practice here, and other cir-
cumstances conspired to carr)' business away from him. and he never
recovered it. While studying- law I heard him argue a case or two,
keeping the Court house in a roar by his wit and sarcasm, but by the
time I was admitted, viz. in '95, he had about given up attending
Courts at Litchfield, though he was not fifty years of age — and indeed
he was, I think, but fifty-seven when he died in 1805. I met him,
however, a few times, before Arbitrators and Justices, and had
enough to do to parry his home thrusts of good natured wit. Before
him I often went, as he tried almost all the Justice cases, which he
always did with entire integrity and usually came to a correct con-
clusion. He represented this town. I think three times in the general
assembly, and as a member of the convention which ratified the Con-
stitution of the United States. He was a man of strict honesty, en-
tire moral rectitude of conduct, and a professor of religion. He was,
however, much given to sociality, and to that conviviality which some
time borders on a kindred indulgence. Mr. Everitt succeeded the
late Col. Samuel Canfield as Judge of Probate in this district in
1790, and held that office till liis death at the time above mentioned.
TAPPING REEVE.
I saw much of Judge Reeve's practice at the bar for nearly
five years, during which time he was engaged in almost every case of
importance tried in the Superior Court at Litchfield, and never failed
to argue every one in which he was engaged, if argued at all. In the
County Court, after I became acquainted with him, he did not prac-
tice. His school had become numerous, and he gave up his practice
in that Court because (I suppose, ) it too much interrupted his course
of daily lectures, and knowing as he did that he should have a part
in every cause expected to be tried in the Superior Court. And, by
the way, trials were then managed and got through with in a reason-
able time, and not sufifered to be dragged out to the abominable and
shameful length which they now are, to the disgrace of the Pro-
fession for indulging in it, and of the Courts for permitting it.
I joined Judge Reeve's school in the fall of 1793, and he was not
placed on the bench till the spring of 1796, so that I saw him at the
Bar during nine sessions of the Suju^rior Court, and never failed to
listen to him, if 1 could avoid it, with unqualified love and admiration
through every speech he made, to its conclusion. I say zvith love, for
no instructor was ever more generally beloved by his pupils, and in-
deed entirely so except it was by those whose love would have been
a reproach to the object of it. As a reasoner, he had no superior
within the compass of my observation of forensic performances. I
mean true, forcible and honest reasoning. In sophistry, he was too
boardman's sketches 43
honest to indulge, and too discerning to suffer it to escape detection
in the argument of an adversary.
As a speaker he was usually exceedingly ardent, and the ardor
he displayed appeared to be prompted by a conviction of the justice
of the cause hewas advocating. His ideas seemed often, and indeed,
usually, to flow in upon him faster than he could give utterance to
them, and sometimes seemed to force him to leave a sentence unfinish-
ed, to begin another, — and in his huddle of ideas, if I may so express
it, he was careless of grammatical accuracy, and though a thorough
scholar, often made bad grammar in public speaking. Careless as
he was of his diction and thoughtless as he w^as of ornament in ordi-
nary cases, yet some elegant expressions and fine sentences would
seem, as if by accident, to escape him in almost every speech. But in
such cases as afforded the proper field for the display of eloquence,
such as actions of slander, malicious prosecutions, etc., and m that
part of such cases as usually prompt to exertions of the kind, his hur-
ried enunciation and grammatical inaccuracies, all forsook him, and
then he never failed to electrify and astonish his audience. Many of
these used to be recited to me by those who had often heard him and
it fell to my lot to witness one such occasion. In an action for mali-
cious prosecution, in closing the argument, on entering upon the sub-
ject of damages, he burst forth into such a strain of dignified and
■soul-thrilling eloquence, as neither before nor since, has ever met my
ear. The first sentence he uttered thrilled through every nerve of my
entire frame to the very ends of my fingers, and every succeeding
sentence seemed to increase in overwhelming effect. I was perfectly
entranced during its delivery, and for an hour afterwards I trembled
so that 1 could not speak plain. His manner was as much changed
as his language, and to me he looked a foot taller than before. The
next day I went to him and asked him to commit to writing the con-
cluding part of his speech, to which request he said in the simplicity
of his nature, "Why, if I should do that, perhaps I should make it
better than it really was, and that would not be fair." We told him
(Mr. Bacon was with me, ) there was no danger of that, for we knew
it could not be bettered. Well, he said he would try. but he did not
know whether he could recall it to memory, for there was not a word
of it written before hand. A day or two after he saw me in Court,
behind his seat, and beckoned me to him and said he had tried to
comply with my request, but it was so gone from him that he could
make nothing" of it.
I believe I have said enough in regard to Judge Reeve as an
advocate, and that is the extent of your enquiry. As a Judge, you
are acquainted with his reputation, historically, though you probably
never saw him on the bench, as he left it nearly thirty-nine years ago.
to wit, in May. 1816. to the regret of all admirers of legal learning
and lovers of impartial justice.
As I loved and admired Judge Reeve while living, and mourned
him when dead. I love to think and talk of him now that I have at-
44 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH,AND BAR
tained to a greater age than he did, though he reached some eighty-
four years, and I feel tempted to obtrude upon you some such leading
incidents of his life as I am in memory possessed of, and which can-
not be much longer retained.
Judge Reeve was the son of a Presbyterian clergyman and was
born on the south side of Long Island. He was educated at Prince-
ton College, where he graduated in 1763 at seventeen years of age
as I have heard him say. He was immediately appointed tutor of
the grammar school connected with the college, and in that station
and as a tutor in the college itself, he remained seven years. He
then came to Connecticut to study law, which he prosecuted in the
office of Judge Root, then a practicing lawyer in Hartford, and as
soon as he was admitted to the bar he settled in the practice at Litch-
field. This I suppose to have been in 1772. He had previously
married Sally Burr, the eldest child and only daughter of President
Burr of Princeton College, and the sister of the celebrated Aaron
Burr, who was a pupil of Judge Reeve in the grammar school. The
Revolutionary war having commenced within a short time after he
came to the bar, there was but little civil business done in the Courts
until its conclusion, or nearly so. He therefore early betook himself
to giving instruction to young gentlemen who looked forward to the
legal profession for support and advancement in life, when the cir-
cumstances of the country would allow of its exercise. This employ-
ment tended greatly to systematize and improve what stock of legal
science he already had acquired, and aided by his uncommonly fine
talents and native elocjuence early secured to him, the deserved rep-
utation of an able lawyer. About the close. I believe, of the Revolu-
tionary war, either through an acquaintance with the late Judge
Sedgwick or otherwise he was introduced to some practice in Berk-
shire County, and in the celebrated criiii. con. case of Winchell vs.
Goodrich, gave such a display of his oratorical powers as astonished
the natives, and that, together with the conspicuous part he took with
Judge Sedgwick in the great case of General Ashley's negroes, which
put an end forever to slavery in Massachusetts, he established a rep-
utation which ensured him business there as long as his avocations at
home allowed him to attend to it. This however, I believe, was not
very long. The delicate health of his wife, and his great professional
business at home induced him to forego any business which called
him abroad, and to utterly decline any sort of public appointment
whatsoever, during her life. She died to the deep grief of as devoted
a husband as ever lived, a few months before it became necessary to
fill two vacancies in the Superior Court, occasioned by the death of
Chief Justice Adams and the final extinction of mental capacity in
Judge Huntington — and to one of those vacancies Judge Reeve was
appointed.
I must draw this long letter to a close. It is enough to say.
that no act of Judge Reeve's life ever, in the least degree, lessened
the admiration and respect entertained for his capacity, integrity and
BOARDMAxV S SKETCHES 45
learning, or even diminished the esteem and affection cherished for
the spotless purity of his moral deportment through a long life, nor
the reverence extorted from all for the deep religious impression
which adorned his old age and perfected his character. He was, I
presume, in youth extremely handsome.
JOHN ALLEN
John Allen was born in Great Barrington, Mass., sometime, I
believe, in 1762, of respectable parents, though not distinguished in
society, as I remember to have heard him say that he was the son of
a joiner. There were but two children in the family, a son and a
daughter, both much distinguished in life for many good qualities,
and especially for dignity of manner and deportment, but the win 11 in g
and amiable accomplishments all fell to the lot of the female, gaining
her many admirers and among others, an husband worthy of her, in
that excellent man, Hlizur Goodrich of New Haven. Their father
died during the minority of both children. ^Ir. Allen, having an
excellent common school education, though not a classic education,
became a teacher, and being impelled by a spirit of adventure, some-
what romantic as he was thought in those days, went suddenly, and
without the knowledge of his friends, and while yet a minor, to Ger-
mantown near Philadelphia, where he obtained a place as instructor
of the young classes of an academic establishment of some note at
the time. How^ long he remained in the above mentioned establish-
ment I do not know, but soon after leaving the place, and I believe
almost immediately, he came to .\ew Mil ford, and taught a school for
some six months, and from here went immediately into Mr. Reeve's
law school, and after the accustomed ])eriod of study was admitted
to the bar, and immediately settled in practice in Litchfield, where
he spent his life. He confined himself almost entirely to the practice
of Litchfield County, though occasionally when called, in consequence
of the eminence to which he soon attained in the profession, he ]>rac-
ticed in other counties, in some cases of importance, and especially in
the Federal Circuit Court, in which, for a few years after the forma-
tion of the present Constitution of the L''^nited States, some consider-
able business was done. Mr. Allen, however never went abroad in
quest of business, thinking that the very great share of Attorney busi-
ness which he acquired in being always found in his office, equal,
at least in point of profit, to what counsellor business he might obtain
bv attending Courts in other counties, considering that all the coun-
sellor business flowing from the attorney business which he did, he
was sure to be engaged in. From the time I entered the law school
in the fall of 1793, I occupied a room in his office, and had free ac-
cess to his ample library and boarded at the same house with him.
During all that time, and all the remaining years of his prosperous
46 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
practice, which indeed lasted till the apparent commencement of his
rapid decline, soon followed by death, he was engaged in almost every
case of any importance in the Superior and County Court. He was
certainly, a very successful and powerful advocate, equally with the'
Jury as with the Court, a thoroughly read lawyer, equal in point of
legal science to any one at our bar during the fore part of the time I
am speaking of, except Tapping Reeve, who had no rival, and in the
latter part of the period, James Gould, of whom I need say nothing
as you knew him in his meridian light. Mr. Allen always made dili-
gent and faithful preparation of all cases committed to his care, and
made himself fully acquainted with every point of law and every ac-
cessible point of evidence which could arise in the case, and was
therefore usually successful when the case deserved success.
If I knew that you ever saw Mr. Allen, I would omit any attempt
to describe his personal appearance, for I am sure any one who ever
saw his colossal form and imposing visage, would never need to have
him described in order to recall his appearance. He was six feet four
or five inches high, very erect and wath an attitude and walk well
calculated to set ofT his full stature, and though quite lean, weighed
full 230 pounds. His countenance was strongly marked and truly
formidable, his eyes and eye brows dark, his hair dark, what little he
had for he was quite bald, far back, even before middle age, and in-
deed his whole appearance was calculated to inspire dread, rather
than affection. His manner and conversation were, however, such
as to inspire confidence and respect, though little calculated to invite
familiarity, except with his intimates, of whom he had a few, and
those, knowing the generous and hearty friendship of which he was
capable, were usually, much attached to him and ready to overlook
all his harsh sallies, imputing them to the "rough humor which his
mother gave him." His feelings were not refined, but ardent, gener-
ous and hearty. His friendships were strong and his aversions equal-
ly so — and as I used to say of him, speaking to others, "his feelings
were all of the great sort." He neither enjoyed nor suffered any
thing from many of those little incidents which so often affect, either
pleasingly or painfully, minds of a more refined texture. As he had
no taste for such things, nor, as it would seem, any faculty of per-
ceiving, so he knew no language appropriate to their description, but
in respect to those things and principles which he thought worthy of
his regard, he lacked no power of language to make himself fully
and forcibly understood. For neutral ground, either in morals or
politics, he had no taste, and but little less tiian absolute abhorrence.
As a specimen of his feelings and language, better than I can des-
cribe, 1 will give you the laconic answer to an enquiry of him, why
he took the Aurora the leading democratic paper in the county, then
under the guidance of that arch democrat, Duane ; he replied it was
because he wanted to kuozv zvhat they were about in the {nfer)ial
regions. And after giving this specimen I need make no futher at-
tempt to give von an idea of his humor, manners and language.
boardman's sketches 47
After Mr. Allen was married, which was not till he was towards
forty years old, and went to house keeping. I boarded at his house at
his express solicitation for many years while attending Court ; though
he took no other one, nor ever named to me any price, nor would he
count the money I handed to him when leaving for home, seeming to
receive it only because I refused to stay on any other terms. I there-
fore saw much of him in his family, where his conduct was always
dignified, proper and kind. He was proud, very proud, and justly
so. of his wife, who was a woman of much personal beauty, polished
manners, and great and even singular discretion, and for whom he
entertained, I believe, an ardent affection.
Before his marriage and at the age of thirty-five Mr. Allen was
elected a member of the fifth Congress, where he distinguished him-
self at a time when Connecticut was never more ably represented in
the House of Representatives, and would undoubtedly have been cho-
sen for as long a period as he would have desired to be a member ot
that body, but he declined a further election. He was elected an
Assistant in 1800. and was re-elected for the five succeeding years,
and as such was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Errors.
For several years, previous to his election to Congress, he had repre-
sented the town of Litchfield in the General Assembly. His wife was
a grand daughter of the first Governor Griswold. His only son. the
Hon. John \Vm. Allen of Cleveland. Ohio, has been a member of
Congress from that State and is now a very distinguished man there.
His onlv surviving daughter resides also in Cleveland, and is the
wife of her brother's immediate successor in Congress. Mrs. Allen,
after a rather brief widowhood, accepted the hand of a Mr. Perkins
of Oxford in the State of Xew York, a man of respectability and
wealth.
BARZII.LAI SLOSSOX.
The request, which is the subject of yours of the 4th inst.. is too
alluring in its nature to be long unattended to. So nearly am I alone
in the world that an invitation to hold converse about those of my
age and standing in life, and who have now slumbered in the grave
for more than forty years, and especially those who were so much
beloved and esteemed as were those of whom you solicit my at-
tention, is quite irresistible.
In speaking of Mr. Slosson. I must first observe that I had form-
ed a tolerably correct notion of him before I ever saw him. \\'hen I
was a boy his father was often at my father's house, intimately ac-
quainted there, and I believe, scarcely ever passed that way without
calling and holding a pretty long chat, for he was never in a hurry,
and his peculiar turn of mind, abundance of common sense, and great
fund of wit. joined to his singularly slow, emphatic and sententious
48 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
mode of talking, was such as to secure the attention of any one, and
especially a bov. He used, occasionally to speak of his children, and
especially of his oldest son Barzillai, of whom he was manifestly very
proud, representing him to be always at the head of the school when
small, and afterwards used to speak with high gratification of his in-
dustry and tact at acquiring the higher branches of knowledge with-
out the aid of an instructor, and more particularly the knowledge of
the dead languages, of which he knew nothing himself. And this
account given by the old gentleman, from intimate intercourse and
frequent conversation with his son, when I afterwards became ac-
quainted with him, I found was by no means exaggerated. And to
his excellent and accurate common school education, he owed much,
very much of his character for exact accuracy and correctness in all
that he said and did through life. He was about the best reader I
ever heard, wrote a fair, handsome and legible hand, and in the un-
failing correctness of his orthography and use of terms, no lexico-
grapher excelled him, and in everything pertaining to mere English,
home and common school education, no one appeared to be more
thoroughlv proficient. And in Greek and Latin I never saw his su-
perior, except old President Stiles, nor with that exception perhaps,
his equal, unless it was old Parson Farrand of Canaan, and in the
other branches of collegiate education he was, to say the least, above
mediocraty. As he entered college not until the senior year. and. I
believe, did not even attend during the whole of that year, he
could not, of course, expect to shine and did not shine in the college
honors depending upon the faculty, but lie availed himself of the right
to become a candidate for the honors of Dean Scholar, and obtained
the first premium for excellence in Greek and Latin, in a class of
unusually high reputation. This. I suppose, he did merely, out of
a laudable pride, for he did not avail himself of the pecuniary re-
ward which would have required him to reside in Xew Haven ; for
he went, immediately after his graduation with one of his class-
mates (Air. afterwards the Rev. Dr. Smith.) to reside in Sharon,
as one of the instructors in the Sharon Academy, then in full and
successful operation. He soon after became a student at law. under
Gov. Smith's instruction, and the first County Court which sat after
his two year's clerkship had expired, being in Fairfield County.
he went, there for examination and admission to the Bar. This
was I believe at the November Term. 1793. It was not until he
began to attend Court at Litchfield, and while I was in the law school
there, that I first became personally acquainted with Air. Slosson
though I had barely seen him once or twice before. After my admis-
sion to the Bar, being located in adjoining towns, we often met each
other before Justices, and consequently before the upper courts.
From our frequent meetings and intercourse at Litchfield and else-
where. I became greatly attached to him. and finally, for a number of
years he and I, with Southmayd for our constant companion, always
occupied the same room at Catlin's Hotel during every court until his
i.
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boardman's sketches 49
death and there was the last time I ever saw him in Hfe. Soon after
the Court adjourned, hearing- of his rapid decHne, I set out to visit
him, and on the way, heard that he had died the night before. I how-
ever went on and stayed with the family until I assisted in burying
him. This was in January, 1813, and in that grave I felt that I had
buried a sincere, and I am sure, a much loved friend ; on whose char-
acter and conduct in life I could reflect with melancholy satisfaction,
unmarred by a single reproachful recollection or one which I could
wish to have forgotten.
Mr. Slosson had been out of health for a very considerable time,
and fears were apprehended on his account, in which he fully and
rationally participated. So gradual, however, was the operation of
his disorder, that he continued his attention to business until some
three or four weeks before his death. He attended court at Litch-
field, the first and I think the second week of the December term,
the month before his decease.
Mr. Slosson's great fondness for ancient literature, rendered him
scarcely just in his comparative estimate of that with modern im-
provements. As a lawyer he was highly respectable in theory and
remarkabh- accurate in practice : as a pleader, I do not remember
that he ever had occasion to ask for an amendment, or to alter a title
of what he had written. As an advocate he was clear, deliberate,
methodical and logical in liis deductions. He spoke in much of the
peculiarlx- emi^hatic manner of his father, above mentioned, though
not with his unusual slowness. He was always cool and self-pos-
sessed, rarely warming into any high degree of animation, or aiming
at elTect to appear eloquent, but he never failed to secure a respect-
ful .and satisfied attention. Though not one of the most leading
advocates of which there are always some three or four at any Bar,
he might, at least be estimated an equal to any of the second class
of the Litchfield liar which was tlien, certainly, a highly respectable
one.
Though not an aspirant after public preferment, and from his
habitually modest and retiring habits, not calculated to push his way
where opportunities ofYered, he was yet, at the time of his decease, in
a fair wav of promotion. He was early and often elected to the
legislature' from his native town, and indeed their usual representa-
tive until the October session, 181 2. when he was elected Clerk,
which in those days was a sure stepping stone to further advance-
ment, and having myself been a witness of the manner in which he
performed the duties of that oHice, for which no man was better
qualified. I am sure he. established a reputation, which, had Provi-
dence permitted, promised. a solid and lasting existence.
Mr. Slosson's political opinions were of the genuine Washingto-
nian. political school. None of your heady, rash, and merely parti-
zan notions found favor with him. He was a constant and honest
adherent to the political views then prevalent in this State. He
left a widow and two sons — the oldest John William, has been and I
50 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
believe now is a merchant in Kent. The second son. Nathaniel, a
very promising boy, was, I believe soon after his father's death, taken
under the care of his uncle, William Slosson, a distinguished lawyer
of New York, and was by him educated at Union College and for
the Bar. and died soon after his admission.
The foregoing sketch of the leading incidents in Mr. Slosson's
life, may be a sufficient indication from which to deduct his true
character, but I must indulge myself in adding, that I never knew
or heard of a single act of his life, either in youth or mature years,
that left even a shade upon his reputation. Cool and deliberate in
his temperament, never hurried away by enthusiasm, for enthusiasm
never manifested itself in his nature, except in his passion for ancient
literature, he was sure to think and act with propriety. He was
nevertheless warm and faithful in his attachments, but not so far as
to warp his conscientious regard for integrity. He was perfectly
just and generous in his intercourse with the world, honest in his
predilections and uncompromising in his love of virtue and detesta-
tion of vice. In morality his principles were without a taint and his
practice through life in conscientious conformity with them. In re-
ligion he was a firm and steadfast believer in the great doctrines of
the gospel, though not a public professor. His principles were those
of true rational Calvanism, imswayed by vindictive zeal or hysteri-
cal weakness.
You observed in your letter that you never saw Air. Slosson. He
was a small man. not much, if any. under medium height, but of slen-
der frame and countenance. Though not dark complexioned his
countenance was rather dusky, his skin not clear, his features though
far from handsome bespoke intelligence and were therefore not dis-
agreeable. His general appearance was more like that of the late
Leman Church than any other member of the Bar I can think of,
though he was somewhat larger and more erect.
SAMUEL W. SOUTHM.Wl).
In the life, conduct and character of Samuel W. Southmayd there
were some peculiarities, such as render it a matter of difficulty to des-
cribe him in such a manner, as to make them intelligible to one who
did not personally know him.
I never saw. or heard of him until I became a member of the law
school in the fall of the year 1793, of which he had then been a mem-
ber about one year, I believe, and of which he continued a constant
attendant during the eighteen months which I spent there. He was
admitted to the" Bar the next term after I was. to wit: September
Term. 1795, and passed as good an examination as I ever heard
there, or elsewhere, he having been for the full period of three years
under Judge Reeve's tuition. He was a native of Watertown, where
BOARDMAX S SKETCHES 5 1
he settled in practice, and where he spent his Hfe. Like Mr. Slosson.
he had an excellent common school education. Beyond that, his ac-
quirements did not extend far in an academic course — enough, how-
ever, I believe, to enable him to understand the homely law-latin used
in our books. Few have entered upon the practice of law, with a
better store of legal learning than Mr. Southmayd. but the place in
which he settled was not calculated from its location and the habits
of the people, by no means litiguous, to furnish much practice, and
he was too honest to promote litigation ; and furthermore, he had no
legal adversary there except an old gentlemen who never had any
more legal learning than was necessary for a Church Warden, and
whose ignorance made him the victim of Southmayd's merry witch-
ery and innocent cunning, of both of which he had a superabundance,
though he never indulged in malicious, or even very serious mischief,
and indeed in none except such as would do to relate for the purpose
of making fun in merry compan}". Anecdotes of that description
used to be related in great numbers. As a pleader, Mr. Southmayd
was always sure to have all in his drafts which was requisite and per-
tinent to the object in view, and in all liis declarations. atTording
room for coloring circumstances to be inserted, there was pretty sure
to be found, slyly slipped in. some ingenious slang whang, or South-
maydism, as we used to call it. He was not ambitious of arguing
cases in Court, but when he did, he always displayed much ingenuity,
and attracted respectful attention from the audience as well as from
the triers. And before arbitrators, referees and committees a more
formidable opponent could hardly be found. And although his prac-
tice was not large, and as was observed of Mr. Slosson he was not
among the leading practitioners at the Litchfield l>ar, he was certain-
ly a very respectable lawyer, uixin a par with the foremost of the sec-
ond class, and much beloved and respected by all whose good
opinions are desirable.
As was observed in the outset, there were peculiarities in Mr.
Southmayd's private character and deportment, which it is difficult
to describe or reconcile. Though of a benevolent disposition and full
of good nature and kind feelings, there was yet in him a vein of ad-
venture after intellectual amusement, which, from its very nature,
could not be gratified but at the expense of others, and often to such
an extent as to render them ridiculous in the view of third persons
to whom the results of the adventure was related. I have many
times joined most heartily in the laugh at the relation of the result
of many such seemingly innocent pieces of roguery, though I could
not help condemning the mischief, while participating in its fruits.
In all such indulgences, Southmayd never entertained the least ma-
lice, for his heart was a stranger to it, but his intense love of fun, and
enjoyment of the ridiculous often impelled him to go beyond the line
of honest propriety. I used often to reproach him with it. but my
admonitions were not well calculated to take eflfect, when given at
the close of a hearty laugh.
5^ IJTCHFIEI.D COLXTN- iiKXCH AND I'.AR
From what I have been saying of Mr. Southmayd you would. I
presume, be ready to conclude that he was one of the most cheerly
and happy of men. But the case was directly the reverse, and during
a considerable period of his life, and that too, the most valuable part
of it, he was a very unhappy man, indeed, and I have no doubt he had
recourse to much of the indulgence of that peculiar propensity I have
attempted to describe for the purpose of dispelling a mental malady
which for a long time oppressed and preyed upon his heart. He was
for many years the victim of the strongest species of hypochondria
that ever mortal man was. It never showed itself in long fits of set-
tled melancholy or monomania, but in sudflen fits and starts. After
hours of cheerful conversation, and while in entire health, he would
suddenly complain of great distress, and exhibit unmistakable evi-
dence of great terror and apprehensions of immediate dissolution.
One very extraordinary instance I will relate. He and I had been
alone many hours, conversing and reading together, and he, not in
the least complaining, when he at once sprung from his seat, and with
a scream as would have alarmed me, had it been any other person,
and jjressing both hands upon his breast he exclaimed that he was
going to die immediately. I stepped to him and gently and calmly
said to him, "don't be alarmed, you are not going to die" — for we
never treated him as if he thought his distress imaginary, — and put
my hand gently upon him to lead him to the bed, when he raised one
hand from his breast and thrusting" his finger against the side of his
head, declared, with another outcry that something was passing
through his head. I persuaded him to lie down, telling him tiie feel-
ing would pass off in a few minutes, but he continued to groan for
some time. I, knowing what w^ould cure him, took up and began to
read to him one of IJurke's finest essays which lay by me. and turning
to a passage of extraordinary eloquence read it ; on which he sprung
up on end in the bed, and exclaimed "was ever anything finer than
that !" I continued on reading, and in the course of half an hour he
was well and cheerful as ever. This was the most extraordinary in-
stance I ever saw in him, but those in a degree, like it were frequent.
He always w^ent to iDed an hour or two before Slosson and I did. he
saying that he never was able to'get sleep until he had gone through
a great deal of such feelings as he never would attempt to describe.
Mr. Southmayd was greatly esteemed in his native town, by, I
believe, almost every one, both old and young. He was early in life
sent to the legislature, and that often, and was so, T know, the last
vear of his life. He died of. lung fever in March. 1813. about two
months after the death of his friend Slosson. At the December
Term, 1812, the three who had so long occupied the same room in
perfect harmony, were, for the last time there together. At the Feb-
fuarv Terni of the vSupreme Court. Southmayd and T occupied it, but
felt that we were in solitude, and in the next term it seemed to me,
most emi)hatically, a solitude, and more like a family vault than like
an abode for living men. and I believe I have never been into it since.
boardman's sketches 53
Mr. Southmayd was undoubtedly an honest and honorable man,
of uncommon pleasing manners and much beloved, and I never heard
that he had an enemy. Indeed the amenity of his manner and the
gentleness of his temper almost forbade it.
The family to which Air. Southmayd belonged was of the Con-
gregational order, and two of his sisters married Congregational
clergymen. He, however, joined himself to the Episcopal church of
which he was a member after he settled in life, and of which. I be-
lieve he was a communicant, but am not sure. He died unmarried,
and I believe in the 39th or 40th \ear of his age.
JOHN COTTON SMITH.
At your request, I now inform you. that the Hon. John Cotton
Smith, only son of the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith of Sharon, was
born there on the 12th day of February. 1765. It is said that for the
first six years of his life his instruction and training was almost
wholly conducted by his excellent mother, and to her government
and precepts he is said to have attributed much of his extraordinary
success in life. His common school education, as exhibited in after
life, must have been of the most exactly accurate kind. His class-
ical instruction preparatory to entering college, was commenced at
home, and completed under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Brinsmade
of Washington. He entered Yale College in September. 1779, when
between fourteen and fifteen years of age. and though }oung. main-
tained a high standing in his class, as api>eared by the share he had in
the exercises of the commencement at his graduation, the appointees
being less than one-fourth of the entire class. Immediately after his
graduation in September, 1783, he entered as a law student in the
office of the Hon. John Canfield in his native town, and there con-
tinued until he could be by law admitted to the Bar. which was in the
March Term. 1786. a month after coming to twenty-one years of
age: and Mr. Canfield. his legal preceptor, having died a few months
after his admission to the Bar. a large portion of business for a long
time habitually fiowing for management to Mr. Canfield's office, he
having for many years been one of the ablest lawyers of the County,
Mr. Smith's commencement in business was thereby attended by for-
tunate circumstances, and he improved them with becoming industry,
and from the very first found himself in a lucrative practice, which
continued to increase until called into absorbing public business.
He was first elected to the legislature in 1793 and frequently after-
wards ; indeed, from 1796 to October. 1800 he was constantly a mem-
ber, and during the two sessions of 1800 was speaker of the house,
and while occupying that station in the October session he was in-
formed by the Goveror that he was elected a member of Congress
to fill a vacancv which had occurred for the then approaching last
54 I.lTCIfFlKLD COLXTV BKXCH AXD UAR
session of the Sixth Congress, and also for the full term of the
Seventh Congress ; soon after which information, he resigned the
chair in the house, and returned home to prepare for assuming his
newly assigned duties. It so happened that the extra session to
which he had been chosen was that, which, by law, was to be holden
at the new City of ^^'ashington, whither he repaired and served
through that term, and the Seventh Congress ; was re-elected to the
Eighth and again to the Ninth Congress, at the expiration of the
Ninth Congress he declined any further elections to that honorable
body. During his congressional career he did not participate much
in debate, but his fine talent at presiding was early discovered, and
caused him frequenth' to be called to the chair when the House was
in committee of the whole, and he thus presided during some of the
most memorable debates which distinguished those days. He was
during all but the first session, a member of the committee of claims
while in Congress, and during the Eighth and Ninth Congress at
the head of that committee, though in the minority. In May, 1809,
Mr. Smith was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court, which he
resigned in Alay, 181 1, on being elected Lieutenant-Governor; in
May, 181 3 he was elected Governor, and re-elected to that office until
1818, when, a political revolution having taken place, he retired
finally from public life. His administration of the gubernatorial
office embraced the greater part of the war of 1812 and 181 5, and
his duties in all respects were performed with dignity, propriety
and grace.
After his retirement to private life much of his time was devoted
to religious studies, and his eminent Christian and literary accom-
plishments being extensively known and appreciated he was selected
as the first president of the Connecticut Bible Society on its estab-
lishment. In 1826 he was chosen president of the American Board
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and in 183 1 president of the
American Bible Society. In 181 5 he received the degree of LL. D.
As old age pressed upon him his hearing became impaired, and he
never would sufi^er himself to hold public stations when he could not
perform all their duties with becoming grace, he resigned all his
posts of honor, and on the 7th day of December he died in the 8ist
year of his age.
In an eulogy delivered before the Connecticut Historical Society
by the Rev. W. H. Andrews, then of Kent, soon after the decease of
Mr. Smith, giving a concise but eloquent historical sketch of his life
and character, stating that he was admitted to the Bar in Litchfield
County, and observing that at the time there was no bar in the state
which'presented a more splendid array of legal forensic talents than
this, iiroceeds to state the standing which he at maturity acquired, in
the following words quoted, as he says, from the communication of a
well informed competent judge, long acquainted with Mr. Smith at
the bar: — "He was esteemed, and justly so, an accurate pleader, and
a well read and learned lawyer, and though some of those alluded to
BOARDMAN S SKETCHES 55
exceeded him in force and popularity as an advocate, none of them
surpassed, and in my judgment, none of them equalled him in grace
of manner and elegance of diction and utterance."
Early in life Gov. Smith married ]\Iiss Margaret Everson of
Amenia, N. Y., a young lady of man\- accomplishments, who lived
to old age. The issue of this marriage was only one child, William
M. Smith, Esq., of Sharon, a gentleman much esteemed for his
many virtues and eminent piety. A grandson bearing his name is
now the Minister resident of the United States to the court of
Bolivia, South America.
NATHANIEL SMITH.
(Prom HoJUstcr's History of Connecticut.)
"I received a line from m}' friend. General Sedgwick, stating
that is was your desire that he would ask of me, in your behalf, to
furnish you with some facts in relation to the late Nathaniel Smith,
and mv views of his character, which might be of use to vou in the
preparation of the work you have in hand.
"I am of course aware that this application is owing to the ac-
cidental circumstance that T am the oklest, if not the only member of
the profession now living, who had much personal acquaintance with
that truly able and excellent man, or saw much of him in the exercise
of his forensic or judicial talents. Judge Smith was indeed one of
nature's nobles, and considering the limited range of his early educa-
tion, he had few equals and perhaps no superior in the profession
which he chose, and which he eminently adorned. You are doubtless
aware that Judge Smith had only such an education in childhood and
vouth, as the common schools of the countr\- afforded at the time. It
was such, however, as a boy of unusual capacity and industrious
habits would acquire from such a source, and such as, under the
guidance of uncommon discretion through life, rarely permitted its
defects to be disclosed.
"When I iirst went to the Law School in Litchfield, which was
in the fall of I7<j3, Mr. Smith though not over thirty years old, was
in full practice, and engaged in almost every cause of any importance.
Indeed, he was said to have established a high reputation for talents
in the first cause he argued in the higher courts. It was upon a trial
for manslaughter, which arose in his native town, and in which he
appeared as junior counsel, and astonished the court, the bar, and all
who heard him. Not long afterwards, in the celebrated case of Jed-
ediah Strong and wife, before the General Assembly, (she having ap-
plied for a divorce), he greatly distinguished himself again, and thus
became known throughout the state as a young lawyer of the first
promise : and the reputation thus 'early acquired was never suft'ered
56 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
to falter, but on the other hand, steadily increased in strength until
his elevation to the bench.
"During my stay in Litchfield, and after my admission to the
bar. I of course saw Mr. Smith, and heard him in almost all the im-
portant cases there ; and as I was located in the south-west corner
town in the county, adjoining Fairfield. I almost immediately obtain-
ed some business which, though small, was such as during nearly all
mv i)rofessional life caused me to attend the courts in that county,
where I found Mr. Smith as fully engaged and as highly esteemed as
in his own county. In New Haven I also knew he had a very con-
siderable practice.
"It is worthy also to be observed, in forming an estimate of Mr.
Smith's professional talent and character, that there never at any
period was an abler bar in Connecticut, than during his practice. In
Litchfield county, were Judge Reeve. Judge Adams. General Tracy,
John Allen, Judge Gould. X. B. Benedict, and others ; at the Fairfield
countv bar, were Pierpont Edwards, Judge Ingersoll, and Judge
Daggett, constantly from New Haven, Judge Edmonds, S. B. Sher-
wood. R. M. Sherman. Judge Chapman, and Governor Bissell ; and
in New Haven, besides the three above named, were James Hillhouse,
Judge Baldwin, and others.
"As I suppose it not probable that you ever saw Judge Smith,
as he ceased to attend courts in 1819, and died when you was very
young, I will observe, what you have doubtless heard, that he was a
large and fine appearing man, much of the same complexion of the
Hon. Truman Smith, his nephew, with whom you are all so well ac-
quainted : less tall than he, but of rather fuller habit. His face was
not only the index of high capacity and solid judgment, but uncom-
monly handsome ; his hair was dark and thin, though not to baldness,
except on the fore part of the head, and was very slightly sprinkled
with gray. His fine, dark eyes, were remarkably pleasing and gentle
in ordinarv intercourse, but very variable, always kindling when high-
ly excitedin debate, they became almost oppressive. His voice was
excellent, being both powerful and harmonious, and never broke un-
der any exertion of its capacity. His manner was very ardent and
the seeming dictate of a strong conviction of the justice of his cause ;
and his gestures were the natural expression of such a conviction.
Mr. Smith's style was pure and genuine Saxon, with no attempt at
classic ornament or allusion. His train of reasoning was lucid and
direct, and evincive of the fact that the whole of it was like a map
spread out in his mind's eye from the beginning. His integrity was
alwavs felt and dreaded by his opponent. He spoke with much
fluency, but with no undue rapidity ; he never hesitated for or hag-
glcd at a word, nor did he ever tire his audience with undue prolixity,
or omit to do full justice to his case for fear of tiring them ; and in-
deed there was little danger of it. Though certainly a very fine
speaker, he never achieved or aspired to those strains of almost
BOARDMAX S SKETCHES 5/
superhuman eloquence with which his old master Reeve, sometimes
electrified and astonished his audience, and yet, in ordinary cases,
he was the most correct speaker of the two — though Judge Reeve
was, and he was not. a scholar. Mr. Smith, though quite unassum-
ing, and often receding in common intercourse and conversation, was,
when heated in argument, it must be confessed, often overbearing to
the adverse part\-. and. not only them, but to their counsel. Upon
all other occasions, he appeared to be. and I believe was. a very kind
hearted, agreeable and pleasant man. To me, he always so appeared,
and I have been much in his company.
"Mr. Smith came early into public life, and was frequently elect-
ed to the General Assembly from Woodbury. In 1795. he was elect-
ed a member of the fourth Congress ; and in 1797. he was chosen to
the fifth Congress; but declined further election. In May. 1799. he
was made an assistant, and was re-elected for the five following
years, when he resigned his seat at that board in consequence of the
passage of the act in 1803. prohibiting the members of the then Su-
preme Court of Errors from practicing before the Court. He re-
mained in full practice at the bar until October, 1806. when he was
elected a judge of the Superior Court, and continued to fill that office
until May. 1819, when the judiciary establishment of that year went
into operation; from which time lie remained in private life until
his death.
"In every public station in which ^Ir. Smith was placed, he dis-
tinguished himself. He did so in Congress, at a time when our rep-
resentation was as able, perhaps, as it ever has been, and when the
character of the house to which he belonged was far higher than it
now is. In the Superior Court he was certainly very greatly respect-
ed and admired, as an able and perfectly upright judge.
"In private life his name was free from reproach. A strictly
honest and pure life, free from any of those little blemishes which
often mar the fame of distinguished men, may. I think, be fairly
claimed by his biographer to be his due. As a husband, a parent, a
friend, a neighbor, a moralist and a christian. I believe few have left
a more faultless name."
XOAH BENXET BEX-^EDICT.
In further compliance with your late request, I now place at your
disposal some account of the life, character and standing of another
highly esteemed member of the Litchfield County Bar.
The Hon. Xoah Bennet Benedict was a native of Woodbury, in
which he resided during his whole life. He was the son of the Rev.
Noah Benedict, long the pastor of the First Congregational Church
in that town. Mr. Benedict's earlv school education must have been
58 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
correct and good, as its fruits invariably showed itself in after life.
He graduated at Yale College in September, 1788, when a little short
of eighteen years of age. His legal studies commenced soon after his
graduation, which were, I believe, pursued principally, if not wholly,
in the ottice of his brother-in-law, Xathaniel Smith, afterwards so
highly distinguished as a jurist, which was near the residence of Mr.
Benedict's father. As soon as he arrived to lawful age Mr. Benedict
came to the Bar, and for the remainder of his life, to wit : about
thirty-nine years, it is believed he never failed to attend every regular
session of the Courts holden at Litchfield ; and though he never habit-
ually attended Courts in other counties, he occasionally did so for the
purpose of arguing a particular case. During the long course of his
practice Mr. Benedict had an ample share of business, and for the
latter half of that period, he was, especially in the Superior Court, the
leading advocate, on one side or the other, in most of the trials either
to the court or to the jury. His management of a trial was discreet,
his argument sound, sensible, and being aided by the well known and
generally esteemed integrity of his character, had their due efifect.
He never attempted to play the orator or to attract attention by fine
turned periods, but contented himself with plain reasoning, of which
he was no indifferent master.
At a very early period Mr. Benedict was a member of the legisla-
ture. But the political majority of the voters in Woodbury becom-
ing about this time and for long afterwards decidedly democratic,
proved an effectual bar to his political promotion, as far as depended
upon that town, but by the vote of the State at large he was elected
in 1813 one of the twelve assistants, (as they were then styled, who
composed the Upper House of the assembly), and was re-elected the
two following years; but in the year 1818 an entire political revolu-
tion took place in Connecticut, and Mr. Benedict shared the fate of
almost every one who held any post of dignity or profit depending
upon the public suffrage at large in the State. He was subsequently
many years later elected once more to the Lower House. He was
also for several vears Judge of Probate for the District of Woodbury,
an appointment then depending upon the legislature. Mr. Benedict
was twice married, but left no living issue. He died in June or July
1 83 1, at the age of sixty, or in his sixtieth year.
In private life Mr. Benedict was entirely unassuming, and a very
pleasing companion to all who could relish purity of moral character
and conduct, which his whole life was an eminent example: his feel-
ings were peculiarly sensitive and delicate ; a loose or profane expres-
sion never escaped his lips, and indeed so fastidious was he in respect
to the former, that it used to be a matter of amusement with his less
scrupulous associates in jocose conversation, to tease his feminine
delicacy upon such subjects. Though when alone and unoccupied
he had a propensity to indulge in somewhat gloomy reflections, yet
he was not averse to participate in facetious conversation wlu-n due
Noah Bexxet Bexedict
From an old Painting.
BOARDMAX'S SKETCHES 59
delicacy was observed. He had a profound respect for religion and
was in all respects a good, a very good man.
