USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > The bench and bar of Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1709-1909 : biographical sketches of members, history and catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, historical notes > Part 30
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In whatever relation of life one looks at him as citizen, as neigh- bor, in private life or public station, as counsellor or judge he was one of the best products of our American civilization.
(Condensed from obituary in 54, Conn. Report).
GEORGE M. WOODRUFF was a son of. Hon. George C. Woodruff of Litchfield and enjoys the distinction of being, through his father and mother, a member of the only two families in the county who have for three successive generations practiced before its courts. In fact it might be said for four generations as Mr. Woodruff's grandfather on one side was county judge and on the other sheriff. He was born in Litchfield, 1836 and has been extremely active in state as well as town affairs. He prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, graduated at Yale in 1857, the Harvard Law School in 1859 and was admitted to the Litchfield Bar in the same year. He was in the Legislature in 1863, 1865 and 1872, serving
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BIOGRAPHICAL, NOTES
on the Judiciary Committee the first two terms. He was town treas- urer 1866 to 1906 and Judge of Probate since 1868 with the ex- ception of one year. He was one of the state railroad commissioners from 1874 to 1897 and chairman of the Board from 1875. Mr. Woodruff was commissioner for this state to the Universal Ex- position at Hamburg in 1863 and a member of the State Board of education from 1865 to 1877. He is an active member and Deacon in the Congregational church and has been president of the Savings Society since 1885. He is also president of the First National Bank and Vice-President of the Colonial Trust Company of Waterbury.
JAMES P. WOODRUFF is a son of Hon. George M. Woodruff, born in Litchfield October 30, 1868, graduated from Amherst College in 1801 and from Yale Law School in 1893 and was admitted to this Bar in 1803. Resides and practices at Litchfield in company with his father. He represented his town in the Legislature of 1899-1903.
HON. LEWIS B. WOODRUFF. L. L. D., son of Gen. Morris Wood- ruff and brother of Hon. George C. Woodruff, was born in Litch- field (South Farms) June 19. 1809. Preparing for College at the then noted Morris Academy, he graduated with high honors from Yale College in 1830. In the fall of that year he entered the Litch- field Law School, where under the instruction of Judge Gould, then at its head, he laid the foundation of the scholarly learning which secured his success at the Bar and so distinguished his judicial career. On completing his studies in that school he was admitted to the Bar of Connecticut in 1832. In October of that year he re- moved to the city of New York, and after a successful practice at the Bar he was. in 1850. called to the Bench, and thereafter held successively the offices of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Superior Court, Court of Appeals, and United States Circuit Court for the Second Judicial Circuit, which latter position he filled at the time of his death. A devoted lover of his native State it was especially pleasing to him that Connecticut was a part of his Judi- cial District, maintaining a residence in Litchfield a portion of the year and he died at his home in that place September 10. 1875. esteemed. revered and beloved by all who new him. His great learning, his remarkable power of analysis, and his deep discern- ment and excellent judgment, reinforced by habits of profound study and indefatigable industry, and his sterling integrity insured his high reputation on the Bench.
Dignified. in his bearing. he was in the family circle tender and affectionate, everywhere generous, kind and helpful. Devoted to his home joys, genial and cordial, he was the delight of the social circle, and his loving welcome, hospitable board and ever open door, kept warm hearts constantly about him.
It was said of him :- "He went to the very bottom of every sub- ject with which he undertook to deal. He cared not for the mil- tiplicity of details, they never clogged his perception of a general
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bearing. and never one of them was deprived of the exact degree of weight to which it was relatively entitled. Law was to him what Music or Art is to some natures, it engrossed him, and was a prov- ince in which he moved a King and a Master."
In 1860, Columbia College of New York conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
Hle married a daughter of Chief Justice Hornblower of New Jersey. Of his three children, the eldest, Charles H. Woodruff, adopted his father's profession, practicing in New York and main- taining as a summer home his father's country residence ; and he also has contributed two sons, Lewis B. and Frederick S., to the Bar of New York.
He purchased the Judge Tapping Reeve residence in Litchfield for his summer home. His portrait appears on page 206 in con- nection with the Law School.
