USA > Connecticut > Windham County > A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume I > Part 95
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He was re-elected in 1836-the only democrat from his county and one of thirty-eight in the state. He had been appointed the first man to hold the office of state bank commissioner, and in the 1837 Legislature helped to defeat the per- nicious measure proposed by the whig party, among which there appeared a determined effort to saddle the school fund and railroad debts upon the state. He received due credit for his labors. This was during the great financial panic of those days which spread throughout the land.
Mr. Cleveland opened a law office at. Norwich, having for his partner Col. James A. Hovey, the firm title being Cleveland & Hovey. Previous to this, how- ever, he had held the office of Probate judge for the Windham district; for a series of years was prosecuting attorney for Windham County. In 1842 he was elected governor by a plurality of 1,836 and again in 1843 he was elected. It was during the session of the Legislature in 1842 when he highly recommended the abolition of imprisonment for debt in this state. The imprisonment for debt had taken the poor man, though honest, and placed him in the hands of the unflinching rich man. This law was passed, but under great opposition of the whig party. Since then every state in the union has adopted the no-imprison- ment for debt law.
Another one of Governor Cleveland's recommendations was that for the first appropriation made in Connecticut for the support and care of the insane poor. He also recommended and the Legislature passed the bill which secured to chil- dren under fourteen years of age, who were workers in factories, the ten-hour sys- tem and a three months' schooling year. In brief, it may be stated that Governor Cleveland's recommendations were made for the benefit of that class who were more or less at the mercy of the rich, and a legislature in fact, as in name, nobly responded to his recommendations, and much, very much good has resulted from it which has and will bless the people of the state. With such a record it is no wonder that the people of this state again elected him as their governor in 1843.
After serving ably and well as chief executive for his commonwealth for two terms, he resumed law practice and continued the same until almost eighty years of age. In 1842 Trinity College conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws.
In 1847 the railroad interests of Connecticut were coming to be of great importance. Mr. Cleveland was returned as a member of the House, and labored hard to have the state encourage the building of such highways; he served in the sessions of 1847 and 1848.
In 1849 he was elected to a seat in Congress over Hon. John A. Rockwell and again in 1851. In Congress he bitterly opposed the further extension of slavery, and later was active in forming and supporting the republican party. He was present at Philadelphia when Gen. John C. Fremont was nominated for Presi- dent; also at Chicago when Abraham Lincoln was nominated in 1860. It was
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EX-GOV. CHAUNCEY F. CLEVELAND
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the question of slavery that caused Mr. Cleveland to leave the democratic party and aid in building up the republican party. In 1861, Governor Buckingham appointed him a delegate to the Peace Convention held at Washington, D. C., and there he did all in his power to bring peace about without a civil war, but all to no avail. After the war ended and peace was reigning throughout the land, he returned to the democratic party sufficient to support Horace Greeley for President in 1872. In 1863 Governor Cleveland was again a member of the Connecticut Legislature and was elected speaker in 1866 of the same body. He became a candidate for United States senator, but on account of his old anti- slavery proclivities could not be elected.
After a long and eventful life, this distinguished citizen passed from earth's shining circle. He was about eighty-eight years of age at the time of his decease. He died suddenly at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, near his home in Hampton. He died without pain and instantly, of apoplexy. Strange enough the manner in which he died was the one he had chosen and the time of the year-the "month of roses" -- was the one season he had desired to die in. He had hoped to be spared any pain and lingering illness and so it was that he passed away without warning. He had gone from his house to the Congregational Church, where he sat upon the steps and called to a Mr. Holt a neighbor, telling him of some work he wished to have done "tomorrow." Mr. Holt left him sitting there, in usual health and when he went back to the place from which the governor had called him-six to eight rods away-he looked back and saw the prostrate form of the good man. Hurrying back, he discovered that he was dead. He died on the church steps-the church he had attended and supported-for more than sixty years.
