USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Volume III > Part 26
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ROBERT EDWARD HALL, son of William L. and Mary (Gunn) Hall, was born in Litchfield, March 19, 1858. He removed to Waterbury in 1880, and after a partial course at the Sheffield Scientific school entered the Yale Law school, and graduated there in 1882. With the exception of a brief period he has been in practice in this city since his admission to the bar.
NATHANIEL RICHARDSON BRONSON, son of Lucien S. Bronson (see page 250), was born in Waterbury, July 3, 1860. He prepared for college in the Waterbury high school, graduated from Yale in 1882, and from the Yale Law school two years later. He entered the law office of Charles G. Root in 1884, and on July 1, 1888, formed a part- nership with George E. Terry, which still continues. In May, 1895, he was appointed by Judge George H. Cowell to the position of clerk of the new city court. At the time of his appointment to this his first public office, Mr. Bronson was characterized as a "Republican in politics, a very hard worker, notably painstaking and methodical."
PORTER LEMUEL WOOD, son of Richard A. and Mary E. (Johnson) Wood, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., February 19, 1852. His father was an Englishman, and came to this country in his boyhood. His mother's father was an officer in the British army, and fought under Wellington at Waterloo. Young Wood came to Waterbury in 1863.
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He entered Brown university, Providence, R. I., in the class of '76, but on account of the failure of his health did not graduate. Be- tween 1876 and 1884, he was principal of public schools in Union City, New Milford and Bristol, after which he entered the law office of R. A. Lowe in this city, and was admitted to the bar in 1886. He has practiced in Waterbury since that time.
WILSON HOWARD PIERCE, son of the Rev. Asa Clinton and Mary (Wilson) Pierce, was born in Northford, October 12, 1857. He attended the Northford district school, the Durham academy, the Noble school in Brookfield and the State Normal school at New Britain. In 1873 he began to teach in the Centre school at New- town, and pursued at the same time his private studies, with refer- ence to entering college. He graduated at Yale in 1881, passed the next three years as principal of the New Milford high school, and at the expiration of that time entered the senior class of the Yale Law school. He graduated from there in 1885, securing the Town- send prize. He then entered the office of Brewster, Tweedy & Scott in Danbury, but during 1887 was engaged in New Milford as a tutor for young men entering college. He came to Waterbury in the spring of 1888 and opened an office for the practice of his pro- fession. In 1892 he was elected a member of the board of educa- tion of the Centre district, and for two years took an active part in the supervision of the educational affairs of the city.
JAMES EDWARD RUSSELL, son of James and Bridget (Fahy) Rus- sell, was born in Waterbury, April 16, 1860. He graduated from St. John's college, Fordham, N. Y., in 1886, and from the Yale Law school in 1888. He has been clerk of the board of school visitors since 1890, and was appointed assistant city attorney in 1894.
CHARLES JARED GRIGGS, the eldest son of Henry C. and Mary B. (Foote) Griggs, was born in Waterbury, November 28, 1864. He obtained his early education in the Waterbury English and Classi- cal school (page 529), and graduated from Yale college in the class of '86, and from the Yale Law school two years later. He was immediately admitted to the New Haven county bar, but continued his studies in the office of Gillette & Webster until October, 1889. He then formed a partnership with W. R. Mattison which continued until July, 1891, since which time he has practiced law alone. He was elected in 1891 to the office of tax collector for the town, the city and the Centre school district, and still retains the position.
WILLIAM REUBEN MATTISON Was born at South Shaftesbury, Vt., June 28, 1862. He fitted for college at the Wilbraham academy, and graduated from Amherst in the class of '86. In September of that
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year he joined the staff of the Waterbury American and remained with that paper until the following April, when he became city editor of the Waterbury Republican. In the autumn of 1887 he began the study of law in the office of Kellogg, Burpee & Kellogg, and in October, 1888, was admitted to the senior class of the Yale Law school. He graduated in 1889 and was admitted to the bar, and not long afterward formed the partnership with C. J. Griggs which has been already referred to. In 1893 he was elected city clerk by the Republican party, and held the office two years.
Mr. Mattison is a prominent member of Tunxis tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men. He is past sachem of the tribe, and is one of the committee on laws and usages of the great council of Connecticut.
WILLIAM A. ANDREWS was born at Cheshire, December 18, 1867. He was educated at the Cheshire academy and at a business college in New Haven, and graduated from the Yale Law school in 1890. He opened an office in this city in 1891, in the rooms of Charles G. Root, and died in September, 1892.