MORRIS WOODRUFF was for many years one of the Judges of the County Court, and apparently a standing committee for the lay-out of highways and the transaction of matters of a similar nature. He was a Major General of the State Militia and held very many town and county public offices. His two sons, George C. and Lewis B. became Attorneys of the highest standing, while his only daughter was the esteemed wife of the late Chief Justice Seymour. He was born in Litchfield in 1777 and died in 1841.
PITKIN COWLES WRIGHT was born in Canaan May 1835. Grad- uated at Williams in 1852 and admitted to practice in 1855. He re- moved to lowa. He was the Grand High Priest of Iowa in 1868-9. He died at Somerville, Tenn. September 15th, 1896.
JOHN F. WYNNE, born at Sandisfield, Mass., 1860. Admitted to the Bar in 1881. Settled at Unionville in the town of Farming- ton which town he represented in the Legislature in 1886. Sub- sequently he removed to New Haven where he is now in practice.
JOHN D. YALE, Sheriff of the County from 1878 to 1881. He was born in Canaan in 1826. At the close of his term of office he resided in Winsted and was employed as a commercial traveler. He removed to Hartford, and retired from active business pursuits. He died in Hartford April 24. 1905.
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MORRIS WOODRUFF
GEORGE C. WOODRUFF
WOODRUFFS.
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JAS D WOODRUFF
GEO. M. WOODRUFF
LIGANS
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MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT.
MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT
In the preparation of this volume the compiler has collected many items not exactly apropos to the general scheme of the book. They are. however, papers and documents of such general interest that they should be preserved. and I have printed them herein under an old law term, that they may be available at some future time. I have not aimed at any particular arrangement, and the reader if he is a lawyer, may demur to them, plead in abatement, move to strike ont, erase, or for a more particular statement, just as he pleases. There will be no charge beyond the price of the book whether he wins or loses his motion ; if he is a layman he may omit them alto- gether. I have included a number of pictures which may add to the interest of the book.
"This world is but a fleeting show. And soon grim death will jerk us ; So let's be happy as we go. And all enjoy the circus."
EX-GOV. CILARLES B. ANDREWS.
In the earlier preparation of this volume I was promised an original article by the late Hon. Charles B. Andrews, but his lament- ed decease prevented me from obtaining one in his own writing. Of course those who read the Connecticut Reports are familiar with his legal opinions as found in those Reports. Judge Andrews was, however, a writer on many other subjects besides legal opinions. The following is an address which he delivered, which will serve to show his style of thought and composition, and is also a review of many of the matters contained in this volume. He gave it to me as his contribution to one of our banquets.
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AN ADDRESS BY EX. GOVERNOR CHARLES B. ANDREWS
You give it, Mr. President, as the result of your reflections, that the judicial power is the highest in the trinity of the governmental powers. I apprehend that most thoughtful persons will agree with you for the reasons you have given. In every government of laws, the courts hold the most important place. The legislature may be nominally higher than the judiciary: but in the actual experience of life, the courts touch the citizen more frequently and more nearly, than the law-making power. The legislature ordinarily does no more than make rules in the abstract : the courts apply them to concrete cases. To the parties in any given case, that seems only to be the law, which the court decides to be law, for the reason that the court must pass upon the facts, as well as interpret the rule made by the legislature.
In one of those fervid bursts of eloquence, for which Mr. Rufus Choate was so widely known, he exclaimed: "Let us repose secure under the shadow of a learned, impartial and trusted judiciary, and we need no more. Given that, and it matters little what constitution you have, or who makes the laws."
Thinking only of that former time, when no one living was con- nected with the courts, I cherish the belief that the judiciary of Con- necticut has measurably fulfilled for the people of that state, such an high idea. To some extent, doubtless, this is due to the fact that there has been no great city in the state, so that the questions, vex- ations and dangerous, liable to rise from a vast, divergent and largely unlearned population have never brought disturbance into the courts. Perhaps, also, the cities of New York on the one side, and Boston on the other, have drawn from us other sources of trouble. In an- other degree good fortune has come from the character of its people. Connecticut was a Puritan colony, even more so than Massachusetts. It has always been a Puritan state. The Puritan, with all his wil- fulness, his self-assertion, his theology and his dogmatism, was a conservative citizen. Respect for the powers that be was a part of his creed. To be sure, he intended to have the powers on his side most of the time, and never scrupled to quarrel with them if they were not : but notwithstanding, he had the thrifty habit of economy : and the money-making man is compelled to have a respect for law ; and this respect for the law has continued to this day to be a char- acter of the people of the state. But mainly the result has come from the judiciary itself. In the original frame of government of that state all judicial power was exercised by the legislature. The legislature continued to hear cases on appeal until the year 1784.
