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 9
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CHIEF JUSTICE HOSMER.
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,
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which has hardly a rival in judicial learning or eloquence. Mr. 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 prius, and on the bench of the Supreme Court. His apprehension of the points involved in the case before him, was very quick, 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 party 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 appointment, 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- jeet 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 very best. At one term of the Court, Phineas Miner, Esq .. 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 effect.
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 years thereafter.
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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 the 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. But 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, (I 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 sarvent, the judge."
He was very severe in meting out 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. A man had been convicted before Judge Lanman of a State prison offence, 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 suffered. 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
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petitioned the Legislature of the State to pay for it, in 1813, 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 affect- 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 Review, 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, 1831. 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, 'multa gemens casuque animum concessus,' and gave no opinion." I witnessed the mournful scene, and I well remember the lond 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 County. For several years before he received the appoint-
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ment, 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 efforts 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. If a 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 BRAINARD.
Jeremiah Gates Brainard, of New 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 years.
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 doubt 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.
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JUDGE DAGGETT.
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 party 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 New Haven County, and Charles J. McCurdy, 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.
THE SUPERIOR COURT, FIFTY 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 Court 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
AUGUSTUS PETTE ONE
MICHAEL F. MILLS
JOSEPII F. BALLAMY
WM. G. COE
-
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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, except 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, unless special reasons could be shown for its further con- tinnance.
THE COUNTY COURT-JUDGE 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 the constitution, of one Chief Judge and two associate judges. When I came to the bar Augustus Pettibone of Norfolk 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 power 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 Norfolk, 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. No 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- vers. 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
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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 maxims, 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.
JUDGE WELCHI.
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, Noah 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- ways made himself well understood, and his candor, fairness and sound judgment were admitted by all.
JUDGES BURRALL, WOODRUFF AND BOARDMAN.
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 Strong 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 Woodruff took the place of Judge Welch. The court continued thus organ- ized till the resignation of Judge Pettibone, 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.
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1
HON. FREDERICK WOLCOTT, CLERK
The Clerk of the Court was the Hon. Frederick Wolcott, who was appointed as early as 1781, and who retained the place till 1835, when he resigned, after a service of forty-four years. He was a son of the second, 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 legal forms and precedents. When his resigna- tion was accepted by the Court, a minute. prepared by Judge Bur- rall, which referred to his long and faithful service, and which con-
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tained the statement that 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 continued in the Senate for several years, under the constitution.
SHERIFF 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 had 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 highway, 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 passed over. The March term lasted three weeks, and the December 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 alphabetically, corresponding with the entries on the docket and of these some member of the bar, usually one of the younger, had charge. The Sheriff took his station in the center of the bar,
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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 Sheriff, 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.
ADMISSION 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 question came before Judge Brainard and he decided that under the revised statutes an admission to the bar of the County Court gave the candidate 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 imposing 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 committee 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 seriatim 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.
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