Mr. Benedict was of somewhat less than midling- size, of a medi-
um complexion, but his eyes and hair rather dark.
JAMES GOULD.
In compliance, in part, with a request recently received from you,
I now send you a brief and imperfect sketch of the literary and pro-
fessional character, standing and reputation of the Hon. James Gould,
who for a very considerable period of time contributed much to the
fame of the County and State for legal science, by his talents as an
advocate and especially as an instructor and as a judge of the Supe-
rior Court ; with some account of his person and family. Mr. G<ould
the son of Dr. William Gould, an eminent physician, was born at
Branford in this State in the year 1770. The goodness of his com-
mon school education is inferable from the perfect accuracy of it,
which showed itself in all he did or said in after life. He graduated
when a little over twenty-one. at Yale College, in September, 1791.
with distinguished honor in a class distinguished for talents.
The year next following his collegiate course he spent in Balti-
more as a teacher. He then returned to Xew Haven and commenced
the study of law with Judge Chauncey : and in September of that
year he was chosen a tutor in Yale College, in which office he contin-
ued two years. He then joined the Law School of Mr. Reeve at
Litchfield and was soon after admitted to the Bar. Immediately af-
ter his admission to the Bar he opened an office for i)ractice in that
town, where he residetl during the remainder of his life.
On his first appearance as an advocate he evinced such an ap-
parent maturity of intellect, such a self-possession, such command of
his thoughts and of the language appropriate to their expression, that
he was marked out as a successful aspirant for forensic eminence.
His progress in the acquisition of professional business was steady
and rapid.
Fortunate circumstances concurring a few years before his choice
of Litchfield as a field of his professional labors, in the removal by
promotion of two very distinguished practitioners at the Bar, opened
the way to such a choice, and by like good fortune a similar event re-
moved one of the two onlv remainingf obstructions in that town to his
full share in the best business as an advocate, the only business to
which he aspired. As a reasoner Air. Gould was forcible, lucid and
logical : as a speaker his voice was very pleasant and his language
pure, clear and always appropriate. He never aspired to high strains
of impassioned eloquence, and rarely, if ever, addressed himself to the
passions of the Court and Jury, but to their understanding only, and
6o LITCHFIKLD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
was a very able, pleasing and successful advocate. His argument was
a fair map of the case, and one sometimes engaged against him, but
feeling his superiority, observed, that he had rather have Gould
against him in a case, than any other of any where equal powers,
because he could perfectly understand his argument, ancl if suscepti-
ble of an answer could know how to apply it In his practice at the
Bar he was always perfectly fair and honorable. Within some two or
three years after Mr. Gould commenced practice, Mr. Reeve, the
founder and until that time the sole instructor of the Litchfield Law
School, accepted a seat u^xdu the bench of the Superior Court. This
Court made it necessary for him to give up the school, or to associate
some one with him in its management, and to deliver lectures in his
absence upon the circuits. The Judge selected Mr. Gould as that
associate; and for a number of years they jointly conducted and re-
ceived the pupils of the School : and on the final retiring of Judge
Reeve from any participation in the instruction of the School, Mr.
Gould became its sole instructor and so continued until elevated to
the bench of the Superior Court in the spring of 1816, when he in
turn had to have recourse to temporary aid for the short time he re-
mained on the bench. But a thorough political Revolution having
taken place in this State, and a new constitution formed which entire-
ly new modeled the courts of law, Mr. Gould took no further share
in public employments : and his health being greatly impaired, he
never resumed practice at the Bar, but confined himself wholly to his
School during the remainder of his life, as far as severe infirmities
would permit. He died, as appears bv the College catalogue, in
1838.
in person Mr. Gould was very handsome. Of about medium
heighth, or perhaps a little over ; but rather less in body and limbs
than medium size. His complexion fair, with fine dark eyes and
beautiful l)rown hair ; all his features gootl and in connection indica-
tive of much intelligence and good nature, and his form for symmetry
and gracefulness could hardly have been mended ; and in all respects,
in body, mind and education, he may be fairly styled a finished man.
In private and social intercourse he was highly pleasing, facetious
and witty.
Soon after his settlement in Litchfield he married the eldest
daughter of the Hon. Uriah Tracy, so well known for his long and
distinguished service in the councils of the state and nation.
Mrs. Gould in person and mind was a fit wife for such a husljand,
and partook with him in the happiness of raising a very numerous
and promising family of children.
Judge Gould wrote and published a volume of Pleadings, which
together with his fame as an instructor, gave him a distinguished
name among the eminent jurists of the country.
boardman's sketches 6i
ASA BACON
Again in compliance with your later request for further sketches
of the lives and profesional standing of the former members of the
Litchfield County Bar I transmit you a name which, though not dec-
orated by the civic honors annexed to some of them. I think highly
worthy of a place in the series.
Asa Bacon, the son of a very respectable and somewhat opulent
farmer of Canterbury in this State, was born there on the 8th day of
February. i/Ji. His early school and classical education was had
in that and neighboring towns in Windham County so far as was
necessary to a preparation for entering Yale College, which he did
in September. 1789 ; and during his collegiate course, sustained a very
prominent standing in his class ; and b\ his instructor and class-mates
was marked out as one who would make a distinguished figure in the
profession in which his talents and turn of mind plainly indicated
would be his choice. Immediately after his graduation in September,
1793, he entered the otfice of Gen. Cleaveland in his native town as a
Law-student, and there remained about six months and then joined
the Law school at Litchfield, at that time, and for long before, under
the sole instruction of Tapping Reeve. Esq., afterwards Judge Reeve,
in which he remained until admitted to the Bar in September. 1795.
Soon after which, without consulting anybody or taking a single let-
ter of which he might for asking obtained any quantit}' of the best
sort, with characteristic boldness and love of adventure in youth, he
left Connecticut for Mrginia with a determination of establishing
himself in the practice of law in the latter state : an attempt, it is be-
lieved never before made by any one from Connecticut. Tn order to
the accomplishment of which object, he found on arrival in Mrginia
that he had got to obtain a license from a majority of the Judges of
the Supreme Court in that state, and that too by visiting them at their
respective residences : for they were not in the practice of examining
and licensing candidates during the session of the court. This sub-
jected him to the trouble and expense of traveling over a great part
of the state ; and this being accomplished, he determined to fix him-
self at Leesburg. the capital of Loudon county, and he accordingly
opened an office for practice there ; and being aided by a fine and
imposing personal appearance and promptness in manners, he suc-
ceeded in obtaining a fair and encouraging portion of the business,
and there remained for nearly three years, when, on returning to
Connecticut to visit his relations, he found the prospects of profes-
sional business in his native county to be such as, in connection with
a natural preference for Connecticut society to that of \'irginia, to
induce him to renounce his connection with his new formed estab-
lishment and open an office in his native town, and this he did not
onlv with such success as speedily to secure him a fair professional
business, but also to induce four young gentlemen to enter his otfice
62 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
for legal instruction, upon a plan which he adopted ; three of whom
were from Massachusetts, and one a member of Congress from the
state of Xew York.
After a prosperous practice of over seven years in Windham
County, he received an invitation from the Hon. John Allen, then at
the head of practice in the larger county of Litchfield, to remove
there and become his partner in business. This he accepted, and
was probably in a measure induced so to do from the prospect that
Mr. Allen w^ould. on account of declining health, wholly retire from
the Bar at no very distant period : and this in fact happened at a
time earlier than was desirable. By means of his connection with
Mr. Allen, and of a peculiar faculty of his own, Mr. Bacon soon
obtained an ample and satisfactory share of the business done at the
Litchfield County Bar, and by his faithfulness and zeal in the man-
agement of it he retained it for many years to his great satisfaction,
for he was very fond of his profession. Xo man more thoroughly
identified himself with the interests of his client, insomuch that he
could hardly bring himself to doubt of the justice of his cause, how-
ever he might of the legal means of obtaining it; hence his utmost
exertions were sure to be put forth for the attainment of it. In un-
tiring industry in the preparation of a cause for trial no man ex-
celled him. He was an able, and when the nature of the case al-
lowed of it. an eloquent advocate. LIntil some sixty years old he
was in full practice, almost never being in any degree diverted from
it bv political aspirations. But repeated pneumoniae attacks of a
threatening nature in the autumn of the year 1832 admonished him
of the danger of much public speaking, and induced him to retire
from the Bar as soon as it could conveniently be done. While in
practice, his untiring diligence in the preparation of his causes for
trial, the learning, wit and force of reasoning was so satisfactory
to his numerous clients, that it was not remembered that any one
who once employed him ever forsook him when in after time he had
occasion for legal advice.
After the close of his practice of law. and indeed long before
that event, Mr. Bacon paid much attention to pecuniary afifairs, and
his skill and judgment in the management, led to his appoinment
as president of the branch of the Phcienix Bank located at Litchfield,
which he held for a number of years. But his cautious policy in the
management of it proved unsatisfactory to some of the stockholders,
but more particularly with the managers at head quarters.
As a man. a mere private individual, Mr. Bacon will be agreed
by all who ever knew him to have been a very peculiar man. both in
appearance and in inanner. He was full six feet two inches high ;
well formed for appearance ; neither too fleshy nor too spare ; and
his inexhaustible fund of pleasant wit, judiciously used, made him
an agreeable companion to both sexes and all ages : and having in
himself an uncommon elasticity of spirits he was fitted to enjoy life
150ard]vi.an's sketches 63
and to impart to others its enjoyment in an eminent degree. On
many acconnts, and indeed on most accounts, Mr. Bacon may be
said to be a fortunate man, but on others, had it not been for his
pecuHar buoyancy of spirits, a very unfortunate man.
In ]\larcli. 1807, he married Miss Lucretia Champion the only
daughter of the Hon. Epaphroditus Champion, of East Haddam, who
still survives him : and never was a man through a long married life
of half a centur_\ , more happ}' in the conjugal connection. This mar-
riage was blessed by the birth of three sons of uncommon promise,
but all of them were cut down in early manhood : not, however, until
each had given decided proof of natural and acquired capacity.
Three daughters were also the fruit of that mariage, but all died in
early infancy.
Quite a number of years since. Mr. Bacon disposed of his proper-
ty in Litchfield and removed to New Haven, where he spent the re-
mainder of his long and useful life, and died in the full possession of
his mental faculties when but two days short of eighty-six years of
age. Xo one ever questioned his integrity. He was a professor
of religion, and is believed to have lived in accordance with his pro-
fession. He died in the possession of an ample estate, in a great
degree the fruit of his discreet management, and out of which, it is
but justice to his memory to state, he made a donation to Yale Col-
lege of ten thousand dollars.
ELISHA STKKI.IXC.
Gen. Elisha Sterling of Salisbur}-, who was for a long time a
very respectable member of the Litchfield County liar, was a native
of Lyme in this State, where he received his training and early edu-
cation, until he became a member of Yale College, of the class which
graduated in September, 1787; and that he sustained a good stand-
ing in it is evinced by his having an honorary share in its commence-
ment exercises. Immediately after his graduation he assumed the
charge of an academy, then recently established in Sharon ; and
during the two years while it was under his management and tu-
ition, it became very thoroughly established and very extensively
and popularly known. While at the head of the academy he pursued
the study of Law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1789 or 1790, and
immediately opened an office for the practice of his profession in
Salisburv, where he continued to reside duringf the remainder of his
life. He was very fortunate in his place of settlement, and soon
found himself engaged in lucrative practice, which he pursued with
much industry for a long time ; and it is believed that very few
lawyers have by the mere practice of their profession in Connecti-
cut acquired a larger property than he did. He was at an early
64 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
period by the County Court appointed Attorney for the State in that
County, and by them ( to wlioni alone the riu^lit of that appointment
then pertained,) annually reappointed for many years, and until a
political change in a majority of that Court led to a change in the
attorneyship. The propriety of his manag'ement as a public prose-
cutor was never questioned even by his political opponents. As a
mere advocate he did not stand at the head of such practice, but
did a respectable share of it, and stood high in the secondary rank;
and in the entire amount of business, in point of profit, few ecjualed,
and perhaps none surpassed him. In addition to the office of State's
Attorney, he for a long time held the office of Judge of Probate for
the district of Sharon — an office then depending upon the annual
appointment of the legislature, and until, for a like cause above
mentioned, he was required to give place to another, of different
political principles from his own ; and the latter office he held two
or three years after he ceased to be, of the then, healthy political
faith. He was very often a representative to the General Assembly
from Salisbury when the political standing of the town would allow
of such a choice, and was a major-general of the militia. At a
somewdiat earlier period he married a daughter of the Hon. John
Canfield, deceased, of Sharon, who for a long time was a distin-
guished member of the Bar of Litchfield County in former times ;
and by that marriage he became the father of a somewhat numerous
family, nearly all of whom were sons. They w^ere all young men of
promise, and on entering into business were well endowed by their
father, and it is believed were respectable and prosperous in their
several vocations. Gen. Sterling somewhat late in life married the
widow of the Rev. Dr. John Elliott, who survived hiuL Through
life Gen. Sterling enjoyed a good state of health, and died when
over seventy years of age, in the year 1836, of a sudden illness oc-
casioned by a slight wound in the leg, too much neglected. He was
above meclium size, of a light complexion and good personal ap-
pearance, and his moral and religious habits unimj^eachable.
JABEZ W. HUNTINGTON.
In compliance with former requests and of a recent intimation
of my own, I now transmit you a brief sketch of the life and char-
acter of the Hon. Jabez W. Huntington, son of the late Gen.
Zachariah Huntington of Norwich, and grandson of the Hon. Jabez
Huntington of that place, the assistant and associate of the first Gov.
Trumbull, who was born in Norwich in the year 1787 or 1788. He
received his early training and instruction in his native town, which
after times evinced to be accurate and good. He became a member
of Yale College in September, 1802 and graduated in September,
boardman's sketches 65
1806. with the reputation of a good scholar. Soon after his gradua-
tion he became a teacher in an academic school under the govern-
ment of its founder. Esquire Morris of Litchfield South Farms, as
then called, now the town of Morris, named after the founder of
said school. After about a year thus employed, ]Mr. Huntington
entered Judge Reeve's Law School, in which he continued a diligent
student until admitted to the Bar in Litchfield County, of which he
soon showed himself to be a worthy member, and in due time a
distinguished one ; he having commenced the practice of his pro-
fession in Litchfield, and there continued it, until its final termina-
tion bv an office conferred upon him incompatible with its further
pursuit. In practice, his whole aim and ambition was to become
an advocate, and had no desire to obtain any share of collecting
business, though in many hands not less lucrative; and as he was
always readv to aid the less ambitious of speaking, he early acquired
a verv considerable sliare of the portion of practice of which he was
ambitious and which was improving to him. His forte as an advo-
cate was in detecting error in declarations and other parts of plead-
ings, and in a lucid manner of pointing them out. L^pon the whole
he was as an advocate clear and accurate, rather than peculiar for
the gracefulness of manner or refinement of diction, though his
manner was by no nieans disgusting, and his language entirely free
from any approach to vulgarity. His manners were pleasing and
popular, and he repeatedly rejiresented Litchfield in the General
Assembly and distinguished himself there. He was elected to the
2 1 St Congress, and re-elected to the 22d and 23d Congress : and near
the expiration of the last of his Congressional career he was chosen
a Judge of the Superior Court, and held that office until 1840.
wlien being chosen a senator of the United States he resigned the
Judgeship and accepted the latter appointment, and continued to
hold it by virtue of a second appointment until his death in 1847.
In all which stations he performed the duties thereof with honor to
himself and to the entire satisfaction of the public. His moral char-
acter was irreproachable ; a professor of religion and an observer of
its precepts. Late in life he was married, but it is believed left no
issue. Soon after election to Congress he removed to his native
town and died there.
PillNEAS MIXER.
Phineas Miner, a very respectable and somewhat eminent niem-
ber of the Litchfield County Bar. was a native of Winchester in that
county, and there, and in that region, as far as by the writer hereof
known, received his entire training and education in all respects. At
an earlv period in life he commenced the practice of law in the place
66 LlTCHt'lELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
of his birth, in the society of Winsted, as is believed, a place of a
great deal of active manufacturing- business and furnishing an ample
share of emplo}inent for gentlemen of the legal profession, of which
Mr. Miner soon acquired an ample share, and at no distant period,
an engrossing one. with which he appeared in court from term to
term until he felt warranted in the expectation of drawing after him
an engagement in all the disputable cases from that fruitful quarter,
when he removed to Litchfield and was much employed as an advo-
cate for a number of years, and until his health rather prematurely
failed, and he became the victim of great mental and bodily suffer-
ing, until relieved by death before reaching the ordinary period at
which old age begins to make its eft'ects much perceptible in the hu-
man frame. As an advocate Mr. Miner was ardent, impassioned
and tiuent, but in his apparent great ambition to be eloquent he
often made use of figures of speech which a more chastened and
correct training in youth would have taught him to avoid, and less
wounding to an ear of taste, but the fault apparent to all, was the
extreme prolixity of his arguments ; but these faults notwithstand-
ing, Mr. Miner was a respectable and able advocate.
Before his removal to Litchfield Mr. Miner was an early and
frequent member of the legislature from his native town and after
his removal there, a member of the state senate for the fifteenth
district, and was also elected to fill a vacancy in the second session
of the twenty-third Congress.
Mr. Miner was twice married, but it is believed, left no issue,
but of this the writer is uncertain. He led a strictly moral life and
was justly esteemed a good man.
LEMAN CHURCH.
One more attempt to comply with your repeated requests. Le-
man Church, a late member of the Litchfield County Bar, was a na-
tive of Salisbury in this county, a son of an opulent farmer of that
town, and in it, it is supposed, he received his education, both
scholastic and professional : the latter in the office of his half-
brother, Samuel Church, afterwards a Judge of the Superior Court,
and finally Chief Justice of the same, and after his admission to the
bar he opened an' office in North Canaan, where he resided during
the remainder of his life. Mr. Church was successful in acquiring
at an early ])eriod a promising share of professional business, which
steadily increased, until by the middle of professional life he occu-
pied a stand among the leading advocates at the bar ; and towards
the close of life there was scarce a cause, especially in the higher
Courts, of considerable importance discussed, in which he was not
engaged.
boakdman's sketches 67
In September. 1833. ^^^- Church was appointed by the Court,
State's Attorney, as successor to his brother Samuel, on the latter's
elevation to the bench of the Superior Court, and held that office by
annual re-appointments until September term, 1838, when by a politi-
cal chang'e in the court he was required to yield the place to another ;
it is believed, however, that he afterwards for a time, re-occupied
that place, but not positively recollected.
As a speaker he was cool, unimpassioned and ingenious ; he never
attempted to affect the passions of those he addressed, and being-
destitute of passion himself, was consequently incapable of moving
the passions of others ; he never attempted to be eloquent or made
use of a merely ornate expression, his object in speaking was effect,
and that wholly directed to his cause and not to himself; in the man-
agement of a case he was always cool and self-possessed ; no sud-
den and unexpected turn in the progress of a trial disconcerted
him, or appeared to be unexpected by him ; no collision at the bar
ever appeared to aft'ect his temper in the least. With such a tem-
perament it is obvious that the legal profe:>sion. was of all the pro-
fessions, the one for him, and that in which he was calculated to
excel.
Mr. Church was always entirely regardless of personal appear-
ance and dress; he was very small, meager and ill formed, his fea-
tures quite ordinary, but all this very indifferent appearance was res-
cued from inattention by a most remarkably attractive and intelli-
gent eye.
Mr. Church was frequentl\- a representative to the Legislature
from Canaan, and never failed to make an ini])ression upon that
bodv ; and to his sagacious management is attributable the preseva-
tion of the Housatonic Railroad from ruin, as a commissioner there-
on appointed by the Legislature, with power, together with his as-
sociate in office, Mr. Pond, to sell and consequently to destroy the
road which seemed to be a favorite object with them for a time.
Mr. Church died in the midst of life as a professional man, July
1849. ^ ^'i"" ^iii^W^' to state the particulars of his family.
i'ctigutick'a 3iifty feats
FIFTY YEARS
AT THE
LITCHFIELD COUNTY BAR
A LECTURE
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
LITCHFIELD COUNTY BAR
BY
CHARLES F. SEDGWICK, ESQ.
1870.
L.
CHAS. F. SEDGWICK
SEDGWICK'S ADDRESS.
Litchfield, Feb. 9, 1870.
Gex. Sedgwick :
My Dear Sir — At a l)ar meeting- held this noon die following
nesolntion was offered b}- E. W. Seymour and unanimously adopted :
jriicrcas. at the next term of this Court Gen. C. F. Sedgwick
will have completed a fifty years connection with this bar as a re-
spected member thereof,
Resolved. That he be invited to deliver an address in the Court
Room at such time next term as may be convenient to him u]>on some
subject connected with his long professional career.
Resohi'ed. That a committee of three be appointed to extend this
invitation to the General and to make arrangements that may be
necessary in case the invitation be accepted,
( ). S. Seymour. J. H. Hubbard and Abijah Catlin were appointed
a committee for this purpose.
It gives the committee great pleasure to communicate the fore-
going proceedings to you and we hope you will gratify us by accept-
ing the invitation. We will at any time confer with you upon the
subject of what arrangements should be made.
Yours truly, O. S. Seymour.
For the Committee.
The committee of the Litchfield County Bar have received the
annexed letter from General Sedgwick and have agreed upon Wed-
nesday evening, the 13th of A])ril. for hearing the commemoration
discourse at the Court Room. Members of the I'ar of other Courts
and the ]niblic generally are invited to attend.
J. H. Hubbard,
O. S. Seymour,
Abijah Catlin,
Committee.
Litchfield. March 14. 1870.
Sharon^ March 12. 1870.
Judge Sey.mour :
Dear Sir — 1 received, in due time, yotirs. written in behalf of
the committee of the Bar. and owe you an aix>logy for not giving
it an earlier answer. The truth is that I have hesitated to give an
affirmative response from a feeling of incompetency to get up any
thintr which would be of anv interest to mv kind friends of the Bar
72 LiTCHFlliLD COUNTY BEXCH AND BAR
whose polite proceedings you communicate. But the respect which
I feel for them combined with a feeling of gratitude for the past
kindnesses as well as the urgency of many individuals of the profes-
sion here as well as in other counties have persuaded me to make
the attempt to comply with their wishes, and I will try to get up a
commemoration discourse to be read to the Bar at the next term of
the Court. As Good Friday will come during the first week of Court
I will suggest Wednesday evening of that week for the hearing
instead of Thursday, but in this I will conform to the wishes of the
committee. If they should fix on any other evening please notify
me.
Yours, respectfully,
C. F. Sedgwick.
ADDRESS.
The statement that I have been for fifty years a member of the
bar of this county, admonishes me of a rapid journey across the stage
of life, from its morning to its evening. Those years have sped
away, and they have embraced a large portion of the time usually
alloted to man as the period of his existence here.
"Large space are they
Of man's brief life, those fifty years; they join
Its ruddy morning" with the paler light
Of its declining hours."
They have swept off in their current nearly every one who was
active in the proceedings of the courts of tliis county, at the com-
mencement of that period. It did not then occur to me to consider
the question whether I should outlive nearly all my associates at the
bar, but of the forty-four members who were then in active practice
here, all save three, and they are not now in practice, have preceded
me on their journey to the grave. Some have laid their bones in
distant parts of the country, but with the exception above named,
all have gone to their last account.
T suppose it to be the wish of the bar. as it has been intimated
to me, that I should say something of those who were active in con-
ducting the judicial proceedings in this County, fifty years ago.
This will imjily a notice of the judges, clerks and officers of the court,
as well as the legal profession. A wide field is open before me,
and I fear the exploration which I shall give it will be of very little
interest to my brethren, but such impressions of the men of those
times as remain with me. I will endeavor to lav before them.
RE-ORC.ANlZATK)N OF TIIR COURTS.
The Courts had then just been organized under the present Con-
stitution of the State. Under the old government, the Supreme
SEDGWICK S ADDRESS 73
Court consisted of nine judges, and they were elected annually by the
legislature. Under the Constitution, the number was reduced to
five, and they held their office during- good behaviour, or until they
reached the age of seventy years. In like manner, the judges of the
County Courts were reduced from five to three. Formerly these
judges held the Superior Courts, but under the Constitution, they
were holden by one judge. The old Court has embodied as high an
order of judicial talent as any other Court in any of the States, and
when the appointment of the judges under the new organization was
in contemplation, much anxiety was felt among the members of the
legal profession lest the character of the Court should deteriorate.
Chief Justice Swift was very popular with all classes, and it was
thought that his high character as a jurist, and his spotless charac-
ter as a man, would render it pretty certain that he be retained at
the head of the new Court. But the party then in power, known in
our political history as the Toleration party, determined t<i make an
almost entire change in the material of the Court, and to man the
bench with new incumbents. For the new Chief Justice, they select-
ed the Hon. Stephen Titus Hosmer, of Middletown, who had been
a member of the old Court some three or four years, and who, it was
claimed, had voted the ticket of the party at the next preceding
election. It was laid to his charge that he had done so with the
intent of thereby obtaining the position which he was afterwards
called to fill. The other judges were John T. Peters, Asa Chai)man,
Jeremiah Gates Brainard, and William Bristol. Judge lirainard
was of the old Court, and it was the intention of the riding party to
put James Lanman in the place ; but some of the tolerationists of
New London County did not believe him qualified to fill it. and
refused to vote for him. Judge Brainard was of the same county,
and the federalists naturally rallied upon him in opposition to Lan-
man, and with the aid of dissentient tolerationists, l'>rainard was
elected. He was the only old federalist on the bench, till Daggett
came on, in 1826.
CHIEF JUSTICE HOSIER.
Stephen Titus Hosmer was a lawyer of eminence in his peculiar
way. He had no very high standing as an advocate, but as a lawyer,
learned in elementary principles his position was a very good one.
A gentleman who had heard him, told me that his manner was hard
and dry. and his elocution very defective, but in some branches of
legal science he had few superiors. He seemed to delight in ex-
ploring ancient paths in search of legal principles, and in getting
up old legal tracts and dissertations. In the first volume of Day's
Reports, there is a note of forty pages of fine print, containing an
opinion of Lord Camden, of the English Court of Common Pleas,
74 I.ITCTTFIELD COUXTV BKXCTf AND BAR
which has Iiardly a rival in judicial learning- or eloquence. ]\Ir. Day
informed me that this was presented him in manuscript by Mr. Hos-
mer, there being then no printed copy of it on this side of the At-
lantic. He was appointed a Judge of the old Court in 1815, but be-
ing one of the younger judges, it never fell to his lot to preside on
the trial of a case, until his accession to the Chief Justiceship. His
career, on the whole, was very successful, both at nisi priits, and on
the bench of the Supreme Court. His api^rchension of the points
involved in the case before him, was very (juick, and the first inti-
mation he gave on incidental matters occurring in the course of the
trial, was a sure indication of what the result would be ; and al-
though he would take special pains to say to the counsel that he
had formed no opinion, the partv against whom he leaned knew
that his fate was sealed. His labors in his official duties must have
been immense. It fell to his lot to give the opinion of the Court
in nearly all the cases tried in the Supreme Court for several years
after his a]Ji)ointment, and nearly all the material of the third, fourth
and fifth large volumes of the Connecticut Reports are the result
of his study of the cases before the Court, and some of them are
very learned and labored. His illustrations in the case of Mitchell
vs. Warner, in the 2d of Connecticut Reports, of the extent of the
obligations incurred in the covenants of a deed, explained the sub-
ject to me. when I was young, better than anything I had before
read on the subject.
It seemed to be his object to render himself as agreeable as pos-
sible to the members of the bar, sometimes employing his leisure
moments on the bench in furnishing prescriptions for human ail-
ments, such as corns on the toes, and handing them over to such
members as stood in need of them. Then he would hand over a
formula for making, as he said, the best kind of liquid blacking for
our boots. In fact, every thing which he had prescribed, he always
designated as the 7'cry best. At one term of the Court, Phineas
Miner, Es([.. who had lived a widower for several years, was about
being married, which fact was intimated to the Judge. While he
sat waiting on the bench for the preparation of some business, he
spoke out suddenly. "Gentlemen! Is there a vacant cell in your jail?
Won't it be necessary for me to commit Mr. Miner to prevent his do-
ing some rash act ?"' The laugh was thoroughly turned upon poor
Miner, and the whole scene was very enjoyable. He employed all
his leisure hours in obtaining all the relaxation which was within
his reach. He played on the piano and violin, and sang with great
power and eft'ect.
There was no perceptible waning of his powers, physical or men-
tal, during the time of his service on the Court. He retired from
the bench at the age of 70 years, in February, 1833, and died, after
a short illness, in less than two vears thereafter.
SEDGWICK S ADDRESS 75
JUDGE PETERS.
John Thompson Peters was the senior Associate Judge of the
Court, and he held his first circuit in this County. He was a native
of Hebron, and a lawyer of respectable standing-. His fellow-citi-
zens had often honored him with a seat in the Legislature, and thus
he had become tolerably well known in the State. When the United
States direct tax was laid in 1813. he was appointed Collector for
the first district, removed to Hartford, and held that office when
he was appointed Judge. He had been one of the leaders of the
Democratic party from its formation ; and, as an Episcopalian, had
opposed the claims of the "Standing Order" to ecclesiastical prior-
ity, and some apprehensions were felt lest his well known views on
these subjects might temper his opinions on those questions inci-
dentally involving them. Many fears were entertained as to the
stability of ecclesiastical funds which existed in almost every Con-
gregational parish, and those who desired to break them down look-
ed to Judge Peters and his influence with the Court to aid them.
But those who entertained such hopes were destined to an early dis-
appointment, as their first experience of his administration on such
questions showed him to be disposed to stand firmly on the old
paths. He used to tell an amusing anecdote relating to his first
trial of such a case in one of tiie Eastern Counties of the State,
where he was appealed to, very strongly, to decide that a promise
to pay money in aid of such funds was without consideration. Rut
he told the parties that the law on that subject was well settled, and,
in his opinion, founded on correct principles: and that if he had
the power, he had not the disposition to change it. It had been the
practice of the Congregational pastor of the village, to open the
proceedings in Court with prayer, but considering Peters to be a
heretic, (1 use the Judge's own language,) he had never invited
Divine favor for him, but after that decision, every prayer was
charged with invocations of blessings upon ''thy sarvcnt. the judg^c^
He was verv severe in meting ciut the punishments of the law to
convicted criminals, generally inflicting the severest sentence that
the law would allow. One case was tried before him which excited
much remark and some reprehension. .\ man had been convicted
before Judge Lanman of a State prison olTence, had been sentenced
to four years' imprisonment and had served a part of a year, when
he obtained a new trial. He was tried again before Judge Peters,
and again convicted. When the time came to pass sentence on the
last conviction, his counsel asked for some mitigation on account
of the imprisonment already sufifered. Said the Judge "He must
settle that account with Judge Lanman. He owes me five years'
imprisonment in State prison" — and such was the sentence. One
prisoner who had received a severe sentence at his hands, after the
expiration of his confinement, burned the Judge's barn, and he
76 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
petitioned the Legislature of the State to pay for it, in 18 13, but
they declined to make the compensation.
For a few years, the services of Judge Peters on the bench were
very acceptable. His decisions were prompt, and generally found-
ed on a sensible view of the matter before him, without any aflfect-
tation of learning or display of oratory. His entire candor and fair-
ness were never called in question, and the decay of his powers,
which was very apparent towards the close of his career, was
observed by the bar with sorrow and regret. I witnessed an af-
fecting scene connected with his experience on the bench, which
excited a deep feeling of sympathy. He had a favorite son, Hugh
Peters, Esq., whom he had educated at Yale College, and in whom
all his hopes seemed to centre. This young man, in connection
with George D. Prentice, the noted Editor, had much to do in con-
ducting the New England Weekly Rev\eii\ a paper just established
in Hartford, and which was the organ of the party which elected
William W. Ellsworth, Jabez W. Huntington, and William L.
Storrs to Congress. He had acquired a wide reputation as a writer
of brilliant promise, and after a while went to Cincinnati to go into
business as a lawyer. On his way across Long" Island Sound, he
wrote a Farewell to New England in poetry, which was published
with great commendation, in most of the newspapers in the country.
Soon after his arrival at Cincinnati, his dead body was found float-
ing in the Ohio, several miles below the city, and circumstances were
such as to create the belief in some minds that it was a case of suicide.
The intelligence of this sad event was brought to Litchfield while
the Court of Errors was in session in June, 183 1. It was first com-
municated to Judge Williams, who sat next to Judge Peters ; and he,
with all possible tenderness, informed the latter. The Reporter, Mr.
Day, in giving the report of the case on trial, closing it by saying:
"Peters. Judge, having received, during the argument of this case,
intelligence of the death of his son. Hugh Peters, Esq., of Cincinnati,
left the Court House, 'niulfa geiiieiis easiique ammuui concessns;
and gave no opinion." I witnessed the mournful scene, and I well
remember the loud and plaintive groans of the afflicted old man as he
passed out of the Court room and down the stairway to his lodg-
ings.
When Chief Justice Hosmer retired from the bench, the Legisla-
ture, by a very strong vote, elected Judge Peters' junior. Judge Dag-
gett, Chief Justice. He felt the slight, but did not retire, and held
his place till his death in August. 1834. A few weeks longer, and
he would have reached the age of seventy years.
JUDGE CHAPMAN.
The next Judge in seniority was Asa Chapman, of Newtown, in
Fairfield Countv. For several vears before he received the appoint-
SEDGWICK S ADDRESS JJ
nient, he practiced to some extent in this County, and was, of course,
well known here. He was the father of the late Charles Chapman of
Hartford. He was somewhat taller than the son, and with his bald
head, white locks, thin face, and grey eyes, he resembled him not a
little in personal appearance, but he had none of that bitterness of
manner or spirit which characterized the efiforts of the younger Chap-
man. He was an Episcopalian in religious faith, and he had very
naturally fallen into the ranks of the new party, and being- well quali-
fied for the place in point of legal ability, he made a very acceptable
and popular Judge. He was a man of good humor, genial temper,
and great colloquial powers, which he exercised very freely on the
trial of cases. Ha lawyer undertook to argue a case before him,
he soon found himself engaged in a friendly, familiar conversation
with the Judge the evident intent of the latter being to draw out
the truth and justice of the case. His adminstration was very
popular, and his early death was greatly deplored. He died of con-
sumption in 1826. at the age of fifty-six years.
JUDGE BRAIXAKD.
Jeremiah Gates Brainard, of Xew London, the father of the poet
Brainard, was next in seniority on the bench. He had been a mem-
ber of the old Court from 1807 and he was elected to the new Court,
under the circumstances which I have mentioned. He was a man of
no showy pretensions, very plain and simple in his manners, and
very familiar in his intercourse with the Bar. He affected very
little dignity on the bench, and yet he was regarded as an ex-
cellent Judge. He dispatched business with great facility, and im-
plicit confidence was placed in his sound judgment and integrity.
He resigned his place on the bench in 1829, his health not being
equal to the duties of the office, having served as judge for twenty-
two vears.
JUDGE BRISTOL.
Of all the judges on the bench, William Bristol of New Haven
was the youngest in years as well as in rank. He had not been
much known as a lawyer, out of the County of New Haven, and. of
course his coming here was looked for with considerable interest.
He evidently had a high sense of judicial dignity, his manners on
the bench being very taciturn, approaching severeness, very seldom
speaking, except to announce his decisions in the fewest possible
words, and I cloubt if any one ever saw him smile in Court. His
decisions were sound and well considered and. upon the whole, his
administration was respectable, although he could not be said to
have had much personal popularity at the bar.
yS LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
JUDGE DAGCETT.
The decease of Judge Chapman and the resignation of Judge
Bristol in 1826. created two vacancies in the Court which were to
be filled at the session of the Legislature of that year. The same
party which had effected the change in the government of the state,
and in the constitution of the Court, was still in power, but nearly
all the eminent lawyers in the State adhered to the federal party.
Probably the most obnoxious man in the state to the dominant party
was David Daggett, not so much from personal dislike as from his
prominence in the ranks of his party. His talents, integrity and
high legal abilitties were conceeded by everyone, but when the legis-
lature assembled, there was probably not a man in the state who
looked to his election as a judge.
There were a few men in the state belonging to the toleration
partv who felt deeply the importance of having a reputable court,
and who, on this question, were willing to forego all party considera-
tion. Morris Woodruff, of Litchfield County. Thaddeus Betts and
Charles Hawley. of Fairfield County. Walter Booth, of Xew Haven
County, and Charles J. ]\IcCurdy. of New London County, were
men of that stamp ; and it was through the influence of these men,
and of others of less prominence, that David Daggett was elected a
Judge of the Supreme Court. The same influence, exerted by the
same men, secured the election of Judges Williams and Bissell, three
years later.
After the election of Judge Daggett was effected, no one seemed
to care who the other judge might be. as with Chief Justice Hos-
mer at the head of the court, and Judge Daggett as an associate, it
was felt that it could have a highly respectable character. The
Hon. James Lanman received the appointment, but after a short
term of service, resigned.
An elaborate sketch of Judge Daggett is given in the twentieth
volume of our reports.
TITE SUPERIOR COURT, FiFTV YEARS SINCE.
There were sessions of the Superior Court in each year, holden
on the third Tuesdays of August and February, and the terms rare-
ly extended beyond two weeks. If they reached to the third week
they were deemed to be of extraordinary length. The Superior
Cburt had no original jurisdiction, except as a court of equity.
All its actions at law came up by appeal from the County Court,
and generally important cases were carried up without trial in the
court below. The party wishing to appeal his case would demur,
either to the declaration or plea, as the case might be, suffer a
judgment to be entered against him, and appeal from it and then
Aic.rsTLS PETTI rox;
MICIIAKI. F. MILLS
JOSKl'ii F. liALLAMY
w:\i. G. COE
SEDGWICK S ADDRESS 79
change his plea in the Superior Court as the exigencies of his case
may require. The making of copies in the case appealed was a
very profitable item in the business of the clerk. All cases at law
wherein the matter in demand exceeded seventy dollars were ap-
pealable, and all matters in equity in which the sum involved ex-
ceeded three hundred dollars were brought originally to the Su-
perior Court. In criminal matters the jurisdiction of both courts
was concurrent. e.xce])t in crimes of a higher grade which were
tried exclusively in the Superior Court. A case was pretty certain
to reach a trial at the second term after it was entered in the
docket, imless special reasons could be shown for its further con-
tinuance.
THE COl■XT^■ COLkT JIDGE PETTIBONE.
The County Court had an important agency in the administra-
tion of Justice, fifty years ago. Under the old form of govern-
ment it consisted of one judge and four justices of the quorum;
under tiie constitution, of one Chief Judge and two associate judges.
When I came to the bar Augustus Pettibone of Xorfolk was Chief
judge; Martin Strong, of Salisbury, and John Welch, of Litch-
field, associate judges, judge Pettibone had presided for several
years in the old court, and although he was a federalist of decided
convictions, he was continued in office by the party in i)Ower until
he resigned the place in 1832. It will be remembered that the
judges in this court were appointed annually by the legislature.
Judge Pettibone had a high standing as a man of integrity and of
sound common sense. His early education was deficient and he
made many grammatical mistakes in his charges to the jury, but
he had been esteemed, and was a lawyer of respectable attainments.
He was a native of Xorfolk. where he lived to a very great age.
He was tall and slender in person, somewhat round shouldered
with hair which was very abundant and which remained so during
life. Xo one could doubt the fairness and good sense of his de-
cisions ; and, upon the whole, his career as a judge was creditable
to his reputation.
JUDGE STRONG.
Martin Strong of Salisbury, was the senior associate judge.
He was a son of Col. Adonijah Strong of that town, a lawyer of
the olden time, of whose wit as well as blunders, many stories were
rife fifty years ogo. Colonel Strong had four sons all of whom
entered into professional life, two as clergymen and two as law-
yers. His son, the Rev. William Strong, was father of the Hon.
William Strong, of Pennsylvania, recently appointed an associate
justice of the ^Supreme Court of the United States. Our Judge
8o LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
Martin Strong had been a member of the bar for several years, but
had never made a very high mark in his profession — in fact he had
never devoted himself very assiduously to the discharge of its du-
ties. He owned a large and valuable farm on the town hill in Salis-
bury, and his principal business was to attend to that. When he
came upon the bench he seemed to have a recollection of a few
plain legal ma.xims, but his methods of applying them to cases was
not always the most skillful. He was a man of immense physical
dimensions, and when he had taken his seat on the bench, he sat
in perfect quiet, until the loud proclamation of the sheriff an-
nounced the adjournment of the court. He remained in office
till 1829, when William M. Burrall, Esq., of Canaan, took his place.
TTDGE WELCH.
The junior judge of the court was the Hon. John Welch of
Litchfield. He was a native of the parish of Milton and a gradu-
ate of Yale College in the class of 1778, a class which is said to
have produced more eminent men in proportion to its numbers than
any other which ever graduated at that institution. Joel Barlow,
Zephaniah Swift, Uriah Tracy. Xoah Webster and the last Gover-
nor Wolcott, with many other distinguished men, were of the class.
Judge Welch never entered either of the professions, but he
lived to a very great age. He was appointed a judge of the County
Court in the place of Cyrus Swan, Esq., of Sharon, who had re-
signed his position on the bench of the court in 1819. Judge
Welch continued on the bench till he became disqualified by age in
1829. He made no pretentions to legal learning but his decisions
were based on a fair impartial view of the questions as they came
up. He always gave reasons for the opinion he had formed, al-
wavs made himself well understood, and his candor, fairness and
sound judgment were admitted by all.