JOHN F. HOLOHAN, son of Patrick Holohan, was born in Water- bury, March 28, 1867. He was educated in the public schools of the city, studied in the office of Gillette & Webster, graduated from the Yale Law school in 1892, and commenced practice with D. F. Webster. He was appointed prosecuting agent under the liquor law in 1893, to succeed Charles A. Colley, and still retains that position.
LINFORD F. ROOT, son of Samuel and Vienna (Fenn) Root, was born in Waterbury, November 22, 1868. He was educated at Willis- ton seminary, took a partial course at Williams college, and grad- uated at the Yale Law school in 1892. He began the practice of his profession in the office of E. F. Cole. In 1893 he represented Water- bury in the legislature. He is clerk of the District court.
FRANCIS P. BRETT, a son of Patrick Brett, was born in Water- bury, December 13, 1869. He studied law in the office of Charles A. Colley, graduated at Yale Law school in 1892, and commenced practice with Mr. Colley soon afterward.
THOMAS FRANCIS LAWLOR, son of Peter and Catherine (Hen- dricken) Lawlor, was born in Waterbury, December 29, 1864. The Right Rev. T. F. Hendricken, D. D. (pages 735-740) was his mother's brother. He was educated at the Waterbury high school, and at the Yale Law school, from which he graduated in 1893. He has practiced since then in Waterbury, and was elected a justice of the peace in November, 1894 ..
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HAROLD RIGGS DURANT, son of Frederick A. and Charlotte A. Durant, was born in New Haven, January 13, 1871. Since the age of fourteen he has made his way without financial aid from others. In 1890 he became connected with the Waterbury Republican, but in 1892 entered the Yale Law school, and graduated from there in 1894. He has taken a special interest in athletics, has been manager of various base-ball teams, and while connected with the Law school managed the Yale team, which won the world's base-ball champion- ship during the Chicago exposition in 1893. He has written various short stories for the newspapers. In 1895 he was appointed a prose- cuting attorney for the Connecticut Humane society.
HENRY CHAMBERS BALDWIN, son of Lucius and Maria (Willard) Baldwin, was born in Waterbury, September 15, 1842. He gradu- ated from the Yale Law school in 1872, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He has lived and practiced his profession in Nau- gatuck, and has given special attention to questions of political economy, especially finance. He has an office in this city.
MEN WHOSE STAY WAS BRIEF.
In the list of attorneys at law who have practiced in Waterbury during the nineteenth century, about thirty are included whose sojourn here was brief, and who spent or are spending the larger part of their professional life in other places. They are men, for the most part, who came here from neighboring towns, and made perhaps a good beginning in their profession, but after a longer or shorter time passed on to larger or more promising fields. Some of them are men who identified themselves quite fully with Water- bury for the time being, and whom we may well be proud to enroll among her eminent citizens; others were here seemingly by acci- dent, and their coming and going made but little impression on the community and left but slight trace in the history of the town. We give here brief sketches of several of these men, arranged accord- ing to the date of their coming here.
ROBINSON S. HINMAN Was the son of Jonathan Hinman of South- bury, and was born there in 1801. He studied law with Royal R. Hinman in Southbury, Charles B. Phelps in Woodbury and Judge Chapman in New Haven. After practicing in several places for a short time he opened an office in Naugatuck (then a part of Water- oury) in 1828. In 1830 he was appointed postmaster there. In 1831 le removed to New Haven, and became clerk of the courts and udge of probate. He died, while an incumbent of the latter office, n November, 1843. He was a man of quick mind and rather versa-
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
tile powers, and was somewhat "peculiar." He had great order and method in his work and considerable administrative capacity, and made an excellent clerk .*
ELISHA SMITH ABERNETHY was the son of General Russell Aber- nethy of Torrington, where he was born in 1805. He graduated at Yale in 1825, and studied law at the New Haven Law school. He married Charlotte M., daughter of Stephen Huggins of New Haven, settled in Waterbury in 1829, and remained here about seven years. He held the office of town clerk in 1831. About 1836 he removed to Litchfield and became judge of the county court. He removed from there to Bridgeport in 1847, and for many years held the office of judge of probate and clerk of the courts of Fairfield county. Mr. Abernethy was much respected, and during his stay here was a useful and influential citizen. He died at Bridgeport, June 4, 1869.