He was buried in the family tomb which he had made in 1850, in the South Cemetery at Hampton. Indeed, it was befitting that his active pall-bearers should have been selected from out the men who in their young manhood had worked for him on his farm. Be it remembered that Governor Cleveland was a true type of a spirited commoner, and allowed his hired men and women to eat at the family table. He was ever a friend to the poor and unfortunate, and was very dignified, yet truly democratic in his manners. The names of his active pall-bearers just mentioned were : Charles J. Bush, Austin Pearl, George Bennett, Albert Guild and James Kelley.
The governor was the sixth in genealogical line from the American ancestor- Moses Cleveland of Ipswich, England, who settled in Massachusetts in 1635.
Of his domestic relations let it be said that he was twice married-first to Miss Diantha Hovey, by whom was born two children : a son John and a daughter Delia, who became the wife of lieutenant-governor of Connecticut; the mother died in 1867 and two years later Governor Cleveland married Miss Helen Litch- field, who survived him until 1917.
RECOLLECTIONS OF GOVERNOR CLEVELAND
By State's Attorney Charles E. Searls
My acquaintance with Chauncey F. Cleveland began during the later years of his professional life, and continued until his death.
After his retirement from practice I met him infrequently, but for the last six or eight years of his business activity I knew him intimately and was asso- ciated with him continually in the preparation and trial of causes.
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He was unquestionably during that time, and for many years before, the first citizen of Windham County. His fame as a lawyer was co-extensive with the limits of the state, and his reputation as a man of affairs extended beyond the state lines. He was governor of Connecticut in 1843 and 1844; was a member of Congress from the old Third Congressional District, consisting of New London and Windham counties, from 1849 to 1853, and was speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1863.
His personal appearance was most attractive and impressive and his bearing always dignified, yet kindly. He was of medium height, of graceful figure, and had, while I knew him, a shock of soft, snow-white hair. His hands were very white and shapely, and he knew how to display them to the greatest possible advantage when arguing a case. In dress he was immaculate, and his clothing was of the latest fashion. He generally carried a handsome gold-headed cane, which, according to my recollection, was presented to him by admiring con- stituents.
He knew practically every man, woman and child in the county, and could call the names of most of them.
He was in fact a typical gentleman of the old school, polite and friendly, except upon occasion, for example, when dissecting before a jury the sins and enormities of the opposing counsel and his client.
To the younger members of the Bar he was a protector and counsellor, ever ready to advise and assist them as occasion might require. The writer remem- bers well the first case he had in the Superior Court, and that, upon the verge of the trial, he was stricken with stage fright. In his perturbation he appealed to Governor Cleveland, and that great-hearted man said at once, and in most soothing tones : "Don't worry ; I will try the case with you," and he did so, thus enabling me to win, of so much moment to the fledgling, my first important legal contest. When all was over and the remains of the enemy and his counsel had been removed, I went to Governor Cleveland and requested his bill. He replied : "Not a cent, my son. I am glad to help you. Come again when in trouble." This was only one of the many instances which might readily be recalled of like kindness extended to the trembling neophyte.
Governor Cleveland did not know a large amount of law in the abstract, and, greatly to his credit, did not pretend to know very much of it. In fact he seldom drafted a writ, usually sending a client to a brother lawyer, who would make out the process, attend to the pleadings, and assist finally upon the trial. When the case reached a stage where the arguments were in order, the governor would appear, smiling, immaculate, a majestic figure, and then proceed, after due compliments to the jury, collectively and individually, to tell them what they should do and what their duty might be in connection with the verdict which they would return later. Usually they hastened to act as he had indicated and had made clear to them to be their bounden duty under their oaths.
His political career was most honorable, although not of long duration. Sara Lippincott, then Sara Clarke, once an authoress of considerable repute, writing in 1851 as a newspaper correspondent from Washington, under the nom de plume of Grace Greenwood, refers to him as follows: "Governor Cleve- land of Connecticut frequently looks in upon us. He is a very agreeable, but an ambitious man, I fear, for not content, as many a legislator would be, with the reputation of being one of the handsomest men in Congress, he aspires to win a
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still higher fame by the advocacy of sentiments just and noble, but today unpopu- lar, yet having within themselves the germs of future honor."
