Judge & Attorney Biographies

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 121, pages 714 - 715

Bernard Francis Gaffney was born in New Britain on June 23rd, 1861, and spent his life in that city where he died March 31st, 1936. His early education came from the New Britain public schools. He earned his way through Yale College where he was graduated in 1887. He then studied law in the office of the late Philip Markley and was admitted to the bar in 1889.

In 1894, Mr. Gaffney married Alice Sherlock and to them were born three sons and a daughter. All the sons followed the footsteps of their father and became members of the bar. The eldest, Donald Gaffney, after a brilliant career, died in the prime of young manhood in 1935. His obituary notice will be found in the Connecticut Reports, Volume 120, at page 712. The younger sons are now practicing law in New Britain.

Judge Gaffney was actively engaged in the general practice of law from his admission to the bar until a few years before his death when the active work of his work fell largely to his sons. He was constantly engaged in litigation and had a large office practice. He was president of the Hartford County Bar from 1928 to 1930.

Throughout his life Judge Gaffney was intensely interested in the city of New Britain, an interest unflagging to the day of his death. He saw New Britain grow from a town of less than six thousand people to a city of seventy thousand. A manufacturing city and typically a "melting pot," the newcomers from Europe commanded his sympathy and his active aid. An ardent Roman Catholic, Mr. Gaffney took an active part in the religious and charitable enterprizes of his church. As a civic leader, he was corporation counsel, a member of the board of education, a member of the city finance board, of commissions on the city charter and on city zoning, and chairman of the New Britain draft board during the world war. In 1904 he was elected Judge of Probate and was unanimously continued in that office until he reached the retirement age in 1931. In return for that lifelong service he received a fitting reward, the love and respect of his fellow citizens without regard to race or creed.

Judge Gaffney was a cultivated gentleman, widely read in such varied subjects as poetry, history, religion and philosophy. He was fundamentally an idealist, a characteristic apparent to all who came in contact with him, particularly his brother attorneys. His ideals, personal and professional, were noble and his life was spent in their pursuit. He practiced law on a high ethical plane, always seeking to promote the true ends of justice. A stubborn fighter, he asked only a fair field and no favor. His old-fashioned respect for the law and the courts sometimes seemed Quixotic but it was real to him and distinguished all his forensic labors. Similarly in his civic duties, he pursued ideals of perfection with all the zeal of his soul. A simple, earnest, industrious, friendly man, Mr. Gaffney did much good in the world.

It has been the high privilege of the Connecticut Bar to furnish from time to time men who were leaders in their communities in all that tends to progress in the best things in life. Such a man was Bernard Francis Gaffney.

*Prepared by Josiah H. Peck, Esq., of the Hartford bar. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 133, page 736

Cyril F. Gaffney was born in New Britain on October 8, 1900. He attended the local schools and was graduated from the New Britain High School. He entered Notre Dame University, from which institution he graduated with the B. S. degree. In 1927, he received the LL.B. degree from Yale Law School. He immediately took and passed the Connecticut bar examinations.

After his admission to the bar, he joined the law office of his father, Bernard F. Gaffney, and his brother, Donald Gaffney, both now deceased, in New Britain. He continued to practice law until his sudden and untimely death on September 7, 1946. He was a very capable lawyer and student of the law. He gave the interests of each client all of his ability and energy; in fact his efforts in the interests of his clients approached aggressiveness. He looked upon law as a profession and not as a business. He was inherently honest and in his professional activities conducted himself in such a manner as to bring credit to the profession of which he was so vastly proud.

He took an active interest in the affairs of the New Britain Lawyers Club and the Hartford County Bar Association. While he was a member of the executive committee of that association, it was his original idea that brought about health, accident and hospitalization insurance for its members. He was very civic minded and served the city of New Britain on many committees. He also gave much of his time and ability in the furtherance of public charities.

On October 9, 1929 he was married to Helen Downes of New Britain and two sons were born to them. His intimate friends will always hold him in fond recollection for his sincerity, loyalty and ability and his many kind and charitable acts, but over and above all these they will remember and admire him for his intense, unselfish and devoted love of home and family.