JUDGES I'.L'KRALL, WOODRUFF AND BOARDM.VN.
In 1829, when Judge Welch must retire on account of his age,
it was deemed proper by the legislature to make new appointments
of both associate judges. Judge Strcnig had been twelve years on
the bench, and in his place William M. Burrall, Esq., of Canaan,
was appointed senior associate judge, and Gen. Morris W^oodrufif
took the place of Judge W^elch. The court continued thus organ-
ized till the resignation of Judge Pcttibone, when, not only with
the consent, but with the decided approval of both associate judges,
David S. Boardman, Esq., of New Milford, was taken from the
bar and installed Chief Judge of the County Court, which as then
constituted, held a high position in public confidence.
SEDGWICK S ADDRESS
8i
HOX. FREDERICK WOLCOTT, CLERK
The Clerk of the Court was the lion. Frederick Wolcott. wlio
was appointed as early as 1781. and who retained the place till 1835.
when he resiq-ned. after a service of forty-four years. He was a
son of the sec<:)n(l. and a brother of the late Governor of that name,
and undoubtedly cherished highly aristocratic feelings and had a
great amount of family pride, but his intercourse with the members
of the bar was gentlemanly and conciliatory. He was of a noble
presence, large and manly in person, and always dressed in the
best style of the ancient fashion of small clothes, white stockings,
and white topped boots. His knowledge of legal proceedings in
the County, ran back so far that no one ever presumed to question
his accuracy as to leeal forms and precedents. When his resigna-
tion was accepted by the Court, a minute, preoared bv Uidge Rur-
rall, which referred to his long and faithful service, and which con-
82 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
tained the statement tliat no judgment of the Court had ever been
reversed on account of any mistake of the Clerk, was entered on
the records of the County Court. He was a member of the Gover-
nor's Council under the Charter Government, and was coutinued
in the Senate for several vears, under the constitution.
SHERIEE SEYMOUR
Moses Seymour, Jr., Esq., was Sheriff of the County from 1819
to 1825, but the active duties of the office were performed by his
deputy, his brother Ozias, who had been a deputy of the old Sheriff'
Landon, and who had become well acquainted with the practical
duties of the office as they were preformed in our County. He
opened and adjourned the daily sessions, called parties to appear
in court as their presence was demanded, and. in fact, was the ac-
tive Sheriff" in nearly all the proceedings. He succeeded his brother
as Sheriff in 1825. and held the office till 1834.
UNCLE JOHN STONE, MESSENGER
Nor must we omit to mention here, the messenger of that day,
good old Uncle John Stone. How long he had held the place be-
fore 1820, I know not, but I found him here then, and it took but a
very short time to make his acquaintance, and learn his kindness
of heart. He harl a kind of dry humor, which sometimes showed
itself in witty sayings, and sometimes in pungent sarcasms. He
was a faithful messenger, an honest man, and to all human appear-
ance, a sincere christian. He retained his place till he fell dead in
the public liighway. in 1830, in a fit of apoplexy.
BUSINESS OF THE OLD COUNTY COURT
There were three sessions of the old County Court in each year
in March. September and December. The September term was
generally short, merely disposing of the criminal business and such
other preliminary matters as could not be jmssed over. The March
term lasted three weeks, and the Deceml,er term from four to six
weeks, as the business might demand. The first half day was al-
ways taken up in calling the docket. Mr. Wolcott had his files ar-
ranged ali)habetically, corresponding with the entries on the docket
and of these some member of the bar, usually one of the younger,
had charire. The Sheriff' took his station in the center of the bar,
Sedgwick's address 83
and as the cases were named by the Clerk, the proper entries were
made both on the docket and on the file, and then the file was passed
to the Sherifif, who delivered it to the party entitled to it, and thus,
at the close of the proceedings all the files had passed into the hands
of the members of the bar where they remained until the case re-
ceived final disposition. Three hundred cases were considered as
constituting a small docket and I have known as many as nine
hundred entered at a single term.
ADMISSIOK TO THE BAR.
When I came to the bar in 1820, there were two grades of law-
yers in the State. The first admission only authorized the candi-
date to practice at the County Court, and a service of two years
was required at that bar before he was allowed an examination for
admission to the bar of the Superior Court : and I was at the bar
of the County Court for a year or more in expectation of under-
going another ordeal in the upper Court. In the meantime the
statutes of the State had been revised under the superintendence of
Judge Swift and many and material alterations had been made to
conform the provisions of the law to the new order of things under
the constitutions. The cjuestion came before Judge Brainard and
he decided that imder the revised statutes an admission to the bar
of the County Court gave the can<lidate authority to practice in all
the Courts in the State, and that decision was assented to by all the
judges.
The matter of examining candidates for admission to the bar
was, in those days, an imjxising solemnity, and the day for that
proceeding was a marked day of the term. All the members of the
bar were expected to be present and few failed of attending. The
coiumittee of examination occupied the judges seats; the chair-
man holding the place of the Chief Judge, indicating to each separ-
ate member of the committee the subject in which he was expected
to examine the candidate, and thus a thorough and searching ex-
amination was had. After the examination was closed the candi-
dates retired, and the members of the bar gave their opinions
scriati)ii on the question of the admission of the applicant. Some-
times candidates were rejected. It had been the practice in early
times to have an entertainment at the close of the examination at
the expense of the successful candidates, but this had been dispensed
with when I was examined. Stories were told of some eminent
members of the bar who, on such occasions, indulged in practices
which were not creditable to their reputation for temperance and
sobriety. Perhaps it was for this reason that the practice was
abolished.
84 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
PRACTICE.
Statutory provisions and the advance of legal science, as well
as a more just sense of what is due to the best interest of litigation,
have made great changes in the course of proceedings before the
Courts, during the last fifty years. Then, it was customary for
counsel to take advantage of any trivial omission which could be
found in the proceedings, and a case never came to trial until every
possible effort for abatement or delay, had been exhausted. Our
Statute in relation to amendments had not then received so liberal
a construction, nor was it in itself so liberal in its provisions as it
now is ; and thus opportunity was afforded for the display of much
ingenuity in the prosecution of dilatory pleas.
Then, there were no statutory provisions relating to injunctions.
All the power which the Court had in that matter being that with
which it was invested by the common law as a Court of Ecjuity, and
hence, very little will be found in our Reports on this subject, until
about 1826, after the Statute authorizing the judges to grant tem-
porary injunctions had been passed. This Statute was introduced
into the legislature by Judge Swift, who was a member for several
sessions after his retirement from the bench. Since then many
cases relating to this branch of jurisprudence, have been before our
Courts.
Probablv more than half the suits commenced in our County
Courts, fifty years ago, were brought to enforce the collection of
debts, and in some localities this was a profitable business. The
County Court then had jurisdiction in all cases where the matter
in demand exceeded the sum of fifteen dollars, and this brought into
it a great number of suits now tried by single justices, and accounts
for the great diminution in the number of cases now brought here.
Piles of learning were devoted to destruction by the edict of the
legislature, admitting parties and other persons in interest to be
heard as witnesses. The nicest and most refined legal questions
were frequently brought before the Courts for decision in matters
relating to the interest of witnesses, but now they are almost for-
gotten by the most learned of the profession.
THE AL'THORITIES THEN IN USE.
The Statutes then in force were the Revision of 1808, by far the
most elaborate and complete of any ever published. It contains
a complete history of the legislation of Connecticut on all subjects
of statutory enactment from the first, and is still a useful book for
study by the profession. The principal labor of its preparation for
publication was performed by Thomas Day.
Comparatively few American authorities were cited in our
Sedgwick's address 85
Courts, then. Mr. Day had pubhshed four volumes of Day's Re-
ports, and then had suspended further pubHcation for want of en-
couragement. The Legislature, in 181 5, had authorized the Court
to appoint a Reporter, and had given him a salary. Under such an
appointment, Mr. Day had commenced publishing the Connecticut
Reports, and had published three volumes of them, when he publish-
ed the fifth of Day, thus filling the gap between the fourth of Day
and the first of Connecticut. The X. Y. Reports, by Caine and
Johnson, tlown to the 12th of Johnson, and twelve volumes of the
Massachusetts Reports, were out, and these, with our Reports, were
about the only American authorities which were cited in our Courts
Not a single American elementary work had then been published, ex-
cept Swift's System and Swift's Evidence. The English Reports from
Burrows down, including Douglas', Cowper's, Term, and East's
Reports, down to the 12th volume, with Blackstone's Commentaries,
which were always on the table, were the staple authorities of the
times. I remark in passing, that Judge Reeve said that he consider-
ed Cowper's Reports the best that had then been published of the
decisions of the Court of King's bench.
But it is time to speak of the warriors in those bloodless forensic
battles which were fought on this field, fifty years ago. They are all
fresh in my memory, but they have j^assed from the stage of life.
I have delayed this part of my undertaking to the last moment, from
the mere dread of entering upon it. I feel it to be a very difficult
task to present the lawyers of those days to the profession now, in
anything like their just attitude. Men of the highest attainments at
the bar are entirely different from each other. Man_\- little things
which cannot be detailed enter into the composition of the characters
of different men. The same qualities mingle in unequal proportions
in dift'erent persons and I feel embarrassed in every way as I ap-
proach the task of speaking of the professional gentlemen who
manned the post of duty on this field, fifty years ago.
There were then, as now. two clases of the profession here. ( )ne
class had a local practice, being ijrincipally engaged in causes arising
in their immediate locality. The practice of the other class was
co-extensive with the power of their ability and not always confined
to the count\- — of tliis later class there were several here.
JLDC.E C.OLLD.
The Honorable James Gould had undoubtedly stood at the head
of the profession in this state, both as an advocate and a lawyer,
previous to his elevation to the bench of the Supreme Court. After
his retirement from that position he professed to have retired from
practice, and devoted himself principally to giving law lectures to
86 ijTcrrFiEr.n couxTv bexcfi and bar
students, l)ut in two cases in this count}', and one in Hartford County,
he came to the bar and conducted the trials. One was the case of
the Phoenix Hank ag^ainst Governor Wolcott and others, in which
the Governor endeavored to avoid payment of a debt for which he
was only a surety, on the grounds of usury. It was a proceeding
in equity, and the argument of Judge Gould was exceedingly able and
elaborate. He occasionally indulged in keen, cutting sarcasms,
which pointed strongly to the Honorable defendant who was present.
His argument was what Cotton Mather would call "a Juculcnt com-
mentary" on the law of usury. The case was decided in favor of
the Bank.
The other was a trial to the jury in which a very intimate friend
of Judge Gould was a party, and in this case his professional emi-
nence was exhibited in a very striking manner. In his argument
he was entirel\- unimpassioned, and remarkably clear in his illustra-
tions. He stood much of the time with his hand on a book, which
stood on one end, on the table before him, and I do not remember
that he made a single gesture during the whole time of his argu-
ment. He occupied the attention of the court and jury for an hour
and a half, and it was the last case he tried. He was a perfect master
of the most effective method of delivery. In his written opinions
w^hile on the bench there is sometimes an involution of thought and
language as well as a prolongation of sentences which renders neces-
sary the strictest attention while reading to work out the true mean-
ing, but in his oral deliveries he had such a perfect mastery of the
laws of accent, emphasis and cadence as to make his meaning in-
telligible to the most careless hearer. The exhibition of his ability
in this case was an appropriate closing effort of a long career of high
professional eminence.
There were a few other members of the bar. not reaching the
eminence of Judge Gould, yet whose practice was co-extensive with
the countv and extended sometimes into other counties. The names
of the following gentlemen now occur to me as belonging to that
class: Noah B. Benedict, Asa Bacon, Elijah Sterling, David S.
Boardman and Phineas Miner. I have not included the name of
Jabez W. Huntington, for the reason that he was then a young man
and had not. by any means, reached the high standing which he
afterwards attained. He was engaged in very many of the cases
tried, but very often as a volunteer in aid '^f some young beginner
who had sought liis help, which under such circumstances he was
always willing to render. For the same reason I have omitted the
late Chief Justice Church because he was then just beginning to
obtain a good professional standing, and was called to the bench of
the Supreme Court which he afterwards greatly adorned before he
had obtained tlie high rank as a lawyer which otherwise surely
awaited him.
Sedgwick's aodress 87
NOAH B. BENEDICT.
From my best recollection of the standing of the first lawyers
at the bar in those olden times, I am inclined to award the first place
as an advocate to Xoah B. Benedict. He had every advantage which
a fine personal appearance could give him, not very tall, but well
proportioned, with a countenance of great beauty, indicating kind-
ness of feeling and intelligence of mind. His arguments produced
conviction in the minds of the triers more by insinuation than by
iin/^rcssio)i. He was earnest, but seldom impassioned, mild and
winning in his manner, and thus worked his way as by stealth to
the heart and convictions of the court and jury. I remember a case
on trial in which he was opposed by Boardman ; and Benedict, who
was for the defendant on the trial, contested the points inch by inch
as thev arose in the case. During; an intermission some one asked
lioardman how they were getting along with their case. He replied
impatiently, "Not very well. Benedict is as ingenious as the devil
can make him, and he plagues us to death." He was engaged in
nearly all the important cases tried in all the courts, and his practice
was extensive in Xew Haven and Fairfield counties. He attended
the session of the Supreme Court at Litchfield in 1831 and argued
several cases, but left on account of illness before the term closed.
In a short time I heard he was dead. He had reached the age of
sixty-one vears. In the case of Fairman vs. Bacon the last case
but one which Mr. Benedict argued. Judge Daggett, in giving the
opinion of the court, pays the following tril)ute to his memory: "I
have, in this opinion, made great use of a brief furnished by the late,
lamented Mr. Benedict, because I found it presented the argument
in that terse, yet luminous view of which that gentleman was so
conspicuous, and by which the court were so often instructed and
enlishtened, and rarelv more so than in this, one of his last efiforts."
.\SA I'.ACOX.
xA.sa Bacon was a native of Canterbury and came to Litchfield as
early as 1806, after a short period of practice at East Haven, and,
for a while, was a partner of Judge Gould. In 1820 he had become
a leading spirit at the bar. He had a fine personal appearance, being-
tall and well proportioned, and usually richly dressed. The first
time I saw him before the jury his head was well cased in powder
and pomatum, and a long queue was dangling at his back; but he
soon laid aside this conformity to old time fashions, although he was
the last member of the bar to do so. He was undoubtedly a very
hard student, and his briefs were the result of extensive and faithful
studv, but was after all an interesting speaker. He would sometimes
88 I^lTClimiiLD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
interlude his arg-uments with specimens of droller\- and tlashes of
wit, and the expectation that these would be put forth secured a very
strict attention from all his hearers. He frequently quoted passages
of scri]:)ture, and commented upon them, not always irreverently,
but sometimes with rather unbecoming levity. He was a mortal
enemy of universal suffrage, and once in commenting upon the para-
ble of talents he called the bailee of one talent who had hid it in
the earth a universal siiffraj^c inaii. He was a genial, jolly, com-
panionable man, and alth(jugh not addicted to excessive liberality
in his benefactions, still kept himself in good standing" while he re-
mained here. When he had reached the age of sixty years he was
ap])ointed president of the Branch of the Phoenix Bank, located in
Litchtield. and after that was never seen professionally "engaged in
Court. The last years of his life were spent in Xew Haven where
he died at a very advanced age.
GENERAL STERLING
General Elisha Sterling was a native of L\me and a graduate of
Yale College in the class of 1787. He studied law with the Hon.
John Canfield of Sharon, who was his father-in-law, and settled in
Salisbury in 1791. He was a man of high order of talent, and had
he addressed himself solely to professional points would probably
have stood at the head of the bar in this county. lUit he loved
money and gave nuich of his time to different kinds of business,
and acquired great wealth for those times. Notwithstanding" this
propensity he had an extensive practice and was engaged in niost of
the cases coming from the northern portions of the county. He
was a ready speaker, not very select in the choice of words and
not eloquent by any established rule of elocution, but there was a
kind of impetuosity in his manner, accompanied by a rapid but dis-
tinct utterance of language which gave him popularity as an advo-
cate. He was appointed State's Attorney in 1814. and held the
office six years when Seth P. Beers, Esq., was appointed in his place.
He retired from practice soon after, and died in 1836. at the age of
seventy-two years. His wealth enabled him to indulge the stroui^
taste he had for a handsome style of living and equipage, and in
that direction his mind had strong aristocratical tendencies.
jriK.E BOARDIMAN
David S. Boardman was a native of Xew Milford and settled
there in llie practice of law after his admission to tiie bar in 1795.
sedcwick's address 89
He was a man of retiring disposition, in no way giving showy dis-
play of his powers, but he was a finished legal scholar, and was
deemed a verv safe and prudent professional adviser. He had a very
nice literary taste, and the least granimatical blunder by a judge or
lawver attracted his attention and frequently his ridicule. His argu-
ments were pointed specimens of perspicuity, precision and force,
but he failed to attract much attention as an advocate through a
defect of vocal power. His voice was feeble and could scarcely
be heard except by those who were near him. He had a high char-
acter for moral rectitude, and his four or five years service at the
head of the County Court gave it a dignity and moral power which
in other vears it had scarcely obtained. Sketches from his pen,
descriptive of some of the members of the bar in this County of the
last century were published in one of our county papers, some
twenty vears ago, and they are of the deepest interest to those whose
tastes lead them in that direction of historic inquiry. They were
originally in letters written to myself, and were afterwards with his
consent prepared for the press and published in the paper and in
pamphlet form. He was a College classmate of Asa Bacon and
thev were warm personal friends. He lived to the great age of
ninetv-seven vears.
PJIIXIvAS .MIXKR.
IMiineas Miner, the last because the youngest of the class of
lawyers to whom I have referred deserves a much more extended
notice than I shall be able to give him. His amiable and genial
temper as a man seemed to make him very popular as a lawyer.
Fidelity to his client and a laborious attention to their interests was
a marked trait in liis professional career. He commenced i)ractice
in Winchester, his native town, and had there acquired a good stand-
ing in his profession when he came to Litchfield in 1816. He had
an extensive practice and was noted for the diligence with which
he pressed everv point, however unimportant, which could be made
to tell in favor of his client. His arguments were generally ex-
tended to a great length, and I have known him to receive a gentle
hint from the Judge recommending a condensation of his thoughts.
He died in 1839 at the age of sixty years, and Air. Day, the Reporter,
gives a flattering estimate of hin: in a foot note on the 134th page
of the 13th volume of Connecticut Reports.
I am now to speak of a class of lawyers, much younger than those
to whom I have already referred, but who had obtained a good
standing at the bar fifty years ago.
90 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
WILLIAM G. WILLIAMS.
Of New Hartford, stood as hig-h as any member of this class. He
belonged to the eminent and reputable \Villiams family of Massachu-
setts, his father being a nephew of Colonel Ephriam Williams the
founder of Williams College, and himself the first cousin of Bishop
Williams of the Episcopal Church of Connecticut. As a special
pleader he had no superior at the bar. He had a tolerably fair stand-
ing as an advocate, and was indefatigable in pursuing to the last
possible effort any purpose he had undertaken. If he failed in one
form of action he would try another, and never gave up till further
persistence was hopeless. He commenced business as a lawyer in
Sharon, where he married, but after a few years he removed to New
Hartford, where he remained during his life. He had scarcely
reached the age of sixty years when he died.
JOHN STRONG, JR.,
Of Woodbury, his native town, was a lawyer of very fair standing.
I remember once to have heard Judge Roardman say, that if he
found John Strong differing from himself on a point, he always
doubted the correctness of his own conclusions. He was a ready
speaker and had a peculiar habit of looking all over the hall, fre-
quently directly behind himself, while he was addressing the jury.
His arguments were clear and logical, and he was always listened to
by the court with attention. He had scarcely reached the age of
fiftv vears when he died.
CALNIN BUTLER,
Of Plymouth, had a very good reputation as a lawyer. He also
stood well with his fellow citizens of Plymouth, as he was often a
member of the legislature, and he was of the convention of this
state. He was also a member of the Senate in 1832. He had a part
in all cases which came from that town and managed a trial very
well. He was earnest in his manner of addressing the jury, and he
was in full jiractice up to the time of his death, when he had
reached the age of seventy-two years. He died suddenly, while
away from home, and left behind a good record as a faithful law-
yer and an honest man.
CYRUS SWAN,
Of Stonington, came to the bar of this county in 1798. He settled
in Sharon, and continued in full practice for twenty years. He was
Sedgwick's address 91
appointed a judge of the county court in 1818. and reappointed for
the succeeding- year, but resigning the office before the close of the
term. His health becoming intolerant of sedentary habits and re-
quiring out-door pursuits, he never resumed full practice, although
he occasionally appeared in trials where his old friends demanded
his aid. His arguments were clear, sound and sensible, and were
listened to with attention. His mind was well stored with sound
legal maxims and his aim seemed to be to make a sensible applica-
tion of these to the case in hand. He died in 1835 at the age of
sixtv-five vears.
ANSEL STEKLlXii.
A younger brother of the General, with whom he studied law,
settled first in Salisbury, but in 1808 went to Sharon, where he spent
his life. His talents were diversified, addicting himself readily to
anv pursuit which was a source of money making, in which he was
very successful. As a lawyer, his forensic ability was of high
order, nor was he deficient in legal science. His language flowed
readily and rapidly, and sometimes his appeals to the jviry were very
effective. He was a member of Congress for two terms, and did
not conceal his disappointment that he was not nominated for the
third. That compliment was afiforded him two years later, but he
was defeated by Orange Merwin whom the federalists had placed
on their ticket. He died at the age of seventy-two years, leaving a
large estate and a numerous family.
JOSEPH MILLER,
Of Winsted, who died recently in Michigan at a very advanced age.
was a man of moral talent and of a higher order of legal acquire-
ments than he usually had credit for. After the removal of Mr.
Miller to Litchfield, his practice was large and continued to be so for
several years. His arguments were short, compact and logical,
and w«re listened to with attention and interest. In middle life he
removed to ^vlichigan, where he had a prosperous career.
WILLL\iI M. BURRALL,
A native, and through life a resident, of Canaan, was a lawyer of
very extensive practice in one branch of business. He commenced
a great manv cases to the court, but never argued one on the final
92 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BEXCII AND i'.AR
trial. He would sometimes argue motions for continuance, or for
other purposes, and his success on such occasions showed that he
had underrated his own powers. Although he did not argue his
cases he was the master spirit in managing all the details of the trial,
in what order witnesses should he called, and the points of testi-
mony brought out. His associates depended greatly on his skill
in conducting this part of the proceedings. He had a kind, affable
and winning way in his social intercourse, and his offices were em-
ployed in adjusting and settling legal controversies. He acted as
committee and arbitrator in more cases than any other member of
the bar of his time, and if a desire to make himself as indifferent as
possible to all parties sometimes seemed to hold him back from de-
cisive action, he always, in the end, showed true firmness and in-
tegrity. He was an associate judge of the County Court from 1829
to 1836, and after that chief judge for ten years. He died at the
age of seventy-seven years.
COLONEL AVILLIA.M COC.CSWELL,
Of New Preston, a very worthy and respectable gentleman, was a
member of the bar and was very seldom absent from the courts,
He never engaged in the trial of a case, and very seldom spoke to
the bench, but he was always a busy man in the court room. He was
one of the electors who cast the vote of Connecticut for John Ouincy
Adams for President in 1824. He died before he had reached a very
advanced age.
SETH 1'. BEERS.
When I came to the bar in 1820. Seth P. Beers, Esq., was in full
practice. He was appointed State's Attorney soon after, but resign-
ed in three years, having been appointed Commissioner of the
School Fund, which office he held for twenty-five years. I have
heard him sav that some terms of the Court he had commenced as
many as one hundred and fifty cases, and he was very thorough in
all matters committed to his trust. His talents as an advocate were
respectable, his briefs being very full and his knowledge of every
minute point being very complete. Tt is hardly necessary to speak
further of him as he lived down to a ])eri()d within the memory of
most of those who are present.
PERRV S.MITII,
Of Xew Milford, held a somewhat prominent place at the bar and
his practice was extensive. So many diff'erent estimates have been
SETH P. BEERS
SEDGWICK S ADDRESS 93
made of Mr. Smith's real qualities, that it is difficult to speak of him
with any very strong assurance of correctness. That he had talents
and friends the success he achieved both as a lawyer and a politician
render certain, but those who remember the time of his professional
experience, here, know that he had enemies, and such would be the
natural result of the unrelenting bitterness with which he pursued
his adversaries in his efforts before the courts. There was a bitter-
ness in his invectives, a persistence in his persecutions, an implaca-
bility in his enmities, wliich gave a decided character to his pro-
fessional career, and which insured him the enmity of all against
whom his efforts were directed. He was always listened to with a
kind of inquisitiveness as to what new fountain of bitterness he
would open, or what new invectives he would invent to pour out
upon his adversary. These were sometimes directed against the
opposing party, and upon the whole he incurred a great amount of
hatred. I am only speaking of what occurred in court, and express-
ing tlie opinion which we would form in witnessing his professional
'to
conflicts. It cannot be doubted that he had many friends and sup-
porters outside of this scene of action and it is not likely that he was
as warm and constant in his friendship as he was bitter and unre-
lenting in his hatreds. After his election to the United States Senate
he retired from tlie bar and was very seldom seen here.
ROCER -MILLS
Of New Hartford, was at one time a partner of Mr. Williams, of
whom we have already spoken, from whom he differed in every re-
spect except that both held the position of honorable and worthy
gentlemen. ]\Ir. Mills was slow in his conception of thoughts, slow
in all the movements of mind, and very slow in his delivery of his
arguments, and vet when all his duties in a case were accomplished
it would be seen that he had made a creditable effort and that he
was far from being a lawyer of indiff'erent pretensions. His son of
the same name succeded him in the practice of law at New Hartford,
but has since moved to Wisconsin where he has had a successful
career.
MICHAEL F. MILLS
Of Norfolk, was a somewhat prominent member at the bar. not
because he had verv much legal ability, but because he had the tact
to make much show out of little substance. He never attempted to
argue cases in the higher courts, but on the trial of motions as they
came before the Courts, he was very prominent. We all thought
94 LITCHFIELD COUXTV BENCH AND BAR
well of Uncle Mich, as we used to call him and so did the people
of Norfolk, for he was always a prominent man in the affairs of the
town. He was a member of the lej:(islature in 1830 and 183 1, and
there made himself conspicuous in the same way he did before the
courts. He lived to a very advanced age.
CHARLES B. PHELPS
Settled in Woodbury soon after his admission to the bar, nearly
sixty years ago. He continued in practice while he lived. He
died suddenly, from a disease of the heart, at the age of seventy-two
years. He held a respectable position as a lawyer and for two years
was a judge of the County Court, while that court was holden by a
single judge. All who knew him have a very pleasant memory of
his genial hnmor, pertinent anecdotes, and witty and pungent say-
ings. The younger members of the bar were delighted with his com-
pany and all deeply deplored his sudden death.
MATTHEW MINOR
Of Woodbury, was a lawyer of good classical education and respect-
able legal attainments. He had a native diffidence, which prevented
him ]nttting himself forward, very often on the trial of cases, but
wdien his powers were brought out he made a respectable show.
He belonged to one of the eminent families of Woodbury and for
personal qualities was very much respected.
NATHANIEL i'. I'l'.I^RV
Of Kent, was a ([uiet, unobtrusive, conscientious man. He was the
only lawyer in that town during the greater part of his professional
life, and did a good local business. He was very diligent in the pur-
suit of his profession and generally argued the cases that he com-
menced. He was a member of the Senate for two successive years
and died at the age of about sixty years.
HOLBROOK CURTIS
Was a native of Newtown but practiced law in Watertown. He
was a judge of the County Court for two years was frequently a
JUDGE C. B. PHEI^PS
Sedgwick's address 95
member of the legislature, where he had a good share of influence.
He was usually chairman of the committee on divorces and his re-
ports in such cases were very interesting. He was a man of good
common sense and acquitted himself creditably as a judge, but his
powers failed with his advancing life and he lived for several years
in comparative obscurity.
ISAAC LEANEXWORTll AND ROVAL R. ItlX.MAX.
There were two lawyers in Roxbury fifty years ago. Isaac Leaven-
worth and Royal R. Hinman. who made a considerable show of busi-
ness before the courts, but who retired from practice in the course
of a few vears. Wv. Leavenworth went into other business in New
Haven where it is said he has been very successful and is still living
at a verv advanced age. Mr. Hinman held the office of Sec-
retarv of State for eight years, and published several panii)hlets con-
taining the statistics of many of the most prominent families in the
state.
josKT'TT TT. nKT,r.\:\rY
Of Bethlehem, deserves more than a jiassing tribute. He was a
grandson of the celebrated divine of that name and was a man of
great moral worth. He never had a very extensive practice as a
lawyer, but was much imployed in various branches of public busi-
ness. He was frequently a member of the legislature, and once re])-
resented the sixteenth district in the Senate. He died in middle
life, and all, of all names and parties. i)ay him the tribute of an
affectionate and respectable remembrance.
THEODORE XoKTTI
Of Goshen, his native town, removed to Chenango County, N. Y.,
about 1823. He graduated at \\'illiams College in 1806 with the
highest honors of his class. He was a remarkably well read lawyer,
and had a respectable standing as an advocate. He attained to
eminence in liis profession in the State of Xew York. He died
some twenty vears since.
g6 LiTCJJFiKLD LULXTV BENCH AXD BAR
YOUNG MEMBERS OE THE BAR.
In 1820 there were several young members of the bar who had
just commenced practice, some of whom afterwards became eminent,
and two of them, Truman Smith, and his cousin Nathaniel P>. Smith
still survive. Besides these there were George Wheaton, Leman
Churcli. David C. Sanford, Nathaniel Perry of New ^Nlilford, and
William S. Holabird. These all lived to a period within the memory
of many now in practice here. Perry died at an earlier date than
either of the others and left a family, but he was still a young man
when he was called away. Sanford became judge of the Supreme
Court and was greatly respected for his eminent fitness for the place.
Wheaton was celebrated for the great skill with which he prepared
his cases for trial, and his arguments, homely in style, and common-
place in method, were listened to with great attention. They were
often charged with dry shots of wit which told upon his adversary
and excited merriment with the bar.
LEMAN CHURCH
Obtained quite a celebrity for his legal acumen and sharp points of
character. If a lawyer is to be deemed successful in proportion
to the number of cases in which he wins he was far from being a
successful lawyer. I am inclined to think that the spirit of forensic
combativeness, which seemed to possess the whole man, led him
sometimes to advise groundless prosecutions and to encourage
groundless defences. He wanted to fight, no matter whether for
the right or wrong, and the consequence was that he lost more
cases in proportion to the whole number in which he was engaged
than any other lawyer at the bar. Still, nobody could deny that he
possessed eminent shrewdness and sagacity as a lawyer, as well as
forensic ability of very high order.
WILLIAM S. HOLABIRD.
/v native of Canaan, practiced in Colebrook. but spent most of his
life in Winsted. He possessed talents which might have given him
prominence and distinction as a lawyer had he devoted himself
strictly to professional avocations, but he addicted himself more to
other pursuits than to that. He was Lieutenant Governor for two
years, and for a short time United States Attorney for the District
of Connecticut, and I never heard any complaint of his want of fit-
ness for either position. He experienced various fortunes in his
worldly aflfairs. being sometimes poor and sometimes rich. At
TRUMAX SMITH
SKuc. wick's adi:)KESS 97
his death, which occurred soon after he reached the age of fifty
years, he left a handsome estate to his famih'.
There were a few young members of the bar in 1820 who died
after, a short career, some of whom were probably never heard of
b\- the members of this generation. Their names now occur to me:
Homer Swift of Kent: Philo X. Heacock of New Milford ; and
Chauncey Smith of Sharon. These started in professional life with
ardent hopes and fair prospects of success, but their career was soon
cut short bv death.
CEOKC.K S. BOARDitAX,
Son of the Hon. Elijali lUjardman of Xew Milford. was admitted
to the bar in 182 1. He was a young man of decided promise and
was a special favorite of his uncle Judge Boardman. When I visit
Xew Milford I observe, still standing, the brick fire proof office
which his father built for him, but he lived only a few months after
taking possession of it, and his death was greatly lamented through-
out the comnnmity. His efforts at the bar gave proof of decided
talent and he had made himself a special favorite among the mem-
bers.
coxcLrsioxs.
The whole history of this bar for the last fifty years, teems with
l)leasant recollections. As a whole, it has a reputation for high
toned integrity and professional comity among its members wiiich
is very much to its credit. If there have been instances of profes-
sional delinquency, they have been so rare as to have made no mark
on the record of the times.
I have now spoken, to as great an extent as the time will allow,
of the men who flourished in this temple of justice fifty years ago.
I have no time to give expression to thoughts which come up, with
great urgency for utterance, upon such an occasion as this, or to
review the history of the last fifty years in any other relation than
those which appertain to the administration of justice here. The
progress of human aft'airs during that period, towards their final con-
summation, has been marked with great changes and vicissitudes.
What shall be their development during the fifty years to come, can
be of very little personal interest to me. I cherish the hope that
this bench will continue to be occupied by judges of integrity, ability
and of high judicial aptitudes, and that this bar will continue to be
adorned with members whose pure lives and eminent attainments
shall make their position one of honor and usefulness.
98 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
Standing here alone, the only member of this bar who has been
in practice for fifty years, I take pleasure in expressing to my
brethren of more recent experience the deepest gratitude for the
l^leasant and friendly relations they have permitted me to enjoy with
them during the whole of our acquaintance. By their kind amenities
and the favor of the judges, the rays of my evening sun have fallen
upon me softer than did those of my noonday. These precious
remembrances will remain with me as long as 1 have consciousness,
and in conclusion I say to my brethren, not as a thoughtless wish,
but as an honest prayer — may God bless you, each and all.
arnet's S^miniaencea
REMINISCENCES
OF THE
LITCHFIELD COUNTY BAR
DELIVERED AT THE
CENTENNIAL BANQUET
NOVEMBER 18, 1898
BY
HON. DONALD J. WARNER
DONALD J. WARNER
Reminiscences of Litchfield County Bar.
I\rr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Bar. I thank you all sin-
cerely that I am permitted to be present on this occasion, and the
effort would require better language than I can express to tell you
of my gratitude at your kind reception.
If I understand the purport of what is expected of me on this
evening it is that I shall give my reminiscences of the Bar, of the
sa}'ings and doings of the dead who have passed before me. As a
preliminary matter I wish to call your attention to an earlier period
in ni}' life in relation to the great inroads made by the Legislature
of the State of Connecticut- upon the ancient laws. Fifty years
ago last April, through a rupture in the democratic party in Salis-
bury to which I belonged, a faction. I ought to say. not being identi-
fied with either, but attending to my own business rather than to any
political aspirations, I was urged to stand for the nomination for
representative to the House : I did so, was elected and became a
member of the Legislature which held its session in May, 1849.
Fortunately or unfortunately 1 was elected, in my 29th year, although
at that time I was considered a very youthful man to legislate for the
people of the State of Connecticut. Lafayette Foster, the distin-
guished gentleman, state senator and judge of the Superior Court,
was the Speaker of the House ; Hon. Charles J. McCurcly afterwards
minister to Austria and a judge of the Superior and Supreme
Courts, was Lieut. Governor and presided over the Senate. I was
highly honored, without any solicitation on my part, by being ap-
pointed on the Judiciary Committee. Of course I had to go to the
tail end of it, a very proper place for me,
Mr. Huntington: — lUit that tail wagged the dog.
Mr. Warner: — A\'ell, 1 will tell }'ou about the dog later. In
the }ear 1847, three distinguished men in this state had been ap-
pointed a committee to revise the statutes of the state. That com-
mittee consisted of Governor Minor, afterwards a Superior Court
judge. Judge Loren P. Waldo and Francis Fellowes, a lawyer, keen
and shrewd, of Hartford, on that committee. The very first thing
that was referred to our judiciary committee was the report of this
revision committee, and our very first subject were the details of
that report. They appeared before us at our first sitting. And al-
low me to say right here, that chief- justice Butler of Nor walk, then
state senator, was the chairman of that judiciary committee. The
revision committee had drafted one or two laws which they wished
the judiciary committee would see were offered in the Legislature
IC.J WARNKKS KKMIXlSCEXtKS
and passed so that it might be incorporated in the revision which
would be pubhshed that year.
This was only an act permitting and authorizing, in a suit between
parties, that the party in tpiestion should have the privilege of call-
ing upon the opposite party as a witness to testify to the facts that
he might inquire about. Judge Waldo was also on the judiciary
committee, repesenting Tolland. The distinguished William \V.
Eaton was his colleague in the House. I, being the first at the tail
end of the committee, was called upon after the discussion to give
my opinion. The opinion which I gave I had a long time under
consideration in relation to the law of witnesses and parties inter-
ested being permitted to testify. Chairman lUitler called upon me
to give my opinion. I said distinctly, ( it was in the presence of the
revision committee also ) that I was opposed to any such law. They
had said to me it was a copy of an Act that had been passed in the
State of New York, a recent statute there, and I gave my reason
as being opposed to it, one great reason was this, that an honest
party might be compelled by a scoundrel to testify to a fact that
would be damaging to him unless he had the same ability to testify
himself. And 1 was in favor of going further, I was. in favor of
passing an Act which would sweep away and wipe out that century-
old doctrine and permit every man, party or interested witness in
any form, to tell his story before a court and jury, that justice might
be done. I said further "look over your Connecticut reports and
you will find decision after decision where questions have gone up
to the Supreme Court to ascertain whether there was a shred of
interest in the witness that testified before the court. I said to
them "we have the action of account in which witnesses are permitted
to testify ; we have the action of book debt in which all parties may
testify, and how many cases will you find in the reports in this state
where the question is laid before them whether an action which was
brought in book debt did not properly belong in an action of general
assumpsit.
Well, the next gentleman was the late Hon. John P. C. Mather
of Xew London who sat at my right. He concurred with me, and
so it went around from lawyer to lawyer and laymen, we had an
excellent layman there, he did royal work, and it was passed unani-
mously witli the exception of Judge Waldo, who said: "I am in
favor of the law, but we tried it last year in the Legislature and it
could not ])ass and the people are not ready for it. and I have con-
cluded that the next best thing to do is to adopt the law^ of Xew
York." Well, there was then in the House a man named Peck of
Xew Haven, a brilliant man, a lawyer by education and a leader
of the Whig side ; there was Trumbull, later Governor, there was
the elder Charles ChajMuan who were leaders from Hartford, there
was Chauncey Cleveland, Ex-Governor, a power anywhere, his name
and his fame are known to vou all ; tliere was William W. Eaton
WARNER S REMIXISCENCES lOj
also. Well, I was finally instructed by the chairman. Judge Butler
to draw up a bill and have it presented. I drew the bill which
was introduced in the House or Senate, I forget which. It immedi-
ately passed the judiciary committee, and was introduced into the
House, and also in the Senate. It lay upon the table sometime
there and the matter was often cussed and discussed. Judge Button
came to me while in the House and said to me "Mr. Warner, every
member of the Superior and Supreme Court is opposed to this law,
it is such a radical change that they think a great injustice, wrong,
fraud and perjury will be perpetrated in the administration of jus-
tice." I said "Well, I can't help that, I am in favor of it." So it
went along, and one day Judge Dutton came to me in my seat and
said to me "Mr. Warner do you intend by that Act that a criminal
should testify in Court?" "By no means, sir." Dutton said "Well,
he has a right to." I said "No, sir." Well, we looked at it and he
explained it to me, to my astonishment I felt as if I had done a very
wrong thing, that I had disgraced myself by drafting a bill that
extended the law to criminals, and I looked at it and it convinced
me that he was right. I immediately went to Chapman in his seat
and told what Judge Dutton said and I told him I thought it per-
mitted of such an interpretation. He replied "well, it does, now
what shall we do?" After a thought, he said "Warner, draw an
amendment, when it comes into the House, just move an amendment
to the bill." Well, I drew the amendment and soon after that Chap-
man came to me hurriedly and said "that bill has only passed the
Senate by the casting vote of the Lieut. -Governor, don't you intro-
duce that amendment, don't say a word, unless objection is made in
the House, and then you can offer the amendment." The bill came
into the House passed by the Senate and the usual formal vote was
gone through with and the bill passed in the House. Chapman
came around to me and said he "Well, Warner, it went through
like grease." Thus was passed the law which made a radical change
in the administration of justice and permitted interested parties in
criminal as well as civil cases, to testify in their own behalf. That
law I consider one of the wisest laws that was ever passed by this
Legislature and the roll of honor for it stands to Connecticut, and
I thank God that some of its labor belonged to Litchfield County.
The very next term of the Superior Court in Litchfield County
after that session of the Legislature was held in August and pre-
sided over by Judge Church, a native of Salisbury and one of the
best lawvers on the bench. There was an interesting criminal trial
on the docket, a lawyer of prominence from New York and Judge
Seymour were the prisoner's counsel. The defendant had put in
his evidence when Judge Seymour arose and said to his Honor,
"here is a statute passed by the last Legislature, I am not clear in
mv own mind as to the proper interpretation of it, whether it will
permit the prisoner to testify or not, but I am of the opinion that he
I04 UTCUFIELD COUNTY BlvN'CH AND BAR
has that right, and I submit the question to your Honor for the
purpose of determining-.'" The Judge with considerable acerbity of
feeling animadverted upon the passage of that law as cutting up
root and branch of the old principle which had come down to us
and which no one had conceived ought to be changed. He thought
it would introduce fraud and perjury and all those things which go
to outweigh and destroy justice as administered by the court. Then
Seymour, after the judge had decided that the prisoner had the
right to testify, said to the States Attorney "Then I offer you this
prisoner to testify, I don't propose to ]nit him on the stand for he
might say something which might inadvertently injure his case"
and that was a shrewd act on his part. The States Attorney de-
clined to accept it and the prisoner did not testify.