I must not forget to mention one marked trait of Cleveland's character, and that is the part which he always played as a peace-maker between litigants. He seemed never to have in mind the amount of his fees, but invariably would advise an amicable adjustment, and would even go so far sometimes as to get the parties and their counsel together in his room in the old hotel at Brooklyn, and there act as the friend of all concerned, not infrequently bringing about a settlement of the controversy.
When Sumter was fired upon, and the Civil war burst in all its fury upon us, he, by voice and pen, and in every possible way, without ceasing, used his utmost endeavor to arouse the people to a full realization of the tremendous issue con- fronting the nation, and to awaken and fan their patriotism.
As the result of his life-work and his large practice, he left a very modest estate, every dollar of which was worthily earned, not a penny representing extortion or dishonesty.
PENROSE AND PHILLIPS By Hon. Charles E. Searls
When in 1870 I was admitted to the Bar of Windham County, Governor Cleveland of Hampton, John J. Penrose of Plainfield, and Gilbert W. Phillips of Putnam, were recognized leaders of that Bar.
Upon the retirement of Governor Cleveland, Mr. Penrose became, and con- tinued to be until his health gave way and he retired from practice, its recog- nized head.
The professional activities of Mr. Phillips, for a number of years, were almost entirely in the line of railroad work, and being one of the counsel of the New York and New England Railroad Company, he was therefore during that time, seldom seen in the local courts.
These men were antithetic in appearance, in thought, in expression, and notably in the way each prepared and tried his cases.
Mr. Penrose was a lawyer of the old school, one of a generation of lawyers almost extinct. He came to the Bar at a time when the ability to abuse roundly opposing counsel, his client, and his witnesses, during the progress of a trial, and especially in the argument, was regarded as a prerequisite of a successful prac- titioner, and the opinion was universal that an attorney did not earn his fees if he omitted to flay, in an artistic manner, the other side whenever the opportunity presented itself. Right well did Mr. Penrose conform to existing conditions and beliefs, but all this without malice and apparently without causing any feeling of resentment upon the part of those thus attacked, in fact many of his clients had been upon former trials flagellated by him in open court.
A certain lawyer, whose active days in the profession were nearly over, had reached that stage of his practice when he had but a single case remaining upon the docket. Whenever this gentleman appeared before the court, which hap- pened quite often, for he was besieging that tribunal, in season and out of season, with motions of every description, Mr. Penrose took special delight in comparing him with an aged hen scratching assiduously for her offspring consisting of one diminutive and sickly chick.
Upon another occasion, when an attorney corpulent and short of breath, after
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a violent exordium, had become exhausted, and therefore had suspended his argu- ment temporarily, meanwhile resting both hands upon the table, facing the jury and breathing stentoriously, Mr. Penrose leaned forward, and addressing them in a low voice, audible, however, through the court room to all present, said : "Don't be alarmed, gentlemen, he won't hurt you, he is more harmless than he looks, and I assure you he is unable to get over the table so as to reach you."
A favorite expression of his, whenever the opposing counsel displayed any evidence of disturbance under his fiery attacks was, "Let the galled jade wince, my withers are unstrung."
Mr. Penrose regarded a multiplicity of text books and all case law with small favor. He had comparatively few volumes in his library, and was wont to say that the decisions of the Supreme Court of Connecticut he must necessarily recognize, but that those of other states did not appeal to him unless he approved of the principles enunciated. He always asserted that the law was pure logic, and for its successful application in a given case, sound reasoning from estab- lished principles was all that was required; that one should work out his own problems, disregarding extraneous help such as text books and decisions other than those of our Supreme Court. "Do your own thinking," he was wont to say, "do it logically, and you will reach a correct conclusion."
He heartily approved of the decisions of our Supreme Court when these agreed with his view of the law, but was very pronounced in his expressions of disapproval when these decisions did not conform to his own conclusions. It is fair to say, however, that in a large majority of cases the Supreme Court agreed with him and he with the Supreme Court. He was a lawyer, purely such ; his book knowledge was limited, as was also his acquaintance with general literature.
In the argument of legal questions he was seen at his best. His bearing was courteous and deferential, and his presentation of the law a model for its clear- ness and brevity.