*Prepared by W. F. Mangan, of the New Britain bar. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 120, pages 712 - 713

Donald Gaffney of New Britain died on April 18th, 1935, a few days after his thirty-eighth birthday. He was born in New Britain April 6th, 1897, the son of Judge Bernard F. Gaffney and Alice Sherlock Gaffney. He is survived by his wife, formerly Esther Hodson of Waterbury, and by an infant son, Donald Stephen Gaffney.

Donald Gaffney attended the public schools of New Britain and was graduated from Yale College in 1919. While still an undergraduate, he served as Quartermaster in the Naval Reserve during the World War. He then entered the Harvard Law School where he received his law degree in 1922.

Before leaving the Law School Mr. Gaffney was admitted to the bar. After graduation he commenced the practice of law in New Britain and devoted himself to that practice assiduously until his death. Business came to him quickly and largely. He soon became the leading trial lawyer of New Britain and his practice brought him constantly before the Superior and other courts. The preparation and trial of litigated cases was his work in life. He made his first argument in the Supreme Court of Errors in March, 1923, and appeared there in thirty-eight cases in the eleven years of his active practice. In 1928, he was appointed Assistant State's Attorney for Hartford County and served until his health failed in the summer of 1934.

A handsome man, tall and graceful with the dark hair and high complexion of his race, Donald Gaffney was the incarnation of the spirit of youth. He took a keen and lively interest in the doings of the world and of his own generation, its work and its play, its religion, its politics, its literature, its sports, its song and its laughter. A serious-minded man, where he was interested he was intensely interested; hence his power as a trial lawyer.

To Donald Gaffney the function of the lawyer was the promotion of justice. To that end, he was courteous, straight-forward and reasonable with his opponents. But when he believed his client was in the right he was a formidable fighter, industrious in preparation, zealous in combat, and never discouraged. His methods were simple, direct and persevering. Few lawyers who die so young meet with such brilliant success.

*Prepared by Josiah H. Peck, Esq., of the Hartford bar. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 158, pages 669 - 670

On September 24, 1969, Judge Leo V. Gaffney suddenly died in New Britain. This unforeseen tragedy profoundly shocked and saddened his associates and all who knew him.

Judge Gaffney was born on April 14, 1903, the son of the late Bernard F. Gaffney, who for many years was the judge of the Probate Court for the district of Berlin, and of the late Alice Lee Sherlock Gaffney. He attended the public schools of New Britain and Carlton Academy, where he graduated in 1921. He received his A.B. degree from Yale College in 1925 and his L.L.B. degree from Yale Law School in 1928. Upon his graduation from the Yale Law School. Upon his graduation from the Yale Law School, he was admitted to the bar of this state and immediately commenced the practice of law in association with his father and two brothers, now deceased, B. Donald Gaffney and Cyril F. Gaffney.

As a young lawyer he was an ardent advocate of the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and served as president of the New Britain branch of the Crusaders, an organization dedicated to the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, and as chairman of its campaign in 1933. He served the state of Connecticut with great distinction as an assistant attorney general from 1935 to 1944, when he was appointed United States Attorney for the district of Connecticut. That same year he resigned his office as United States Attorney to become a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor. On April 30, 1963, Governor John N. Dempsey appointed him judge of the Superior Court to take effect on August 2, 1964.

On October 21, 1930, Judge Gaffney married Ruth Boylan, of Middletown, who survives him. They had three daughters, Mrs. Warren G. Hewes of Bath, Maine, Mrs. Ralph Hedenberg and Judith Gaffney of New Britain, and six grandchildren. Judge and Mrs. Gaffney's devotion to one another was unbounded. They loved their home and family. They derived great pleasure in planning vacation trips and were always happiest when they were together. No one ever enjoyed the company of his children and grandchildren more than did Leo, as he was affectionately called by his friends and colleagues.