CHARLES B. ANDREWS, C. J.
3II
GOV. ANDREW'S ADDRESS
In that year it was enacted that the Lieutenant Governor and the Council should constitute the Supreme Court of Errors. In 1793 the Governor was added to the court, and made the presiding judge. Eight members were necessary to form a quorum. It was soon the subject of complaint, that the members of this court were chosen with reference to their qualifications as legislators rather than as judges. In 1806 an act was passed which transferred all the judicial power of the Governor and Council to the then Superior Court, and it was made the Supreme Court of Errors. That was the origin of the Supreme Court of Errors as it now exists. Jesse Root was at that time Chief Justice. Including its then members, and all who have since been appointed, there have been forty-four members of that court. Thirteen of its deceased members have been Chief Justices-Jesse Root. Stephen Mix Mitchell, Tapping Reeve. Zep- haniah Swift, Stephen Titus Hosmer. David Daggett, Thomas Scott Williams. Samuel Church, Henry Matson Waite, William Lucius Storrs, Joel Hinman, Thomas Belden Butler and Origen Storrs Seymour.
These were notable men in their day, and came up to the full standard of being learned, impartial and trusted. The memory of every one of them is cherished by the people of Connecticut with affectionate pride and veneration. They were no more than a fair indication of the other members of the judges. It is little wonder. then, that the people of that state have reposed secure under the shadow of their own trusted magistracy. Nor is it a wonder that the court held a ereditable place among other like courts in the nation.
Of the individual character of these and other of the judges, and of the later court, others can speak much better than myself.
Prior to 1819, all the judges were appointed annually. There was a statute which provided that the judges should hold office dur- ing the pleasure of the legislature ; but the legislature continued to manifest its pleasure by annual elections, until the adoption of the constitution, in 1818. By that constitution the judges of the Su- preme and Superior Courts were to hold office during good behavior, subject to impeachment and to be removed by advice of two-thirds of each house of the general assembly. Another clanse of the con- stitution declared that no judge or justice of the peace should be capable of holding office after he arrived at seventy years of age. These two provisions of the constitution have given rise to the sus- picion that in Connecticut a man cannot behave well as a judicial officer after he is seventy years old.
In 1855 there was a change by which the judicial term was made eight years. The legislature has always elected all judges. An- other change in 1880, has so made it that the legislature elects the judges upon the nomination of the Governor.
In the general field of law. the state of Connecticut deserves at least a passing notice. Every lawyer in the country has heard of the Litchfield Law School. More than to any other, and perhaps
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more than to all other agencies, it is owing to that law school, that the law in these United States has so much uniformity, consistency and symmetry as it has. That school was founded by Tapping Reeve in 1784. When Mr. Reeve became a judge of the Superior Court, in 1789, he associated with himself James Gould as a teacher. They continued the school together till 1820. Judge Reeve died in 1822. Judge Gould continued it till 1833. During its existence there were educated nearly two thousand young men, coming from every one of the then states. Among the number were those who afterward became judges, chief justices and prominent lawyers and statesmen in most of the states-Chief Justice Baldwin, of Georgia ; John C. Calhoun : John M. Clayton, of Deleware : Daniel S. Dick- inson, of New York: Levi Woodbury, of Maine: Theron Metcalf. of Massachusetts : William Halstead, of New Jersey : Washington Poe. and very many others.
The earliest volume of reports of decided cases published in America was in Connecticut, by Ephraim Kirby, at Litchfield, in 1789. It has erroneously been said, that the first volume of Dal- la's reports was the earliest. Dallo's first volume was not published until 1790.