ALFRED BLACKMAN, for many years a leading member of the New Haven bar, was born in Newtown, December 28, 1807, and there spent his boyhood, He graduated at Yale college in the class of 1828, and after completing his law studies settled in Hum- phreyville (now Seymour) where he practiced his profession for about fourteen years. He removed to Waterbury in 1842, but remained here only a year. He then removed to New Haven, and spent the rest of his life in that city. In 1842 he was elected to the senate from the Fifth senatorial district, and in 1855 represented New Haven in the lower house of the General Assembly. While residing in New Haven he held successively the offices of judge of probate, judge of the county court, mayor of the city, and clerk of the United States District court. He held the last office from 1853 to 1863. He died April 28, 1880. +
CHARLES E. MORSE was a native of Northfield, in the town of Litchfield. He commenced practice in Waterbury in 1847 and remained here several years. He afterward removed to Iowa. He had a military bent, and during the Mexican war went out as a sergeant in the Third United States dragoons. During the war for the Union he served as lieutenant-colonel of an Iowa cavalry regiment.
OLIVER A. G. TODD, son of Oliver Todd of Plymouth, was born October 1, 1812. He studied law with Judge Samuel Church at Litchfield. He came to Waterbury in 1847, but after a few years removed to Litchfield, later to New Milford and finally to Dan- bury, where he died in 1885.
* Cothren's History of Woodbury contains a quite full notice of Mr. Hinman, from which the above is mostly taken.
t A fuller notice of Judge Blackman may be found in Volume XLVII of Connecticut Reports.
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SETH A. KENEY practised for a few years in Waterbury. His name first appears in 1853, and he remained here until 1859. He was a quiet and inoffensive man, and his coming and going were so silent that no accessible record remains.
LEMUEL SANFORD DAVIES, son of the Rev. Thomas F. Davies, was born in New Haven, February 28, 1823. He graduated at Yale col- lege in 1843, studied at the Yale Law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. On September 14, 1847, he married Stella M., daughter of Edward Scovill. Owing to feeble health he devoted some years to agriculture and open-air occupations. He opened a law office in Waterbury in 1854 and practiced here for several years, holding the position of judge of probate from 1866 to 1868. He removed to Minnesota, but after an absence of some years returned to Waterbury. His health, however, compelled him to abandon professional work, and after another brief residence in Minnesota he removed to California, where he still resides. While residing here, he had the reputation of a careful lawyer and was especially skilled as a conveyancer and draftsman of contracts and legal instruments.
AMMI GIDDINGS was born in Sherman in :824, and spent his boyhood on a farm in his native town. He was a nephew of Joshua R. Giddings, of anti-slavery fame. He studied law and set- tled in Plymouth, where he resided until 1866. In 1851 and again in 1856 he represented that town in the legislature, and was senator from the Sixteenth district in 1857 and 1864. In the latter year he was, ex-officio, a "fellow " of Yale college and received from that institution the honorary degree of M. A. He came to Waterbury in 1866 and opened a law office, but did not remain here long. He was afterward appointed associate justice of the Supreme court in Montana. He resigned that position to engage in mercantile pur- suits, but subsequently practiced his profession in Michigan. From Michigan he returned to Connecticut, and from about 1872 to 1876 practiced law in Norwalk. He removed from Norwalk to Cleveland, O., to enter again the mercantile business, and removed from there to New York. He died at Gaylordsville in 1882.
SAMUEL D. WEBB Was a graduate of the Harvard Law school and came to Waterbury in 1869. He practiced law in this city about one year. After leaving here he practiced for a short time at Win- throp, Ga., and then at Augusta, where he died in 1887. He was judge of the city court of Augusta.
REESE BARKER GWILLIM was born November 29, 1838, in Lland- isilia, Wales. He graduated at Wesleyan university in 1866 and taught for awhile in the Hartford high school, pursuing his legal
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studies at the same time. He was admitted to the bar in 1869, and opened an office in Hartford, but soon removed to Waterbury and became a partner in the firm of Kellogg & Terry. After three or four years of practice here he removed to New York city, where he still resides. He was for awhile acting town clerk.
AUGUSTUS HALL FENN, son of Augustus Lucius and Esther (Hall) Fenn, was born in Plymouth, January 18, 1844. He early developed a taste for literature, and at the age of fifteen published a small volume of poems. He served in the war for the Union with dis- tinguished gallantry, and between 1862 and 1865 held the positions of lieutenant, captain, major, brevet lieutenant - colonel, brevet colonel, assistant adjutant general and inspector general on brigade and division staffs. He was severely wounded at the battle of Cedar Creek, and lost his right arm in consequence, but continued in the service.