As great as was his devotion to his family, he was no less devoted to his community and to the law. In addition to his service to his state and country, he served the city of New Britain as the first chairman of the Board of Adjustment, 1938-47; chairman of the Redevelopment Commission, 1959-61; and chairman of the Zoning Board. He was a past president of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Hartford County Bar Association. He was also a director of the Burritt Mutual Saving Bank. In 1963 the Yale Law School Alumni Association of Eastern Connecticut designated him as "Man of the Year."

Before assuming office on the Superior Court, Judge Gaffney was a skilled trial lawyer and a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He carefully prepared his cases and during a trial he was at all times forthright with the court, fair to witnesses and considerate of his adversities. Supplementing his knowledge of the law, he had a keen understanding of human nature and human behavior and could quickly discern what was true or false or hypocritical and insincere. He was by nature vigorous and enthusiastic. He was compassionate. He possessed a deep appreciation of the great powers and responsibilities resting upon a judge of the Superior Court. During his tenure of office on the bench he was called upon to preside over and determine an inordinate number of extraordinarily complicated cases. He presided over them with dignity and decided them promptly. It can be truly said that Judge Gaffney discharged his responsibilities with great credit to the judicial system and with justice to all litigants who appeared before him.

In the death of Judge Gaffney, the State has lost an outstanding judge; his widow, a devoted husband; and his children, a generous and understanding father.

*Prepared by Hon. Frank Covello, of West Hartford. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 97, pages 739 - 741

Just fourteen months after the death of MR. JUSTICE CASE, the people of the State, and his associates upon the bench of the Supreme Court of Errors, sustained another great loss, in the death of MR. JUSTICE GAGER.

Edwin Baker Gager was born upon his father’s farm in the town of Scotland, Connecticut, on August 30th, 1852. Of early colonial ancestry, he inherited, and from his early youth displayed, the energy, the studious habits, the passion for work and achievement, which led to the fulfilment of his highest ambition.

He prepared for Yale College at the Natchaug High School in Willimantic, and was graduated in 1877; two of the present members of the Court, and its Reporter, being his classmates.

He won distinction in college by reason of excellence in English and elocution, and was chosen class orator at graduation. For four years thereafter he was principal of the Ansonia public schools; during this same time reading law in the office of Wooster & Torrance, by whom he was admitted to partnership in January, 1882. The successive names of Wooster, Torrance & Gager; Wooster, Williams & Gager; and Williams & Gager, are well known, highly honored, and without stain.

His first judicial appointment was that of Judge of the Town Court of Derby in 1889. Until 1901, when he was appointed by Governor McLean a Judge of the Superior Court, he was engaged in very active practice both in the higher courts and before legislative committees. As counsel for several electric railways, in their earliest days, his influence was very great, in the shaping of general legislation which sought justly to balance the rights and duties of the State, the municipalities, and the companies. He was so fairminded, so skilful a draftsman, so cordial in manner, and so persuasive in argument, that his work was most effective.

In the courts he prepared his cases thoroughly and tried them well. He was a forcible and eloquent speaker and achieved a high measure of success, whether before court or jury. His ethical standards were very high, and he lived up to them.

As a Judge of the Superior Court he was patient, accommodating, fair, and impartial. When he properly could do so, he brushed technicalities aside, and decided his cases in accordance with sound common sense, and a strong sense of justice.

He presided with a gracious dignity, upon which few cared, and none dared, to presume.

Off the bench, he associated with the members of the bar, as one of them, without constraint on either side. At bar dinners and banquets, he was in great demand as a speaker, and always ready to respond.

On February 20th, 1917, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Errors, to take effect upon August 30th, 1918, his birthday. Though his term of service in this court was short, he fulfilled the expectations which his experience and career warranted. His opinions were well reasoned, carefully prepared, and clearly stated.

His work at the bar and upon the bench, however, by no means fully measured his activities. He held many positions of public and private trust. From its institution in 1890, he was a member of the State Bar Examining Committee, and served as its chairman until his death. This work was very near to his heart, and to it he devoted a great deal of time and attention. When, as often, others remonstrated with him for doing more than his share of the work, his answer always was: “My time belongs to the State. With you men it is different.” He was chairman of the New Haven County Bar Library Committee, and in this work, also, took a deep interest.