Of Tapping Reeve I should speak a little more. He was much more than an ordinary man. He was born at Brookhaven, L. I .. in 1744; graduated at Princeton in 1763. Ile studied law with Jesse Root. at Hartford : settled at Litchfield in 1772, and began his law teaching in 1784. He was a born teacher. Every one of the pupils who came under his instruction became at once inspired with a love of study, with the grandeur of the science and the dignity of the pro- fession. Jesse Root, who was the instructor of Judge Reeve, was himself a distinguished man. He was born in Coventry, Conn. ; graduated at Princeton, in 1756. He was a preacher until 1763. when he became a lawyer in Hartford. He raised a company for the army and became a colonel. He was a member of the Conti- mental Congress for four years. He was a judge of the Superior Court after 1788. He published two volumes of reports. Another Chief Justice was Zephaniah Swift, who was the author of Swift's Digest. The older lawyers in all those states, which founded their law upon the common law, have doubtless heard of this book. It was exceedingly valuable as an introductory book for beginners, and an excellent hand-book for professional work.
The work of the court in Connecticut is recorded in the volume of reports which I have mentioned, in five volumes of Day's Reports, and in fifty-seven volumes of Connecticut Reports. In them there are no startling cases. They record the litigated cases of a people usually happy, and intent on the arts of peace ; but I feel sure that they teach constantly the principles of that science of which Lord Erskine said: "They are founded in the charities of religion, in the philosophy of nature, in the truths of history, and in the experience of common life."
313
IF. WILLIAMS' ARGUMENT
A DEMURRER
AN ARGUMENT ON A DEMURRER.
Argument of Hubert Williams, Esq., in the case of Arthur Good- man vs. The Town of Salisbury, tried in the court of Common Pleas before Hon. Arthur D. Warner, Judge.
The lease ran in the name of Arthur Goodman, agent for the Kickapoo Indian Company. A plea in abatement was filed on the claim that the suit should have been in the name of the real party. instead of the agent. To this plea in abatement the plaintiff filed a demurrer.
MR. WILLIAMS : If the Court please, 1 appear in behalf of the plea in abatement and against the demurrer. This is a demurrer to a plea in abatement in the case nominally of Arthur Goodman against The Town of Salisbury, but actually of the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company against said town.
It would be a waste of words for me to tell your Honor that I am like necessity-that I know no law. There are, however. a few facts in relation to this demurrer which I would like to present to the Court. And in passing, I would like to ask your Honor what you are here for? As I understand it, I am here to give your Honor the facts, and you are here to apply the law to those facts. It would be presumptious in me to attempt to instruct your Honor as to what the law is, because if you don't know, you ought not to be here, and 1 assume that because you are here, you do know the whole law.
Coming back to the question at issue in this case, what are the real facts? In order to obtain a proper comprehension of the case it will be necessary to begin our recital of facts back in the dawn of tradition, and I will begin at the time when the great Creator placed our common forefather, Adam, in a deep sleep in the Garden of Eden, and from his side drew forth and fashioned that which has ever since been the solace and joy of mankind in all ages .- WOMAN, but, after all, Eve was only a side issue, and that is all I am in this case.
Taking up now the lease, for the breach of which this action is instituted, and examining it carefully. your Honor will see that it gives to the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company the exclusive use of the town hall of Salisbury with all its appurtenances for one week or longer, an absolute deed in fee, at the option of the Medicine Company, in perpetuity, so that no longer shall we be able to trans- act the ordinary affairs and business which appertain to the town of Salisbury, for the oratory of the yeomen will be blended with the shrill ery of the Indian warwhoop, and the beat of the festive tom- tom. They can build their wigwams and campfires any where in the town building. Whether this lease includes the town vaults, I know not, for the town officials still hold the keys thereto. But any citi-
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zen getting the keys to the vaults and desiring to examine the pro- bate, land or town records, could only obtain access to them after stumbling over tall drunken chieftains, squalling pappooses, fat squaws and ill-smelling dogs.
Not only that, but your Honor will see that it includes the town hall and its appurtenances. Among other appurtenances we have a lockup. Under the language of this lease which is set forth in the complaint, we will no longer be able to apprehend offenders and keep them in close confinement in that lockup until they may be brought before proper authority, because, forsooth, Arthur Good- man, representing the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Co., has the ex- clusive lease of our lockup. And God and your Honor know that if these Kickapoo Indians flock into our beautiful, peaceful town and get on the rampage, after filling up with their own medicine or the white man's fire-water. there will be immediate need for a lockup.