Mr. Fenn graduated from the Harvard Law school in 1868, since which time he has lived in Waterbury, Plymouth and Winsted. While residing in Waterbury he filled the office of city clerk in 1867 and 1868. He held the positions of town clerk and judge of probate in the Plymouth district from 1869 to 1875, and was judge of pro- bate for the Winchester district from 1881 to 1887. In 1884 he was a member of the General Assembly, and was appointed on the com- mission to revise the probate laws; also a member of the commis- sion to revise the general statutes from 1885 to 1887. He was appointed a judge of the Superior court in March, 1887, and a judge of the Supreme court of errors on February 1, 1893. He was one of the compilers of the general statutes of 1888.
ELLIOTT J. FENN was born in Plymouth, September 1, 1851. He received a common school education and was for a short time a clerk in a store; after which, in 1874, he entered the office of Augustus H. Fenn in Plymouth. While there he was clerk of the probate court and assistant town clerk. He was admitted to the bar in Litchfield in 1874. He opened an office in Waterbury in the spring of 1875, and was for awhile a partner of Judge Henry R. Morrill. He died in Waterbury in February, 1888, and was buried in Terryville.
CURTIS B. ATWOOD studied law in the office of Webster & O'Neill, was admitted to the bar in 1878, practiced in Waterbury a short time, and removed to Watertown.
FRANKLIN CARTER HOLMES, son of Israel Holmes (see page 181), studied law at Michigan university, and was admitted to the bar about 1880. He commenced practice in the office of Charles G. Root, and subsequently removed to the west.
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WILLIAM L. GREEN practiced a few months in Waterbury in 1883, and afterward removed to New Haven.
ARETAS W. THOMAS commenced the practice of law in Waterbury . in 1884 and remained here for a few years. He had previously taught school in Woodbury and had held the office of constable in Waterbury. He removed to Texas and subsequently to Chicago, Il1.
FRANZ DIETMEIER, a young German lawyer, came to Waterbury and entered the office of Charles G. Root in 1885. He afterwards opened an office for himself, but after a few years removed to New Jersey.
WALTER SIMEON JUDD was born July 6, 1859. He was educated at the Litchfield institute and graduated from the Yale Law school in 1882. He practiced law in Litchfield until the great fire of 1886, and afterward in New Milford until September 1888, when he came to Waterbury to take charge of the office of Henry B. Graves, who was then in practice here. He removed to Litchfield with Mr. Graves in May, 1890, and remained with him until his death, August, 1892. Since then he has conducted the business alone. He has been town clerk of Litchfield, a burgess of the borough, and a representative of the town in the legislature.
SAMUEL M. HOPKINS, LL.D.
Samuel Miles Hopkins was born in Waterbury, Salem society, May 9, 1772, on the Hopkins farm, which had been in the family from the time of his grandfather's younger days. His ancestors were: (I) John the settler, a freeman of Cambridge, 1635; (2) Stephen, who removed to Hartford; (3) John, born in 1660; (4) Stephen, born in 1689; (5) John, born in 1718; (6) Samuel, born in 1748, all of Waterbury, and all but Samuel millers. The family were hard-working people, whose evenings were spent in reading the few valuable books found in New England at that time, such as the sermons of Tillotson, Sherlock and Leeds, and the Bible. But young Hopkins's grandmother Miles had brought into the family other works, more interesting to children, such as Josephus, Milton, Rowe and Pope, and the boy devoured these books, and formed a taste for reading which early made him a student. His father was sent to the legislature year after year, so long as he chose to serve. Hard work on the farm, great economy in living, and a little saved from the small pay of a legislator enabled him to send his son to Yale college. He entered in the sophomore year, in 1787, being then fifteen years of age. At this period of his life, starting with a fine constitution, full health and a large frame, he formed habits of close study to which he adhered through life.
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In 1791 he entered the Law school of the celebrated Judge Tapping Reeve of Litchfield. The instruction he there received and the lectures he attended were of great value to him in after life. In March, 1793, after only eighteen months of study he was offered an examination for admission to the bar, and was accepted by the profession as a lawyer, being not yet twenty-one years of
age. In April he rode from his home to Poughkeepsie, and placed himself under the instruction of two young lawyers afterward well known as Chancellor Kent and Judge Radcliff. For eighteen days he worked sixteen hours a day, and thus prepared himself for prac- tice in the New York courts,-a task supposed to require three years of clerkship.