In 1892 he became an instructor in the Yale Law School, and in 1903 was appointed Professor of General Jurisprudence, though he taught many other subjects. He had remarkable gifts as a teacher, and was greatly beloved by his students. His interest in them did not cease when they left the classroom, but he was always ready to aid them in their difficulties, and his influence and friendship helped to mould the character and career of many men who gladly testify to how much they owed to him.

His was a very active, philosophical and versatile mind. He read much, not only in English, but in other languages, and was a deeply interested student in many branches of learning. He was a profound student of Dante, and personally made an excellent collection of books and prints relating to Dante, his works, and his times. He traveled much; he loved music and good literature, and had a keenly developed taste in each. His was a rich, full and well-rounded life, and he enjoyed it to the full.

Until shortly before his death he had always been in good health. In January of this year he was stricken down, but partially recovered, and insisted upon returning to active work. When the final stroke came, on April 22d, he was seated at his desk in his chambers at the Court House, with unfinished opinions and examination questions before him. He died six days later.

While he accomplished much, and did everything well, it was not so much what he did, as what he was, that endeared him to his students, his associates upon the bench, and his brethren at the bar. He was so genial, so companionable, so honorable, so right-minded, and so unselfish, that these qualities stand first in the memories of a host of friends.

The impressive commemorative services held in the Supreme Court room at New Haven at the opening of the June Term—like those at Hartford the year before for Judge Case—attended as they were by bench and bar from all over the State, evidenced the affectionate and touching regard of the profession for one whom they ever delighted to honor.

*Prepared by George D. Watrous, Esq., of the New Haven County Bar, at the request of the Reporter.

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 93, page iii

Appointed to Supreme Court February 20th, 1917, to take effect August 30th, 1918. 

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 97, page iii

Died April 28th, 1922. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 13, appendix pages 3 - 4

Born in Hebron, Oct. 20th, 1755; educated at Dartmouth College and graduated in 1775; read law in Hartford under the tuition of Jesse Root, Esq., (afterwards Chief Justice) and was admitted to the Bar in Hartford county, in Nov. 1777, and settled in Hebron, his native town, then in the county of Hartford. On the organization of Tolland county, in 1786, he was appointed State's Attorney for that county, and continued in that office until 1807, (21 years,) when he was appointed Chief Judge of the County Court, and Judge of Probate, and continued to hold and exercise those offices until May, 1825, except the time he was absent, attending the 15th Congress of the United States, of which he was a member. From the early part of his practice, until the year 1810, he had one or two law-students in his office, and in that year, he commenced a regular law-school, and continued it six years, with from seven to ten students. The whole number of young gentlemen who read law under his tuition, is 56, a majority of whom completed their studies preparatory for the bar, in his office.

In September 1780, he was chosen a member of the General Assembly, being then the youngest member of the House. Between that time and the adoption of the new constitution of the State, he was thirty times chosen to represent the town of Hebron in the General Assembly. In the year 1826, he was once more chosen and attended, when he was the oldest member and formed the House. He was one of the Committee appointed in May 1795, to sell the Western Reserve.

He held various town offices at different times, and was town clerk for twenty three years in succession.

After the close of the revolutionary war, there was a great increase of litigation. The courts were crowded with litigants. Of this business he had a large share.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 131, pages 721 - 723

Judge John L. Gilson was born in New Haven on March 21, 1878, and died in New Haven on November 24, 1944. He was the son of John Williams Gilson and Anne St. Lawrence Gilson. He was graduated from Hillhouse High School in New Haven in 1895, and from Yale College in 1899, with the degree of B. A.

Judge Gilson was graduated from the Yale Law School in 1902. He was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1902 and practiced law for a short time in New York City before returning to New Haven following the death of his father. He was associated in the practice of law with Osborne A. Day, and later with the Honorable E. C. Simpson and Charles W. Birely.