Now there was another radical change and overthrow of the com-
mon law principle, and that was that no plea in abatement of a suit
brought in an action of tort should bar the prosecution of it, which
was in effect that the right of action for personal injuries survived.
In other words, that the executor or administrator of a person that
had deceased could continue an action commenced by the deceased.
Well, that was a charitable act, but too radical for many of the
lawyers, but it passed the Leg'islature and no one has seen fit since
to have it repealed.
Now I will tell of an incident which I heard which shows the
workings of the old law. There w'as a distinguished lawver bv the
name of Loomis in Bridgeport, a merry fellow full of fun, and there
was also Dwight ^lorris. This was before the passage of the law
of the survival of actions for personal injuries and before the law
allowing criminals to testify. There was a wayward son down in
Bridgeport who had an old, warm, kindliearted father. This way-
ward son had cost the old man many hundreds of dollars' and great
grief. He had recently committed some tortious act and he was
prosecuted criminally and convicted and then prosecuted cfvilly for
damages and his body was attached, and the poor old father gave
bonds for his a])pearance at Court.
This worthless son was a merry-go-round fellow and he began to
have some feelings for his old gray-headed father, who was in great
grief and sorrow and in great affliction; his money w^as -nearly ex-
pended on his boy who was so wayward. Well. Dwight Morris was
the junior counsel who was most familiar with the case that had to
be tried at the approaching term, and this rollicking fellow came into
his office one day and talked over the case and the facts in it, how
much they could do and what circumstances would mitigate the
damages. ' He said "Well, now, Morris, supposing I should die be-
fore that case comes on; would that have any effect on the case?"
Morris said "Why. yes, that would end the case." This son then
replied "]->v God, I guess I had better die first." Morris said "I
think that is a damned good idea." A few days before the session
WARNER S REMINISCENCES IO5
of the Court Dwight Morris liurried into Loomis's office and said
"My God, Loomis, I guess I have committed murder." "Why?"
"Why our cHent is dead, he has committed suicide ; he came into my
office and said he guessed he would die if it would end the case,"
and in a foolish manner I said "Why, it would be a damned good
idea." Well, the case went out. the poor old man's money was
saved, and he lost his son.
It is a well-established fact that in the law repealing that old
common law which prohibited an interested witness to testify, Con-
necticut was the pioneer. And that Westminster Hall in England
from which we received our common law adopted that very act that
was passed by the Legislature of 1848. And from there it has e>;-
tended all over the I'nited States.
Brethren. I commenced reading law in March, 1841, under the
instructions of Hon. John H. Hubbard at Lakeville, and I spent a
portion of my time under his advice at Litchfield so that I might
have the advantages of attending Court there, and under the in-
struction of the Hon. Origen S. Se_\'mour, that veneral)le and great
man. I completed my studies with Mr. Hubbard and was admitted
to the bar at the August term. 1843. Xow as it was expected of me
that I should speak of the lawyers who are gone, that T knew when
I was first admitted to the bar, T shall go in routine and start with
my native town.
Before I come to those that I knew, T wish to speak about an-
other man, one of the pioneers of law in the town of Salisbury, be-
cause he was the ancestor of a very distinguished race of people,
the ancestor of that prominent man, a judge of the Supreme Court
of the United States who went from the State of Pennsylvania and
died a few years ago. Adonijah Strong was one of the rough-
est pieces of granite. T suiijiose, that ever existed. He had a strong
powerful mind, he was full of wit and humor, he was illiterate, but
he had great common sense and he had great force and ability and
effect' upon the court and jury, as 1 have learned by tradition.
Adonijah had a peculiar voice, it is said, and he had a good old wife
by the name of Xabb\-, and a great many stories are told about him.
He was a strong man and belonged to the Congregational Church
and a great supporter of it. There was another colonel there, a
distinguished man. Col. Joshua Porter. He was the ancestor of
distinguished sons, one of them was a cabinet officer under the
presidency of John Quincy Adams. Xow about the time that the
Methodist people organized a society in Salisbury there was a great
deal of opposition to them. I guess there was more objection to
them than the Salvation Army has seen in these later days. They
held a meeting in my old school district on Ore Hill, and Col. Strong
and Col. Porter had made up their minds that they would go over
there, but not for any very religious purposes. Well, they each
had a ])eculiar reputation. Col. Strong had the reputation of im-
I06 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
bibing considerably and eating heartily. Col. Porter had another
reputation, but I will let you guess what that was. It is spoken of
in the Scriptures. Well, the clergyman who was to officiate on that
occasion had been advised and Col. Strong's character was por-
trayed and so was Col. Porter's. They went in and sat down, and,
as I said, for not very worthy purposes, and after a while the clergy-
man was speaking about the characteristics of different individuals,
and he said "where is that wine-bibber and a glutton?" Col. Strong
got up and said "here I am, sir !" and sat down. The next thing
the preacher said when speaking of the wickedness of the world,
"and where is he." Col Porter sat still. Strong said "Col. Porter,
get up and answer to your name as I did?"
Now I will come to those whom I knew in Salisbury. There was
John G. Mitchell of Salisbury, I believe he was born in Southbury.
He came from a very pious parentage and was admitted to the bar,
and came to Salisbury at an early age. He was not an educated
man academically speaking, he was rough in his manners, uncouth,
but he always maintained a reputation of a man of the highest
integrity, but that is common among laywers in Litchfield County.
Everybody esteemed him. He had in his office a very few books,
old and musty, but he was a trial justice and judge of probate after
the establishment of the Salisbury district. He was also connected
in merchandise with Mr. Walton under the firm name of Walton &
Mitchell, and he lived to an advanced age. He was rough and un-
couth, but he had great redeeming traits. Late in life he came
under the influence of a revival in the village in Lakeville and be-
came a very religious man to the astonishment of everybody.
He was frequently called upon to speak in Methodist and re-
ligious meetings, he attended faithfully always, and in one of them
he spoke of how they should work and toil to bring men into the
fold. He said "brethren and sisters, you know the sharks follow the
ship, now cast your nets out among them and you may bring in a
lawyer as they brought me in." On another occasion he was speak-
ing of the power of God, and talked well about it and wound up by
saying "why God could take and throw me right through this meet-
ing house, but he won't do it."
There was another old lawyer there when I was admitted to the
bar in 1843 who gave me a great deal of good advice? He ad-
vised me one day as a lawyer "if anybody offers you anything, take
it, if it is nothing but a chew of tobacco." I recollected that and
always took one.
Then there was Philiander Wheeler, a Yale College graduate, an
educated man, a keen bright man, full of wit and humor, quick
and happy in repartee, but after I came to the bar he never attended
the courts at Litchfield, neither did Mitchell, but tried ca^es before
justices and arbitrators. One day he was called in over in Canaan
as an adviser to the justice in the trial of a man by the name of
JOHN H. HUBBARD
WARXER S RKMIXISCEXCES IO7
Rockwell who was prosecuted for murdering his brother. Lemaii
Church was the defendant's counsel and the Hon. John H. Hubbard
was another, and the prosecuting attorney I think was Elmore, and
it was a protracted case, and one forenoon the lawyers had a set-to
as to the admissibility of evidence or some question that arose before
them, and there was a great deal of controversy between the lawyers,
and after very much had been said they adjourned and went to din-
ner. The lawyers sat around the table and Wheeler came in and sat
down. The landlord came and asked him what he would have, he
wanted to know if he would take some of the goose. "No" he
said "Lhave had that all the morning and I don't want any."
There was an old lady who possessed some property in Salis-
bury, whom they called Aunt Polly. She was litigious in her
character and she applied to every lawyer to sue somebody and when
one- would refuse she would go to another and finally she got a
writ out for one of her neighbors and brought it before the Court.
Wheeler defended the person that she had brought the suit against
and he would stir up Aunt Polly until she become violent and quick-
tempered. She had her money in specie tied up in one corner of
her handkerchief, and he became so intolerable, as she thought,
towards her that she jumped up and she just flung this specie at
his head and it hit him, but didn't hurt him very much. He picked
it up and i)ut it in his pocket. No sooner had he done that,
than Aunt Polly went for him and downed him over his chair and
the lawyer on the other side said "stick to h.im, aunt Polly." That
was a scene in court in the early da}s.
I come now to speak of a man to whom I feel greatly indebted,
and I wish I could pay a better tribute to his character than I am
able to, and that is the Hon. John H. Hubbard. He was a native
of Salisbury and in his early struggles he had formidable opposition
to contend with. In early life he was feeble and unable to work
and finally he chose this profession, and by dint of educating him-
self by hard study and teaching school winters he was admitted to
the bar in the year 1826. He had a great opposition politically, it
was the day of anti-masonry when the feelings of people were very
much excited upon that question arising out of the alleged death
of one Morgan in the State of New York. He adopted the views
of the anti-masonic party and was opposed by strong men and he
had a terrible struggle, but he held his own. He had that per-
sistent indomitable never-die principle in him that carried him
along and he became a distinguished lawyer of the bar of Litch-
field County. He is a living example to young men, no matter what
the circumstances may be, if he is persistent, if he is studious, if
he bends his efforts in that direction with an inflexibility that is not
to be beaten, he will in the end conquer. I owe a debt of gratitude
to that man for he drilled me in the principles of the law to such an
extent that he said when T went to the office of Judge Seymour so
I08 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
as to be present when the courts were in session and learn some
thing of its practice, that I was able to be admitted as soon as my
time of study should expire. He became a member of Congress
and represented the 4th district. He was states attorney for the
county for how many years I don't now remember.
I will now speak of another gentleman, a lawyer in Salisbury,
Roger Averill. He was a graduate of Union College, tall, erect
and well proportioned, dignified in manners and a lawyer of fair
ability. He practiced in Salisbury for some years, but the field
was not sufficiently wide and he moved to Danbury and practiced
there, until he was made Lieut.-Governor during a portion of the
time of the distinguished war governor. Gov. Buckingham. He
was my opponent in many cases that we tried and he early taught
me an important lesson in table pounding. In a case we were try-
ing before a justice I became quite vehement and brought my fist
down on the table so strong and so often that he commiserated me
and felt sorry for me. and he kindly placed a law book upon the
table on the spot where I had been hammering and said "Brother
Warner, I am afraid you will injure your hand, the book is softer."
That took all the starch out of me.
Another gentleman by the name of Norton J. Buel was a native
of Salisbury. He studied a portion of his time under the venerable
Charles F. Sedwick, and the latter portion of it under Judge Church
when he was practicing in Salisbury. He moved to Naugatuck
in the first place and afterwards to Waterbury, but he frequently
tried cases in this county and at this bar. He was a successful
lawyer and a gentleman, and one who acquitted himself with great
ability as a lawyer.
Moving along East, we come to North Canaan and we find John
Elmore, he was a native of the town and I understood he was a
very popular young man when he started in business, he was sur-
rounded by many friends, he was very genial and a hale fellow
well-met, everybody liked Jack Elmore, and he was on the high-
tide to become a successful lawyer, but his convivial habits dragged
him down.
Leman Church, who was a half brother of Samuel Church, was
a native of Salisbury, and he attended the law school of Judge
Gould at Litchfield. He located at North Canaan about the same
time that Elniore did. Instead of having many friends to aid him
he had to encounter the opposition of the prominent men of the
place. I asked years ago an old gentleman who was familiar with
North Canaan why it was that they all stood by Jack Elmore and
not bv Church. Well, he said, Elmore was a congenial man, he
was a pleasant man, he had all the social elements in him that were
attractive. While they never saw Church, he never met us any-
where and if he did, why there was no congeniality between us, they
were all opposed to him in the town, I mean the prominent men ;
WARNER S REMINISCENCES lOQ
but he studied his books and thought deeply. He would occasion-
ally have a case, and bye and bye his star began to rise, and though
he could not and did not command the love, yet he commanded the
respect of the people by dint of his great talents and power. I con-
sidered Leman Church one of the ablest lawyers and the best
equipped on all occasions that I ever met. He had a keen, quick
perception, he had that continuousity of purpose ; he did not pander
to please the multitude nor to the applause of the individual. He
ploughed a straight furrow along his own course, and he attained
the highest position at the bar at an early age. He had the keenest
blade of satire, wit and humor, it abounded with him ; at repartee
he was never at a loss, nor upon any question that the judge might
propound to him whether he ever had the case under consideration
or not ; and always acquitted himself with the highest ability. I
speak thus of him because I was so situated when I first came to
the bar, the other lawyers being older, I was forced to call upon
Leman Church, and he aided me and always assisted me in any
case for which I might call upon him. Physically he was tall, frail
in appearance, he had a hunch with his head slightly deformed, a
shrivelled face, lean and gaunt, and his apparel was always neat
but of the coarsest character. His feet were clad in heavy brogan
shoes, but the redeeming feature of his countenance was his eye,
and such an eye would convince you gentlemen when cast upon
you as being that of a man of powerful intellect. Now to speak
of his ability as a lawyer. Porter Rurrall, the son of William Bur-
rail, a Canaan man. a highly educated man was president of the
Housatonic Railroad. Some of its directors lived in the city of
New York and some question arose in relation to the management
of the road and there were lawyers in New York who had the
question under advisement and they had expressed opinions in re-
lation to it. There was a final meeting appointed for the further
discussion and the determination of the question involved. Bur-
rall called upon Church and told him he wanted to have him to go
down to New York City and attend that Director's meeting. Church
said in his peculiar voice "I am not going down among those dandy
lawyers they think they know everything, and I am not going."
However, Burrall had great faith in him and insisted upon his go-
ing, and he finally went down, clad like a clod-hopper and he sat
down in that convention. The opinions of these distinguished New
York Lawyers were called for and finally Mr. Burrall said, "Mr.
Chairman, I wish my friend Mr. Church of Canaan might be per-
mitted to speak." Well Church got up, a most inferior looking
man, you can't find one to compare with him in that respect, but
he went at the question under discussion and laid them out so broad
and clear and so perfectly lucid that he established them, and his
views were finallv adopted. He could not bear a fop. he could not
bear what he called a Miss. Nancy, or vaporism of any kind, he
no UTCHFlKLD COLNTV BENCH AND BAR
went too far perhaps in that respect, 1)ut he had a happy gift of
puncturing bubbles and I will give you one or two instances of it.
Now you know that when young men come to the bar and make
their first appearance before a Jurw they wish to make an impres-
sion and sometimes be classical and ornate. There was brother
Hitchcock who lived in Winsted. a man for whom I held the high-
est respect, and whose memory I revere. He and Judge CTranger
and myself were great friends. Hitchcock was a i^artner of Hol-
abird. They had a very important case to be tried at Litchfield.
Hitchcock had made great preparations in the case, and it was
among his first efiforts at the bar in the way of argument and trial,
and he familiarized Granger and myself with the case and we felt
a very deep interest in his behalf. Hitchcock in the course of his
argument animadverted upon one principal witness in the case
against him, he was a very important witness for the other side,
and it was very important for Hitchcock's client that the Jury
should not take his word or the testimony he gave before the Court.
In the course of his argument Hitchcock said, alluding to that wit-
ness, "why, gentlemen of the jury, he is the very "folliculus,' in
this case." A little further along he said ''He is a Jupiter Tonans,
gentlemen of the Jury."" When Leman Cliurch came to answer
that he said "Now, gentlemen of the Jury my young friend here,
brother Hitchcock has attempted to mislead you ; why he has talked
about one Miss Polly New Rose gentlemen of the jury, have you
seen any such witness on this stand?" "Not satisfied with that,
he has imposed upon you again, he has talked about a witness here
by the name of Jew Peter Toe Nails." As soon as we could,
Granger and T took our hats and went out. Another case we had
in the Superior Court in which Leman Church was interested, we
had medical experts in, and a learned Doctor by the name of Fuller
from New Haven was there as a witness against the interests of
Church's client. He went along very learnedly, as such physicians
do, and when Church came to cross-examine this witness he com-
menced by saying "well, now, Dr. Fooler" and he took the wind out
of him pretty effectually.
Another illustration of his mode of examining a witness. There
was a great controversy in \ears gone by between Jedediah Graves
and Sylvanus Merwin, father-in-law and son-in-law, about a man
who went and took up the tombstones of his children and offered
them for sale on an execution for a judgment.
Graves was a pompous sort of fellow, he was a trial justice in
the town of New Milford and he was called upon to testify to what
was said before him on a trial. He went along well and easily
and was turned over to Church for cross-examination, and Church
in his questions began to imply that he was going outside of the
truth. After a while the witness stopped and says "Squire Church,
I have a realizing sense of the obligations of my oath. T have ad-
WARXKK S RKMIXISCENCES III
ministered them and I protest against your insinuations." Church
said "Squire Elliott, if you have got through with your peroration,
please answer my question."
Now I come to speak of that distinguished man in Xorth Canaan,
Miles Toby Granger. He was a graduate of Wesleyan University
at Middletown in this state. He was a school teacher on a plan-
tation down in Mississippi, teaching the sons and daughters of the
surrounding plantations, and during that time he studied law in
Mississippi and was admitted to the bar in that state. He came
back to Connecticut and went into the office of Leman Church and
studied law with him for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of
Connecticut laws and was admitted to the bar after 1843. He was
the greatest wit, humorist and wag of the bar, he was the very
Mark Twain of the bar. His sayings, his wit and his humor might
be read as Innocents at Home instead of Innocents Abroad. He
was skilled in doggerel poetry as he called it. He would see the
ludicrous and ridiculous in persons and things that no one but he
thought of, and he would bring it out to the great amusement of
his hearers. His very first argument in the Superior Court was
in poetry. It was the case of Dunham vs. Dunham. Dunham
brought a petition for a divorce against his wife, he was a widower
when he married, and she was a widow. They were both very old
and infirm, their spouses were dead and they desired companionship,
and so they inter-married. Jack Elmore brought the i)etition and
in that petition he set up as a ground, a fradulent contract. Judge
Ellsworth, a very grave man and a deacon of the church in Hart-
ford was holding Court. Granger led ofif in the argument for the
defense and Church was to close the debate. His whole argument
was in poetry, but I remember nothing but the last verse, which
was this :
"Now all his hopes in ruins lie.
Crushed by this prolapsus uteri."
He was a great fellow for giving names to persons. He dubbed
me by the name of Elder, and it has been carried on to this day, and
I believe I had been so addressed since I have been here. Why he
did it I don't know, whether an elder of the Methodist Episcopal
church or some other persuasion I havn't any idea, he never ex-
plainded it to me. He was full of his jokes and quirks, it made no
difference whether it was foe or friend, but it was all in good na-
ture. Well, you all know his history in later life when he was
highly honored, represented his town in the Legislature, in the Sen-
ate and represented the 4th district in Congress after his retirement
as a Judge.
Col. Jacob B. Hardenberg, he was a native of Kingston, X. Y.
He was a good lawyer, a soldier and a warrior at Gettysburg under
Col Pratt. I misrht well sav of him "he was the bravest of the
brave."
112 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
Now I come to one of my first students, George Washington
Peet. He was a native of Salisbury and read law in my office and
completed his studies in the law in the Harvard Law School. Soon
after his admission he located in South Canaan in the office of
Judge Burrall and commenced practice there, and afterwards at
Falls \ illage. From his maternal ancestry he inherited the power
of acquisitiveness which was but little diluted by what he inherited
from the paternal side. And only semi-occasionally did he commit
waste by profuse expenditure. He was a unique character. Peet
was a nervous, excitable, confident, energetic, bold man. He went
in pursuit of money and he got it. He was not devoid of wit and by
it occasionally entertained us. We boys were playing tricks upon
each other, as I presume they are now, the younger members.
Hitchcock had a good deal of that in his makeup, and one day at
the Court in Litchfield in warm weather Peet was down there with
his linen coat on, and in those days the clerk had on his desk a
wafer box with little red wafers, we didn't have mucilage then,
but we used red wafers to stick things on, and Hitchcock got out
a lot of these every little while, then would wet one of them and
go around and slap Peet on the back and stick on a wafer, and soon
got him prettv well pasted. Peet was marching around in dififerent
places making an exhibition of his back, and finally he found peo-
ple were laughing at him. Peet would ask, "well, what are you
laughing at" and then they would laugh the more. Finally some-
one asked "What the devil have you got on your back. Peet?"
Peet was very indignant and accused Hitchcock of trying to make
him the butt of this bar.
As I said, Granger gave names to everybody. There is a place
in South Canaan called Dogtown, and years ago there was a tavern
there and the place of trial of many cases. That was Peet's stamp-
ing ground, and Granger and others met him there, and so Granger
gave him the name, not of the constellation exactly, but he called
him Attorney Serious, the dog-star, the brighest star in dog-town.
I pass along to Norfolk. There was Michael Mills. He was
a tall, lean lank, bony man. high cheek bones and rather tawny
face. Granger called him the Sachem of Norfolk.
Then comes William K. Peck. Jr., he was a native of Harwin-
ton ; his parents moved with him to Salisbury when he was a young
boy. He studied law in my office and commenced practice in Nor-
folk. He was very fond of making public speeches when ever an
opportunity presented. Abolitionism and temperance were his
favorite topics and he availed himself of every opportunity to make
speeches, and in that respect, so far as capability of addressing pop-
ular sentiment at his age of life, he had decided talent. Granger
called him Duke of Norfolk. When he contemplated settling in
Norfolk, one of the good deacons of Norfolk came over to see me
to inquire about him and informed me that Mr. Peck had referred
^I^Ww ,^9*^
GIDEOX HALL
Warner's remixiscexces 113
him to me and wanted to know what sort of a man he was. I told
liim he was exactly adapted to Norfolk. He said "what do you
mean?" I replied "in the first place he is a very moralman, a man
of excellent moral character ; in the second place he will be an ad-
mirable successor of Michael Mills in his physical make-up, he ha^
a peculiar tawny brown hair, high cheek bones, and in another re-
spect he is a black republican" as they called them then. The old
deacon laughed and said he guessed he was the man. So he settled
there and I believe acquitted himself with ability. After he had
been there a while he removed to ^lichigan where I have heard he
became a successful lawyer. I felt proud of him as a student in luy
office. ., , jit
Xow I come to Winsted. ^\'illiam S. Holabird was a native of
vSouth Canaan. He was physically a large, tall, splendidly made-u[)
man, imposing in appearance and ]:)resence. and he was the great
democratic leader of the bar. He was a politician and he was a man
around whom the yoimg democratic lawyers liked to gather. He
had excellent conversational powers and they were always interested
in his conversation. He was really one of the instructors in ])oliti-
cal matters among the clemocratic lawyers, and he was then in ac-
tive practice. He had some bitterness in his make-u]), but his
friendship was as strong as his hatred was deep and unforgiving.
Gideon Hall was an opponent, and as a lawyer and in |)olitics
they were diametricallx' tjpposed. Holabird was vindictive some-
times, and his hatred extended down too far.
Now 1 come to another unique character, and that was Gideon
Hall. He was a lean, tall, gaunt man, he was in full practice, and
continued in practice until he was appointed Judge of the Superior
Court. He was a hard worker, diligent; his contests were elabor-
ate, manv and severe. Hall and Holabird were opponents always
in politics and lawsuits, never associated. Hall was very prolix in
the conduct of trials, and rcmarkal)ly so in his arguments before
the court and iur\-. The one hour rule had not been ])assed when
he ])racticed. Hall would occasionally make attem})ts at oratory
in his trials, and here is an illustration of it. He had a suit in
court for his client, the plaintiii in the case. It was a contest over
a piece of rocky land of no value comparatively speaking. During
the trial he was often talking about the littleness and smallness of
the case, and it was so alluded to in the argument by the counsel
for the defense. This was a sort of an exordium or peroration in
which he said it was not available on account of the super-abundant
fecundity of its soil, but because it was ancestral estate and had
come down from a long line of colonial ancestors.
In relation to Hall, there is one thing which shows the estima-
tion of the bar. This story was told to me by the late George C.
Woodrufif of Litchfield. A lawyer of this county had a suit in
court, a young lawyer and he had associated with him George C.
^14 I.ITClIFllvLD COUN'TV BEXCII AXD P.AR
WoodruH'. It was a case asking- for the appointment of a committee
in chancer}- which was to be tried out of term-time, and the question
arose who should be that committee. Of course, if the parties agreed
on the comniittee, the court would sanction it, otherwise the court
would have to decide and appoint whom it thought best. Negoti-
ations were made between the opposite counsel, WoodrulT on one
side and Hubbard and Granger on the other side, and Hubbard and
Granger suggested Hall as a good one for the committee-man. The
young man went to see Mr. Woodruff and told him that they pro-
posed to have Hall appointed committee, and ^^'oodruff said to him
"don't you have him. why he will get things all mixed up in his
re])ort so that we shall not get head or tail to it." The young man
reflected and said "Mr. W^iodrufl^, that may be just what we want."
Well, it turned out so, it was mixed and \\'oodrult won his case.
1 come now to the friend of whom I have spoken, Roland Hitch-
cock. He was a native of lUu-lington. He read law in Holabird's
office and he was admitted to the liar in about 1844, and became
a ])artner of Holabird and practiced law in Winchester until ap-
pointed as Juflge of the Superior Court. 1 always liked the man,
and so well did I know him that his peculiarities never interfered
witli our friendshi]). He at times exhibited nuicli wit and humor
and enjoved the funnv side of things and contributed his share to
the merriment of the bar. There was a streak of melancholia in his
nature which alwavs made him sorrowful. It lasted him through
life, and in the last few years of his life, had a woeful effect upon
him. He was testy and often irritable in trials. As an illustration
of that I remen-iber a case in wdiich Granger and myself were on
one side and Hitchcock on the other before a committee at Canaan.
Hitchcock's client was one Hart, a notable character and who was
easily stirred up. In the course of the trial Granger, knowing
Hart's ])eculiarities would stir him u]:) and he would rattle along
and interru])t the trial so that Hitchcock wtnild sometimes get mad
at his client and he would once in a while issue an ex])letive on the
snl)iect. He was very fixed in his opinions of the law and un-
changeably so at times. He was through and through an honest
man and administered justice im])artially in the courts where he was
judge.
I go now to Barkhamstead and speak of the late Hiram Good-
win. He was in full practice, his clientage was not only in his town,
but extended to the adjoining towns in tliis and Hartford Count}-.
T considered him an able lawyer. He conducted his trials with
skill and his arguments were clear and logical. As a judge of the
Coiint\- Court he gave satisfaction.
1 come now to New Hartford. Roger H. ?\[ills was in prac-
tice there many years before I came to the bar. He was of fine ap-
pearance and high standing at the bar. He was a member of the
Senate in tlie Legislative session of 1848 at the time these radical
HOX. ROLAND HITCHCOCK
GEO. WIIIvA'l'ON
BIRDSYIi BALDWIN"
WARXKK S KKMIXISCEXCES II5
laws were made and I think lie opposed both of those enactments.
He was a very accomplishcfl man, ]:)leasant, scholarly, but the field
was not wide enough for him and so he moved to Wisconsin, and
after a while died there.
Jared B. Foster was his successor there. He came to the bar
after 1843, ^"^ ^^^ is entitled to great credit, for he read law while
making and mending boots and shoes in Colebrook. He was a
merry, good fellow, he became well equipped in the principles of the
law and quickly acquired its ])ractical parts. He represented the
town in the Legislature with ability and he succeeded Hitchcock
as judge of the Litchfield County Court and discharged his duties
with ability. He was emincntl\' social and a hale fellow well-met.
We used to address him as Jerry. Granger dubbed him Terry Red.
For many years he was a sufferer from rheumatism and it finally
brought him to his grave.
Goshen. Nelson Ilrewster. His law business was local. He
lived two years in Litchfield and he tried a few cases and he was a
bank commissioner several times. I'.irdseye Baldwin, a unique char-
acter was his contemporary in Goshen, a kindhearted man of limit-
ed practice and of great simplicity of character. He was very fond
of whist. Granger and Hitchcock at court whenever they were in
session entertained him very often vcr\- royally, in the amusement
of which I was a witness. ( )ftcntimcs 1 was a ])artner of Granger,
and IJaldwin and Hitchcock were ])artners. Tf Hitchcock and
Granger turned u]) a truni]) tlie\ would ])ass their trumps one to the
other under the table and i)ick out all the best cards and hand
back the poor ones. Finalh' I'-aldwin would get ui) and exclaim,
after losing all the games, "well, ii does beat the devil."
T now come to Cornwall, to George W'heaton. He was of
humble origin, born in East Haven, ^\'hen I was a boy, I learned
that he was of most extraordinarx abilitx , illiterate, he nnu-(lered
the Queen's English, but one of the most skilful and adroit lawyers
at the bar in his day and time. Wheaton was a great lawyer in
m}- judgment. He had one peculiar gesture and that was this, he
never laughed and liardl\" ever smiled. As an illustration of his
cunning and shrewdness and his ajitilude for hitting the party
against him I will mention an instance. There was a suit brought
against the Housatonic Railroad for damage to property injure
by the cars. Peet and myself were defending the Railroad Com-
pany and Granger and W'heaton were counsel for the plaintiff'.
One of the witnesses, Charles Emmons, an employee of the railroad,
was a very important witness and his testimony was crucial in be-
half of the defendant. Of course the case being against a railroad
corporation it had to be put to a jury. This witness. Emmons was
a very honest man and a christian gentleman, and lif he could make
the jury believe as they ought to believe, that his testimony was
truthful, then the case should be decided for the defendant. In the
Ii6 I.ITCHFIKLD C0<_ NTY llENCH AND BAR
course of the argument, in commenting" on the testimony of the
witness Emmons, I dweU upon the purity of his hfe and character,
his christian character. When \\'heaton came to wind up the case
he said "r)r(jther Warner says this Emmons is a Christian. Well,
I aint .going to dispute that, but if the company finds out that
that is his character, they will discharge him very quick."
Another instance comes down by tradition. Church frequently
came in contact with Wheaton. He was called down there to de-
fend a man in some case before a justice, and Wheaton commenced
the argument of his case. He had his book of Connecticut reports
and he stated to the Court what the law was and he would read
from this book and so he read from the brief of one of the lawyers.
Church said, "Wheaton, let me take that book." Wheaton said,
"go get your own law, brother Church."
Church of course told the judge he was reading from the brief
of the attorney, not from the opinion of the court or the judge
who decided the case. Wheaton replied "I didn't say I did, 1 said I
read what is the law there, and I believe it to be good law, and if
the Supreme Court has said otherwise, they will over-rule that
decision." He was a communicant of the Congregational Church
in Cornwall. Now there was a religious revival in that town long-
years ago and there was a man there by the name of Daniel Scoville.
During that revival he attended these meetings very faithfully and
appeared very much interested in them. There was a bitter hatred
between this man and \Mieaton. Wheaton had law suits against
him fre(]uently and they were conducted sharply by Wheaton as
against him. Some of Wheaton's fellow members went to him and
said, "Why tins man is so much interested in the supject of re-
ligion I think that you ought, as a member of the church, to go to
him and encourage him in some form and show forgiveness on
\our part." So one evening Wheaton went up there and while
Scoville was in the attitude of praying and said "If there is any
mourner here who has any feeling a.gainst me or I have any a.gainst
him, God forbid that T should in an\- way bar his coming to God."
Well, he had a client there who waited until Wheaton came out
and then he said "Wheaton, you know that law suit we have got
there against him, now I want that fought right up." Wheaton
replied "Oh ! he'll fight all ri,ght."
Then there was Julius B. Harrison. He was a native of Corn-
wall, he read law with Wheaton and came to the bar after 1843
and practiced a while in Cornwall and moved to New Milford where
he .died. He was states attorney for the county, he was a very
diligent man, very ambitious and he rapidly rose in his profession.
Hevvas repetitious in his arguments, and that was the only criticism
I ever heard made, for he was certainly logical, and had he lived
to the ordinary age, I have no doubt he would have been one of
the leaders of the bar.
JARED B. ]?OSTER
WARNERS RE-MIXTSCENCES 11/
Another man from Cornwall was Solon B. Johnson, and many
of you no doubt remember him. He was a tall, larc^e-framed per-
son. I don't know what year he came to the bar, and he was editor
of the Litchfield Sentinel, and his editorial articles were read with
a great deal of interest : there was a great deal of wit and humor
and sarcasm contained in them. He died early in life, he was of
a peculiar nature and character, a loveable man in a great many
respects. He had a peculiar stolid appearance at times, whether
put on or natural. I don't know. If unnatural it was very success-
ful comsumation. The last term that Judge Minor hekl of the
Superior Court prior to his resignation, having accepted the nomi-
nation for member of Congress from the 4th district, there was a
gentleman came up to Litchfield, an entire stranger. He was in
evervbodv's office, he was in the court room. He was a queer
sort of a man, talking with everybody and with Judge Elinor and
vou couldn't help being interested to know who he was. He came
across Solon Johnson and Johnson tried to get rid of him. He
was all the while teasing Johnson to take drinks with him, and ^^Ir.
Johnson declined and kept declining. Finally, after much urging
Johnson savs "mv friend, there is a drug store down here and we
will go down there and get something that is i)ure and good."
Well, liny went down to the drug store and a ])int bottle was brought
out with the very i)urest kind of whiskey they had and a tumbler
was set down, and this stranger told Mr. Johnson to take a drink.
Johnson took up the bottle, looked at the cork, smelled of it and
savs "that's all right" tiuMicd it up and drained the l)ottle. The
stranger looked at him aghast, expecting liim to fall dead every
minute. Johnson looked at him, smiled and said "Well, aint }ou
going to take something?"
Now I come to Frederick Chittenden. He was in ])racticc when
I came to the bar, a high temi)ered man of great knowledge. He
had manv conflicts with those with whom he came in contact. He
was of an irrascible temper, but a good-hearted, generous likely
man. very well read in tlie law, but dei:)ended a great deal upon
his natural abilities; it took but very little to excite him, he was
verv beligerent in the trial. There was a lawyer from Kent, Henry
Fuller, who came to the bar after myself. They had a contest and
Chittenden was so excited he struck him on the head. Well, there
was an interruption, and after the adjournment Chittenden came
in and laid his cane down upon the table and he said he would
preserve order in the court room.
John G. Reed was a native of Salisbury and read law with me.
His father and mother were Scotch. His father, the late Dr.
Adam Reed was a celebrated Divine. He was educated at Williams
College, he practiced law in Kent a short time, moved to Ohio, en-
listed in an C^hio regiment in the civil war, and when he returned
from that, he removed to Chicago and there distinguished himself
Il8 UTCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
as a lawyer before the higher courts upon mere questions of law.
He was not what you call a jury lawyer.
Well, brethren and gentlemen of the bar : The bell tolls and
my hour has expired. I look back to the time when life was new
and bright before me and everything seemed fair and good to see.
I stand here now and remember all these friends of so long ago
As I stand here alone of all those I knew in my early days,
whom I have seen fall around me like leaves in the wintry weather.
"I feel like one who stands alone,
Tn some banquet hall deserted ;
Whose lights are dead,
Whose joys are fled.
And all but he departed.
^istnncal Holes
HISTORICAL NOTES
OF
COURTS, BAR LIBRARY AND
PROMINENT OFFICIALS
Compiled By
DWIGHT C. KILBOURN
CLERK
■^S% 1^
DWIGHT C. KII.BOURN
HISTORICAL NOTES.
Upon the establishment of Litchfield County in 1751, the General
Assembly was pleased to order two terms of the County Court to
be held therein, one on the fourth Tuesday of December, and the
other on the fourth Tuesday of April in each year, and also one
term of the Superior Court to be held on the last Tuesday save
two, in August of each year.
In this Superior Court there was but one Clerk for the whole
Colony who went with the Judges from place to place as the
sessions were held, and kept the records all together in Hartford,
where those prior to 1798 can now l)e found in the Secretary of
State's office.
The following is the record of the first court held in Litchfield
County :
"At a Count}- Court held at Litchfield within and fur the County
of Litchfield on the fourth Tuesday of December A. D., 1751.
Present: \\'jllia-\[ Prestok, Chief Judge.
loji.v Williams ) ^ , •
' „ ( hsqrs. Justices
Samuel Caxeikld r
_ , r [of (juorain.
Ebenezer jMarsh ;
Isaac Baldwin was appointed Clerk and sworn.
Mr. John Catling, County Treasurer and Excise Master.
~Sh\ Joshua \\'hitney of Canaan in said County, Attorney.
"At the same Court John Davies of Litchfield in the County of
Litchfield pit. versus John Barrett of Woodbury in sd County deft.
The ])arties appeared and the deft, exhibited pleas in abatement
of the pltf's writ which being overruled the parties then joyning in
a demurr. to the declaration as on file, the Court is of Opinion that
the Declaration is sufficient in the Law and thereupon it is con-
sidered that the pit. shall recover of the Deft, the Sum of £1200
money. Damages and costs of Court allowed to be .
The deft, appeals from the judgment of this Court to the Su-
perior Court to be holden at Litchfield on the second Tuesday of
August next, and the plat, with Mr. Samuel Darling of New Haven
before this Court acknowledged themselves bound to the Treasurer
of sd County in a recognizance of £200 money to prosecute their
said appeal to effect and answer all damages in case they make not
their plea good.""
The following is the Record of the first Superior Court held
in Litchfield Countv, and to be found in Hartford.
122 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BEXCH AND BAR
At a Superior Court holden at Litchfield on Tuesday ye nth,
day of August Anno Dommi 1752 anno ye Regni Rt. Georgii
Secunde \'igestum Sexto.
Present, ye
Honbl. Tho:mas Fitch, Esqr. Chief Judge.
William Pitkin |
EbenEzER Sylly:\ian V .-Issisfanf Judges.
Samuel Lvnde j
This C(Mirt was opened by Proclamation and adjourned till
Two of }-e clock of ye afternoon, and then opened according to
adjournment.
Persons returned to serve as jurors were:
William ]SL\rsh^ Xathan Botchford ]
Joshua Garrett i- Litchfield John Hitchcock !• New Milford
Thomas CatlingJ Partridge Thatcher j
Timothy Minor ^ Xathan Davis ^
Gideon Walker [ Woodbury Jacob Benton > Harwinton
Benjamin Stiles ) Samuel Pitelphs )
The first recorded judgment is that of:
William Siiivrman ) ( John Treat
and - of Xew Milford vs. } of
Roger Sherman ) ( Xew ^^lilford
At the May session of the General Assembly 1798 it was en-
acted that the Superior Court Judges appoint a Clerk for each
County and that the Records thereafter be kept in their respective
Counties, Ijut that the then existing records be kept at Hartford.
In obedience of this law the Judges appointed Frederick Wol-
cott, Esq. of Litchfield, Clerk for Litchfield County, and the first
term of the Superior Court having its records at Litchfield, was
held at Litchfield on the Third Tuesday of August 1798 and was
"Opened b\- proclamation."
The record is as follows :
State oe Connecticut :
At a Superior Court holden at Litchfield within and for the
County of Litchfield, on the Third Tuesday of August A. D. 1798,
Present :
The Hon. Jesse Root, Esq. Chief Judge
Hon. Jonathan Sturges \
Hon. Stephen M. Mitchell f Assistant
Hon. Jonathan Ingersoll ( Judges.
Hon. Tapping Reeve )
FkhdEkick \\'oLC(ti"i'. Clerk.
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HISTORICAI. NOTICS
123
The Attorneys in active practice in 1798 were the following:
At Litchfield:
Tai'I'jxc, Rkeve
Elijah Adams
JoHx Allex
Isaac Baldwin-
Uriel Holmes
Daniel W. Lewis
Ephraim Kirdy
Reynolds Marvin
Roger Skinner
Aaron Smith
L'RiAH Tracy
Frederick Wolcott.
At Canaan :
1 1 1 X
I^LMiiUE
At Goshen :
Xathax Hale
XuAll ^^'ADIIAMS
At Kent :
]')AkAZlLLA SlOSSON
At New Milford:
D WID S. BoARDISrAN
Samuel Bostwick
Daniel Everett
I'llILO RUGGI.ES
At Norfolk:
Edmund Aiken
Augustus Pettusone
At Plymouth:
Li XLS Fenn
At Ron bury :
Rlfus East,man.
At Salisbury :
Joseph Caxfield
Elisha S'TERLING
Adoxijah Strong
At Sharon :
JuDSON Caxfield
John C. Smith
Cyrus Swax
At Southbur}' :
SniEox Hinman
Bexjamix Stiles, Jr.
At Washington :
Daxiel N. Brinsmade
\\'ii,LL\M Cogswell
At W'atertown :
Eli Curtiss
Sa:\iuel W. Southmayd
At AX'inchester :
Phineas Miner
At Woodbury :
Noah B. Benedict
Nathan Preston
Nathaniel Smith
The following members of the Bar are now (April 1907) residing
m the County : Those with a * are not in active practice.