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Being now ready for work, he took passage at Poughkeepsie in a sloop, with little money and few encumbrances. Landing on the beach at New York, where Greenwich street abuts on the Battery, . he stood in the great city, which then extended to where the City hall now stands, and thence along Chatham street to Pearl street. His letters of introduction included one addressed to Colonel Aaron Burr, who was ever generous towards young men of ability, and whose disinterested exertions for young Hopkins gave him a good start in his profession. Another letter was addressed to James Watson, a wealthy and influential citizen of New York and a life- long friend of Colonel Samuel B. Webb, the favorite aide of General Washington.
Mr. Hopkins felt the necessity of earning a living and knew that he could not stay long in the city. He proceeded at once to the frontier town of Oxford, in Chenango county, but remained there only a short time, as his friends in the city had other plans marked out for him. Mr. Watson placed before him a mercantile enterprise which he accepted and which filled the next four years of his life, two of which were spent in Europe. On returning to this country he engaged in the practice of law in New York city. In 1810, in company with a brother-in-law, he purchased two tracts of land on the Genesee river and engaged in farming on a large scale, but the venture was unsuccessful. He then removed to Albany and resumed the practice of law. In 1826 he was appointed one of the commissioners to arrange and superintend the penitentiary system of New York state, and from that time devoted himself to the subject of prison discipline and the reform of criminals.
In the year 1800 he married Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Moses Rogers, a New York merchant, whose city residence was No. 7, State street,-a building which still remains, one of the few landmarks in New York of the last century. His country residence was Shippan Point, near Stamford, an estate, part of which is still occupied by his grandson, Colonel Woolsey R. Hopkins.
Mr. Hopkins wrote much on various subjects, especially on prison discipline and on temperance. He was a law reporter under Chancellors Kent and Sanford, and became a judge of the circuit court of New York state, and a member of congress. His last four years were spent in resting from a life of severe labor and prepar- ing for that perfect rest which awaits the pure in heart. He died at Geneva, N. Y., October 8, 1837 .*
* For a fuller account of Mr. Hopkins, in which interesting extracts from his autobiography are included, see Bronson's History, pp. 416-420. See also Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. III, P. 258.
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OTHER LAWYERS OF WATERBURY BIRTH.
WILLARD WELTON, son of Benjamin and Agnes Welton, was born in Waterbury, January 14, 1782. He was educated at Yale college, graduated in the class of 1806, and commenced the practice of law in Sherburne, Chenango county, N. Y., in 1809. He was a success- ful lawyer, but gave up practice on account of conscientious scruples, and removing to Hamilton, N. Y., became a farmer. He resided in Hamilton until his death, August 4, 1866.
Mr. Welton was ensign in the New York state militia in 1812. He was a " Henry Clay whig," and was in many respects a remark- able man. "His powers of mind, his clearness of perception, his memory, his vivacity, his gift of language and his rich fund of intelligence were with him to the last." He was one of the founders of the Congregational church in Hamilton.
In 1808 he married Mary Sanger. She died in 1822. They had five sons and four daughters, and their grandchildren numbered thirty-three.
STEPHEN UPSON, son of Captain Benjamin and Mary (Hine) (Clark) . Upson, was born in the "old Clark house," June 12, 1783. He studied with the Rev. Israel B. Woodward of Wolcott, and grad- uated from Yale college in 1804 (see page 544). He immediately commenced the study of law with Judge Chauncey of New Haven, but feeling the necessity of earning something for himself he removed in March, 1805, to Virginia and taught there for a year or more. Subsequently he went to Georgia, entered the law office of the celebrated William H. Crawford, eventually became his partner, - and rose to high eminence in his profession. He was also active in politics. He died at Lexington, Ga., August 3, 1824, in the forty- second year of his age .*
ISAAC H. BRONSON, son of Ethel Bronson, was born in that part of Waterbury which is now Middlebury, probably in 1802. His father removed to Rutland, Jefferson county, N. Y., and in 1822 Isaac was admitted to the bar. He became a prominent lawyer, and was elected to congress in 1836. In 1840 he was appointed United States judge for the eastern district of Florida and retained the office until 1845, when Florida became a state. By the first legislature of the new state he was elected circuit judge of the eastern circuit. He was soon after appointed United States district judge of the state, and when it was divided a year later, retained the northern district, and continued in office until his death. He
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