On April 17, 1907, he was married in the Church of the Ascension in New York City to Miss Alice Eleanor Mulgrew, daughter of F. Augustus Mulgrew. Mrs. Gilson and a daughter, Mrs. Paul Donovan, survive.

For several years, Judge Gilson was clerk of the Probate Court for the district of New Haven under the Honorable J. P. Studley, Judge of Probate. In 1912, he was elected Judge of Probate for the district of New Haven on the Republican ticket, and for more than twenty years he was indorsed for re-election by both parties. He had a distinguished career as Judge of Probate. His decisions were affirmed and approved by the Superior Court and the Supreme Court of Errors, and he became a leading authority in Connecticut on probate practice and procedure, constantly being consulted by other Probate Courts. Judge Gilson was always ready to help people in personal consultation. His words of comfort to those in distress were most helpful when matters relating to the settlement of small estates were perplexing. It was interesting and stimulating to sit in the Probate Court and watch men, women and even children standing at the bench before him seeking help in their troubles and to notice the expressions of relief which came over their faces when they left the bench after talking with him. He was for many years president of the Probate Assembly and was a member of the special joint committee on probate practice and procedure of the Judicial Council and State Bar Association of Connecticut. He drafted the act incorporating the Probate Assembly.

Judge Gilson was always interested in civic affairs and especially in the history and traditions of New Haven. For more than twenty years he was president of the New Haven Colony Historical Society and he took a deep interest in that organization. He was chairman of the New Haven committee of the Tercentenary Celebration in 1938. For many years he was major of the Second Company of the Governor's Foot Guard. He was civilian aide to the secretary of war for the State of Connecticut and chairman of the Military Training Camp Association.

In 1915, he became president of Mory's Association, the well known club of Yale graduates in New Haven. Mory's Association after his death passed a resolution, from which the following quotation is taken:

"We know further how many and how broad his interests were: how prodigal he was of his friendship, yet he has left with us an abiding sense that Mory's lay close to his heart; that he found it the most congenial outlet for his great capacity for friendship and his love of Yale."

Judge Gilson was a director of the United Illuminating Company and the Second National Bank of New Haven, and a trustee of the Connecticut Savings Bank. He was connected with and interested in many clubs and associations in New Haven and took an active part in the life of those organizations. He was instrumental in the organization of St. Thomas More Chapel of Yale University, which ministers to the Roman Catholic students of the University. He was a member of the Graduates Club, Quinnipiack Club, Knights of Columbus, New Haven Lawn Club, Yale Club of New York, Army-Navy Club of New York, Hartford Club, American Bar Association, State Bar Association, New Haven County Bar Association, and many other organizations. He was a communicant of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in New Haven.

Judge Gilson's career and character are well epitomized in the resolutions passed by the board of directors of the Second National Bank of New Haven, from which an extract follows:

"The quality of a man is expressed by the confidence which his fellow citizens place in him. Since 1912 John Gilson has served continuously as Judge of the New Haven District Probate Court, a period longer than that extended to any other since the establishment of the court in 1710. Regardless of party, happy to recognize integrity and capacity, certain to receive justice tempered by understanding, the citizens at every election gave to him their suffrages.

"His loyalty to this office was matched by that which he offered to a vast variety of institutions serving the interest of the public. No man ever sensed more clearly than Judge Gilson the essential truth that a democracy, to survive, must claim the devoted responsibility of the civilian for active participation in affairs; and no man of this community ever met that responsibility more worthily. Without let or stint he gave himself, with all his capacity, to communal undertakings: to the organization in time of peace of a military establishment capable of defending our freedom in time of war; to the development, through our Historical Society, of an appreciation of the values of the heritage left us by our colonial ancestors, and to the rededication of New Haven to those values at our Tercentenary celebration; to the welfare of the Catholic students of Yale ; and to the closer union of town and gown."