Litchfield :
J. Gail Beckwitii, Jr.
Francis Bissell *
Wheaton F. Dowd
John T. Hubbard
"D WIGHT C. KiLBORN
William L. Ranso]\i *
Elbert P. Roberts
Tiio:\L\s F. Ryan
George M. Woodruff
Tajmes p. Woodruff
Bethlehem :
Walter AL Johnson *
Cornwall :
William D. Bosler
Leonard J. NicKERSojf
Goshen :
Charles A. Palmer '^'
Norfolk :
RoBBiNs B. Stoeckel
124
LITCHFIKLD COUNTY BENCH AND l.Mi
TNew Hartford:
Frkdkrick a. JkweUv
H. RuGiiR Jones, Jr.
Frank B. Munn
New Milford :
John F. Addis
Frank W. Marsh
Henry S. Sani-ord
Fred M. Williams
-North Canaan :
SAirujvL G. Camp
Geo. a. Marvin
Alberto T. Roraback
J. Henry Rorap.ack
J. Clinton Roraback
-Plymouth :
Henry B. Plumb *
E. IvEROY Pond
Fred a. Scott
-Salisbury :
Howard F. Landon
Donald T. Warner
Sharon :
WiLLARD Baker
Thomaston :
Albert P. Bradstreet
E. T. Caneield
Frank W. Etiieridge
Torrington :
William \\'. Bierce
Bernard E. H^iggins
Walter Holcomb
Peter J. McDermott
Willard a. Roraback
Homer R. Scoville
e. t. o'sullivan
Gideon H. Welch
Thos. J. Wai,l
Watertown :
C. B. At wood *
S. McL. Buckingham
Winchester :
Wm. H. Blodgett
C. E. Bristol *
Jas. p. Glynn
Samuel A. Herman
Richard T. Higgins
Samuel B. Horne
Wm. p. Lawrence *
Wilbur G. AIanchester
Geo. a. Sanford
Frank W. Se y:\iour
James P. Shelley
Wellington B. Smith
James W. Smith
Woodl5ur\- :
James Huntington
Arthur D. Warner
The following persons who have been connected with this Bar
either by admission or residence, are not now residing in the County,
but are supposed to be alive and residing elsewhere.
John Q. Adams,
Negaunee, Mich.
Louis J. Blake,
Omaha, Neb.
Edavard J. Bissell,
Fond-du-Lac, Wis.
John O. Boughton,
Stamford, Conn.
David S. Calhoun
Hartford. Conn.
Uriah Case,
Hartford. Conn.
John D. Cha:mplin.
New York City.
Chester D. Cleveland.
Oshkosh, Wis.
Frank D. Cleveland.
Hartford, Conn.
George W. Cole.
New York Citv.
^m
V |/^
WILLIAM L. RANSOM,
HISTORICAL XOTES
Stewart \\'. CdWAX,
Mount A'ernon. N. Y.
S. Gregg Clark.
New jersev.
E. T. Caxfield,
Hartford, Conn.
Spencer Daytox,
Phillipa, \\^est Va.
Lee p. Deax,
Bridgeport, Conn.
E. C. Dempsey,
Danbury, Conn.
William H. Ely,
New Haven, Conn.
JoHx^ R. Farxum,
Washington. D. C.
V. R. C. GiDDIXGS,
Bridgeport, Conn.
W. W. Guthrie,
Atkinson. Kansas.
Robert E. Hall,
Danbnry, Conn.
Cpiarles R. Hath way.
So. Manchester.
jMarcus H. Holcomb,
Soiithington, Conn.
JoHX D. Howe,
St. Fail], Minn.
Edward J. Hluhard,
Trinidad, Col.
Fraxk W. Hri'.r.ARD,
New V<irk. X. V
J'raxk L. Hl'xgerford,
New Britain, Conn.
Walter S. Jidd.
New York City.
William Kxapp,
Denver, Col.
Fred M. Koehi.er.
Livingston. Mont.
Fraxk D. Linsley.
Phihnont, X. Y.
Rev. A. N. Lewis,
New Haven, Conn.
Theodore J\L Maltbie^
Hartford, Conn.
T. D wight ^Ierwix,
Washington, D. C.
Nathax Morse,
Akron, Ohio.
Frkd E. Mygatt,
New ^'ork City.
\\.\L P. MULVILLE.
New^ Canaan.
Wm. H. CrHARA.
New York City.
E. Frisbie Phelps,
Xew York City.
Fr?:d a. Scott.
Hartford, Conn.
Morris W. Seymour,
P)ridgeport, Conn.
(;)kigix Storrs Seymour,
New York City.
George F. Sheltox,
Butte. Mont.
Georgia E. Taft,
Unionville, Conn.
F. R. Tiffany,
JoHx O. Thayer,
Meriden, Conn.
FredivRick C. Webster,
Missoula, Mont.
Rev. Edwix a. White,
Bloomfield, N. J.
JoHx F. WvxxE,
Xew Haven. Conn.
goverxors.
Governors of Connecticut who were members of this bar.
Gen. Oliver Wolcott 1796-1798 Oliver Wolcott, Jr. 1817-1823
John Cotton Smith 1813-1817 Wm. W. Ellsworth 1838-1842
Cliarles B. Andrews 1879-1881
126
l.JTCJlFlliLD COUNTY BENCH AND I!AR
JUDGES.
Members of this bar who have been Judges of the Superior
Court. Those starred, members of the Supreme Court of Errors.
Roger Sherman.^^ 1766- 1789 David C. Sanford,* 1854-1864
Andrew Adams.* 1789-1798 Origen S. Seymour,* 1855-1863
Chief Justice, 1793. Gideon Hall, 1866- 1867
Tapping Reeve,* 1798- 181 5 Miles T. Granger,* 1867- 1876
Chief Justice, 1814.
Nathaniel Smith,
John Cotton Smitli,"-^
James Gould.*
John T. Peters,
Samuel Church,*
Chief Justice, 1847.
Wm. W. Ellsworth.* 1842-1861
J. W. Huntington,* 1834-1840
Origen S. Seymour, 1870- 1874
Chief Justice, 1873.
Roland Hitchcock, 1874- 1882
Charles B. Andrews,* 188 2-1 901
Chief Justice, 1889-1901.
1833 -1854 Augustus H. Fenn,* 1887-1897
Edward W. Sevmour,* 1889-1^,^2
A. T. Roraback,* 1897
I 806-1819
1809-1811
1816-1819
1818-1834
CLERKS.
The following members of the bar have been Clerks of the Su-
perior Court.
Frederick Wolcott,
Origen S. Seymour,
O. S. Sevmour,
G. H. Hollister,
G. H. Hollister,
Elisha Johnson,
1798-1836 F. D. Beeman, 1851-1854
1836-1844 Henry B. Graves, 1854-1855
1 846- 1 847 F. D. Beeman, 1855-1860
1844-1845 William L. Ransom, i860- 1887
1847-1850 D wight C. Kilbourn, 1887-
1850-1851
ATTORNEYS FOR THE STATE.
1 he following members of the bar have been Attorneys for the
State, or King's Attorney.
Joshua Whitney, 1752.
Samuel Petibone, 1756.
Reynold Marvin, 1764.
Andrew Adams, 1772.
John Canfield, 1786.
Tapping Reeve, 1788.
Uriah Tracy, 1789.
John Allen, 1800.
Nathaniel Smith, 1806.
Elisha Sterling, 1814.
Seth P. Beers', 1820.
Sanuiel Church, 1825.
David C. Sanford, 1840.
Leman Church. 1844.
John H. Hubbard, 1845.
Leman Church, 1847.
John H. Hubbard, 1849.
Julius B. Harrison, 1852.
Gideon Hall, 1854.
Charles F. Sedgwick, 1856.
James Huntington, 1874.
Donald T. Warner, 1896.
SHERIFFS.
The following have been the Sheriffs for Litchfield County
from its organization :
DONALD T. WARNER.
HISTORICAL XOTES
127-
Oliver Wolcott.
Lynde Lord.
John R. Landon.
Moses Seymour, Jr..
Ozias Seymour.
Albert Sedgwick.
Charles A. Judson.
Albert Sedgwick.
L. \\'. Wessells.
1771-
i8oi-
i8ic>
l82r
1834
1835
18^8
185+
1771
1801
1819
1825
1834
■1835
18^8
1854
1866
Henrv A. Botsford. 1866-1869
George H. Baldwin. 1869-1878-
John D. Yale, 1878-1881
Charles T- Porter, 1881-1884.
Henry f. Allen, 1884- 1895
Edward" A. Xellis. 1895-1903
C. C. Middlebrooks. 1903-1907-
F. H. Turkingtcn. 1907-
COURT HOUSES.
The first Court House of the County was built at Litchfield in-
1751-52. It stood on the ])ublic square directly in front of and
about one hundred and fifty feet distant from the site of the present
one. It was a very plain looking building about twenty-five feet
wide by thirty-six long and fifteen feet posts. In it was a huge
stone chimney and a monstrous fire-place. It was in existence as-
a part of one of the stores of the village until the great fire of 1888.^
It cost as near as can be ascertained from the County Treasurer's
books £3343 4s <jd. The tax paid by each town was as follows:
L
s
d
L
s
d'
Litchfield,
284
10
9
Canaan
302
0^
Woodbury
1 124
TI
II
Cornwall
103
O'
New Milford
3^^
7
6
Goshen
189
8-
Kent
297
'4
Turrington
115
17
4
Sharon
56
Harwinton
129
12
7
Salisbury
307
TO
Xew Hartford
105
O'
The second Court House was located on the same site now
occupied by the present one. it was given to the County for that'
purpose by Moses Seymour. It was built in 1789 at a cost to the-
County of five thousand dollars ; and whatever it cost over that
was made up by private contributions. It was designed by Wil-
liam Spratt an English Architect whose original drawing of it is-
now in existence.
After many years it was believed that the spire was unsafe and
it was taken off and the one shown in our cut of it was added'
which ruined the whole efifect of the front.
It was a veritable temple of justice, the interior being like a
church all in one large high room with a jury room in one corner
and a gallery at one end with stairs leading up to it. It took a
large amount of wood to fill the immense fire-places and keep it
warm during the sessions in the winter. The judges sat on ae.
raised platform at one end with a pulpit-like desk in front of them-
and looked down with great majesty and dignity upon the arenai
in front and beneath them.
128 l.lTCirFlKl.D COUNTV BENCH AND 1;AK
After a number of years (in i8i8j an arrangement was made by
and between the town of Litchfield and the county officials where-
b}- the town was permitted to divide the high room and make an
upper and a lower room ; the courts to use the upper one and the
town the lower room and this arrangement continued to the time of
its destruction by fire June lo, 1886. The expenses of repairs and
maintaining- were divided between the town and county.
It has been often remarked that this old court room was one
of the pleasantest in the State and although devoid of every modern
convenience, it was a delight to lawyers and judges to practice
^therein. From its windows the finest of landscapes greeted the
*eye, the beautiful lakes encircled by emerald hills and the mountain
peaks beyond towering into the blue sky, the fertile and well
tilled farms on every side made a natural panorama that soothed
the weary brain of the tired lawyer. The great Franklin, stoves
filled with yit. Tom hickory wood made snapping sparkling fires.
The graceful arching over head the quaint wooden benches and
painted carvings, all delighted the eye and by their simple efifects
aided the judges and worn-out jurors in solving the intricate prob-
lems they Avere called to try.
The jury room in the cold bleak north-west corner was not a
parlor. A h\g sheet iron stove for wood, a dozen wooden benches,
and a plain table was the make-up of this trysting place : there
was little prospect of comfort for an all night session of a dis-
agreeing jury and they seldom lingered patiently about. Their
verdicts generally were rendered altogether too speedily for the poor
prisoner in the box or the fellow who lost his case.
The States Attorney's room was entirely wanting. In those
primitive times those officials carried their all in their heads and
pockets and what the attorney failed to do in his last argument the
Court carefully supplemented in his charge. The practice in the
criminal cases was largely a degree of eloquence and if the testi-
mony was weak the advocate was strong and never failed to men-
tion what the witnesses ought to have said.
The Clerk's office was also absent and he was permitted to
rent at his own expense an office in some other building and keep
the records and files wherever he chose. The judge's room was
not thought of in the olden davs. Whv should he need one? No
findings of facts were required of him and when the sheriff ad-
journed the court his duties ceased.
On the morning of the nth of June, 1886 nothing remained of
this old building where so many memories clustered but the two
great chimneys. The fire fiend in its ruthless track had swept
everything away.
Directly after the fire in 1886 attempts were made to divide the
County or divert the Court to other places, and the town of Litch-
field began to erect another Court House which was practically
HISTORICAL NOTES 1 29
completed about the 1st of August 1888. It was a wooden struc-
ture somewhat hke the former one with good arrangements for
court, clerk, jury, judges and attorneys rooms. On the morning
of the 8th of August 1888 before it had been turned over to or
occupied by the County this also lay in ashes.
Immediately the town took action towards building another
Court House and appointed a committee consisting of Hon. Charles
B. Andrews. Dr. Henry W. Buel, Henry B. Graves, Esq., with
Jacob Morse and Garner B. Curtiss, selectmen of the town. The
result of their action is the present building at Litchfield built of
stone and practically fire proof with excellent accomodations for
all court purposes and presented to the County by the town and
accepted bv the county commissioners in behalf of and for the
county on the nth of March, 1890.
Meanwhile the agitation about dividing the county and court
business continued until finally it resulted in an act of the legisla-
ture allowing courts to be held at Litchfield. Winchester and New
Mil ford upon the two latter towns providing suitable accomoda-
tions. Whereupon the town of Winchester leased to the county
such a building with suitable accomodations for the courts of the
county on the 9th of August, 1887 and the town of Xew Milford
also leased such building and accomodations on the T5th day of
.\ugust, 1887 and the courts are now held at each of said places
l)racticallv holding court whcre\-cr it is most convenient to try the
cases.
In T905 the town of Winchester increased the Court accomo-
dations bv adding four large spacious rooms and fire proof vault
with metal fixtures, making this Court building one of the best in
the State for its purposes.
In 1907 a bill was presented before the General Assembly of
Connecticut, ordering the removal to Winchester from Litchfield,
of the civil records and files of the Superior Court, with the seal
and Clerk, making Winchester practically the main office of the
Court. It also provided for the removal of all the files of the Com-
mon Pleas Court and seal, to the Winsted Court House. The bill,
however, failed of passage.
. SELECTING JURYMEN.
The Statutes of Connecticut provide for the selection of jury-
men for the several towns, and also prescribe the number to which
each town is entitled.
Various ways of selecting these men have been provided in
former vears, but the present method seems to have been more
nearly satisfactory than any of the past ones.
The Selectmen of each town are required to forward to the
Clerk of the Superior Court during the month of May the names
of twice the number the town is entitled to. The fudges at their
130 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
annual meeting in June appoint two Jury Commissioners to act
with the Clerk of the Superior Court, who is by Statute a Jurj
Commissioner, who meet on the second Monday of July and select
one half of the names returned by the Selectmen. These names,
so selected, are printed on slips of paper, and those of each town
are placed in a box by themselves, and are the names of the men
liable for jury duty from each town for the year from the following
September first. When a petit jury is required, the Clerk draws
them without seeing the name, from such towns as he desires, in
the presence of a Judge and a Sherifif.
ABOUT JURIES.
This important part of the Court deserves a very honorable
mention. The juries of this County have been composed of the
very best class of men ; men of good judgment and sterling common
sense, seldom carried away with the oratory or pathos of the ad-
vocate or losing sight of the issues of the case.
There are some incidents related of jury trials that tend to show
that they are but men and liable to some of the caprices of human
nature. The common style of voting blank upon a case by one or
more of them on the first ballot is of very little consequence only
showing that some people do not form conclusions as rapidly as
others.
That the jurymen do not always agree with the Court is illus-
trated by a case in which Judge Carpenter in charging the jury
remarked "Now gentlemen, if you believe this incredible story you
will convict the prisoner, but if you do not believe it you must
acquit him." The jury after a long consultation disagreed. Upon
receiving further instruction in which the incredible story was dis-
credited still more strongly, they again retired and after mature
deliberation they still disagreed. Another strong instruction, re-
tirement and disagreement, when they were discharged from further
consideration of the case. It was ascertained they stood eleven for
conviction and one for acquittal.
In another case wherein a man sued an officer for false im-
prisonment it was admitted that the officer was liable and the
judge charged the jury that they were the ones to assess the
daniages. The offense was where an officer arrested a drunk and
put him in the town lockup over night, intending to try him in the
morning; before the trial however the man's friends hearing of
his condition went to the lockup opened the door and carried him
away. After being out a long time the jury returned much to every
ones' surprise a verdict for the defendant. The explanation that the
jury gave was that the man was rescued by his friends before the
officer had had a reasonable time to ])rosecute the offense.
A man was prosecuted for an assault and battery of rather an
aggravated nature: he claimed it was done in self defense. It wn-
t
^^^^Bk .^>. "^^^^B
i^— ft , -.— ^ — ••■• ^ „»
;i)\\ AKD W. SEYMOUR.
• Historical notes 131
shown tliat the parties had an altercation and the' accused followed
up the complainant and pounded him. The prisoner admitted it,
but claimed he was obliged to follo\V;.up for fear that the other man
would, as soon as he got a little distance from him. turn around
and shoot him. The jur\- pondered a long while, then returned to
the Court Room for instructions. JThe foreman said they wished
to know how far the law allowed a man to follow up another with
a sled stake in self defense.
WlTXfi^SSES.
Of course our Courts had all sorts of witnesses to deal with
from the garrulous man who knows everything', to the reticent man
who knows nothing and has forgotten that.
A few specimens are j^reserved in the traditions of our elders.'
A child was asked if he knew the nature of an oath and he re-
plied "Xo sir." Then the kind hearted judge leaned over the side
of his desk and smilingly asks "My son don't you know what _\c)u're
going to tell?" "Yes, sir." said the boy, "that old bald headed
lawyer over there told me what I nmst sav." "Administer the
oath, Mr. Clerk."
A witness in a criminal case lialed from a unsavory ])lace called
"Pinch (lUl ;" he was duly sworn and upon lieing asked his name,
gave it. The next ([uestion was "Where do you reside .■"" No
answer came. The (piestion was repeated twice and the last time
with great severity, ^riie wilness turned with dignity to the judge
and said, "Must I answer that ((uestion?" "\\'h_\- u^t ?" said tlie
Court, "llecause" said the witness "I have been told that no man
was obliged to criminate himself."
Witnesses are often ridiculed for making e\'asi\e au>\vers to
attorne\s' cpiestions but ])eriiai)s the_\' do not al^vays fullx' under-
stand the query. The following is a question asked by a learned
attornev in the trial of a tax case, taken from tlie Stenogra])her's
notes :
0. "W liat I want to ask _\du is whether com])aring liis land
with the other lantls that you have been swearing about here, you
have sworn to some 30 other farms, and in com])arison, that is, I
mean whether, how should you take them in comj^arison, how
should \()ti consider them, if you take that as a basis, they are
assessed for $3,000. Taking that as a basis for \-otu- comparison,
how should yon start?"
STKXOC.R.M'IIER.
In 1884 the General Assembly passed an act providing for the
appointment of a Stenographer for the Superion Court in each of
the Counties. About 1886 Mr. Leonard W. Cogswell was ap-
pointed for this County and has held the position since that date.
Leonard W. Cogswell, Esq., the official stenographer is a na-
132
l.lTCIIFll'M) COrXTV i:i;XCIl AM) BAR
LKOXARD AV. COC.SWKLL.
tive of Litchfield County, and was horn in Xew Preston, in July
1863, ^'"^'l enjoyed all the lit^hts and shadows of a farmer's son on
a rugged farm upon the sicle of Mt. lUishnell. He polished up an
education received at the districe school and Village Academy by
a term at Claverack College at Hudson, X. Y. In 1884 he quit
the farm and went to X"ew Haven and learned short hand. In
1886 he was appointed official Stenographer of Litchfield County,
and holds the same position for Windham County. His services
are in great demand during the sessions of the Legislature, by the
Committees thereof.
He was admitted to the Bar of X^ew Haven County in June,
1897, '^'i^l resides in Xew Haven. In the preparation of this
memoir we are indebted to him for the preservation of the re-
marks at the lianquet, and for poetical selections herein.
studkxt's iJi^E.
At the Bar Dinner in 1901 Judge Roraback in his remarks gave
a few reminisences of his student days which are worthy of preser-
vation as illustrating how lawyers were made in the country of-
fices. Upon being introduced by the Toastmaster lie responded
as follows :
Mr. Toastmaster, and gentlemen of the Litchfield County Bar:
I hardly expected to make a si)eech, but the reference that was
ALBERTO T. RORABACK,
HISTORICAL NOTES 133
made bv mv distinguished friend, Donald J. Warner carries me back
to the month of April, 1870. That is almost 32 years. I then
commenced the study of Blackstone in his office. Well, I pounded
away at Blackstone for five months, and learned it pretty thorough-
ly. As I remember it, if it had been set to music I think I could
have sung it. It was pretty dry work and pretty hard w^ork. But
one morning D. J. came in, and he says, "Roraback, you have been
pounding away at Blackstone some time, would'nt you like a
change?" Well, I hardly knew what was coming, whether it was
a change from Blackstone to Chitty, or what it was, but I looked
up at him, and I said I thought I w^ould. "All right," he said, "I
have got a client for you." I could hardly believe it. A real
client with a case? It was the first ray of light, the firs,t gleam
of hope in those long months ; to have a client, a real live client.
He brought him in. I wish you could have seen him. He was
colored. His trousers were stuck in the tops of his boots, he was
out at the seat of his pants, but he was a client ; my first client. Tt
was my first case, and I was happy. The case was returnable be-
fore Daniel Pratt, a Justice who had his office in the village of
Salisbur\-. I went to work to ])reiiarc my case, and at the time
stated for the trial I was there with my client. I made the great,
supreme, and sublime effort of my life. There was'nt any attorney
for the ])laintiff. I appeared for the defense. It was'nt necessary
that the plaintiff should be represented. The magistrate occupied
that position, and wdien I had finished my argument he made his.
It was very eft'ective : iust $3r>.22 for the plaintiff' and costs. \\'ell.
of course I felt crestfallen. I came down to the office the next
morning, and Donald J. the elder came in, and he asked me how
T got along with the case. I had to tell him I got beat. Thorough-
ly beaten. And he said to me, "Oh, well, never mind that. You
will come across those little misfortunes once in a while in vour
practice of law, but, of course, you won't get an\- pay." "I did. I
got my pay." "You did? How much did "you get?" "$6.""$6."
Donald J. says, "that is better than a victory : I have been defending
that cussed nigger in season and out of season for the past twenty-
five years, and I never received a cent." and he grasped me warmly
by the hand, and he says, "Roraback, you will be a success." That
was case Xo. i. My first case.
Case Xo. 2 was the case of Julius Closes vs. Virgil Roberts.
Virgil Roberts was an old farmer that lived down on the Gay St.
road, as I remember it. When the case came to trial D. J. said to
me that I had better come along down and write the evidence. So
I went along down and wrote the evidence, and when the evidence
was all in D. J. spoke to me over across the table and he says,
"Roraback, you get up and make the opening argument." I was
demoralized, for gentlemen, sitting on the other side was Gen'l.
Charles S. Sedgwick. You never saw him, most of you, but he
134
LITCHFIELD COUKTV BKXCII AND BAR
was a man tliat stood six feet four in his stockings, and weighed
250 lbs. I am afraid I made very poor work of it with that great
giant on the other side. I was afraid. T verily believe if the old
General had stamped his foot and yelled "scat." I would have gone
through the window and forever abandoned the idea of studying
law. But we fought it out. I got up and made my argument,
and then the old General got uj) and made No. 2, and then Donald
T. Warner made the closing. Talk about wit, and talk about sar-
casm, talk about eloquence, I learned the lesson right there and
then that it was not the avoirdupois of the lawyer that wins cases.
Gen. Sedgwick was three score and ten. He lived along a few
-ears, and wrote a little pamphlet on his experiences in fifty years
at the Litchfield Countv Bar. He was then state attorney.
BAR LIBRARY.
The matter of having a Bar Library at the Court House was
attended to at an early date. The following action of the Bar is an
interesting Record.
"At a meeting of the Bar December 29, 1819.
The following Report of a Committee having been read was
adopted. "To the Bar of the County of Litchfield. The Sub-
scriliers having been appointed by said Bar, a Committee to enquire
into the expediency of commencing a Law Library for the use of the
Bar. (and if deemed expedient to devise some mode by which it
may be obtained), having attended to the subject beg leave to re-
port in part, That the Bar now owns six volumns of the Statutes
of ^Massachusetts, the two volumns of the revised edition of the
Statutes of New York, published in 1813, and the two volumes of
the Statutes of Vermont published in 1808; that there now remains
unexpended the sum of Seventeen Dollars formerly raised by the
Bar for the purpose of purchasing Statutes of other States.
And further report that it is exi^edient that there be raised by
the Ijar the further sum of One Hundred and Fifty-six Dollars to
be paid and apportioned to the members thereof as follows :
Elisha Sterling
Jno. G. Mitchell
Reuben Hunt
W. S. Holabird
Calvin Butler
Chas. B. Phelps
Nath'l. Perry, Jr.
R. R. Hinman
Perry Smith
Nath'l. Perry
Cyrus Swan
Asa Bacon
$6.00 Jabez W. Huntington 5.00
3.00 Samuel Church 5.00
Wm. M. Burrall 5.00
Michael F. Alills 4.00
I l()ll)r(iok Curtiss 4.00
Nathaniel B. Smith 3.00
Roger Mills 4.00
Philo N. Heacock 2.00
Homer Swift .^.00
Geo. Wheaton 3.00
Phineas Miner 6.00
I 'Inlander Wheeler 3.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
4.00
5.00
7.00
IIISTORICAI, NOTES 135
Leman Church 4.00 Wm. Cogswell 3.00
Joseph Miller 5.00 Ansel Sterling 5.00
Wm. G. Williams 5.00 Theodore Xorth 4.00
Xoah B. Hencdict 7.00 Seth P. Beers 6.00
John Strong 2.00 Matthew Minor 3.00
Jos. B. Bellamy 4.00 Isaac Leavenworth 4.00
David S. Boardman 6.00
.And that said sums of Seventeen and One Hundred and Fifty-
si.x Dollars with such further sum as the Court may appropriate from
the County Treasurer for that purpose, be applied to the purchase
of the Law Books hereinafter mentioned, or such other Books as
the I'ar may hereafter direct, viz :
Kirb}'"s Reports, Root's Reiwrts, Day's Cases in Error, Con-
necticut Reports, Swift's Evidence, Swift's System. Chitty's Plead-
ings, Lane's Pleadings, l'liilli])'s Evidence. Johnson's Reports, Mas-
sachusetts Reports.
All of wliicli is rcs]iccttull\' submitted.
Signed per order,
S. P. l>eers. Chainiiaii.
The bcHiks mentioned in this report were purchased and are
now in the Lil)rary at Litchheld. The only provision for the in-
crease of the Library which I find is an admission fee of Five Dol-
lars from a new attorne}', until 1874, nor do the l>ooks in the Li-
brary show additions of any account.
In 1874, it was X'oted As a standing Rule of the Bar, that each
member pay to the treasurer thereof the sum of One Dollar each,
vearlv, to be ex]:)ended in the purchase of Books for the benefit and
use of the said I'.ar. Said payments to l)e made at the annual meet-
ing in each year.
In 1877 the Legislature enacted a Bill providing for the forma-
tion of Countv Law Lilirary .Associations. The County Commis-
sioners were to ])ay in their discretion each year on the first of
Januar\- a sum not exceeding Three Hundred Dollars, for the
supi^ort thereof. The Litchfield County Law Library Association
was duly organized and received money from the County Treasurer
for one year, after which the discretion of the Commissioners did
not mature, and payments ceased, for some years. In 1897 an act
was passed making the payment obligatory of one hundred and
fifty dollars to each of the libraries at Litchfield. Winsted and Xew
I\Iiiford, since which time a good supjjly of law books may be found
in each Court House.
At the session of the Legislature of 1907 an act was passed re-
quiring the County Commissioners to pay each library four hundred
dollars a year.
At Xew Milford large accessions came from bequests of Bros.
Henry S. Sanford and James H. McMahon.
u<>
.nClll-li;].!) COL'XTN' 1;i:NCH and I'.AR
^ wt^
jA:\rEs [1. :\ic.M Aiiox.
In 1906 l>r(i. .\icMahon left liy liis will the sum of $1,200 to
he e((nall_v (li\i(k'(I between the three libraries, which was available
in 1907. and has been paid to the committees.
Tn each Court House may be found a first class working- library
with some of tlie Re])orts of other States.
In 1900 the liar voted that all the law books of the Bar As-
sociation l)e ])rescnte(l to the Litchfield County Law Library As-
sociation, so that all the books are under one manag'ement.
AAKONT WHITE FL'XD.
Another branch of these libraries is ])u.rchascd l)y the income
derived from a ])e(|uest of xAaron White, a lawyer w4io by his will
left to each Count v Law Library one thousand dollars for certain
classes of books.
The following- account of Mr. White who deceased in 1886,
taken from a newsi)aper, will no doubt be of interest in this con-
nection and is worthy of preservation.
A Loston Clobc correspondent tells the followino- story of Aaron
White of Ouinnebaug' : —
Aaron White has fi.^ured in his life as the most eccentric man
in this localitv, and one who is widclv known in Afassachusetts.
HISTORICAL NOTES 1^7
Connecticut and Rhode Island. He was born in Boylston, Tvlass..
October 8, 1798, and was the eldest of ten children, seven boys and
three eirls, nine of whom are now livino-. He entered Harvard
colle.G:e, t,n-aduating- in a class of sixty-eight members in 1817. Of
his classmates only seven are now living. Mr. White, in reconnting
incidents of his college life, shows a wonderful memory. Among
his classmates were the late Hon. Stephen Salisbury of Worcester,
the Hon. George Bancroft, the Hon. Calel) Gushing, whom he con-
sidered the most talented man he ever met; Samuel Sewall, now
living in Boston ; Dr. John Green of Lowell, the Rev. Dr. Tyng of
the Episcopal church, now living in Phildelphia : John D. Wells of
Boston, one of the greatest anatomists of his daw and Professor
Alva ^^'oods, formerly president of the Transylvania college in the
South, living in Providence. When the "Dorr War" broke out
Squire \\'hite was living in Woonsocket. "Governor" Dorr, be-
ing at the head of the controvesy. called u])on Mr. White, for advice
^'as a friend and acquaintance."" which resulted in frequent visits
between them. This resulted afterwards in both White and Dorr
being ol)lige(l to leave the state, both going to Thompson, Conn.
Soon after. Air. White secretly got Dorr into Xew Hampshire.
The authorities in Rhode Island used a warrant for the arrest of
Squire \\'hite, in which he was called the "commander-in-chief" of
the forces that opixx'^ed the state. They called on Governor Chauncy
Cleveland of Connecticut for assistance, which was refused. They
afterwards called on Governor John Davis of Massachusetts to ar-
rest \\'hite when he came to Dudley. W^ebster or Worcester, but
Governor Davis as in the case of Governor Cleveland, refused to
grant the recjuest. Both governors were in sympath\' with Dorr
and White. The Rhode Island authorities then threatened to send
an armed force to kidnap Scpiire White at his home in Quinnebaug.
Governor Davis then issued a warrant for White's arrest if seen in
Massachusetts, but this warrant was not intended to harm S(|uire
\\'hite. for it was to run only thirty days from its date. The result
was that Squire White remained unmolested in his quiet home on
the banks of the placid Quinnebaug. He is a lawyer and his busi-
ness has been such as settling estates, drawing up wills, giving ad-
A'ice, etc.. and he has always been considered a safe man to, consult
on such business. \\ hen he was in his prime he was six feet in
height, lightly built and very long-limbed, weighing 160 pounds.
He is nearly blind, his eyesight having been failing for some five
years.
In his college days he, with Caleb Gushing, collected several
rare coins. Later he engaged in collecting old-fashioned coppers.
\\'hen the government called in the old coppers in 1863 or there-
abouts, issuing new ones, and for three years afterwards, he was
most active in picking them up. His reason for going into this
husiness was that he thought it very profitable. He visited the mint
138 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
at Philadelpliia, making- arrangements with the officers to take
these coppers and give him new pennies in retnrn, the government
to pay all expenses in shipping to and from his home. This busi-
ness, which he has carried on for some fifteen years, as a whole has
netted him a large amount of profit. He has some instances sold
copper coins of rare date for from $1 to $3, and in one case he re-
ceived $5 for a rare copper. He paid from forty to forty- four
cents per pound, "good, bad and indifferent," selecting the good
ones from them and shipping the rest to the mint. In his trips he
visited the principal cities and large towns in New England, collect-
ing many thousand coins as a result.
After the death of Mr. White in 1886. his executors found mam-
barrels of copper cents — of the ''not rare" ones. About four tons
of these coins were redeemed bv the Sub-Treasurv at Washington.
Extracts fro:\i aarox white's will.
Fourth. — ( )ut of the residue of the estates so g"iven in trust as
aforesaid, to pay to the Treasurers of the present eig^ht Counties
in the State of Connecticut, to each the sum of One Thousand
Dollars in lawful money, to be by them received in trust, as funds
for the procurement and maintenance of County liar Libraries
in their respective Counties, in their several Count\' Court Houses,
for the sole use of the Judges ami Clerks of Courts therein, ]Mem-
bers of the liar, and their students at law while in the offices of
said r.ar ineml:)ers, in their respective Counties; which funds or the
annual income thereof, as said liar Members may direct, shall l)e
expended imdcr their direction in the jnu'chase of Hooks of His-
tory, and Hooks of Moral and Political I'hilosopliy.
And in case said residue last mentioned be not sufficient for
the ])ayment of all said legacies to said Counties in full, then said
residue, in ccpial i)ortions to saitl Counties for the purposes afore-
said shall be deemed a fullfilment of their trust. Such payment
to be made within three years from the time of m\- decease.'''
CENTENNIAL.
.\t a meeting of the Litchfield Coimt\ Har held at the Court
House in Litchfield on the 4th day of January 1851 the following-
preamble and resolution was adopted:
Whereas, During the present year a century will elapse since
the organization of the County of Litchfield ; and
Whereas, A Centennial celebration of that event has been under
consideration. Therefore
Resolnei). That Chas. P.. Phelps, O. S. Sevmour, John H. Hub-
bard, Gideon Hall, (;. 11. Hollister, J. 15. Harrison and J. B.
Foster Hsc|uires, be a Committee of the P>ar to call a meeting of
citizens of the County to consider that subject and to take such
F. I). r.KK^rAX
HISTORICAL XOTES 139
order thereon bv appointment of a Committee of arrangements or
otherwise as shall be thought best.
F. D. Beeman, Clerk.
In pursuance of these proceedings the Centennial Celebration
of August 1 85 1 was held. Several thousand people were present.
Judg-e Samuel Church delivered the Historical address which is
reprinted in this voluiiie. Horace Bushnell the sermon and John
I'ierpont the poem.
DAVID DAGGliTT.
At a meeting of the Bar of Litchfield County during the August
Term 1834, a Committee was appointed to prepare an address to
the Hon. David Daggett, Chief Justice of the State, on the occasion
of the near approach of his term of judicial service, which Com-
mittee reported to the l')ar the following address, which was l^v
order of the Bar communicated to the Hon. David Daggett, and
together with the reply thereto was ordered to be recorded upon
the records of the Bar.
"To the Hon. David Daggett, Chief Justice of the State of
Connecticut. Sir: — The members of the Bar of tlic County of
Litchfield, having heard from a communication which you made
to the Legislature of the State at its last session that your judicial
term of office service will cx])ire by Constitutional limitation dur-
ing the present year, and consequently not expecting to meet you
again in your official character, beg leave to exi:>ress to you the high
sense which they entertain of the ability, integrity' and imnartiality,
which \-ou have manifested upon the bench, and to thank you
cordiallv for the uniform kindness and courtesy with which you
have treated them when they have had occasion to a]:)pear before
vou to discharge the arduous duties of their profession. In taking-
leave of \()U we cannot but recollect that it is now rising of forty
\'ears since xon first formed a connection with the Bar of this
County, and that you were long associated in practice with Adams,
Reeve, Smith, Tracy, Allen, Kirby, Benedict, Slosson and South-
ma\'de, whose l)right names are inscribed on our records and whose
memorv will be cherished so long as learning, talent and virtue
shall command esteem ; nor can we forget that your labors may
be traced in the very foundations of the judicial system of Connecti-
cut, nor that \'ou have exercised a hajipy intluencc in adorning that
system with various learning, and in bringing it to its present
matured condition.
^^'e tender vou our best wishes that the residue of your days
may be as happy as }our life has been heretofore distinguished and
honorable.
Per order of the Bar,
Phineas ]\Iiner, Chainiiait.
Geo. C. Woodrufl^, Clerk pro feiii.
Litchfield. August 29th.. 1834.
140 I.ncirFlELD COUNTY I'.EXCII AND BAR
The followini^' is the reply made l)y the Hon. David Dag^gett to
the foregoino- address.
"To the members of the Bar of Litchfield of the Countv of
Litchfield:
Gentlemen : — 1 have received with high satisfaction the address
signed by I'hineas ]^Iiner and Georg-e C. WoodrutT, Esquire;,
your Chairman and Secretary, which \ou did me the honor to
communicate to me this dav.
In taking- leave of a P>ar so distinguished, by the illustrious
names inscribed on its records, it is impossible that I should not
entertain a gTateful recollection of the memories of those who are
now awa\- from all earthl\- scenes, and also cherish a lively affec-
tion and resi)ect for those who now occu])}- with such honor their
places.
If mv official conduct on the bench deserves the commendation
bestowed upon it. nuich of it is justly due to the gentlemen of a
Bar ever characterized by ability, integ-rity, industry and learning.
Of vour courtesy towards me and your gentlemanly deportment
towards each other while engaged in the conflicts of the Bar, I
cannot speak in terms sufficient!}- expressive of the feelings of
mv heart. Thcv will be recollected with grateful aft'ection. How
nmch such an intercourse between the Bar and the bench tends
to alleviate the l)urdens of the judicial station, can be known only
bv those who have had the pleasure to vritness it.
I prav \-ou to accept mv fervent wishes for the prosperitv and
happiness of you individually, and my cordial thanks for this ex-
pression of vour esteem and res]iect.
David Daggett.
Litchfield, August 28th., 1834.
A true c<i])\-. Attest,
\Vm. P. Burrall, Clerk.
COl'RT Kxi'I'.XSKS.
Tn the earlier i)art of the century the Judges were given a cer-
tain sum per day and their dinners.
Among- the vouchers of the past the following bill of Court
expenses a])pears.
The State of Connecticut :
To Lsaac Baldwin. Dr.
Su]>erior Court, February Term, 1810.
To ninety nine dinners for the Court $40.50
To 21 bottles of wine at los 35-50
To Brandy. Sugar, etc., ly days at ^-f) I--75
To pipes and tobacco o^
To Segars -25
'To paper —5
$9^-75
n
GIDKOX II. WKl.Cll.
HISTORICAL NOTES I4I
THE COUNTY COURT.
Prepared by the late Wm. F. Hurlbut, Clerk.
The first Court organization in Litchfield County was the County
Court, and for several years it was the principal trial court, — hav-
ing- criminal jurisdiction in all cases except those piuiishable by
death, or imprisonment in the State Prison for life. — and civil juris-
diction in law and equity where the matter in demand did not ex-
ceed three hundred and thirty-five dollars, but a right of appeal to
the Superior Court existed, in cases where the ad daiiiiiuiii exceeded
two hundred dollars, or the title to land or right of way was in
f|uestion, also raising- or obstructing- the water of any stream, river,
creek or arm of the sea by erection of a dam, etc., which gave
litigants the power to prevent a determination of causes by the
County Court, and which the defeated parties availed themselves
of to such an extent that most cases passed through both courts
with a trial of facts in each, with the result that public oi)inion con-
sidered the County Court of but little practical value. Therefore
the legislature of 1855, abolished it and transferred all causes there-
in ])ending- to the docket of the Superior Court, causing that Court
to be loaded with such a mass of business that it was im])ossible
for a case to be tried within two years after being- broug-ht. This
cong-estion of the docket of the Superior Court coupled with the
inconvenience of travel to Litchfield (then the only County Seat)
caused the org-anization in 1872 of the District Court for the First
Judicial District, the district being- composed of the towns of Rark-
hamsted, Bridgewater, Canaan, Colebrook, Cornwall. Kent, Xew
Hartford, Xew r^lilford, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury. Sharon.
^^'ashing-ton and Winchester. This Court continued to exist until
1883 when the remainder of the County desirous of enjoying- the
privilege afiforded b\- it. the name was changed to the Court of
Con-imon Pleas and its jurisdiction extended to the entire Cotnitv
with sessions holden at Litchfield in addition to Winchester. New
Milford and Canaan.
This was ])ractically a revival of the old County Court with
civil powers enlarged to cover causes demanding one thousand dol-
lars damages but with no right of appeal to the Superior Court
nor any criminal jurisdiction.
The Court of Common Pleas has been a popular court transact-
ing a large majority of the litigation of the County with less ex-
pense to the State and to parties than the same could have been done
by the Superior Court.
142 i.i'rcFTi'iKi.D cor.vTv i;Kxctt axd har
jri)C,i:S ni' Till-: COUNTY COL'KT.