Another appurtenance connected with our town hall, and dear to the heart of every son of Salisbury, is a cemetary immediately in the rear of that hall, where repose the bones and ashes of many of our honored dead. Under the terms of this lease, your Honor, it is possible that when Time shall have filled the measure of Eternity. and new ones shall have been born, still that hallowed ground which we love so much will be given over to Indians and tape-worms, and the graves strewn with feathers.
KICKAPOO
INDIAN REMEDY
CURES ALL
I GOT A IDEE
WOT
315
ALBERT WADILAM'S MAXIM
SOUND ADVICE
Albert Wadhams. Esq. practiced law in Goshen, coming to this County from Vermont. He never had an extensive clientage and held some peculiar views relative to law and particularly to railroad trusts. but did not live long enough to see the trusts all abolished according to his ideas. I found in his papers a good many queer things, some of which were very sensible. The following good ad- vice is I think, worthy of preservation.
MAXIM FOR A LAWYER OR "Quantum Meruit"
Always be sure, in regard to the payment of your Fees, before your Services are Rendered.
This is an act of justice to your clients, as well as to yourself. I will suppose you do not make this provision, but render voluntary services, trusting to the supposed honor of your clients, after bene- fiting them, to remunerate you. There are times, when your chances are. that they will imitate "Annanias and Sapphira" partly, or in full. thereby treating you discreditably, and placing no proper esti- mate on what you may have accomplished. It is equally a wrong. if excessive fees are received. In order to compensate yourself fairly in the first case, you can seldom do it, only as you give the delinquents a sting. "a la mode" "Peter vs. Annanias and Sapphira." in which case you loose your client probably, and the mutual benefit is at an end. Doubtless your client suffers equally with yourself in the final result, which might have been avoided by you in the com- mencement. by providing for your fee. Your services are either of value, and should be adequately paid for. or they are of no value. It is said that a stone fitted for a wall, will not be left in the way. and in a like manner your compensation for services can be secured. before you are placed in a required position. If this cannot be done generally, then you had better leave the undertaking. and follow some more appropriate calling, by which you can be maintained. Therefore, legal services, freely rendered, without adequate pro- vision for remuneration, are, as to yourself, your clients, or any one. both impolitic and unwise. A wise lawyer, for any services he may have rendered, will seldom permit a client, or any one, to define his "Quantum Meruit."
This Notice, you can post up in your office, or hang it out doors. by the side of your shingle.
Albany, N. Y .. Feb. Ist. 1865. A. TTT.
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The Annual Banquets
The one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Litchfield County Bar Association was observed by a Centennial Celebration at Winsted, on the 18th of November, 1898, at the Beardsley House, then kept by George Spencer. And since that time the Bar has held an Annual Banquet at about the same time of the year, they being holden in different places in the county as accomodations could be secured. They are generally attended by between forty and fifty members of the Bar. The exercises con- sist of after-dinner speeches, with a good deal of singing inter- spersed, and all of them have been very enjoyable.
It is impossible to give a full account of these yearly gatherings. I have, however, already included in this book some of the good things which have been said on these occasions, and now present a few more.
The invitation to the Centennial was as follows:
YE INVITATION.
GREETING :
By authority of the Litchfield County Bar you are summoned to appear at Winsted on Friday evening, November 18, 1898, then and there to answer in a complaint wherein it is complained and said.
FIRST COUNT.
1. The Superior Court for Litchfield County was established within and for Litchfield County in 1798.
2. At a meeting of the "Barr" of said County it was voted to commemorate said event at Winsted, Conn.
3. James Huntington, Wellington B. Smith, Leonard J. Nick- erson, and Dwight C. Kilbourn were appointed a Committee to carry said vote into effect.
SECOND COUNT.
1. Such commemoration will be held at the Beardsley House, Winsted Conn., November 18, 1898, and consist of a Banquet and other exercises commencing at 8:30 P. M.
2. Your prompt acceptance of this invitation is requested that the Committee may be able to guarantee the requisite accommoda- tions.
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