*Prepared by James E. Wheeler, of the New Haven bar. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 222, pages 913 - 915

REMARKS BY CHIEF JUSTICE ELLEN A PETERS ON THE OCCASION OF JUSTICE ROBERT D. GLASS’ LAST DAY FOR HEARING CASES AS A MEMBER OF THE CONNECTICUT SUPREME COURT

June 10, 1992

_________

Welcome! This is a day to wax poetical. It reminds us of James Russell Lowell’s famous lines; “And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days. For the members of this court, this is a perfect day because, barring unforeseen developments, today is the last day on which this court will hear oral arguments until the fall. Every year, that is a landmark in the mind of each member of this court. This year, however, we must take note of a much more far-reaching landmark, a significant milestone in the changing composition of this court. Nearly five years ago, on June 26, 1987 Justice Robert D. Glass was sworn in as a member of the Supreme Court. With profound appreciation for his outstanding judicial service, and great regret at his imminent departure when he celebrates his seventieth birthday this fall, I must report that this is the last day on which Justice Glass will be sitting to hear full-fledged appeals as a member of this court.

Raised in the deep south, the son of a farmhand and a domestic worker, educated in impoverished segregated schools. Justice Glass is endowed with the unfailing combination of personal characteristics that turns dreams into reality. To overcome obstacles that most of us have only read about, and all of us would find daunting, Justice Glass has marshalled his intelligence, his perseverance, and his optimism to achieve his dream of a career in the law and as a judge. A loyal alumnus of North Carolina Central University, he distinguished himself as a magna cum laude undergraduate and as the top student in his law school class. Eventually moving north, he practiced law in Waterbury, culminating his career as a lawyer with a brief stint in the United States Attorney’s Office. In 1967, Justice Glass was tapped for the bench, and served with distinction on both the Juvenile Court and the Superior Court. In recognition of his administrative talents, he was appointed administrative judge of the Waterbury judicial district where he served until his appointment to this court in 1987.

When I welcomed Justice Glass to our midst five years ago, I spoke of the work of this court as a collegial search for a just resolution of the multifaceted and intriguing legal disputes that are heard in this majestic courtroom. I emphasized the contribution to our pursuit of this agenda that is made by justices who come to this court with a diversity in heritage and experience. Justice Glass has indeed made salient contributions to the work of this court that will continue to enlighten the development of the law long after he, regrettably, must leave us.

Let me comment briefly on the highlights of Justice Glass’ distinguished tenure on this court. Before this term ends, Justice Glass will have contributed more than 135 majority opinions to advance our understanding of the complex legal issues that this court must resolve.

Many of his most noted opinions are in the criminal arena. State V. Boyd explored the relationship between an invalid finding of probable cause and a subsequent fair trial. State V. Williamson formulated the legal standard for courts to apply in criminal cases in which the police have destroyed witnesses’ statements. State v. Ortiz clarified the role of involuntary intoxication as a defense to a charge of murder. These cases have all become firmly embedded, not only in our own jurisprudence, but also in the data base of every Connecticut criminal attorney with a functioning computer.

Justice Glass’ judicial skills have not, however, been limited to the criminal field. He has, for example, written, with insight and sensitivity, about complicated housing problems in our urban society. Against a backdrop of summary process and eviction, he helped us to review the protection afforded tenants at sufferance. O’Brien Properties, Inc. v. Rodriguez recognized that such tenants are entitled to the “good cause” protection of the state housing statute that shields the handicapped and the elderly. Miko v. Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities articulated the standards that govern claims of housing discrimination when a mother with a child is denied access to rental housing.

As is true for all of us, Justice Glass’ views have not always commanded immediate majority support. Sometimes, of course, behind the scenes, his views have shaped the form that the majority opinion has subsequently come to take. But he has also voiced vigorous and thoughtful dissents in areas involving the protection of individual liberties. His dissenting opinions have illuminated significant concerns in cases such as State v. Whitaker, that dealt with a questionable waiver of Miranda rights, and Savage v. Aronson, that considered the validity of controversial administrative limitations on access to emergency housing.

The opinions that Justice Glass has crafted will stand as a legacy for generations to come. Yet it is not solely his legal acumen that is his legacy to us all. What we will also continue to remember, always, is his dignity, his wisdom, and his respect for each person, not only for what that person has been, but for what that person can become.