William Preston '^75^-^5] Ansel Sterling". 1838-1839
Woodbury Sharon
John Williams, 1754-1773 Calvin llntler. 1839-1840
Sharon l'l\ni()Uth
Oliver \\'olcott, ^/Jo'^/^^^ Ansel Sterling, 1840-1842
Litchfield Sharon
Daniel Sherman, 1786-1791 William M. Burrall, 1842- 1844
\\'(i()(ll)ur\- Canaan
Joshua I'ortcr. 1791-1808 Abijah Catlin, 1844-1846
Salisbury Harwinton
Aaron Austin,' 1808-1816 Elisha S. Abernethy, 1846-1847
Xew Hartford Litchfield
Augustus Lettibone 1816-1831 I lollirook Curtiss. 1847-1849
X( irf oik \\'aterto\vn
David S. Txtardmau, 1831-1836 i liram (loodwin, 1849-1850
Xew Milford Barkhamsted
AA'illiam M. L.urrall. 1836-183S Charles B. Phelps, 1850-1851
Canaan \\'oodbury
Hiram Goodwin, 1851-1856
Barkhamsted
jfSTicKs OF Tiri' nroKr:\r.
John ?\[iner, 1704-1716 John Sherman, ij2yiy2S
Woodbury Woodbury
John Sherman, 1708-1714 Joseph Miner, 1725-1739
A\'oodl)ury Woodbury
William Preston, 1740-175 1
W( lodbury
Tirt; l'Oi,I,OWlXG IX I.ITCII I'lia.l) corxTv.
Thomas Chii)man, 1/51-1753 Increase Abiseley, I755-I7"^^
Salisbury Woodbury
John Williams. I75I-I75I i^'ger Sherman, 1759-1762
Sharon Xew Milford
Sanmel Canfield, 175 1-1754 Daniel Sherman, 1761-1786
Xew Milford A\'o(^dbury
Lbeiiezer Alarsh, 1751-1772 Bushnell Bostwick. 1762-1776
Litchfield ' Xew Milford
Josei)h r.ird. 1753-1754 Joshua I'orter. 1772-17(^1
Salisbury Salisbury
Xoah Hinmau. 1754-1759 Samuel Canfield, 1777-1790
\\'oodbury Xew jMilford
Klisha Sheldon, 1754-1759 Tedediah Strong. 1780-1791
Litchfield ^ ' ' Litchfield
WILLIAM F. IILKLBUT
JnSTORICAL NOTES 143
Hcman Swift, 1786-1802 lUrdseye Norton, 1809-1812
Cornwall Goshen
AarcMi Austin, 1790-1808 Augustus Pettibone. 1812-1816
Xew Hartford Norfolk
Nathan Hale. 1791-1809 Uriel Holmes, i8[4-i8i7
Canaan Litchfield
David Smith, 1791-1814 Moses Lyman, Jr.. i8[5-i8i7
Plymouth Goshen
Daniel X. Prinsmade, i8o2-t8t8 Oliver Purnham. 1816-1818
Washington Cornwall
Judson Canfield, 1808-18 15 Cyrus Swan, 1817-1819
Sharon Sharon
Martin Strong-, 1819-1820
Salisbury
ASSOCIATl': JI'DGES.
Martin Strong, 1820-1829 ^[orris W'odruff, 1829-1836
Salisbury Litchfield
lohn Welch, ' 1820-1829 Hugh P. Welch. 1836-1838
Litchfield Litchfield
William M. Purrall, 1829-1836
Canaan
The Judges of the District Court were Roland Hitchcock, two
years: Tared P.. Foster, three years ; Florimond D. Fyler, four years
and Donald j. Warner, two years; of the Court of Common Pleas
Donald 1. \Varner. six years; Alberto T. Roraback. four years;
Arthur I). Warner, three and one half years: Alberto T. Roraback.
five nil nulls i when he was appointed to the Superior Court bench)
and Gideon II. Welch now (1907) holding- the office.
The Clerks have been of the County Court
Isaac P)aldwin, 1751-1703 Frederick Wolcott, i7<)3-i83r)
( )f the l)istrict Court and Court of Common Pleas
Win. F. llurlbui, twenty-two years Walter S. Judd, two years
W heaton F. Dowd, from 1901
junr.r; prkstox s :\roNr]\ii-:NT ix avoodtu-ry
^mis
HISTORICAL NOTES 145
NOTED TRIALS.
Altlioii.qh the Courts are organized to remedy private wrongs
and as such their proceedings are not matters of general history, yet
these are sometimes of such a pubHc nature and relate so closely
to the general weal and welfare that they are properly a part ci
Court history, while of course Criminal trials are public property.
Some of these have passed through the Courts of highest adjudica-
tion and are very important.
The Attorney in preparing his brief in an action cannot have
avoided noticing- how often his references (|uote from some Litch-
field County decision, especially in the earlier cases.
Those earlier Blackstones of our jurisprudence. Reeve, Gould,.
Church and Seymour laid their work on the deep foundations of
tile i)hi]oso])hy and truths of natural justice and common sense.
The early j^art of our records are of appeals from the County
Court, motions for new trials, foreclosures, and a good many cases
of Insolvency ])roceedings and cases of equitable nature. Yery few
trials of fact occur; the judgments were rendered mostly after de-
cisions u])oii demurrers, pleas in aliatement and such preliminary
pleadings, upon the determination of which we now have a right
to answer over, and have a trial on tlie facts.
In the L'riminal prosecutions, if the accused by any chance was
accfuitted he was discharged by paxing the costs of his trial,
and till 1S35 the sentences of impris(Miment were made to Newgate,
now known as the Copper mines in Simsbury.
A\'e ap])end herewith a few of the memorable trials, and have
proljal)ly omitted others of ec|uall\- as valuable and important signifi-
cance. The abstracts arc necessarily very brief and condensed.
The first recorded case upon tlic books of the Superior Court
is that of
Abner Wheeler, of lletlilem
^•s.
Joshua Henshaw. of .\ew Hartford.
In which the plaintifi' recovered $C)42.75 damages and costs taxed
at $49.86.
The first divorce granted was Lucy Mix of Salislniry against
Thomas ^lix.
I'hese mixings and unmixings ha\e formed a large per cent, of
the judgments during the centiu"v.
THE SKLI.l'X'K-OSBORX IMATTKR.
One of the most imj^ortant trials and probabl\ one that in its
general results afi:'ected the State, especially the political part of it
more than any other that has ever occurred in the State, was the
Selleck-Osborn trial 1806-1807.
Benjamin Talmadge. Esq., was a Colonel in the Revolution and
at the close of hostilities settled in Litchfield where he was a verv
146 ijtchfie;i.d county benxh and bar
prominent citizen and for many years a member of Congress.
Frederick \\'olcott, wlio for more than forty years was the cleri< of
the County and Superior Courts, brought a suit against one William
Hart of Saybrook and at the August Term of this cuurt 1805 re-
covered $2,205.00 damages. The case was taken to the Supreme
Court and affirmed. Execution was issued and paid in full in 1806.
Sellcck ( )sborn and Timothy Ashley were then publishing a
ne\vsi)aper in Litchfield called the Witness and made comments upon
the judgment reflecting severely u]jon the integrity of the Court.
Whereupon the Superior Court prosecuted them as follows :
"James Gould, Esq., Attorney for the State for the County of
Litchfield specially appointed by this Court in this behalf filed an
information before this Court, therein representing that Selleck
Osborn and Timothy Ashley both now resident in Litchfield in
County intending to bring the Superior Court of judicature of this
State into disrepute and contempt and especially to induce a belief
among the good people of this State that said Court in proceeding
to and rendering judgment in a certain cause in which Benjamin
Talmadge and Frederick Wolcott, Esquires were plaintififs and
William Hart, Esq., was defendant, and that the jury who attended
said Court in finding a verdict in said cause were influenced by par-
tial, dishonest and corrupt motives, did at Litchfield aforesaid on
the 4th day of Septemlx'r 1805 with force and arms most unjustlv
wickedly and maliciously print and publish and cause to be printed
and published of and concerning said Coiu't and jury and of and
concerning the proceedings in said catisc in a publick newspaper
called the Witness a certain false and scandalous libel purporting to
be a statement or report of the aforesaid action of the evidence ad-
duced therein and of the proceedings therein had which said infor-
mation is as on file."
The <lefeiidants jjlead to the jurisdiction of the Court to which
the attorney demurred and the Court decided that it had jm-isdiction.
It then went to the Court for trial on their i)lea of not guilty. They
were found guilty and fined two hundred and fifty dollars each.
Osborn in liis statement of the numerous trials says that this one
cost him $605.98. The libel suit of Julius Deming against him
$346.46 and for slandering Thomas Colier he paid $522.00.
Osborn and Ashley were also fined in the County Court one
liundred dollars for libelling Julius Deming a prominent merchant
of Litchfield. Mr. Ashley paid his part but Mr. Osborn would not
pay and was taken to jail. This aroused the Jefifersonians all over
the County and State, they calling it a i)olitical martyrdom and on
the 6th of August 1806, they gave him a great ovation forming a
grand procession with cavalry and militar\- jxirade passing by the
jail where he was confined and saluting him with great honors. A
part of the celebration was an address delivered in the meeting house
bv Jose|)h L. Smith, then a young lawyer of Litchfield. He made
HISTORICAL NOTES I47
remarks rcrtectiny upon the Superiur Court. consequentl\ in due
course of time the State's Attorney, Urial Hohnes, Esq.. issued an
information ao"ainst him for utterine: "the followino- false, mahcious.
scandalous and defamatory words, viz: 'The Courts of justice
(meaning" the aforesaid Cottrts of justice in this State) have re-
garded the face of man in judgment. If the Republicans shall re-
take the pro|)ert\' which the Federal Courts (meaning the aforesaid
Courts . magistrates, judges and justices of this State) have taken
from them (meaning the said Rei)ublicans ) it will be but a poor
apology for the Federalists that they obtained it by false witnesses
perjured judges and packed juries." Also "( )sboi'n is imprisoned
for publishing that of a Federal justice whicli is true of every
Federal justice in the State."
Smith hrst plead not guiltv. then the Court allowed him to
change his plea to a demurrer. The Coiu"t found the information
sufficient and fined Smith two hundred and fifty dollars and costs,
one hundred and twent\- three dollars and sixty four cents.
'J'he clerk adds to the record, "The delincpiint ^vas delivered to
the custod\- of the Sherifif of said County."
Snfith's connection widi the Court was not altogether agreeable
after that, but he was soon appninted Major in the United States
Army and was a Colonel in the War of 18 12 after which he was
United States Judge in Florida. He was the ancestor of the con-
federate General E. Kirby Smith.
BLASPHEMY.
At the August Term of the Court in 1800 \\ illiam Lea\'enworth,
Jr., was informed against for blasi)hemv in the town of Plymotith.
The information stated "Who did in the i)resence and hearing of
sundry of the good i)eo])le of the State then and there assembled,
blaspheme the name of God the Father and of the Hol\- Ghost, au'l
deny and re])roach the true God and His government of the world
by wickedly and blasphemously uttering and speaking the words
following, viz : '1 am the Holy Ghost and here is the Holy Ghost,' he
the said William speaking of himself and meaning that he, said
William was the Holy Ghost."
The accused was arrested, brought before the Court and pleafl
not guilty, and after a trial was acciuitted by the jury and the Clerk
adds, "The said William was discharged by order of Court without
the payment of costs.''
This was a new departure, it having been customary for the
prisoner to be obliged to pay the costs whether convicted or ac-
quitted.
The following remarkable proceeding appears ui)un the record
of our Courts, but the account herein given is from (icn. Sedg-
wick's Historv of Sharon.
148 UTCIIFIKLD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
A WRONG VKRDICT STANDS.
At a regimental training in Sharon on the 20th day of Sept.,
A. J). 1805 an altercation occurred between Zenas Beebe of Sharon
and Aner Ives of Kent which was consummated by the stabbing of
Ives by Eeebe with a bayonet, inflicting a mortal wound of which
he died at the end of a week. There were mitigating circumstances
in the case which relieved Beebe from the charge of wilful murder,
])ut it was a clear case of manslaughter. By a singular blunder of
the foreman of the jury he was pronounced not guilty of any of-
fense. The jury had agreed upon the verdict to be rendered to he
"not guilty of nnu'der, but guilty of manslaughter." The foreman
rendered the first part of the verdict but stopped there. The sub-
sequent proceedings in the matter are copied from the records of the
Court.
"After the verdict was rendered the. foreman informed the Court
that the verdict which the jury had intended to return and had
agreed on was — that the said Beebe was not guilty of murder, but
by mistake he had omitted to return and state the whole finding of
the jury, and desired to be directed by the Court whether the verdict
and the whole finding of the jury as agreed u]M)n by theni, and as he
designed at first to have stated tlie same, would then be made and
returned.
( )n consideration it was adjudged hy the court that the verdict
of the jury as returned and recorded l)y tlicm could not be ex-
plained or altered."
lieebe was defended by two of the ablest lawyers in the State
Nathaniel Smith of Woodbury and David Daggett of New Haven.
At the Term of the Superior Court holden February, A. D. 1820,
Beehe was tried for an assault with intent to kill Amasa Maxam
and found guilty. He was sentenced to confinement in the Old
Newgate prison for two years but died before the expiration of his
sentence.
.\ SINCUL.XR INFORM ATloV FOR SI.AXDRR.
In 18 [4, Itlisha vSterling, Esq.. tlien Attorney for the State for
the County of Litchfield presented to the Court his information
against a very prominent man of the County who was at that time
Brigadier General of the State Militia.
The complaint was for lihel u])on liis deceased father-in-law
made by the General in tlie form of a "Funeral Order" and sent
to one of the inferior officers of his regiment directing him to con-
duct the funeral. The order is too wicked and vulgar to be pub-
lislied entire but a few extracts from it will show its general pur-
port.
A FlXI'.RAl. 0R1)I:R.
T have this (la\ been informed that old is dead,
and 1 heiuir out of liealtli cannot attend tlie funeral. T therefore
HISTORICAL XOTES 1 49
give you this order and empower you to conduct it in the follo\vin<^
order and I will pay the cxipensc. First get a coffin made of
Pepperidge Plank three inches thick and duftail it strong together
with large Iron Spikes. Hoop it thick with Bars of Iron, make a
winding sheet with sheet iron, hraze it well Top and Bottom, make
a Aluffler with two hundred pounds of German Steel. Place a
large Iron Screw on the top of his head extending through the Jaws
so that the old fellow cannot open his mouth, next place on
a nnile dressed in Regimentals with old sword and
Epaulette which he wore at the time the British invaded Xew York,
when he run and left his men twenty rods behind
Raise four red or crimson Flags, place (certain neighbors) as
pall bearers to blow Rams Horns, dress (other neighbors) in Indian
Stockings and Wampum and make them carry around W'inkum or
Cvder Brandv in large iron kettles to treat the procession, start Ijy
the shouting of Rams Horns until the walls fall in ( )
as they did in Jericho. Draw Him to , then blast
a grave into a solid rock ten feet deep, put him in head downwards,
place bars of iron thick across the grave, take a sledge, drive in
stones, cement them with Plaster of Paris, so that the old Devil
cannot get out. as he would make Quarrells and Disturbance until
the Dav of ludgment. Go to and get one hundred and
fiftv barrells of tar or i)itch and twenty barrells of brimstone and
burn around the dcjor to keep off the devils until you perform this
my (jrder
The information concludes as follows: —
"AH of which was false, willful and malitious and done to blacken
the memorv of the said deceased and cast a stigma on his memory
and on all others connected with him and excite his cliildren to a
breach of the peace and expose them to the hatred and contempt
of the good people of this State : all which wrongdoings of the said
are against the peace and dignity of this State contrar\-
to law and a higli crime and misdemeanor and of evil example to
others in like manner to off'end. Said attorney therefore prays the
advice of the Honorable C<nu-t in the premises.
Elisha Sterling.""
The indorsement is as folhnvs: —
"James Gould and Xoali I'.. Benedict assigned as counsel for
the delinquint. Plea not guilty. On the jury for trial. The de-
linquint changing, pleads guilty.
The Court adjudge that (lelin(|uint is guilty and that he jjay a
fine of $75 into the treasury of this State and the costs of thi=
prosecution and stand committed until judgment be complied with.
J. W. H., Clerk pro tem."'
UAI'.KLLO TRIAL.
In the spring of 1835 a most horrible murder was committed
in Xew Preston. A voung lad of twelve years of age, son of Mr.
150 I.ITCJU'IKLD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
Ferris Beardslcy. was brutally murdered by a wandering fellow, a
Portug-uese by birth, for some fancied insult, claiming- that the boy
stepped on his toes. The trial commenced in August 1835 before
Judges Waite and Williams. The i^rosecuting attorney for the
State was Leman Church assisted by George C. Woodrutf. Esq.,
and the Cnurt api)()inted Truman Smith and ( ). S. Seymour for the
prisoner, 'i'he trial lasted several days and on the eig"hteenth of
August 1835 the jury returned a verdict of not guilty by reason of
insanity. The prisoner was committed to jail for safe keeping and
remained there a number of years but was afterwards committed
to State Prison for safe keeping. He became a raving maniac
and died in prison only a few years since. It was at that time a
noted case and one of the earliest ones, now so common, of offering
expert evidence on insanity.
The proceedings of the trial were iiublished in pamphlet form.
LKNNKT WARD :\IUI<DKK.
On the 23rd of Xovember, 1846, Bennet Ward went into a store
ke|)t l)y A\'. P>. Lounsbury, he was somewhat intoxicated, became
nois}- and violent, threatened to \\-hip several persons who were in
the store, and began to throw hre among the dry goods that were
disposed about the store. Among those present was George W,
Smith. A\'ard finally proposed to whip him, and Smith seized a stick
of wood from the wood box, and struck him over the left side of the
bead, causing a fracture in the skull five inches in length. He
then kicked him out of the store and he fell upon the stoop. He
got up however and wanted to fight, but the door was shut upon
him. He then went about a quarter of a mile, to an out house of
David J. Stiles and staid there two nights, when he went into Mr.
Stiles' liouse. and soon became insensible. Tn this condition he re-
remained till his death, which occurred fifty-six hours after the
blow was received. A post-mortem examination showed there was
concussion and compression of the l)rain, besides a chronic infiamma-
tion resulting from an old injury. Smith was arraigned for nmrder,
February Term 1847. Hon. John H. Hubbard, State's Attorney
and Hon. Charles P. Phelps, appeared for the State and Hons.
Leman Church. G. H. Hollister and William Cothren appeared for
the accused. After an interesting trial. Smith was accpiitted, on
the ground that he acted in self defence.
I.lCirS 11. I'OO'P -MlUDi'.R.
On the morning of .March 4th., 1856. Lucius H. Foote, a tavern-
er of Woodburv, was found brutally nnn-dered, under the horse sheds
of the Episcopal Church in the center of the town, and his whole
body frozen stiff', showing that he had been killed the evening be-
fore. Circumstances strongly pointed to Edward E. Bradley, as
being the perjietrator of the crime. He was arrested on this sus-
piciou, and after a hearing before Justice lUill, bound over, without
WILLIAM COTHRDN.
HISTORICAL NOTES 15I
bail to the next Superior Court to be held at Litchfield. A Grand
Jury was summoned, and a true bill for the crime of murder was
found. The trial of the accused on the indictment commenced at
Litchfield on the 14th., of April, before Judges William L. Storrs
and Origen S. Seymour and a Jury, Hon. Gideon Hall, State's At-
torney, Hon. Charles B. Phelps and William Cothren, Esq. ap-
peared for the State, and Hon. Charles Chapman of Hartford,
Gideon H. Hollister and Henry B. Graves, Esqrs. appeared for
the prisoner. Not only very nice questions of circumstial evidence,
but other intricate questions of law, were involved in the case, and
the trial excited a more general interest than any case which has
been tried in this county. On the tenth day of the trial the presid-
ing Judge charged the jury, and on the eleventh day, they having
failed to agree on a verdict, after having been sent out for several
times, the papers were taken back, the jury discharged, and the
prisoner remanded to jail. The jury stood five for conviction of
murder in the second degree and seven for acquittal.
At the September term of the Court the case came on again for
trial. It was commenced October 3rd., 1856 before Hon. David C.
Sanford and Hon. John D. Park, presiding Judges with a jury.
After a careful and laborious trial for twelve days, the jury again
disagreed and were discharged.
On the 14th of April, 1857 he was again arrainged for trial be-
fore a jury with Hon. William W. Ellsworth and Hon. Thomas B.
Butler as presiding Judges, and after a trial of fourteen days the
jury again disagreed. Soon after this result the State's Attorney
entered a nolle prosequi and the accused was discharged. Air.
Cothren published a complete re^xirt of the trial.
MATTHEW ^MORRIS MURDER.
On the 17th of July, 1861, W^oodbury was again startled by the
announcement that another murder had been committed there.
Matthew M. Morris a very respectable citizen became engaged in
a quarrel with one Charles Fox, was stabbed by Fox and the knife
at the last thrust, entirely severed the main artery under the collar
bone on the right side, called by the doctors the vena cava. Fox
immediately hid his knife in the corner of the yard where it was found
the next morning, almost covered with blood. Fox took his scythe
and started for Roxbury, but was detained by a neighbor till Sherifif
Minor arrested him.
After an inquest. Fox was bound over for trial to the September
term of the Superior Court, 1861. Judge Ellsworth presided over
that Court. Gen. Charles F. Sedgwick and Wm. Cothren, ap-
peared for the State, and Gideon H. Hollister and Henry B. Graves,
Esqrs., for the defence. After the evidence on both sides had been
introduced the judge called all the counsel to the bench, and told
them that in his judgment the crime amounted to manslaughter and
no more ; and that if it pleased them to agree to that view and
15^ LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
would waive argument, he would immediately so charge the jury.
The counsel cheerfully acceded to the suggestion of the distinguished
judge, who immediately charged tiie jury in accordance with his
views. The jury retired, and in a few minutes returned with a ver-
dict of manslaughter, and Fox was sentenced to ten years imprison-
ment in the Connecticut State Prison.
DKAKELV aiURDER.
Again Woodbury was the scene of a sad murder. On the night
of August loth.. 1886 Robert Drakely shot his wife through the
heart after she had retired for the night. He was a young man.
not twenty years old and had been married only a few weeks and
was, as he claimed, jealous of his wife for the attentions she be-
stowed on a small child that boarded with them. He was of a
good old family of very respectable people but had become disso-
lute and dissipated and committed the act while in a drunken frenzy.
He was bound over to the Superior Court by Justice Skelly and
taken to the jail at Litchfield. At the April term. 1887 of the
Court the Grand Jury indicted him for murder in the second de-
gree. In September, 1887 he was arraigned and plead not guilty.
He was tried before Hon. David Torrance and a jury. The prose-
cution was conducted by Hon. James Huntington, State's Attorney
and Artliur D. Warner, Esq.; the defense l\v Henry B. Graves and
A\'illiam Cothren, Esq. The defense was that the accused from
various reasons was not mentallv or mortally responsible for his acts.
After an exhaustive trial and the charge of Judge Torrance the jury
retired and in about ten minutes returned with a verdict of guilty.
He was sentenced to State Prison for life and died a few \ears
after commitment.
BERNICE WHITE, MURDER.
In tile early part of 1850 the people of Colebrook and vicinity
were startled by the re])ort that Bernice White, an elderly gentleman
living near Colebrook River, had been murdered. In a short time
four men were arrested for the deed, named William Calhoun,
Lorenzo T. Cobb, Benjamin Balcomb and Henry Alennasseh, the
latter a half breed Indian. After the preliminary hearing they
were Ijound over for trial to the Superior Court at Litchfield. A
Grand Jur\- found a true bill against eacii of them and they were
brouglit to trial at the August Term 1850. There was so great a
crowd of witnesses and interested spectators that the Court was
obliged to adjourn to the Congregational Church to hold the trial.
Two Judges presided. Chief Justice Church and Judge Storrs.
Calhoun and llalcomb being minors, Charles Chapman, Esq., of
Hartford was appointed guardian ad-Htem of Calhoun and Origen
S. Seymour for Balcomb. Upon their arraignment Balcomb
])lead guilty and the rest not guilty of murder in the first degree.
HENRY B. GRAVES
HISTORICAL XOTES 153
After a lonp- trial Cal'ionn and Alannasseh were found s^uiltv and
Cobb was acquitted. The guilty ones were sentenced to be hung'
on the second Friday of July, 1851. One of them, Cobb, died in
jail and the other three finally had their sentences changed to im-
prisonment in State Prison for life. After serving there some
years Balcomb died in prison and Calhoun and Mennasseh were par-
doned out, it having been fairly proved that they had no hand in the
actual commission of the deed but were only accessories after the
fact. Calhoun died somewhere in the west and Alennasseh died in
the Farmington town house. He is said to have been the last of the
Tunxis Indians.
WILLIAM II. GRLLX TRIAL.
The trial of the Rev. William H. Green of Cornwall for murder
excited a very general interest.
In 1865 Air. Green resided in Centerville. N. Y., in the character
of an itinerant Methodist preacher, and about that time he married
a woman with whom he lived several months occupying with her
the parsonage of the parish wherein he preached. In 1866 he
abandoned this wife and married a young widow who had a small
amount of property amounting to some twelve or fifteen hundred
dollars. In the spring of 1867 he came to Connecticut and tooK
the stump for P. T. Barnum who was then running for Congress
on the Re])ublican ticket. He was esteemed a very powerful
preacher and liis political arguments were eloquent and convincing,
he also lectured on temperance and was an evangelist and held re
vival meetings in dififerent places. After a time he joined his sec-
ond wife's brother in West Cornwall and engaged with him in the
general country store business. Mrs. Green was in feeble health
wdth consumption and grew rapidly worse. On the evening
of May 6, 1867 she was attacked with spasms and died just aftei
midnight. From certain suspicious circumstances and subsequent
conduct of Green, suspicion was aroused to the cause of her death.
About the middle of June her body was exhumed and the stomach
and liver sent to Prof. Barker of Xew Haven for examination who
found traces of strychnine in those organs. Green was arrested and
sent to Litchfield for safe keeping without a mittimus and of course
w-as not locked up. While under keepers here his brother-in-law
called upon him and informed him of the result of the analysis.
Green concluded that his residence at the jail was not desirable at
least on his part and made his departure therefrom unknown to the
authorities and was for a few days in parts unknown. In a few
days he reported at West Cornwall where he was formally arrested
and attempted to save the State the trouble and expense of three
trials by cutting his throat with a pocket knife in which he w-as not
entirely successful. He was bound over to the Superior Court for
trial and in November 1867 w^as tried for the crime and convicted
154 LITCHFIELD COUNTY Bl^XCII AXD BAR
of murder and sentenced to be hung on December 4th.. 1868. His
case was carried to the Supreme Court and a new trial granted him
on the ground of newly discovered evidence. In January 1869 he
was again before the Superior Court and the new trial resulted in
a disagreement of the jury, but in September of that year the third
trial was had and the jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in
the second degree. He was sentenced to State Prison for life
September 25, 1869. where he died.
JAMES LE ROY.
The career of James LeRoy, who received in 1850 at the age of
twenty-five years his third commitment to the State Prison for the
term of fifteen years upon his plea of guilty to seven different
burglaries committed in or near Winsted and New Hartford in the
years 1849 ^^^ 1850, is in many respects a remarkable one. From
his boyhood he seemed to have nothing but a criminal instinct.
When arrested in 1850 he was placed under keepers who fell asleep
and he not enjoying their society departed from them. He had
hand cuffs on and disliking them, proceeded to one of the scythe
shops, broke into tlie shop and set one of the water grindstones
running, and ground the shackles from his wrists and then secreted
himself so that he was not found by the officials for several days,
although they were constantly on the alert for him. After his
release from the Connecticut State Prison he was engaged in
practical observations in the management of prisons in other States
and in 1877 under the name of James Whiting was sent to prison for
theft for three and a half years, and died in prison. He made in
1850 a confession of his exploits which was ]mblished.
WOLCOTTVILLE BUKC.LARS.
On the nioht of November 1876 the warehouse of the Union
'&■
Alanufacturing Company in Torrington was broken into and a
large quantity of manufactured goods carried away. The burglars
stole a hand car from the section house and started towards Hridge-
port on the Naugatuck Railroad track. When it i)assed through
Waterbury the watchman at the depot informed Superintendent
Peach of the pas.sage of the car. Wr. Peach immediately had an
engine fired up and started in ])ursuit, and just before reaching
Ansonia at about half ])ast four in the morning the engine struck
the hand car and threw it from the track. Stopping the engine
they found fifteen ])ieces of woolen goods scattered about, but the
occupants of the hand car had fled, but were tracked in the snow
and soon arrested. They were lodged in Litchfield jail ami had
tlicir trial before this Court December 6, and 7, 1876 and Franklin
Johnson, William C. Davis and William C. Davis. Jr. were con-
victed of the crime and received State Prison sentences. It was
a case that excited great attention partly on account of the mode
of capture and the novel method of transit. The whole evidence
CtajyUftuj ^. /U4.'»^
HISTORICAL NOTES 1 55
was purely circumstantial and the defense was not only denial by
the accused but a fairly proved alibi presented. The skillful prose-
cution conducted by the State's Attorney Huntington and G. H.
Welch, Esq. with the adroit defenses presented by H. B. Graves and
the large attendance at the trial makes it a noted case.
LIQUOR TRI..\LS.
From the Litchfield Enquirer of April 29. 1880 we take extracts
which will illustrate the great battle which was fought in our Courts
in the prosecution for the illegal sale of intoxicating spirits at about
that date :
"With all its victories in the moral field, temperance has hereto-
fore met defeat or but partial success in the Courts. Even in high
teetotal times, when the people were electing Prohibition Governors
and Prohibition Legislatures, we have seen rum-seller after rum-
seller brought before juries, their guilt conclusively proved, yet
escaping justice by acquittal or disagreement. The old prohibitory
Statute of 1854 in this County at least was an utter failure. Of
the dozens we have seen tried under the act we can recollect but
one conviction. Lender Local Option there has been a marked
change, particularly of late years, and especially since the popular
feeling against the liquor traffic has been intensified by the Pdue
Ribbon movement. There can be no doubt, too, that Litchfield
County is very fortunate in her State's Attorney, an officer who
never shirks or slights his duty, whether it is a rum-seller, or a
sheep stealer that is brought to the bar of the Superior Court for
trial. Of late years, therefore we have seen several convictions bv
juries, but in this County, rum and justice have never been brought
face to face so sharply and with such decisive defeat — indeed such
utter rout, demoralization and capture of the liquor interest — as
the past week has witnessed." After stating the trial of a certain
case which was most strongly contested by State's Attorney
Huntington, H. P. Lawrence and W. B. Smith for the prosecution
and H. B. Graves and A. H. Fenn for defense but resulted in convic-
tion of the parties, the article continues: "The ])risoner was very
much overcome and went home completely broken down and took
to his bed seriously if not dangerously ill. On Thursday the Win-
sted Temperance men began to reap the benefit of their victory.
Dealer after dealer came up to make such settlement as he could.
The terms were the same to all. All costs must be paid and an
obligation given that they would quit the traffic. On Friday after-
noon the Court adjourned for the Term with the following record of
progress for about six days work on liquor cases :
Three convictions with fines and costs amounting to about $500
and one hundred and six cases settled for $2,664.11 and one man
in jail.
Messrs. Forbes, Holmes, Lawrence, W. B. Smith and others are
to be highly commended in their wonderfully successful assault of
what has so long been considered the last strong-hold of the liquor
traffic, the Glorious uncertaintv of the law !"
156 LlTCJiFlKI.D COUNTY BlCNCH AND BAR
MASTERS VS. WARRRX.
One of the important civil cases tried in this Court came from
Warren.
Nicholas Masters, while riding horse-back in the eastern part of
the town, was thrown from his horse bv reason of its breakins:
through a small wooden sluice or bridge and received serious in-
juries, having his neck nearly broken and for some years carried
his head turned partly around and also received some other minor
injuries of not so serious or permanent a nature.
His attorneys, Graves and Hollister, brought suit against the town
of Warren for damages, claiming ten thousand dollars, the writ re-
turnable to the September term, 1856. A long exhaustive trial be-
fore a jury was had at the November term, 1857 i'^^ which the
plaintiff recovered thirty-five hundred dollars. Some very inter-
esting questions came up during the trial regarding the taking of
depositions by the defendant without notice to the ])laintifif and also
in the charge of the judge to the jury of a statement made by the
judge of matter outside of the evidence. An apjieal was taken to
the Supreme Court of Errors by the defendant claiming a new trial
which the Supreme Court did not grant and final judgment was
rendered against the town at the April term, 1858 for three thousand
five hundred and eighty-seven dollars and fifty cents damages and
costs.
The story is told in connection witli this case that Dr. Ruel one
of the expert witnesses for the ])laintitTf testified that he examined
the plaintifl"' and found him sultering from tort(Khlorosis of the
neck. Mr. Hollister in his argument indulged in the high sounding
word frequently, portraying the sufiferings of his client during his
lifetime from such a terrible complaint. ( )ne of the defendant
lawvers soon after met Dr. Buel and asked him what that big word
he used meant. "StiiT neck," was the answer. "Why didn't you say
so in Court said the lawyer. That word cost the town Si 500."
Kor.i'.ixs \"s. coi'i'ix.
In 1883 an action from Salisbury wlierein Samuel Robbins
sued the administrator of the .estate of (icorge Coffing.
The points of law involved were important and the amount in-
volved was about $70,000, an unusually large sum for this Court
and the attorneys engaged were of the highest rank in the State.
George A. Hickox, who then edited the Litchfield Enquirer, re-
ports it as follows: "The management of the case by the noted
counsel on each side res])cctively, was looked on with much interest-.
Jndge Warner made an excellent opening argument for the de-
fendants, on whom the ])urden rested to ])rove their various de-
fenses. Then followed John S. lieach. with a very clear quiet
statement of the ])laintift'"s claim. Most interest was naturall\- felt
(«■■-':'
MILKS T. GRAXGER.
HISTORICAL NOTES 1 57
in the argument of Ex-Governor Hubbard, who followed Air. Beach.
The elegant forcible style of his address showed all the polish of
his first class literary work, and the weight of his oratory was made
doubly effective by his remarkable power as an actor. It was
worth while studying the use he made of an old pair of ste,;l
spectacles he wears, to damn the defendants claims or enforce his
own. The way they fell on the table was made to express the ex-
treme of confidence or the extreme of disgust. They came down
with the weight of a sledge hammer in emphasizing the one or the
other view. His mode of handling a law paper spoke volumes. In-
deed we have heard as fine rhetoric and as fine oratory in a law
court, but never combined with such acting. Mr. Perkins closed
the case with a very telling exposition of the evidence in connection
with the position of the defendant." The jury returned a verdict
for the plaintiff to recover $67,633.33 damages and costs.
In connection with Brother Hickox's discription of the conduct
of the trial it may be proper to add that this was the last argument
in a law court that "Dick" Hubbard ever made.
higgin's escape.
One of the most interesting and exciting matters that have arisen
in modern years, related to the escape of Richard Hadley a prisoner
while being transported to the State Prison in Wethersfield in the
year 1883. — Higgin's alias was Richard Hadley.
The following extracts from the papers of the time will give full
details as well as some interesting history :
When James R. Higgins escaped from the wagon in which he
was being taken from Litchfield to Wethersfield to serve out a tCii
years sentence for burglarly it was supposed that he had been fur-
nished with a key to his handcuffs by his counsel, Henry H. Prescott
of Litchfield. A. T. Roraback of Canaan, W. B. Smith of Winsted,
and Dwight C. Kilbourn of Litchfield were appointed a committee
to obtain evidence to be ])resented to the court at Litchfield touch-
ing Mr. Prescott's connection with the affair. Mr. Smith, of the
committee, was at Wethersfield on Tuesday and obtained the fol-
lowing- statement from Higgins : —
I first met Harry H. Prescott of Litchfield soon after I was ar-
rested, in Litchfield jail. He was my attorney in the superior court
in that county. When I called him into the case he agreed to help
me to get away from jail, and I was to give him $250. Not having
any money I was to give him some stolen bonds as security. The
bonds were stolen from the savings bank at Woodbury, this state,
and the total amount was $7,500. I put into Prescott's hands
$6,400 in bonds. The understanding was that if I got out he should
have the bonds. He was to give Paddy Ryan and others who came
from New York to assist me in breaking jail all the points about
jail, also the use of his office, and in short 'was to act as a general
158 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BliNClI AND BAR
go-between to aid nie in escaping" from jail. The understanding
was that Prescott was not to negotiate the bonds and was to keep
the matter quiet until Howard, my pal, who was arrested with me,
and 1 had escaped. Prescott told me that he went to New York to
see Ryan at 154 East Twenty-third street, and that Ryan was afraid
to have anything to do with him in the matter. Later he told me
that he had been to New York again, but did not see Ryan. Soon
after Prescott brought me a letter that was sent to him by Ryan and
written by Farley, one of the Ryan gang. The letter inquired
Avhether Prescott was all solid and to be trusted. After reading
the letter I burned it in the jail stove. I sent a letter through Pres-
cott to Ryan saying that Prescott was straight and to be trusted.
The following Sunday, after he had been to New York, Prescott
came to me and stated that he had taken the bonds to the bank
parties and had got something over $400 for them. As I had ob-
jected to his doing anything about the bonds until I had made my
escape, I was angry when 1 found that he had given them up. At
that time he gave me $15 and in a day or two gave my wife $200. I
could not get anything more out of him. I afterwards found that
he received about $1,200 for the bonds, but I could not get anything
more out of him. My friends of the Ryan gang did not appear and
I found that I had to depend upon my own resources. I continued
to find fault because Prescott would not give me more money, and
at last he said to me, about two weeks before court opened, that if
T would keep still he would get me a key that would fit my hand-
cuffs, and I could escape either when on the way from jail to the
court house, or when I was being conveyed to the state prison if I
was convicted. Howard and I talked it over and concluded to make
the attempt to escape when we were being conveyed to or from the
court room. Prescott brought us four handcuff keys that fitted my
handcuff's and two small keys, like dog-collar keys ; also two files.
I had the four handcuff keys in my pocket all the time during the
trial. The two other keys I filed and gave to Howard. One of the
files I kept until I escai)ed, the other I left in the jail. When Pres-
cott gave me the keys he told me that he knew that four of them
would fit any handcuff' in the jail. They did fit without any filing.
AMicn we were taken to the court room to plead Howard was
handcuffed to me and the sheriff' took my right wrist in his nippers.
^Vhile we sat in the dock, Prescott came up to us and said: "Why
did you not esca])e on the way over?" I told him that Howard might
have got away, but I could not. Prescott replied : "That's right.
You had better wait and get a\va\- together." While I was in the
Litchfield jail Prescott gave me a revolver loaded with five cart-
ridges, also ten cartridges afterwards. He gave them to me in my
cell, I think on the afternoon of the day I was sentenced. I wanted
the revolver and he did not want to give it to me until after I had
received a visit from my wife, so tliai it would a])pear as if she had
Wellixgtox B. Smith.
irisTORiCAL xoTr;s 159
furnished it to me if it was discovered. I asked him if lie had it
with liim. and he said he had. I then asked him to let me see it.
After makin.Q" me promise to give it back to him, he let me take it.
I examined it and then handed it back. At 4 o'clock Thitrsday
evening, after I was sentenced, he gave me the ten cartridges. The
revolver was a "Young America" or "Young American," I don't
remember \\hich. It was double-acting, had five chambers, and was
of 32 caliber. I did not know where he got it. I don't remember
whether he tnld me he got the ke_\s from a man in Litchfield, or
whether he said he was going to get them of some man there. I
understodd that the man was an officer or had been one. The last
time 1 saw I'rescott before my escape was when he gave me the
ten cartridges on Thursday. He then cautioned me not to use the
revolver, shook hands with me and wished me good luck. After
mv escai)e I i)awned the revolver in P)altimore. I had it tied be-
tween my legs the Saturday morning when they started to take me
to \\'ethersfield. T was on the back seat of the last wagon, which
the sherift' was driving. Howard was in the first wagon with the
deputy.
]^lr. I'rescott was j^resent while the latter part of this statement
was made, and afterwards cross-examined Higgins without material-
1\- shaking his statement of the case."
:\iTc'ii.\Kr. mox cask.
One of the most important cases of our Courts, considering it
in all of its features, was the case of Michael Bion from the town
of Xorth Canaan.
In 1 87 1 Lyman Dunning's store at East Canaan in the town of
Xorth Canaan was burglarized, and a woodchopper named Michael
Bion was arrested and convicted of the crime and sentenced to two
years in State Prison. He behaved himself well, receiving the due
credit therefor and was discharged at the expiration of his sentence
with no great love for Mr. Dunning.
In 1874 a bag containing gun powder was placed near the house
of the next neighbor of Mr. Dunning occupied by the congregation-
al minister and was exploded in the night time setting the house on
fire, but doing no great damage. The two houses looked alike and
it was su])]>osed that the intention was to place the j'lowder at 'Sir.
Dunnings house. Bion was charged with this deed and arrested and
after a hard fought trial convicted and sentenced to ten years in
State Prison mainly by the active agency of 'Sir. Dunning which
did not increase Bion's afl^ection and he made threats of violence,
against Mr. Dunning. Upon his discharge from prison he was
intluced t(T return to France his native country. About five years
after this he was discovered working under an assumed name in
the vicinity of Pine Plains only a few miles distant from East
Canaan. Mr. Dunning fearing furtlicr injurv from him got out a
lOo j.nciii-iiaj) corxTv iiKxcir and \;.\\<
sureties of tlie i)eace complaint, obtained a warraiil ami when he
found him in Connecticut had him arrested and brought befcjre a
justice who placed him under bonds in the sum of tivc thousand
dollars. I '.ion could not furnish such bond and on the 19th day of
November 1889 was lodged in Litchfield jail, lie employed at-
torneys who instituted habeas corpus proceedings to release him and
by various stages the matter came before the Snpreme Court of
h'rri^rs at the May Term 1890 and the report of the case occupies
twenty pages of the 5(;th volume of the Connecticut lve])orts. The
Court found no error in the judgment complained of and I '.ion still
remained in the Litchfield jail. Afterwards an arrangement was
made by the French Cousul by wliich I'.ion was released and re-
turned to b'rance.