He was thoroughly honest and upright, beyond the breath of suspicion or criticism, fighting for his clients to the last ditch, and devoted to his profession, to the practice of which he gave his undivided attention.
Political life did not appeal to him. Always a democrat, once only did he accept a nomination for office from his party, that nomination being for Congress. He appeared upon one occasion upon the platform as a political speaker during his campaign. Then there was a remarkable transformation in the man. The members of the Bar, blindfolded, would not have recognized him. The speech then delivered was extremely commonplace in its matter, hesitating in its method, and aroused no enthusiasm. The district being strongly republican, he was of course defeated, and thereupon shook the dust of politics forever from his feet.
A thick-set man, of medium height, large head, aggressive mouth and chin, a powerful voice, a most expressive vocabulary when aroused, and of bull-dog tenacity, he was the terror of all opposing lawyers and the delight of his clients.
Many years have passed since he left us, times have changed, and methods in the courts as well, since the day when the jury listened with bated breath to the fiery appeal, and the sledge-hammer arguments, with which he drove home to them the facts as he claimed them to be.
His charges, as fees now are, were ridiculously small, and the only office books he kept consisted of penciled entries upon printed court dockets, and these he often forgot to make.
The lawyer of today, with his larger vision, may learn much from a study of
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this original and sturdy exponent of the law as he practiced it in his day and time. He was a picturesque figure, and not soon, if ever, shall we look upon his like again.
Mr. Phillips was a broader man mentally than Mr. Penrose, and more pol- ished, a hard worker in the preparation of his cases, in this differing much from Mr. Penrose, who, apparently without study or preparation and almost intui- tively, would grasp the crux of the whole matter and the details, even if extremely complicated.
The writer recalls the time when he called upon Mr. Penrose for the purpose of associating him in a case, and of discussing its details. The weather was . fine, and the croquet lawn at Mr. Penrose's home in excellent condition, the result being that it was impossible to induce him to consider at any length the matter in hand, and the writer was dragged, figuratively speaking, to the cro- quet ground and compelled there to spend the time intended by him to have been devoted to the discussion of the questions involved in the cause, in playing a game of croquet. Some months later, when the trial was reached, Mr. Penrose seemed to know all about these questions, although there had been no further interview between him and the writer.
Mr. Phillips was tall and thin, with the stooping shoulders of the scholar. He had a most pleasing address, and was always courteous to his opponents in court and to everyone with whom he came into contact.
He became, and for many years continued to be, conspicuous in the politics of the state, serving several terms in the House and in the Senate, and once, remarkable to relate, incredible to believe, declining nomination to Congress, solely because he preferred the quiet of domestic life at his own fireside, with his family about him, to the excitement of a public career.
He was not an orator, in fact was a bit hesitating' in his speech, words not coming readily at his call, but his persuasive powers were great, his knowledge of the law was large, and his standing as a lawyer and a man gave authority to his utterances. The court and jury always listened to him with the deepest respect, believing in the sincerity of his words, and in the honesty of his purpose.
He was a successful lawyer, a good citizen, and lived a life respected and honored by all. He was cut off in his prime, when he had before him the prom- ise of many years of mental development and of public usefulness.
WILLIMANTIC LAWYERS By Hadlai A. Hull
John Lathrop Hunter, for many years a practicing attorney in Connecticut, and located in Willimantic, was a native of Maine, a state which has produced many people of marked ability. He was graduated with the class of 1855 at Bowdoin College, at the age of twenty-one years. He read law with Charles Danforth, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Maine. He was admitted to the bar in 1859 and opened his office as an attorney-at-law in his native City of Gardner. In 1863 he edited The Age a democratic weekly, published at Augusta, succeeding Melville W. Fuller, afterwards chief justice of the United States.
The Civil war was at its height and young Hunter was a democrat and intensely partisan. Because of advice, which he gave to clients with reference to the constitutionality of the conscription law, he was arrested and confined
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in Fort Prebble in Portland Harbor for a period of about two weeks. He was released without any formal complaint ever having been filed against him. He believed that James G. Blaine was responsible for his arrest and when Mr. Blaine ran for the presidency, Mr. Hunter was very active against him and aided in unearthing what was known in those days as "The Mulligan Letters," which played a very important part in the defeat of Mr. Blaine.