I speak on behalf of every member of the Judicial Branch in thanking you, Justice Glass, for your many years of faithful service in the past and in extending to you our best wishes for good health, and much happiness for the future. We are grateful for your willingness to become the cochairperson of the Minority Justice Task Force. In this enormously difficult and urgent undertaking, the prospects for success have been immeasurably advanced by your readiness to bring to bear your broad ranging judicial and administrative expertise and your unparalleled commitment to the cause of justice.

In closing, may I offer you this wish: that the weather be always sunny, the fairways always straight and the starters always friendly!

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 258, pages 953 - 954

Justice Robert D. Glass passed away November 27, 2001, just one day before what would have been his seventy-ninth birthday. Justice Glass, who stood six feet, nine inches tall, has been described as a giant of a man, in both the figurative and literal senses, and as the embodiment of the "American Dream."

Justice Glass was born November 28, 1922, in Wetumpka, Alabama, to Isaiah and M. E. Glass, a farmhand and a domestic worker. Lacking the money to buy books, Justice Glass was not able to begin school until he reached the age of ten. Once he was able to enroll in school, the only one that was open to him was a racially segregated school. From 1943 to 1946, Justice Glass served his country in the United States Army, earning several decorations. In 1949, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from North Carolina central University. Despite his rejection, because of his race, from the all-white University of North Carolina, Justice Glass persevered in his dream of having a career in the law and entered law school at North Carolina Central University, from which he received a Bachelor of Laws degree, cum laude, in 1951, and was the top student in his class. He was admitted to practice in North Carolina in 1951.

After moving north to Connecticut, Justice Glass settled in Waterbury and, from 1961-1962, was a claims examiner for the Connecticut department of labor. He was admitted to practice in Connecticut in 1962. In 1964, he served on the Waterbury committee on human rights, and from 1966-1967 he served as assistant United States attorney for Connecticut. On September 1, 1967, Justice Glass became a judge of the Juvenile Court and served there until his appointment, in 1978, to the Superior Court. In recognition of his administrative talents, Justice Glass, in 1984, was appointed administrative judge for the judicial district of Waterbury, where he remained until he was sworn in as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court on June 26, 1987. He remained a member of the Supreme Court until November 1992, when he reached the constitutional age limitation of seventy years.

In an article published in the Hartford Courant December 11, 2001, Judge Charles D. Gill noted that Justice Glass "always was modest about himself, yet always praised the accomplishment of others....[He] loved his family, his church and his America....He knew what was important in life and what was not." Former Chief Justice Ellen Peters, in remarks made on the final day that Justice Glass heard cases on the Supreme Court, noted that "[t]he opinions that Justice Glass has crafted will stand as a legacy for generations to come. Yet it is not solely his legal acumen that is his legacy to us all. What we will also continue to remember, always, is his dignity, his wisdom, and his respect for each person, not only for what that person has been, but for what that person can become." In truth, Justice Glass himself epitomized the triumph of determination over overwhelming odds.

Justice Glass was survived by his wife, Doris Powell Glass, his son, Robert D. Glass, Jr., his daughters, Roberta G. Brown and Rosalyn G. Rountree, his son-in-law, Joseph Rountree, and his grandchildren, Marie A. Arrington and Jacob A. Brown.

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 203, page iii (also printed in volume 204, page iii)

Appointed to the Supreme Court June 26, 1987, to take effect June 26, 1987. 

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 224, page iii

Retired November 28, 1992, under constitutional limitation as to age. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 66, pages 605 - 607

William Brown Glover, who died at Fairfield, January 18th, 1896, after a brief illness, was born April 7th, 1857. He graduated from Yale University in the class of 1878; two years later received his degree at the Columbia College Law School, and in 1881 was admitted to the bar of this state. He was married soon afterwards to Miss Helen Wardwell of New York, who, with two sons and two daughters, survive him.