'I'ril' I'.OK JI^SSOX Ml'RDI'R 'I'KIAL.
Only one sentence of death passed by this Court during the
Century was carried into eti'ect and this was u])on Andrew Bor-
jcsson a native of Sweden who was residing in Xew Milford. ( )n
the first of August 1890 in the night season Ijorjesson went to the
house of Homer Buckingham and climbing on tlie r(^of of the ell
jtart of the house entered the room of a Swedish girl named bjnnia
Anderson, a servant of Mr. r.uckingham's and murdered her.
Mr. Buckingham hearing the noise in the room, went out of his
lujuse and saw Borjesson u]jon the roof of the house from whicli
he jtimped and ran off into the woods, and going to the girls room
fotuid her lying upon the tloor in a ])ool of blood, her neck cut from
ear to ear on the back side with other wounds u])on her body. The
murderer was arrested and bound over to the Sui)erior Court and
a true bill w^as found against him on the 9th of ( )ctol)er i8i;o. He
was tried before the Stiperior Cotu't in December and a- verdict of
guilty foimd against him December 31st 1890. and sentenced to l)e
imng January 29th, 1892. His counsel made most strenuous efforts
for his reprieve getting depositions from relatives in Sweden con-
cerning his sanity. All eft'orts failed. It was a cool deliberate
murder and there was no public SNUipathy or extenuating circum-
stances. The sentence was duly carried into eff"ect in the jail yard
at Litchfield. The scenes connected with the execution outside of
the jail enclosure, were of a disgraceful character but everything
connected with it officiallv were solenm, orderly and pro])er. The
citizens of the village were exasperated and shocked and made such
an ai)|)eal to the public sense of propriety that the I^egislature en-
acted the law that all future executions of the death penalty shovdd
be had within the State Prison.
COSilKX TAX C.\Slv.
In i8(;4. June Term, a very interesting" case was tried at W'in-
sted being an a])i)eal from the decision of the P.oard of Relief of
CIIARI.KS I. I'ORTKR.
HISTORICAL XOTES l6l
Town of Goshen, about abatement of Taxes. The amount involved
was trifling-, but the ])rinciple was important enough for a two
weeks contest with a very large number of witnesses and several
attorneys. A local bard reports the trial as follows:
GOSHEXIA.
A famous tax-case once was tried.
lly the staid old land of Goshen:
One Fessenden Ives was taxed too high.
At least, that was his notion.
He said his land was cold and wet.
And hard-hacks covered the ground.
The once fertile soil was sterile and cold
And \ellow charlicks abound.
His barn was like sweet charity
That co\'eretli a nudtilude of sin : —
The outside was neat and fair to the e\e.
But old rotten timbers within.
Pie's assessed too high, the rest too low.
.\nd there's a ])loi to lake his gold,
"lis wrong to do so after \ears of toil,
Thus to rob him when he's old.
The town ajjpeared b\ lluntington and Warner,
T'.y Webster, Welcli and judd.
\Miile 1 ves em])lo\(.'d Hubbard, llickoxand llurrell
To shed his op])onent's blood.
The air was fragrant with sweet breath of June,
Outside were the birds and bees : —
The Judge's desk was strewed with tiowers.
Hardbacks, charlick and cheese.
The stenogra])her dreams of hardback on toast,
(Jf iv\', rocks, alders and l)irch.
As the lawyers try to win their case
The other side tr\ ing to smirch.
The case dragged on its weary length,
A\'atched by Goshen ladies fair,
While poor old Kilbourn, the portl_\- clerk.
Sat fast asleep in his chair.
For ten long da\s they fussed and fumed.
With witnesses goaded to tears,
\\'hile the costs were doubtless large enough.
To pav the taxes a hundred years.
1 62
I^ITCHFIELD COUNTY I'.KXCII AND BAR
KD\\ARL) A. -XKI.LIS.
Till-; .ma.\xi:rixg cask.
Ivlwin Manncrint^- a resident of Roxljurv died (in Feliruarv 19,
1893, the result of takiui.; a dose of Epsom Salts for medicinal pur-
])oses in whieli as afterwards discovered was a (juantity of strich-
nine. The coroner made a very full investigation which resulted in
tile arrest of Mrs. Mannerini^' for the crime of ])oisonino- her hus-
band. It was admitted that strichnine had been kept in the house
for tlie i)ur])ose'of poisoning- foxes, and it was shown that she had
|)urchased strichnine from a neii.jhl)orinL;' drui^'i^ist a short time
before his death. She was bound over for trial to the Su])erior
Court and a true bill was found aii^ainst her b_\- the (^irand Jury.
The trial occurred at Litchtield in November 1893, lasting six
<lays and residted in her ac(|uittal.
it was ]K'rhai)s the most sensational trial ever held in this
Court. The ])ris()ner was led into Court leaning uj)on the arms of
two friends and one or two ])hvsicians were constantly near to ad-
minister stinmlants which was occasionally necessary. Several
ladies of the \illage of Litchfield interested themselves in her trial
by attending Court ever\ dav arraxed in all the sombre blackness
of mourning habiliments. It seemed like a stage play rather than
a cold bldoded matter of fact trial. Her attorney left no art or
artifice untouched to arouse the symjiathies of the Court and jury.
A distinguished jurist remarked that it was the most artistic trial
he ever witnesse<l.
mamaasm
L1;U.\AR1J J. MCKJ'RSUX.
HISTORICAL XOTES 163
XOK.MAX JiKooKS. WILL CASK.
Norman IJrooks a farnier li\iim" in Winchester tlied on the 28th
of July 1895. aged 78 years. He left a widow bnt no children and
had a small amount of property. .After his death a will was offered
for probate which was made on the 15th of January 1895 "^ the
office of Warner ^: Landon at Salisbur\'. From the probate of
this will his widow appealed to the Superior Court. Upon the trial
of the case in the Superior Court the claim was made that the will
in (juestion was not made by Xorman Brooks but by some one per-
sonating' him and that the disposition of his property given in this
will was entirel}- dift'erent from repeated declarations he had made
and also that there was a ])revious will which correspMiidod with
these declarations. The contestants had his body exhumed and the,
Avitnesses to the will were present to identify or not identif}' the
person. It was also claimed that one E. M. Clossey whose wife
was a relative of the deceased and with himself were the principal
beneficiaries of the disputed will was largel\- instrumental in the
j)roduction of this will. That he went with Mr. r)rook> who was
quite an infirm man on one of the coldest days in January to Salis-
bury to get the will made although he was not actuall\' |)resent at
its execution. The case came to trial before the Superior Court and
a jury at AX'inchester at the A])ril Term 1896, and after a protraced
trial the jury found that there was undue influence exerted u])on the
testator in making a part of said will to wit. thai ])art which g'ave
the residue of the estate to said Clossey and also of that clause
which gave him ])Ower to sell all the real estate and that said
paragra])h was null and void Intt confirming" and establishing the rest
of the will. The case was appealed to the Su])reme Court of Errors
at the ( )ctober Term 189C). I pon a motion for a new trial for a
A'erdict against evidence.
In the record of the case the e\idence is i)rinted in full, occujiy-
ing" 269 ])ages.
.\fter a full hearing before the Supreme Court the motion for
a new trial was denied.
II ANI'.S .M IKDl-.K TKIAL.
In l'\'bruar\- 1901. John T. Hayes, a young man of Winsted,
shot and killed Winnifred F. Cooke, a young lady he had fallen
in love with, because she would not elope with him and marry
against the wishes of her father. The tragedy occitrred at the
Gilbert Home in Winsted on the nth of February, where the lady
W'as employed as a teacher. He, after shooting her shot himself
three times in his head — but failed to kill hiiuself — and was held for
trial in the Superior Court. The trial came on at Litchfield at the
October Term, before Judge Elmer and lasted four weeks, when the
Jurv returned a virdict of, on the 8th of Xovember of guilty of
\<)4 i.n\iii"ii-:i.i) C()L■^'l'^ 1!i;ncii and i;.\k
murder in tlie second dei^ree, and lie was sentenced to imprison-
ment for life. The defense was insanity froni hereditary causes
and four cx])erl physicians were ])resent all through the trial, and
testified from a supposed state of facts — which it took nearly two
hours to read. Two of them pronounced him not responsible and
the other two thoui^ht him responsible, for which important evi-
dence the state allowed nearly two thousand dollars, while the
iur\ ])ai(l no attention to them at all, but on their first ballot stood
eij^'ht for first degree and three for the second deg'ree and one
blank. After twelve hours confinement in the jury room they all
ai.;reed to brinq- in a verdict of murder in the second deg'ree, which
the court acce])ted. It was the most exi)ensive trial on our cost
book. The total expenses bein;.^' a little over seven thousand dollars.
HADDOCK C.\SK.
( )nc of the most important cases re^ardin^" the property rights
of husband and wife, and also one that has made great confusion
in the di\-orce laws of the country, was decided in the b'nited States
SujM-eme Court, .\])ril 12, 1906, and can be found in A'ol. 201 of said
Re])orts beginning at i)age 562. This case had its ince])tiou in this
Superior Court, December 1881, and is known liy the legal pro-
fession as the case of Haddock vs. Haddock.
The facts are briefly as follows: The Haddocks were married
in. i(S68 in New York, where both parties then resided. The very
(lav of the ceremonv the\' separated, cUid never lived together. Tn
i8,Si .Mr. Haddock having resided in CtMuiecticut for three years,
obtained a divorce from his wife Harriet Haddock, at the December
term, on the ground of desertion. The service of the writ was by
])ublication in the Litchfield Enquirer and a copy sent b\- mail to
the defendant at Tarr\town, X. Y. where it was supposed she re-
sided. This divoree was granted December C). 1881, and the decree
was signed b\ Hilclicock, judge. .\t that time the ]~)laintifi' was
poor but he afterwards acquired con.iiderable ])roperty, and also
married another wife by whom he had children. Tn 1894 ^^^^ ^^^^
wife brought suit against him in Xew York for a divorce from
bed and board and for alimony. Constructive service was made
of this ]:)rocess and she obtained a decree. As there was no per-
sonal service the judgment for alimony was ineft'ectual. Tn 1899
she brought another suit against him, and obtained personal service
on him, and was allowed a decree for alimon\- for $780. a year.
The defendant in this last suit i)lead for one of his answers the
Connecticut divorce in 1881, but the Xew York courts disallowed
it. Haddock ai)i)ealed to the I'nited States Supreme Court on the
ground that the decree denied full faith and credit to the judgment
of the Connecticut courts, but the Supreme C(nirt upheld the actions
of the .\'ew York courts and sustained the judgment, five judg^es
in the affirmative and four dissentinj^. The discussion and ex-
])lanation of this seemingly inconsistent decision require thirty pages
of fine ])rint in the Re])ort.
lll'.XU^' 1. AI.l.HN.
IIIS'l'OKICAI, XdTl'lS
165
RICIIAKI) T. IIIGGIXS.
COl'N'lA COKOM'.K.
rrc\iiius to 1883 all siukk'n deaths that occurred in the county
were rei)orte(l t<i the Clerk's office only by the returnes of a jury
of in(|uest. A very great many of such deaths were never reported,
and those that were, showed some remarkable verdicts.
In 1SS3 the Legislature enacted a law for the proper retiu-n and
preservation of these untimely deaths. Each county was to have
a coroner who should be aiijiointed by the Judges of the Su])erior
Court at llieir annual meeting, and who should hold office three
}ears, and until another was a])pointe(l in their place. The county
coroner had ])o\\er to ap])oint an al)le and discreet person learned
in medical science to be medical examiner in each town in the
county. The medical examiner was to examine the cause and
manner of each sudden death and make his report thereon to the
county coroner who was to kecj) a record of such deaths. The
medical examiner's re]-)orts were to be placed on file with the clerk
of the Superior Court.
The tirst County Coroner in Litchfield Countv was Col. Jacob
Hardenl)urg]i of Canaan, who held the office until his decease on
April 4, 1892. Richard T. Higgins of Winchester was appointed
to succeed him, and has held the office from that time until the
present.
1 66
LITCIll"Ji;i,l) COINTV liEXCTI AND P.AR
FRANK \V. ETlIliRIDGK
llKAI/i'lL OFFICERS.
In 1893 the Legislature enacted a law for the appointment of a
County Health Officer, wlio was to be an attorney-at-law and be
a|)[)()inted 1)y the judges of the Superior Court, and hold office for
four years. The statute prescribes that he shall cause the execution
of the laws relating to public health and the prevention and abate-
ment of nuisances dangerous to public healtli. and of laws relating
to the registration of vital statistics, and co-operate with, and super-
vise the doings of town, city and borough health officers, and boards
of health within his county. He is clothed with all the ])owers of a
grand juror and prosecuting officer for the ])rosecution of violations
of laws relating to such matters.
The appointee was Walter vS. Judd, of Litchfield. The sec-
ond was William F. Hurlbut of W^inchester, in 1894, and the third
was the ])resent incumbent, l^'rank W. Ltberidge, who has held the
office since 1896.
AKTIIIK D. WAKXKK.
JTISTORICAI. X(Vl'i:S
167
.MAIUL S
iior.c()>Fn.
ATTORXEV GENERAL.
In 1897 the Legislature of Connecticut enacted a law for the
election of an Attorney General. In Xovember 1906 ^Marcus H,
Holcomb a member of this bar, but residing" in Southington and
practicing law both in that town and in Hartford was elected to
that office.
i68 i.iTC[ri*ii:i.i) col'xtv liKxcii and uar
THE FIRST LAW REPORTS.
Judge Church iu his adch'css uientiuns the fact that the first Law
Reports iu this couutry were pul:)hshed at Litchfield soon after the
estabhshment of the Law School, by Ephraim Kirby. Esq. who was
then a prominent and successful attorney at Litchfield.
A manuscript copy of part of these reports has been preserved
by some of his descendants, and has been placed in the room of
the Historical Society at Litchfield, by whose courtesy I have been
able to reproduce in this work the first page of the ""Symsbury"
case.
I am also enabled to give a picture of this eminent man from
a photograph of a painting presented to St. Paul's Lodge, F and A.
]\L of Litchfield, l)y Col. E. K. Russell V. S. A., a grandson of
Col. Kirby.
I also repuljlish the preface to the Reports, together with a short
memoir of its author and a list of the books composing his Law
Library.
PREPACIv.
The uncertainty and contradiction attending the judicial de-
cisions in this state, have long been subjects of complaint. — The
sotirce of this complaint is easilv discovered. — When our ancestors
emigrated here, they brought with them the notions of jurisprudence
which prevailed in the country from whence the}" came. — The riches,
luxury, and extensive commerce of that country, contrasted with the
equal distribution of property, simplicity of manners, and agricultur-
al habits and employments of this, rendered a deviation from the
English laws, in many instances, highly necessary. This was ob-
served — and the intricate and prolix ])racticc of the English coiu'ts
was rejected, and a mode of practice more simple, and better ac-
commodated to an easy and speedy administration of justice, adopt-
ed. — Our Courts were still in a state of cmbarrasment, sensible that
the common law of England, "though a highly ini]iroved system,"
was not fully applicable to onr situation ; but no provision being
made to preserve and ])ublish proper histories of their adjudica-
tions, ever\- attem])t of the judges, to run the line of distinction, be-
iwecn what was applicable and what not, prov'ed abortive: For
the i)rinci])les of their decisions were soon forgot, or misunderstood,
or erroneously rej^orted from memor\-. — Mence arose a confusion in
the determination of our courts ; — the rules of ])roperty became un-
certain, and litigation proportionablv increased.
In this situation, some legislative exertion was found necessary;
and in the year 1785 an act j^assed, requiring the Judges of the
Superior Court, to render written reasons for their decisions, in
cases where the pleadings closed in an issue at law. — This was a
great advance toward imi)rovement ; still it left the business of
reformation but half performed : — For the arguments of the Judges,
It f/v^ I /fit r-y ^•'^ '<"
a^'t'x)
" •. ./.. ^ v.. .w'^> .*C^*w,x^* ^.. .'^ y^" ^^^ y ■- ^ -;5
'^4
REPRODUCTIOX OF KIRr.Y S :\[AXUSCRIPT.
IIISTOKICAL NOTES 169
without a liistory of the whole case, would not always be intelliigible ;
and they would become known to but few persons ; and being" written
on loose papers, were exposed to be mislaid, and soon sink into total
oblivion. — Besides, very many important matters are determined on
motions of various kinds, where no written reasons are rendered,
and so are liable to be forever lost.
Hence it became obvious to every one, that should histories of
important causes be carefully taken and published, in which the
whole process should a])pear, showing" the true grounds and princi-
ples of the decision, it would in time produce a permanent system
of common law. — Pnit the Court being ambulatory through the
State, the undertaking would be attended with considerable expeuce
and interruption of other business, without any prospect of private
advantage ; therefore, no gentleman of the profession seemed willing
to make so great a sacrifice. — I had entered upon this business in a
partial manner, for private use ; which came to the knowledge of
several gentlemen of distinction. — I was urged to i)ursue it more
extensively ; — and being persuaded that an attempt of the kind
(however imperfect) might be niade in some degree subservient
to the great object, 1 compiled the \dlume oi Reports which is now
presented to the public. — Could any ettort of mine induce govern-
ment to provide for the ])rosecution of so necessary a work b_\" a
more able hand, my wishes would be gratifie<l, and ni\ lal)our in
accomplishing this, ani]il\- repaid.
In these Reports. 1 have endeavored to throw the matter into as
small a compass as was ct)nsistent witli right understanding of the
case: — Therefore, I have not stated the ])leading"s or arguments
further than was necessary to bring up the points relied on, except
some few instances which' seemed to require a more lengtln- detail
of argument. — .\s the work is designed for general use in this
state, I ha\e avoided technical terms and ]:)hrases as nmch as pos-
sible, that it might be more intelligible to all classes of men. — Some
cases are reported which are merely local, and have reference to the
peculiar ]M-actice of this state; these may appear unimportant to
readers in other states; l)ut the\ were necessary to the great object
of the work.
1 am sensible that this production is introduced to the world
under sircumstances ver\" unfavorable to its reputation. — 15ut, how-
ever dififerent I might be, under other circumstances, I feel an honest
confidence in this attempt to advance the common interest of my
fellow-citizens ; — and that, so obvious are the difificulties which
occur in almost every stage of the business, that to d.etail them in
a preface would be oiTering an insult to the understanding of my
readers. — The candid and generous, if they read the Reports, will
doubtless find frequent occasion to draw into exercise those ex-
cellent virtues ; and as to readers of an opposite disposition, I have
neither wishes or fears concerning them. — If any one should ex-
I/O JJTCliFJKLD COUXTV r.EXClI AND F.AR
perience disagreeable sensations, from ilie inelegance of this per-
formance, let him rest assured he cannot more sincerely regret its
faults than I do."
Having persued Mr. Kirby's "Reports of Cases adjudged in
■the Sui^erior Court, from the year 1785 to 1788," it appears to us
that the Cases are truly reported.
Richard Law.
EijpiiALET Dyer.
Roger Sherman.
William Pitkin.
Oliver Ellsworth.
ephraim kirby.
Ephraim Kirby was born in Litchfield in 1756, as appears by
the records of the town. His birth is also claimed to have been
in the town of Washington, Conn, on the site of the residence of
the late Hon. O. H. I'latt. He was a farmer boy, but at the age of
nineteen on the arrival of the news of the Battle of Lexington he
shouldered his musket and marched with the volunteers from Litch-
field to the scene of conflict and was present at tlie Battle of Bunker
Hill. He remained in the field until independance was won, ex-
cept when driven from it by severe wounds. He was in nineteen
battles and skirmishes, among them Brandvwine, Monmouth and
Germantown, where he received thirteen wounds, seven of which
were saber cuts on the head inflicted by a British soldier at German-
town, where Kirby was left for dead upon the field. ]\Ir. Kirby
studied law in the office of Reynolds Marvin, Esq., who had been
King's Attorney before the war, and who was a prominent member
of the bar. In 1787 he received the degree of M. A. from Yale
College. After his admission to the bar, he married Ruth Marvin,
daughter of his preceptor. Col. Kirby took a prominent part in the
political matters of the day, and in 1791 was first elected representa-
tive to the Legislature, and was re-elected at thirteen semi-annual
elections, and was several years, candidate for the office of governor.
On the election of Jeflferson to the Presidency, in 1801. Col.
Kirby was appointed supervisor of the national revenue for the
State of Connecticut. U])on the acquisition of Louisiana, the Presi-
dent appointed him a judge of the then newly organized territory
of New Orleans. Having accepted the station, he set out for New
Orleans ; but he was not destined to reach that place. Having
proceeded as far as Fort Stoddard, in the Missiissippi territory, he
was taken sick, and died October 2d, 1804, aged forty-seven — at a
period when a wide career of public usefulness seemed opening
upon him. His remains were interred with the honors of war and
other demonstrations of respect. Col. Kirby was a man of the
highest moral and well as physical courage — devoted in his feelings
and aspirations — warm, generous and constant in his attachments —
KTHRAlNr KlRliV
HISTORICAL NOTES 17I
and of indomitable energy. He was, withal, gentle and winning
in his manners, kindly in his disposition, and naturally of an ardent
and cheerful temperament, though the last few years of his life were
saddened by heavy pecuniary misfortunes. As a lawyer, he was
remarkable for frankness and downright honesty to his clients,
striving always to prevent litigation, uniformly allaying irritation
and effecting compromises, and only prosecuting with energy the
just and good cause, against the bad. He enjoyed the friendship
of manv sages of the Revolution, his correspondence with whom,
would form interesting materials for the history of his time.
Col. Kirby. was a prominent member of the IMasonic fraternity.
He was one of the early Masters of St. Paul's Lodge of Litchfield,
and for many years was its secretary. He was a beautiful penman,
as is evidenced by the records of St. Paul's Lodge. He was largely
instrumental in forming the Grand Lodge of the State of Connecti-
cut. an(J was one of its early officials. He was also a prominent
Royal Arch Mason, and was a delegate to the convention which
organized the general Crand Chapter of the United States, and
was its first General Grand High I'riest. When he left Litchfield
to accept the position of Judge of the territory of Louisana, he
gave to St. Paul's Lodge, Litchfield, his library of miscellaneous
books, which have been carefully preserved by the Lodge as a
memorial of him. and are now placed in the fireproof building of
the Ilistorial Society.
He also sold his law books to Seth P. Beers and I am enabled
to give the conveyance with the list of books, which will show the
library of a prominent practising lawyer of a century ago.
List of Law Books sold to Seth P. Beers by my husband Ephraim
Kirby and delivered to said Beers by me in i)ursuance of written
directions from mv said husband wliich directions bear the date
of July the 5th A. D. 1804.
A'ols. \'ols.
Rlackstones Commentaries 4 Powel on Devises
Dunscombs trial per ])ais 2 Woods Institute
Beacon Abridgm't 5 Coke on Littleton
Jacobs Dictionary i Woodesons Lectures
English v^tatutes ^ P)acon on Awards
Goddphin on Executots, etc. i Xew York Atty \'ade ]\Iecum
Fosters Crown Law i SchilHers Practice
Bullen Nisi Prius i Barlamiqui on Xat. Law
Powel on Mortgages i Historical Law Tracts
]\Iorgans Essays 3 Compleat Attorney
Attorneys A'ade ]\ tecum 2 Stats. England abridgd
Comyn's Digest 5 Stiles Practical Regr.
Cokes Institute 2 Part i English Pleader
Hawkins Plea of ve Crown 2 Clerks Tutor
172
IJTCIIKIKI.I) CorXTV BENCH AND BAR
Vols
Every man his own Lawyer
Office of Justice
Douglass on Wills
Law of Evidence
Dagges Criminal Law
Statutes of Vermont
J5enthams Defence of I'sury
Adye on Court Martial
J^eccaria on Crimes
Acts of 1st Session of Con-
gress
Acts of 3d Session of 5th
Congress
Acts of 1st Session of 6th
Congress
Acts of 1st Session of ist
Congress
Saxbys Customs
Holts Reports
Strangers Reports
Burrows Reports
Wilsons Reports
W. Blackstone Reports
Browns Reports
Douglass Reports
Dain fords Reports
Salkelds Reports
Lutwyches Reports
Cokes Reports
Crokes Reports
Kebles Reports
( Signed j
s.
Vols.,
I
I'lowdens Rei^orts
I
2
X'entries Reports
I
Carthews Reports
I
Hobarts Reports
M
3
Cowpers Reports
I
X'ernons Reports
2
X'esey's Reports
2
Pre Chancery
I
Fincks Reports
I
Hardwicks Reports
I
\'aughan's Reports
I
Sidertins Reports
I
Thos. Raymond Reports
I
Littletons Reports
I
Yelvertons Reports
I
Dyer's Reports
I
Moore's Reports
I
Palmer's Reports
I
Jenkins Reports
I
2
Fitzgibbons Reports
I
5
Saville's Reports
I
3
Peere Williams Reports
3
2
Atkins Reports
3
I
Livins Reports
2
I
Ambles Reports
I
Lord Raymonds Reports
2
Comberbach's Reports
I
Bulstrode's Reports
7
Comyns Reports
3
Chipman's Reports
3
Kirbys Reports
RuTiiv Kikuv
igucts
KOGER SHKR:\rAN'.
HISTORICAL XOTES 173
Signers of the Declaration of
Independence.
ROGER SHERMAX.
One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was ad-
mitted to the practice of the law in 1754 by the Litchfield County
Court.
He was born in Newton. ]\Iass., April 19, 1721. and received a
verv limited education, and learned the trade of a shoemaker. His
father, William Sherman, dying when Roger was twenty years old,
he soon after removed to New Mil ford, Connecticut, and lived witli
his brother William who had been settled there on a farm for al)out
three years. The first notice of Roger Sherman on the town records
of Xew^ Milford is Feb. 6, 1744. He became a large land owner
and was very prominent in all the town affairs, a deacon in the
church, and clerk and treasurer of the Eccl. Society. He and his
brother also had a general store, and he lived very nearly on the site
of the present Town Hall, which in later years has been named
"Roger Sherman Hall." The old store building is said to be still
in existence.
He was a very industrious and studious man. Tn 1745 the Gen-
eral Assembly appointed him a County Surveyor of Xew Haven
County, which then included Xew Milford; this office was jiecuniari-
ly of more value in those days than it has been in later years, for
one of his surveys he received nearly 84 pounds ; many of the ]:>lans
and maps of his surveys are to be found in the Xew Milford Land
Records made bv him in his own hand.
Soon after the formation of Litchfield County in 1751 he studied
law, and in 1757, three years after his admission to the bar. he was
appointed County Judge, and a Judge of the Quorum. He was
also a representative to the General .\ssembly several sessions. Re-
moving to Xew Haven in 1761. he was chosen the Governor's as-
sistant, and also a Judge of the Superior Court, which office he
held twenty-three years.
He was elected a member of the first Continental Congress
which met September 5th, 1774 in Xew York, and cimtinued a
member of Congress for nineteen years, the last two being in the
Senate, of which he was a member at the time of his death, July
^2,^ 1793-
174 LITCIIFIKI.D COUNTY BKXCII AND BAR
As a member of the Continental Congress, he was one of the
committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, which he sign-
ed on July 4, 1776.
Thomas Jetiferson says of this distinguished statesman, "I served
with him in the old Congress in the years 1775 and 1776. He was
a very able and log'ical debater in that body, steady in the principles
of the Revolution, always at the post of duty, much employed in
the business of the committees, and, particularly, was of the com-
mittee with Dr. Franklin, Air. J. Adams, Air. Livingston and my-
self for ])re])aring the Declaration of Independence. I had a very
great respect for him."
John Adams also wrote, "Destitute of all literary and scientific
education, but such as he acquired by his own exertions, he was
one of the most sensiljle men in the world. The clearest head and
steadiest heart. He was one of the soundest and strongest pillars
of the Revolution."
Chief Justice Ellsworth said that he made Air. Sherman the
model of his youth.
'J'he lionnr and fame of Roger Sherman does not rest entirely
upon his being a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In
the early formation of this government, he took an active and im-
portant part. He was a member of the Convention which framed
the ConsiiUition of the L'nited States, and it was undoubtedly due
to his wise and sagacious counsel and cool impartial judgment, that
the Convention was held together until the great work was ac-
coniplished. Aery many of its peculiar provisions, which are now
considered so important, originated with him. This compilation
cannot go into the history of the Convention in detail, but those
wishing- fiu'ther light on the subject of the part taken in it by
Roger Sherman, will do well to consult Hollister's Histor}' of Con-
necticut, where it is discussed at length.
A competent authority says, that "he is the only man who signed
four important fundemental documents of our government, viz :
The Articles of Association in 1774 ; the Declaration of Independence
in 1776, which he assisted in drafting; the Articles of Confedera-
tion in 1778, and the Federal Constitutidu in 1788.
OIJN'KR AVOI.COTT.
Tile other signer of the Declaration of Independence in whom
Litchfield County is interested, w-as Oliver Wolcott, who was the
first sheriff of the County upon its organization in 1751.
The following taken from Kilbourn's History of Litchfield is a
pretty concise sketch of this distinguished man.
"The Honorable Oliver Wolcott, son of His Excellency, the
Hon. Roger Wolcott, Governor and Chief Justice of Connecticut,
was born in Windsor, December 20, 1726, and was graduated at
Yale College in 1745. In early manhood he commanded a company
Gkx. Oi.ivkr Wor.coTT.
HISTORICAL NOTES I75
of volunteers in the Northern Ami}', in the war against the French.
Having pursued the usual course of medical studies, he established
himself as a physician in Goshen, and was there at the date of the
organization of the County of Litchfield, October, 175 1. The
Legislature appointed him the first High SherifT of the new County,
and he immediately took up his abode in this village, and con-
tinued to reside here until his decease, a period of forty-six years.
In 1752 he erected the "Wolcott House" in South street, where dur-
ing the Revolutionary War, King George's leaden statue was melted
into bullets, to be fired at his own troops.
With a CDmmanding personal appearance, dignified manners,
a clear and cultivated intellect, and a character for integrity far
above the reach of suspicion, it is not to be wondered at that he
became a favorite of the people with whom his lot w^as cast. Besides
holding the office of Sheriff for over twenty years, he was chosen
a Representative to the Legislature five times between the years
1764 and 1770, inclusive; a member of the Council or Upper House
from 177 1 to 1786. Judge of the Court of Probate for the District
of Litchfield from 1772 to 1795 : Jtidge of the Court of Common
Pleas from 1773 to 1786; and member of the Continental Congress
from 1775 to 1784 (except two }ears ). He was one of that memor-
able band of patriots and sages who. on the 4th of July, 1776, affixed
their names to the T^eclaration of Independence. In the early part
of the war of the Revolution, Judge Wolcott was commissioned as
a Brigadier General, and Congress appointed him a Commissioner
on Indian .\fi:'airs for the Xorthcrn DcpartuKMit, with General
Schuyler and others. In ■May, 1779, he was elected by the Legisla-
ture and commissioned by Governor Tnunlnill as Major General
of the Militia of Connecticut, to succeed General James \\'adsworth,
resigned. In these ini])ortant and responsible stations, he rendered
the country essential service. On the field, in the camp, at the
rendezvous, in the department of the Commissary of v^upplies — In
fact, wherever he could render himself useful — he was found, ever
prompt in planning and efficient in executing. At the same time
he was an active member of the Committee of Safetv ; and, when
at home, was equally zealous and conspicuous in the local attairs
of the town — officiating as Moderator, Selectman, Committeeman,
etc. Indeed, no man in the v'^tate, at this period, discharged so many
and varied pu])lic duties. A considerable share of the reputation
which Connecticut required for promptness in furnishing men and
means for the army, is due to General Wolcott. Certainly, to no
other individual in the western counties could Governor Trumbull
or General Washingt(in appeal for aid, with the certainty of suc-
cess, as to him.
In 1786. he was elected to the office of Lieutenant-Governor
of the State, and was annuall}' re-elected for a period of ten years
In ]\Iay, 1796, he was chosen Governor, to which distinguished
176 I.liXllFilvLL) COLXTY iilvXClL AXD L'.AR
position he was again elevated at the annual election in 1797. He
was now seventy years of age. His naturally robust constitution
began to feel the weight of care and responsibility which had been
so long pressing upon it. He departed this life at his residence in
Litchfield, December i, 1797, aged 71 years.
Joel I'.arlow, in his great national poem, Tlic Colimibiad, thus
refers to his zeal and eftdrts in the cause of Independence;
"Bold W'OLCOTT urged the all-important cause.
With steadv hand the solemn scene he draws ;
Undaunted firnmess with his wisdom joined.
Nor kings nor worlds could warp his steadfast mind."
Governor ( )livcr ^^\llcott ^vas of and had a ver_\- distinguished
family. His son, (Miver, Jr., was Secretary of the United States
Treasur^■ under President George Washington, and Governor of
this State for ten years. Another son, Frederick, was clerk of
County and Superior Courts for years, and the founder of the
village of Wolcottville, now the business portion of Torrington.
One of his daughters married Hon. AA'illiam ^Moseley, AT. C, of
Hartford, and another marrietl Lieutenant-Governor Goodrich, of
1 lartford.
His sister, Ursula Wolcott, married Governor Alatthew Gris-
wold, and was the mother of Governor Roger Griswold. Thus
her father, brother, husband, son. and nephew were all governors
of Connecticut, a fact which cannot ])robabl_\- lie said of any other
ladv wlio has lived in the State or the United States.
THE COUNTY JAIL
The history of the legal matters of the County would be in-
complete without a reference to the County Jail. This institution
is situated on one of the most prominent sites in Litchfield at the
corner of North and \\'est streets. The original jail was located
on the brow of East Hill, on the exact spot now occupied by the
Center school house. At the excavation of the ground for the
cellar for the school house some of the original foundation work
was discovered, and in some of the stone work were found staples
and rings indicating" that occasionally a ])risoner might have been
cliaincfl up. It is said to have been a crude, but strongly built
structure of hewn logs. Adjoining it a large old-fashioned liouse
was erected in which the jailer lived and kept a hotel, the prison
being in the rear. This building appears to have been 1)uilt in
1786, at a cost of about nine lumdred pounds, sterling.
HISTORICAL NOTKS I
//
The front ])art of the i)resfiit jail was erected in 1810-11. at
an exi)ense of $11,245.78. and was huilt of hrick, which were nKuie
of clay dng- on the road between Torrington and Litchfield, iust
east of "Seymour's meadow." The bricks were ^'erv hard antl
builders have said that it was much easier to dig through llie
granite foundations than through the brick.
A woioden building for a kitchen was afterwards added on
the northern side, and the present arrangement of cells in the
middle ])nilding was made about sixty }ears ago.
In 1895. the accommodations not i)roving adequate, a county
meeting was held and an addition ordered to be constructed on
the west end of the original building, which was done at a cost
of about $25,000.00. The old ])art had cells for seventeen inmates
and this addition ])rovided cell rtx^m for twenty-eight, with cagt^
for five more, with washroom, bathroom and other needed ac-
commodations. It is now heated b\' steam and furnished with
city water, and is lighted with gas from its own i>ri\ate ])lant.
In the early days the kee])ing" of the prisoners \\as let tmt to
the highest bidder and the kee])er (now called the jailer) made
\vhat he could out of the ])rison work and also kei:)t a hotel in
the building. This system prevailed until about i8()5, when the
sheriff, as one of the ])rerogatives of his office took ]>ossession and
ran the institution himself. The i)rice allowed for board of |)ris-
oners has varied : at the jn'cseni time it being $2.25 per week. i)aid
by the State.
One of the large rooms in the third story was used as a public
liall. The Ma.sons and other societies used it for their meetings
and at other times it was used as a schoolroom. The compiler of
these sketches has attended school there.
A large workshop is located in the second stor\' of the new ])art.
in which manv of the itrisoners are emplo_\ed caning chair seats,
manufacturing brooms, and such other employments as is allowed
to prison labor.
A large elm tree, seen in the cut at the southeast corner of the
jail \ard. is known as the " \\ hijjping post elm." on which formerly
prisoners were i)nblicl_\- whipped : the last whipping (occurred about
seventy-five years ago.
ICaiu Bȣljonl
THE LITCHFIELD
LAW SCHOOL
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LAW SCIIOOIv l8l
THE LITCHFIELD LAW SCHOOL.
The following' article appeared originally in the February
(1901) number of TJic Laiv Notes, published by The Edward
Thomson Co., of Xorthport, L. L It was written by Charles C.
Aloore, Esq., a native of Winchester, and a former member of
this bar, now one of the editors of the American and English
Encyclopedia of Law, pu1:)lished by the above-named company.
1'he article has been slightly abridged for this work. In its prepar-
ation Mr. Moore was largely aided by the late Chief Justice Charles
J:. Andrews :
" One who Unjks through the records of the town meetings of
Litchfield from 1765 to 1775 will find that there were discussions
on the Stamp Act, the Boston Port r)ill, and other acts of Parlia-
mentary aggression, as clear and well defined as the debates in
that town meeting- where Samuel Adams and Harrison Grav (_)tis
were the principal si)eakers. The child Libert}' would not have
been born in the Pjoston town meeting had not the Litchfield town
meeting and other like town meetings throughout the colonies
I»repared the atmosphere in which alone that child could breathe.
Litchfield was the i)rincipal station on the highwa_\' from Hart-
ford to the Hudson ; and a depot for military stores, a workshop,
and a i)rovision storehouse for the Continental Army were there
established during the Re\'olution. Man\' distinguished royalist
l)risoners were sent there, and a military atmosphere pervaded
the place. General Washington was a freriuent visitor, and so
were other general ollicers of the American forces, including
Lafayette, who, when he visited the L'nited States in 1824, went
to Litchfield to renew old memories with some of his former
conu-ades in arms. The leaden statue of King- George the Third
which stood on the Battery in New York was conve\ed to Litch-
field, and in an orchard in the rear of the Wolcott house it was
melted into bullets for the patriot army. All through the struggle
with the mother country Litchfield was a hotbed of patriotism, and
when the first law school in America commenced its regular sys-
tematic course of instruction there in 17S4, the ambitious village
had among its citizens numerous men of exceptional intelligence
and culture. One of them was Andrew Adams, who had been a
niember of the Continental Congress and was afterward a judge
of the Supreme Court. i^QlLver Wolcott was there. He also had
been a member of the Congress, had signed the iJeclaration of In-
dependence, and was afterward Governor of the State. Ephraim
Kirby, who a few years later pul^lished the first volume of law
re[X)rts ever published in America, Major Seymour, who had com-
manded a rcgment at the surrender of Burgoyne ; Benjamin Tall-
l82 T.lTCTrFH'IJ) COUNTY HK.NCll AND )',AR
niadg-e, perliai).s the most noted cavalry commander of tlie Revolu-
tion ; Julius Deming-. a very prominent and successful merchant
and financier, and many others of like character were residing in
the town. ^]nt<> this community in the year 1778 came Tapping
VKeeve. a. young lawyer just admitted to the bar. to settle in
the ])ractice of his profession. Born in Southold. Long Island,
ill 1744, the son of Rev. Abner Reeve, a Presbyterian clergyman,
lie was graduated at I'rinceton College in 1763, and was immediately
ap])ointed teacher in a gramniar school in connection with the
college. ]n that station and as a tutor in the college itself he
passed seven years. He then came to Connecticut to study law,
entering the oihce of Judge Root, who was then a practicing
lawyer in Hartford, and some years later a judge of the Supreme
Court. From Hartford he came to Litchfield. He had just pre-
viously married Sally Burr, daughter of President Burr of Prince-
ton, and sister of Aaron Burr. ' Until the conclusion of the Revo-
lutionary War there was but very little civil business done in the
county ait ]vitchfield, and ]\lr. Reeve betook himself to giving in-
struction to voung gentlemen who looked forward to the: legal
profession for support and advancement when (piieter times should
come. This emi)loyment tended greatly to enlarge and improve
his stock of legal learning, and led the w-ay for him to begin in
\1784 a systematic course of instruction in the law and to regular
1' classes. The Law School dates from that year. It continued in
» successful o]X'rati()n and with amnial g-raduating classes until 1833.
The catalogue contains the names of one thousand and fifteen
young men who were prepared for the bar subsequent to the year
1798, mo.st of whom were admitted to the practice in the court at
Litchfield. The list of students pv'un- to that date is imperfect,
but there are known to have been at least two hundred and ten.
I\lore tlian two-thirds of the students registered from states other
than Connecticut. Maine sent four, New Ham]:)shire fifteen, Ver-
mont twent\-seven, Massachusetts ninety-ifour, Rhode Island
twenty-two, New York one hundred and t\\cnt\-four. New Jersey
eleven, ]\Mnisylvvania thirty, Delaware eighteen, Maryland thirty-
nine, Virginia twenty-one. North Carolina twenty. South Caro-
lina fortv-five. Georgia sixity-nine, Ohio four, Indiana. Mississippi
and Tennessee each one, Kentucky nine, Alal>ama three, and Louisi-
ana seven. There were four from the District of Columbia and
one from Calcutta. The greatest number who entered in any
single year was fifty-four in 1813.