Mr. Hunter was a delegate from Connecticut to two democratic national conventions. In 1888 Mr. Hunter and others were instrumental in persuading President Cleveland to appoint Melville W. Fuller, then a practicing lawyer in Chicago, to the office of chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite.
Mr. Hunter represented the Town of Windham in the General Assembly of Connecticut in 1879 and served on the judiciary committee. He was always active in politics and had a wide acquaintance with the leading statesmen of the country.
Mr. Hunter was intensely loyal to his clients. On one occasion he came near losing his life in his effort to protect what he believed to be the interests of a client. The possession of a large stock of hardware goods was the subject of controversy. In the effort to make entry into the premises where the goods were placed under the terms of a contract, he was shot in the hip by the other party to the dispute. He leaped over a high counter and wrested the weapon from his assailant and in the struggle both fell and broke a large plate glass window in the front of the store. The projectile was readily removed from his hip and although the risk was serious, Mr. Hunter's injuries were slight.
On one occasion he was defending in a criminal cause, in which foot prints were claimed as a means of connecting the accused with the crime. The chief witness for the state was very positive and in a very bumptious manner as- serted that he could identify the foot that made the tracks. The next morning, Mr. Hunter took to the court room plaster casts of feet of a dozen men includ- ing the foot of the accused. The witness failed, after several attempts, to identify the foot of the prisoner.
Mr. Hunter was state's attorney for the County of Windham from 1894 to his death, succeeding John J. Penrose, who had held the office for many years. He was a forceful advocate, intensely earnest in his advocacy of his cause, and as might be expected, was very effective both to the court and to the jury.
In the last few years of his life he labored under physical afflictions, to which he succumbed April 9, 1903.
Mr. Hunter was a lover of learning. He served on the local school board in both Maine and Connecticut. His diction was scholarly and often elegant. He was married twice. He had a daughter by each union. The death of his younger child was a crushing blow from which he never fully recovered. He was a member of the Episcopal Church at Willimantic and was always active and earnest in support of that church.
Mr. Hunter's personal apearance was striking and pleasing. He was rather stout. He had dark brown hair, which he wore very long. He had piercing blue eyes and regular features.
The records of the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut bear evidence to his industry and learning as a lawyer.
John Manning Hall, who afterwards became a leading figure in the legal
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profession, a judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut and in turn president and vice president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Com- pany, was graduated from Yale College in the year 1866, at the age of twenty- five years. He won the Townsend prize and was a competitor for the DeForrest medal, which was later captured by his son, John Loomer Hall, now a member of the law firm of of Boston, Mass. He was graduated from Columbia Law School in 1868 and pursued the study of law further in the office of Robert Bonner and was admitted to the bar in New York in 1870. Soon after he settled in his home town, at Willimantic, and began there a very successful career at the bar.
Mr. Hall and John L. Hunter, were generally pitted against each other in the trial of their causes and each had reason to watch carefully the weapons of offense and defense wielded by the other.
Mr. Hall was a republican and intensely partisan as such, as Mr. Hunter was in the cause of democracy. In those days political preferences went far in determining the clientele of the lawyer. Mr. Hall's ample preparation for the practice of law and resourcefulness were apparent when the conflict was most intense. His preparation of causes was efficient and his presentation masterful. He represented the Town of Windham in the General Assembly of Connecticut in the sessions of 1872 and 1882 and his senatorial district in the session of 1889. He was Speaker of the House in 1882. He was appointed to the Superior Court bench in the year 1889 and served for the period of four years when he resigned to accept the position of vice president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Upon the death of Charles P. Clark, Mr. Hall succeeded to the presidency of that railroad. The duties of this office were extremely arduous and told heavily upon Mr. Hall, undoubtedly shortening his life. Mr. Clark, his predecessor in that important office, had evolved many policies for the development of the railroad, which were not com- pleted at his death and which Mr. Hall was forced to reckon with.
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