" Lawyers now living in the original states will recognize the
names of manv men conspicuous in the juridical annals of their
state. Aaron Hurr studied law at Litchfield. John C. Calhoun
entered the Law School in 1805; only a few rods from the school
building was the house where Harriet lieecher Stowe was born
in 1811, and Henrv Ward r.eecher in 1813; and a short hour's
LAW SCHOOL 183
walk would have brou!:i-ht the yoiino- Southerner lo the spot where
]ohn I-Jrcnvn was born in 1800, in the adjoining town of Torrington.
Two of the graduates became judg-es of the Su]M-enie Court of the
United vStates— Henry J5aldwin and Levi \\'oodbur\- ; fifteen United
States Senators, fifty members of Congress, five meml)ers of the
United Sta-tes Cabinet, ten governors of states, forty-four judges
of state and inferior United States courts, and seven foreign minis-
ters. Georg-ia is especially well represented. Among the names of
judges of that State we notice Eugenius A. \esbit, who wrote
the elegant dissertation in Mitchum r. State. 11 Ga. 615. on the
])rivilege and dutv of counsel in arguing a case to a jury, in con-
nection with the proper limitations of the freedom of debate — an
oi)inion cojiied almost verbatim in Tucker v. Henniker, 41 X. H.
317, with an omission of quotation marks so singular and fiagrant
as to have occasioned comment b\- the ])rofe?sion
" The course of instruction was completed in fourteen months,
including two vacations of four weeks each, one in the spring,
the other in the autunuL Xo student could enter for a shorter
period than three months. The terms of in^lructic n were (in 1828)
Sioo for the first year and $60 for the second, ])aya]jle either in
advance or at the end of the _\car.
" In the lil)rary for the Law School at \'ale University ma_\ be
foiuid several bound volumes of manuscript which apparently con-
tain the entire lectures of Judge Reeve. They are in the hand-
writing of his son, Aaron I'lu^r Ree\e. lUit n'arginal reference
iriterlineations in his own hand make it certain that these volumes
have all l)een revised by Jndge Reeve himself. The tradition is that
they are the manuscripts which he iLscd in. his lectures during the
last years that he taught. An inspection of these volumes shows
that the course of instruction g^iven at the Litchfield Law School
covered the entire body of the law. They speak of the law gener-
allv — in reference to the sources whence it is derived, as customs
and statutes, with the rules for the ap|)lication and interpretation of
each. Then follows Real Estate, Rights of Persons, Rights of
'Thing.s,_CA3ntracts, Torts. Evidence. Pleading, Crimes, and ivrpiity.
' And each of these general subjects is treated imder various sub-
sidiary topics, so as to make the matter intelligible and atTor<l the
student a correct and adequate idea of, and basis for, the work he
\\dll be called upon to perform in the practice of his profession.
Judge Reeve conducted the school alone until 1798. wdien, having
been elected a judge of the Supreme Court, he associated James
Gould with hiuL They had the joint care of the school until
1820, when Judge Reeve with(lre\\\ ^Nlr. Gould continued the
classes until 1833, being asissted during the last year by Jabez
W. Huntington. Judge Reeve remained on tlu bench until he
reached the limit of seventy years in 1815. The last part of the
term he was chief justice. He died in 1823, in the eightieth year
184 i.rrciiFii'.i.i) covsTY r.Kxcii and i;.\r
of his life. He left an only child, Aaron Ijiirr, who graduated
at Yale in 1802. Aaron Burr Reeve married Annabelle Shedden,
of Richmond. \^a., in 1808. He died in 1809. He left an only child,
'J'apping- Uurr Reeve, who graduated at Yale, but died unmarried
in 1829, and thus the family became extinct. Mr. Gould became
^ judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and was the author
of. the celebrated work on Pleading. He died at Litchfield in 1838.
The course of instruction at the school must liave been incom-
parably more exhaustive than would be possible at the present tlay,
tor the obvious reason that there was so much less to learn.' In
1784 there were no printed reports of decisions of any court in
the United States. Substantially the entire body of the law was
to be found in the English reports. It is sai<l tiiat Judge Gould
had systematically digested for his students "" every ancient and
modern o]:)inion. whether o\'erruled. doubted, or in any way quali-
fied." l)Ut vast bodies of law of which the modern student unist
learn something were unknown to the curriculum of the Litchfield
L,aw School, and manv principles latent in the common law were
just beginning to be developed. Lord Mansfield resigned his
office of Chief Justice in 1788. after presiding in the King's Bench
over thirty years. Prior to his time the greatest imcertainty had
prevailed on (juestions of commercial law. "Mercantile questions
were so ignorantly treated when they came into Westminster Plall,"
says Lord Cam])]jell in his Lives of the Chief Justices, " that they
were usually settled by private arbitration among the mercliants
themselves." There were no treatises on the subject and few cases
in the books of re]>orts. Thus in Helyn v. Adamson. 3 Burr. 699,
decided in 1758. it was first distinctly ruled that the second in-
dorser of an inland bill of exchange was entitled to recover from the
prior indorser upon failure of payment by the drawee, without mak-
ing any demand on or intpiiry after the drawer. In 1770 it was held
that the indorser of a bill of exchange is discharged if he re-
ceives no notice of a refusal to accept by the drawee. (Blesard v.
Hirst, 5 Burr. 2670.) And not until 1786. in Tindal z'. P-rown,
I Term Rep. 167, was it finally determined that what is re.ison-
able notice lo an indorser of non-]:)ayment by the maker of a
promissory note, or acceptor of a bill of exchange, is a question
of law and not of fact. Of course there was no American con-
stitutional law when the school was founded, though some of the
states had already adopted constitutions.' The first book on cor-
poration law was that of Kytl. pul)lished in London in 1793. but
it was chiefly made up of authorities and ]irecedents relatmg to
municipal ct)rporations ; and Willcock on Corporations, also an
J\nglish treatise was still more limited in its plan. There was no
.American text-book on corporations until the first edition of Augell
and Ames was i)ublished in 1831. At tiiat time the need of such
a book had become verv urgent, but in the earl\- vears of the L,itch-
JUDGE JA:\IES GOULD
From a Cravon now owned bv Hon. A. T. Roraback.
LAW SCHOOL 185
field Law School there must have been extremely few private
Business corporations in this country. Xot until Louisville, etc.,
R Co. V. Letson, 2 How. ( U. S. ) 4(;7. decided in 1844, did cor-
]K)rations become competent to sue and be sued as "citizens" of a
State, regardless of the citizenship of the corporators. A "fellow
servant" was a total stranger in legal nomenclature : Priestly v.
Fowler, 3 AL & W. i, was decided in 1837; ^lurray r. Railroad
Co., I McMull. ( S. Car.) 385, in 1841 ; and Farwell z'. Railroad
Co., 4 Met. (Mass.) 4cj, in 1842. The term "contributory negli-
gence" had not been coined: Butterfield z'. Forrester, 11 East 60,
was decided in 1809; Davies %'. ]\lann, 10 M. c^' ^\^ 54(), in 1842,
and the phrase is not used in either case. Civil actions for dam-
ages for death by wrongful act were not maintainable. The law
of insurance was virtually the creation of Lord Mansfield, ijut the
volume of insurance law was comi)arati\'ely insignificant for several
decades. ( )n the other hand, there was an abunchince of real estate
law and of law concerning executors and administrators and trustees
generallw In those davs the executor dc son tovt was more in
evidence than at ])resent. although even now he has so much vitality
in some jurisdictions that it would not l)e \\ise for the practioner
to characterize him as judge Lum])kin did in Shotwell v. Rowell.
30 (ja. 55y. "dc son fiddlestick!" and cr_\', "Away with him!" The
princii^les of e(|uit\- jurisprudence liad secured a firm footing, and
at this (lay the_\- are administered in the Federal courts a.s they
were ex])ounded in the High Court of Chancery in England when
the Constitution was adopted in 1789. judge Gould was a n:aster
Vpf the common-law sxstem of pleading, which was extolled by some
\ni its eulogists as the perfection of human reason. During the
period of the Law School the noble science of ])leading became
burdened with so many refinements and fictions that it fell into
• disrepute ; the celebrated Rules of Hilary Term were adopted in
1834. and we have since substituted very generally for the techni-
calities of the common-law system what we term a plain and con-
cise statement of causes of action and of defenses, administering
law and e((uity in one suit, and sometimes peradventure evolving
a judgment as incongruous as the one examined in Bennett v. But-
terworth,, 11 How. ( U. S. ) 669, or exhibiting the chaos of plead-
ings and ])roceedings tabulated by the reporter in Randon r. Toby,
IT How. {U. S.) 493. Speaking of the reformed ])rocedure, how
many lawyers are aware that the chief merit of the Code system was
recognized and recommended for adoption by the preceptor of
j udge Reeve, founder of the Litchfield Law School ? Tlie first
volume of Root's Connecticut Reports was published in 1798. The
reporter was Jesse Root, afterward, as above stated, a judge of
the Supreme Court, with whom Tapping Reeve had studied law
in Hartford. We will close with a quotation from the introduction
to that volume: "Are not the courts of chancerv in this State
l86 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BE^NCH AND BAR
borrowed from a foreign jurisdiction, which grew out of the ig-no-
rance and barl^arisni of the law- judges at a certain period in that
country from whence borrowed? And would it not be as safe for
the people to invest the courts of law with the power of deciding
all questions and of giving relief in all cases according to the rules
established in chancery, as it is to trust those same judges as chan-
cellors to do it? Those rules might be considered as a part of
the law, and the remedy be made much more concise and eiTeccual.
Further, would not this remedy great inconveniences and save much
expense to suitors, who are frequently turned round at law to seek
a remedy in chancery, and as often turned round in chancery be-
cause they have adequate remedy at law? These are serious
evils and ought not to be permitted to exist in the jurisprudence of
a country famed for liberty and justice, and which can be remedied
only by the interposition of the legislature.' "
THE LITCHFIELD LAW SCHOOL.
At the annual dinner of the Story Association, of Cambridge
Law School (Mass.) in 185 1, the following reference was made
to the Litchfield Law School :
Judge Kent gave the sentiment :
" The first-born of the law schools of this country — the Litch-
field Law School. The Boston Bar exhiliits its rich and ripened
fruits. By them we may judge of the tree and declare it good."
Hon. Charles G. Loring, of the class of 1813, reponded :
** I do not remember," he said, " to have ever been more forcibly
reminded of my younger days, than when looking around on my
}0ung friends in the midst of whom I stand. It recalls the time
when I, too, was a student among numerous fellow students. It
will, probably, be news to them and many others here, that thirty-
eight }ears ago, which to many here seems a remote antiquity, there
existed an extensive law school in the vState of Connecticut, at which
more than sixty students from all ])arts of the country were as-
sembled — ^ever\- State then in the l^ni(in, being tliere repre-
sented. I joined it in 18 13, when it was at its -/enith, and the only
prominent estal)lis]imcnt of the kind in the land.
"The recollection is as fresh as the events of yesterday, of our
passing along the broad shaded streets of one of the most beauti-
ful of the villages of New England, with our inkstands in our
hands, and our portfolios under our arms, to the lecture room of
Judge Gould — the last of the Romans, of Common Law Lawyers ;
the impersonation of its spirit and genius. It was, indeed, in his
eyes, the jjcrfection of human reason, by which he measured every
principle and rule of action, and almost every sentiment.
I, AW SCHOOL 187
" Why. sirs, his hii^hest visions of poetry seemed to be_ in the
refinement of special pleadings ; and to him a noti scquitcr in logic
was an offense deserving, at the least, fine and imprisonment, and
a repetition of it. transportation for life. He was an admirable
]\nglish scholar ; every word was pure English, undefiled and every
sentence fell from his lips perfectly finished, as clear, transparent
and ]>enetrating as light, and every rule and principle as exactly
defined and limited as the outline of a building against the sky.
J'Vom him we obtained clear, well-defined and accurate knowledge
of the Common Law. and learned that allegiance to it was the
chief duty of man, and the iH)\ver of enforcing it upon others, his
liighest attainment. Vrum his lecture room we passed to that of
ihc venerable Judge Reeve, shaded by an aged elm, fit emblem of
iiimself. He was, indeed, a most venerable man. in character and
a])pearance. his thick, gray hair parted and falling in profusion upon
his shoulders, his voice only a loud whisper, but distinctly heard
b\ his earnestly, attentixc ])U])ils.
"He, too, was full <if legal learning, but invested the law with
all the genial enthusiasm and generous feelings and noble sentiments
(y\ a large heart at the age of eighty, and descanted to us with a
glowing elocjuence upon the sacredness and majesty of the law.
Jle was distinguished, sirs, by that appreciation of the gentler sex
which never fails to mark the true man, and his teachings of the
law in reference to llieir rights and the domestic relations, had
great influence in elevating and refining the sentiments of the young-
men who were privileged to hear him. As illustrative of his feel-
ings and manner upon this subject, allow me to give a specimen,
lie was discussing the legal relations of married women; he never
called them, however, by so inexpressible a name, but always spoke
of them as 'the better half of mankind,' or in some equally just
manner. When he came to the axiom that 'a married woman
lias no will of her own," this, he said was a maxim of great the-
oretical importance for the preservation of the sex against tlie
undue influence or coercion of the husband; but although it was
an infiexible maxim, in theory, experience taught us that practically
it was found that tlie\- sometimes had wills of their ow'.i — most
J'.appilx for lis.
"We left his lecture room, sirs, the very knight errants of the
law burning to be the defenders of the right and the avengers of
the wrong ; and he is wo true son of the Litchfield school \vho has
ever forgotten that lesson.
"I pro]X)se, sirs, the memories of Judge Reeve and Judge Gould
— among the first, if not the first founders of a National Law
School in the United States — who have laid one of the corner stones
in the foundation of true American patriotism, loyalty to the law."
i88 i.T'i'nirTKT.D (•()^^'T^■ r.r.xcir and r>.\R
THE FOLLOWING LS A COPY OF A STUDENT'S LETTER.
Litchfield, October 28th, 1830.
Dkar FriivNd: —
Having" received your letter just as I was on tlie wins;- for this
place, I was unable to answer it then ; but avail myself of these
first moments of calm after the l)ustie and confusion incident- to the
settling down into my nest, to turn mv thoughts to that bro;)d in
which I found myself when my eyes were first o|:)ened to !c\^a! Ii,i^hf,
and when I first inhaled the legal atmosphere which from its misti-
ness gives to those who breath it, fat least so I presume) the well
known name of pclfv fogs (}ou will perceive an analogy m the
derivation of this word to that of htcus a non hiccjido. or Pared a
non parcendo) & from which like yourself I have absconded, 1)eing
now big enough to take care of myself.
Really, Ned, since my arrival I have been as busy as a hen
\\\{h one chick^I have l)een obliged to furnish my room, with
whatever I need, from the bellows to the lamp wick. We are
obliged to board licrc, at one house and lodge at another. They
give you a room, with bed and bestead, et tout ca, at the rate of
one dollar a week you furnish your wood, your servant, car[)et if
}ou don't wish to go without, lamps, oil, e^'c, X'C.
You see cK: hear no more of the family than if you were the sole
occupant of the premises.
L'pon your return from breakfast your room is swept, bed made,
things set to rights, as if done by magic, you never see how. T
have a fine room at Parson Jones', who is very obliging and would
be more so if able, and T board at Airs. Reeve's, a very agreeable,
])leasant, old lady. We pay her, I believe two dollars and a half a
week. Our board and lodging and contingencies will run us up to
about five dollars a week, which 1 think is pretty well on to the
brogue for a country town. And this is independent of the lectures.
Judge Gould is so much overcome with his late family bereave-
ment that he is unable to lecture himself. His son. ho\,ever.
delivers them in his stead. As far as T can judge they will be very
vahiahlc. in(le]:)endent of their intrinsic merit : T will be obliged to
write up at least three reams of finel\' ruled foolcap. The lecture
lasts for an hour and a quarter each day, examinations once a week.
Litchfield appears to be a very pretty place, and T think T sha'l like
it well. I attended an evening- or two ago an exhibition of the
young ladies' seminar\- at this place of which you speak in your
letter. There were several very handsome and interesting young
demoiselles. The court room in which it was held was excessively
crowded and two or three fainted, one yomig lady upon receiving
her premium. At one end of the room men. Ijoys and girls were
all heaped up together, and ever and am mi, you would hear some
i,A\v sciiooi^ ■ . i8y
sturdy bum resounding- against the tloor, its luckless owner having
incautiously pushed it out beyond the line of equilibrium.
I understand from Mrs. Reeve that all the marriageable young
ladies have been married ofif, and that diere is at present nothing
but young fry in town, consequently that it will not be as gay as
usual. The young ladies, she tells me, all marry law students, but
as it will take two or three years for the young crop to become
fit for the harvest, you need apprehend no danger of my throwing
up my bachelorship.
The road from Poughkeepsie here is. I think, the most tedious
I ever travelled, you see nothing but rocks and stones. Cor.sider^
ing the roughness of the country and the scarcity of laud I am not
at all surjjrised the yankays depend for their livlihood upon their
zclfs. I wish I had it in my power to exercise a watchful care over
I), as you have enjoined me. "Ah me! forsooth, he is a sorry
weight." His ]ia I suspect is afraid of some siii^^itlar iiiancurvrc
on his part and dare not trust him from his paternal eve. He did
not accompany me, as in all ])robability \'ou know, but I do not vet
despair of his coming. In such ex])ectation 1 shall nut write him,
for I think it very ])ossible he may arrive this evening, if so he
shall write you a 1'. S. He and his father had not full\- considered
the subject when I left.
It is growing dark and I must conclude l>efore tea (for I ex-
])ect this evening to be very busy copxing notes) and this I cannot
do. without assuring you that it will give me the greatest pleasure
to see you here. I have a double bed. 1 will give you half, and
as long as Coont. is the land of cakes you will not starve. The
excursion will, no doul)t, be agreeable and advantageous to }()ur
liealth. You can come by the way of Xew Haven or Toughkecpsie.
\Mien you write to the olllce remember me to them and to all enquir-
ing friends.
Direct. Litchfield, C^jnnt.
The following extracts from a letter written Irv Augustus Hand,
while a student at the law school, will further illustrate the conduct
of the institution :
'■ Litchfield, Jan. 30th, 18J9.
"Mv DivAR F.\Tin:R: —
" '■'■ * Let me tell you how T spend my time. T rise between
7 and 8, make a fire and scrub for ])reakfast, from thence to lecture,
where I remain until between 10 and ii. Thence to my room and
cojn' lectures till 5 p. m. (Save dinner time at 1 p. m. ) thence to
( ). S. Seymour's otlice with whom I read law until half past 9 p. ni.,
then again to my room, write till between 12 and i o'clock, then
draw on my night-cap and turn in." Exception — -Monday we
spend from 6 to () in the Law School Debating Society, over which
190 I,lTCHI'It;LD COUNTY BKNCH AND BAR
T have the honor — T never brag) . Friday at 3 p. m. attend an extra
lecture on criminal law, and also hear an argument in the " ^>loot
Court " and decision by the judge. On Saturday at 2 p. m. attend
a severe three hours examination on the studies of the week by
jabez W. Huntington, Esq. -\side from these exceptions the first
day is a correct specimen. As to the lectures and their utility I
will refer you to the preface of the catalogue mailed with thi?. I
can only say that their daily ])ractical use to a lawyer can only be
appreciated by those who have enjoyed them. Without any doubt,
they give the same talent — a powerful superiority. The whole
is comprise<l in between 2500 and 3000 pages. (3f these T have
written al)out 1200 and 1300 and should I remain here till May
and enjoy my ])resent excellent health there will be no dilliculty in
copying the whole, having access to Seymour's volumes ( for what
I do not take in the office), who has attended two courses and has
them complete. This is, however, business between ourselves for
these lectures are secured to the Judge, being the labor of his life
in the same manner as a jjatent right. So we talk less and write
faster. 'J'his Seymour with whom I study is the son of the sheriff
of the county, nephew of our State Senator, a graduate of Yale,
a bachelor of 26 or 2^, of most sterling mind antl manners, with a
brain com])letely identified with the study of the law in its most
theoretical and scientific part. From a natural weakness of the
eyes he does not allow himself to study evenings and therefore
invited me to read to him. This offer, knowing his fame, &c., I
readih- accepted, his ofUce being next door but one to mine, and he
being altogether such a man as "studies learning to use it." We
take u]) the title in a lecture and progress with it till it is finished,
reading (about) between ten and twenty pages an evening, he
giving me a thorough insight into it as we proceed — allowing u'c
without reserve, to tease him with as many questions as I please
and now and then reading a report of some cases adapted to the
subject. J before the lesson he examines me in the ])receding" lesson
from memory. ''' '•' '" The law here is a study. There are one
or two lawyers in the vicinity who make 4 or 5000 dollars a year.
I pass every (la\ 1)\- the door of one worth about $150,000.00. about
one-half of which he made in law. This "Huntington" who ex-
amines is a l)acheUjr rather above fort\' who studies, thinks and talks
law sleeping and waking. He never " pettifoggs," but pleads in
the higher courts and writes opinions for other lawyers in every
section of the country. He will sometimes become so animated in
discussing a (juestion which arises on the examination, that he can
hardly keep his seat. Friday, the nth inst., it came my turn for
the second time to come on to the " Moot Court." A short time
after my achnission my name came on opposed to Mr. Halsted, of
N. J. (in alphabetical order), who was an old student. I tried to
cross the Rubicon but like a poor, stuck-in-the-mud T could not ford.
LAW SCHOOL 191
Frightened out of ni}- wits, surrounded by a literary fog- in the
midst of ni\- "nothing,"" I quoted from an author (Swift) witli
whom the Judge had a personal quarrel, this with being on the
wrong side of the question fired me. This time I resolved to re-
trieve. A most intricate question on the doctrine of relation and
estoj^pel was handed M. Brown of X. J. and myself by Sq. San-
ford of this place. The next day we had a very learned decision
luckilv in my favor. * * *
^'our attectionate son,
Augustus Hand
THE LAW SCmjOL BUILDINGS.
The pictuhe of the Reeves Law School building appended here,
shows it as now ( 1908 ) appears after the restoration as far as
possible to its original condition. 'I'he Litchfield correspondent of
the JVaterhury ulmcricaii describes the situation as follows:
Litchfield. Xov. 19 — Tapping Reeve, the ftnnider of the Litchfield
Law Schoijl. famous as having been the first law school in the
L^nited States, was the son of a Presbyterian minister and was born
on the Sou-th side of Long Island. He was educated at Princeton,
where he graduated in I7'">3, at the age of 17 }ears. For seven
}ears he remained as a tutoj at Princeton, then came to Connecticut
and practiced law in the office of Judge Root of Hartford and as
soon as he was admitted to the bar he settled in Litchfiekf about
1772. He had previously married Sally Burr, daughter of Presi-
dent l^)urr of I'rinceton College, and sister of Aaron lUirr, who
studied in the school, and who was a frequent visitor in his familv.
In 1782, tlie numl)er of students who \\'ished to study in Reeve's
office had become so large, that he built the small house shown
in the ])icture. in the corner of his yard, on South Street, the place
now owned by Charles H. WoodrulT of Xew York and Litchfield,
■j'o this .-school came students from all ])arts of the coimtry. many
of the men who gained renown in the practice of law and in other
I)rofessions, being graduates of this school.
Judge Reeve continued to use this building until his death, and
in 1846 the building was sold to Plenry Ward, who ]>urchased a lot
of land on the brow of West Hill and placed the building there,
fitting it up as a small house. In 1886 the property was bought by
Mrs. Mary C. Daniels and her son. Prof. Charles F. Daniels of
Xew York, who made it their summer home for many years. Prof.
Daniels died a few years before his mother and upon Airs. Daniel's
death it became necessar\- to sell the ])ropertv.
D. C Kilbourn began planning to have the old building pre-
served, and to that end a committee was apponted by the Litchfield
County Bar. with Mr. Killx)urn as chairman. He went before the
Legislature at its session of 1907 with the proposition that the state
192 i,n\iii'ii-;i,]) corxTv I'.ivxcii axj) har
buy it and keep it as state property. This proposal was, however^
rejected. Thereupon the executor was obUj^ed to sell the place at
auction, and Mr. Kilbourn bought it for about $2,700. He im-
mediately began restoring the old part and to do this he had the
original law school building detached from the additions which had
been put on by ]\lr. and Airs. Daniels.
The building was moved to the extreme west end of the lot and
has been restored both inside and out as far as possible to its
original appearance. At the time of the Ward purchase of the
house, it was lathed and plastered. This has been taken off, leaving
the original wide pine boards with which it was ceiled, which still
show inkstains, and in some places penciled names. One of the
original outside doors was found in a mutilated condition, and this
has been framed into the wall, and forms the frame of a large
crayon portrait of Judge Reeve. The i»ld small-paned windows,
which appear in the picture are the same as of old.
When taking off the plastering and lath, several old boards were
found literally covered with names and inscriptions, done by jack-
knife artists in those old school days, when human nature was nuich
the same as now. Many of these names are to be found in the cata-
logue of the school in Mr. Kilbourn's possession. Some of the
names are W. T. Gould. 1818; X. Billings, New London; IJoard-
man, 1820; William Petit, Marietta, Ohio; 1810; J. B. Skinner, A.
Bates, Samuel W. Cheever. F. E. P.. P. McE., E. P. S., Jones, (in
monogram. J
An interesting (juestion is how the building was heated, as no
trace of a fireplace was found. Did thev sit in the room with no fire,
as the churches of those days were unheated.
It is Mr. Kilbourn's present intention to make, if possible, some
arrangement by which the old building can be ke])t as an interesting
relic, and the members of the Litchfield County Bar are getting
much interested to have this done.
It should be understood, in this connection, that the picture of
what has been called "The First Law School of America" which
has a])peared from time to time in the state papers, is not a picture
of the first law school building, but of the second one, which was
built by Ju<lge (Vould later. He came to Litchfield and was as-
sociated with Juilge Iveeve in his school, and after Judge Reeve's
death he carried on the school, putting u]) the building sometimes
called the first school in the \ard of his property, now the Hoppin
house, on Xorth street. The school was carried on in that building,
to be stu-e, but it was not the first building. It has been standing
about a mile west of the village, and used as a negro tenement,
but is fast falling to i)ieces. There is no doubt that the interest
of Mr. Kilhomn in the real "first law school building" has been
the means of saving this historic building, and j^rcserving it for the
l>enefit of future generations.
i^
p
'n
LAW SCHOOIv 193
THE LITCHFIELD LAW SCHOOL.
A catalogue of this school was published in 1828 of those attend-
ing from 1798. A supplement was added bringing the names down
to 1 83 1. In 1849 it was reprinted including the names to the close
of the school in 1833.
In January, 1900, Hon. George M. Woodrufif again reprinted
the catalogue,' adding some pictures and matter relating thereto.
The various notices and prefaces are herewith reprinted and
fullv explain themselves.
In the former catalogues the names are arranged by classes,
in this they appear alphetically.
It is believed that these names all appear upon the Bar Records,
it being the rule that all students should be entered thereon. Upon
our records there are a great many names not appearing in this
catalogue, being students who were studying with other attorneys.
That none of the law school students previous to. 1798 appear here
is probabh- from the fact that our bar records begin at that date.
AD\ERTISEMEXT To FIRST EDITIOX 1828.
The committee to whom has been referred the publication of
this catalogue, deem it i)r()i)er to ])rehx a few observations in rela-
tion to the institution, and the course of iuotruction therein pre-
scribed.
The Law School was established in 1782 by the Hon. Tapping
Reeve, late Chief Justice of this State, and continued under his
sole direction until the year 1793, when the Hon. J. (fould was
associated with him. These gentlemen continued their joint labors
until 1820, since which period Judge Gould has lectured alone.
From its commencement, it has enjoyed a patronage, which dis-
tinguished talent, combined with legal attainment, justly merited.
It has been composed of young men from every section of the
I7ni(in. manv of whom have since been eminently conspicuous, both
as jurists and as statemen. And, indeed, even now, notwithstand-
ing the nuermous legal seminaries which have been established
throughout our country, this school maintains its proud pre-emi-
nence.* This, it is believed, it to be attributed to the advantages,
which the mode of instruction here prescribed, possess over the
§y*sterrr usuaTK-~'ail6pted in similar institutions.
According to the plan pursued by Judge Gould, the law is
'divided into forty-eight titles, which embrace all its important
branches, and of which he treats in systematic detail. These titles
are the result of thirty years severe and close application. They
comprehended the whole of his legal reading during that Dcriod,
and continue moreover, to be enlarged and improved by modern
adjudications. The lectures, which are delivered every day, and
H)4 I.ITCHI'IEI.D COl'XTY BRXCII AND BAR
Avhicli usually c>ccui)y an hour and a half, embrace every principle
and rule falling under the several divisions of tlie different titles.
These principles and rules are su])ported by numerous authorities,
-and i(enerally accompanied with familiar illustrations. Whenever
the opinions upon any point arc contradictory, the authorities in
su])port of either doctrine are cited, and the arc^uments. advanced
l)y either side, are presented in a clear and concise manner, toj^ether
Avith the lecturer's own vievvs of the f|uestion. In fact, every ancient
and modern opinion, whether over-ruled, doubted, or in any way
qualified, is here systematically digested. Tliese lectures, thus
classified, are taken down in full by the students, and after being
compared with each other, are generally transcribed in a more neat
and legible liand. The remainder of the day is occupied in examin-
ing the authorities cited in support of the several rules, and in read-
ing the most ap]:)roved authors upon those branches of the law,
which are at the time the subject of the lectures. These notes,
thus written out, are, when C()m])lete, comprised in five large vol-
umes, which constitute books of reference, the great advantages
of which must be apparent to every one of the slightest acquaint-
ance with the com]irehensive and abstruse science of the law. The
examinations, which are held every Saturdax , upon the lectures of
the preceeding week, consist of a thorough investigation of the
])rinciples of each rule, and not merely of such questions as can
be answered from memory without any exercise of the judgment.
These examinations are held by Jabez \\\ Huntington, Esq., a dis-
tinguished gentleman of the l)ar, whose practice enables him to
introduce frequent and familiar illustrations, which excite an interest,
and serve to im]:)ress more strongly upon the mind the knowledge
acquired during the week.
There is also connected with the institution, a Moot Court for
the argument of law questions, at which Judge Gould ])resides.
The questions that are discussed are prepared l)y him in the forms
in which the\- generally arise. These courts are held once at least
in each week, two students acting as counsellors one on each side.
And the arguments that are advanced, together with the opinion of
the judge, are carefully reconkMl in a book kept for that purpose.
For the preparation of these questions, access may at all times
1)6 had to an extensive library. Besides these courts, there are
societies established for improvement in forensic exercises, which
are entirely under the control of the students..
The whole course is completed in fourteen months, including
two vacations of two weeks each, one in the spring, the other in
the autumn. No student can enter for a shorter period than three
months. The terms of instruction are $ioo for the first year, and
$60 for the second, payable either in advance or at the end of the
year.
jrUC.IC COLLI) S LAW SCHOOL I'.L'ILOIXG
This 1)iiil(liiiy;- was l)uilt 1)\' janies (jonkl as his law office ahout
1795. ^\ hen he associated with Ju(lo;'e Reeve in law school he used
his office for his lectures. It stood in his yard on the West side of
North street. It was abandoned at the close of the Law School
about 1835. and soon after the death of Judge Gould was sold and
removed a mile West of the village on the Bantam road and con-
verted into a dwelling- house. For many years it was occupied by a
colored family, and for five or six years has been unoccupied. It
is now a ruin.
'J'he photo frdui which this picture was made was taken in 1898.
CI^OKCK C. WOCJDKLl'l'
Compiler of this Catalogue, 1828.
1,.\\V SCHOOL 195
This cataloo-ue extends only as far back as 1798. Previous to
that period, it is beheved that the whole number exceeded four
hundred ; no record, however, has been preserved. The names of
the students are placed in the order in which they entered, without
any regard to the leng-th of time they continued as members of the
institution. The committee have endeavored to notice those who
have distiniruished themselves: but as this has been done n erelv
from recollection, they have no doubt passed by many, who have
conferred honor upon their country and their profession.
Litchfield, Jan. 1. 1828.
CATAL( )Gl 'E.
Abeel, George New York 1823
Adams. Charles Massachusetts 181 2
.\dams. Joseph T Massachusetts 1820
Adams. John Iviassachusetts 1822
Adams, John T Connecticut 1833
Aiken, Charles New Hampshire 1832
Albro, John A Massachusetts 182 r
Alden, Cvrus Massachusetts 1808
Alden. Hiram O Xew Hampshire 1823
Allen. Alexander M Georgia 1801
Allen. Zimri R Nernront 181 1
Allyn, J. T. Maryland 1821
Alston. William \V South Carolina 1818
Alston. William J South Carolina 1824
Ames, Samuel Rhode Island — Chief Jus. R. I . . 1824
Andrews, William Massachusetts 1812
Andrews. \\'illiam T. . . . . . .Massachusetts 1812
Anderson. I'ranklin Maryland 1813
Anderson. John ^^iaryland 1815
Ashley. Chester Xew York — U. S. Senator 1814
Aspinwall. Thomas L Xew York 1810
Atwater. Frederick Xew York 1814
Atwater. Russell Xew York 1815
Austin, Charles r\Jassachusetts 1812
Austin, Ralsamon Connecticut i8or
Austin, Senaca X'ermont 1820
Averill, Elisha Connecticut 1814
Averill, William H Connecticut 18 17
Ayer, Zaccheus Georgia 1817
196 LITCHFIELD COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
B
Babbitt, Roswell New York
Bacon, David Connecticut
Bacon, William J Xew York
Baker, Joshua Louisiana
Baker, Walter New Hampshire
Balcom, Everett Massachusetts
Baldwin, Birdsey Connecticut . . .
Baldwin, Charles New York
Baldwin, Charles Connecticut
Baldwin, Ebenezer Connecticut
]',aldwin. Henry Conn.— Judge Sup. Ct. U.S. M. C
Baldwin, Roger S Conn. — Governor. U. S. Senator.
Baldwin, Samuel S Connecticut
Banks, William C Georgia
Barcla}-, David, Jr A'irginia
Barnes, Enos H A'irginia ; . .
Barnes, Joseph Alassachusetts — Judge i'enn. . . .
Barnes, Lauren .Connecticut
Barnwell William South Carolina
l^)artram, Daniel S Comiecticut
Bates, Anson .Connecticut
Battle, Josiah B Connecticut
Baxter, Eli H Georgia — Judge Circuit Court..
Baxter, Horace Massachusetts
Beach, Erasmus D ^Massachusetts
Beebe, Levi S New York
Beecher, Truman , . .Connecticut
Beers, David B Connecticut
Beers, Frederick . .Connecticut
Beers, Seth P Conn. — Com. of School Fund. . .
Belden, Hiezekiah Connecticut
Beli', Hiarvey A'ermont
Bell, James Vermont
I'.ellamy, Joseph H Connecticut
Bennett, Milo L Conn. — L.L.D, Judge SupCt. Vt.
Beverly, James District Columbia
Beverly, William District Columbia
Bigelovv, Horatio Massachusetts
r.igelow, Silas Massachusetts
Hillings, Noyes Connecticut — Lieut.-Governor . .
Bingham, F. W Xew York
Bissell, Edward Connecticut
B)issell. John, Jr Comiecticut
r>ishop, Jonathan P Alaryland
Bixby, Alfred New Hampshire
833
806
823
821
812
818
806
801
810
810
798
812
800
818
832
826
801
806
826
799
820
798
818
812
816
829
809
80^
798
812
824
808
811
813
813
810
814
820
830
828
826
814
821
LAW SCHOOL 197
Blackwell, David . . .Kentucky 1813
Blake. Eli W Connecticut 1817
Blake, Francis A Massachusetts ^817,
Bond. Nathaniel P Geor^-ia 1819
Bond. William Maryland 181 r
Bonestall. A'irgil D New York 1830
Bonnel, Joseph Delaware 181 5
Boardman. George S Connecticut 1819
Boardman, William \\' Connecticut — Member Congress. 18 16
I'.olles. Job S. T Georgia ' 1822
Booth. James. Jr Delaware — Chief Justice 1810
Bosson, Charles Massachusetts t8ii
Bostvvick. Charles Connecticut 1798
Bovle. James Connecticut i<^33
Brace, John V Connecticut 181 2
Brace. Thomas K Connecticut 1802
P.radley, Benj. IT Connecticut 1818
Bradley, Edwin ]'> CV)nnecticut 1827
Brayton, George A Bhode Island 1825
Breckenridge. John Maryland 1821
Brimsmade. Daniel B Connecticut 1803
B-ronson, Frederick Xew York 1824
iSroome. Jacob Delaware t8o<i
Brookes. Whitefield South Carolina 1814
T>rown, Charles R Connecticut ^813
Brown, Franklin Xew York 1827
Brown, George Xew York 1814
Brown, Nicholas, Jr Rhode Island 181 1
Bruvn, Andrew D. W X'^ew York — -^Member Congress. . 181 1
Buffet, William P Xew York 1813
Buchanan, AN'illiam S ..... . 1 'ennsylvania 1824
lUilkley, Joscjih Cnnecticut 1810
lUillard, Royal Massachusetts 1810
15ull. Epaphras W Connecticut 1826
Bunker, Charles ^Massachusetts 1822
Bunnell, James F X^ew York 1827
Burgess, \\'. Arnold Rhode Island 1821
Butler, Chester P Pennsylvania — ]\Iem. of Cong. . . 1818
Butler, David B Xew jersey 1825
Burrall. \\'illiam P Connecticut 1828
Calhoun, John C South Carolina — L. L. D., A'. P.
Mem. of Cong. ; Senator ; Sec.
of State and of War 1805
Camp, Ralph G Connecticut 1824
198 I.ITCITI'IKI.D COrXTV HKXCn AND BAR
CanibrelHng- Stephen North Carohna
Campbell, Collin South Carolina
Campbell, Georj^e L New York
Cam])l)ell, John South Carolina
Cantelou, l*eter L Georgia
Cantelou, William !*> Georgia
Canfield, Ezra Connecticut
Canfiekl, Henry J Connecticut
Cardwell. John W South Carolina
Carroll, Charles H New York — Member Congress. .
Carroll, Willam , . .Indiana
Castor, Dyer 1 'ennsylvania
Catlin, George I'enn. — Indian portrait painter. .
Catlin. (icorge S Conn. — Member of Congress. . . .
Catlin, Grove Connecticut
Chase, Harvey ... New Hampshire
Chase, Moses New Hhampshire
Chase, Samuel New York
Champion, Epaphroditus . . .Connecticut
Champlin, Christopher Rhode Island
Chambers, Joseph I'ennsylvania
Chambers, llenjamin L Maryland
Chamberlin, Melliu Maine
Chandler, Anson G , . Maine
Chandler, John A Maine
Chandler, Hannibal Virginia
Channing, Henry W Connecticut
Chapin. Moses Mass. — Judge X. Y. Courts
Chapman, Charles .Connecticut
Chester, Henry New York
Chester, Ste])hen M Connecticut
Cheever, Sanniel Massachusetts
Child, .\bicl . .Connecticut
Childs, Timothy, Jr Massachusetts — Mem. Congress.
Chittenden, Frederick Connecticut
Church, Aaron .Connecticut
Church, Leman Connecticut
Church. Samuel Connecticut — Chief Justice
Clark, .Archibald Georgia
Clark, Gibson Georgia
Clark. I lenr} L New York
Clark, James Georgia
Clark, Robert Georgia ,
Clark, 1 'ctcr New Jersey
Clayton. John AT Delaware — L.L.D, Chief Justice;
U. S. Senator; Sec. of State. .
Cleveland. Stephen New York
813
809
826
820
813
813
80 r
808
823
817
823
82 s
817
827
806
800
798
818
80 T
810
820
822
819
818
818
832
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813
818
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812
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814
824
80C1
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800
804
82(1
820
83-'
811
8.7
815
LAW scir(X)L 199
Clifton. \\ illiani C Georgia
Clinton, George W New York
Cockburn, William New York
Cogshall. josiah H Massachusetts
Coleman, John J Alabama
Collier. John A Connecticut — Af. C. New York. .
Collins. Augustus Connecticut
Collins, Josiah. Jr North Carolina
Cook, James C Connecticut
Cook. Oliver D., Jr Connecticut
Cooke. Roger W Connecticut
Coolc}-, James Alassachusetts
Cole. John New York
Cooper. Benjamin F Xew York
Conkling. Thomas Maryland
Condit, Jacob A New^ Jersey
Converse, Porter \ ermont
Cowles. Samuel Connecticut
Cowles. Henry \\ Xcw York
Cowles. Sands G. . . . Connecticut
Crawford, James X'enrnont
Crawford. Joel Georgia — Member of Congress. .
Croghan. William Kentucky
Crosby, Piatt H Xew "i'ork
Cruger. H. X.. Jr vSouth Carolina
Cumming. Ivhvard I i Xew Jersey
Cumming. William Georgia
Cunningham. Koberl South Carolina
Cuthbert. John A Georgia — Member of Congress. .
Cuthbert. Alfred Georgia — United States Senator.
Cutler. George Y Connecticut
Cutting. r>rockholst . New York
Cushman. Cliarles C Vermont
Cushman. John P Conn. — M. C. and Judge X. Y. .
82;;
828
818
8og
S27
805
804
826
818
817
799
810
821
817
813
804
802
817
^26
832
8o('>
813
821