Since 1882 Judge Glover continuously held the office of judge of probate for the district of Fairfield. In 1883, 1884 and 1889, he represented his town in the lower house of the General Assembly, serving during the latter year as chairman of the judiciary committee and as speaker pro tem of the House. In 1885 he was a member of the committee appointed by the legislature to revise and compile the probate laws. Associated with him in this important work were the future Governor Luzon B. Morris, Judge Augustus H. Fenn of the Supreme Court, and Messrs. Henry S. Barbour and Edward L Cundall. From 1889 to the time of his death, Judge Glover continued to be the Prosecuting Attorney of the Criminal Court of Common Pleas for Fairfield County.

His sudden and unexpected decease was widely and sincerely mourned. The tributes to his memory, both in the press and from his associates at the local bar, were singularly hearty and discriminating, and proved the universal esteem in which he was held by the best citizenship of the State. Attention was called to the many fine sides of his character - his faithfulness, capacity for true friendship, and attainment of high ideals.

In addition to the performance of official duties, his time was occupied by a large and continually increasing clientage. Thorough and painstaking in the preparation of his cases, he presented them to court or jury with earnestness, clearness and often-times with genuine eloquence. Fairness and courtesy toward those who were opposed to him, were characteristic of Judge Glover, and added greatly to his popularity among all classes of men.

At a bar meeting held shortly after Judge Glover's death, a friend who was present, said with discrimination: "In Judge Glover's life there was reproduced that useful kind of power and influence which the lawyer, a counselor and leader, formerly had and exerted in the old New England towns. Especially had this feature prevailed in Fairfield, from its foundation by Roger Ludlow, who became its first great leader and who had many notable successors, the last being Roger M. Sherman, who died in 1844. With the loss of Sherman and the removal of the court house in 1855, its people keenly felt that the prestige of the town was waning. For a long time no leader appeared. Mr. Glover began to practice law there in 1881, and he very soon took and held until his death, without a rival, the position of leadership which Ludlow, Sherman and others had so worthily filled. Judge Glover's short career did not allow him as much time as Judge Sherman had to ripen; but in a very high degree he had the same type of manhood, high character, and intellectual activity. Like Sherman, he was a peace-making lawyer. His office was first a court of conciliation. If however, his earnest efforts failed to settle controversies, and litigation followed, then his clients found in him an able, adroit and eloquent advocate, and opposing counsel a foeman worthy of their steel."

Such a man could not fail of wielding a strong and pure influence during his legislative career. He became an acknowledged leader, retained the admiration and respect of all his fellow members, and greatly pleased his constituents by his fine record. "For nearly seven years I met him regularly in his position of service to the State of Connecticut," writes a friend, "and a more loyal servant I have never seen." His death must be reckoned as not only a loss to Fairfield County, but a misfortune to the State at large," added a leading newspaper in regard to his public services. It is not too much to say that no one of his time had firmer hold on the affections of the people with whom he lived and to whose concerns he gave - often gratuitously and always from the most disinterested motives - so much of his valuable and busy time. This was manifest at his funeral, when the whole community, with many prominent representatives from elsewhere, seemed united in a common bond of deepest sorrow.

His domestic and religious life were notably sweet and lovely and fully set forth the finer shades of his well-rounded, sympathetic and earnest character. Of convictions so strong that he could see no middle ground, and a sense of power so fine and delicate that it recoiled from the approach of temptation, he yet was the personification of thoughtfulness of others, and was always charitable in his conversation and gentle in his manners.

"There was a genuineness and sincerity about him," says a clergyman of his town, "that wrought his many good qualities into just balance and fine proportion. His manliness was not seen less in the home than on the street. As a Christian he was modest and reticent in respect to that deep life which flowed through his soul like some peaceful river through the land. As senior warden in St. Paul's Church he was a most useful and efficient servant. As superintendent of the Sunday School he came into close touch with the young of the parish, and endeared himself to all the little people.

"Judge Glover's ideas of life were broad and comprehensive. He was lenient and patient towards all men, and had respect even for people who differed with him decidedly. His religion was large enough to gather into its compass men of diverse creeds or of none. It was heart with him rather than head, in this question of faith.

"It seems like a life all too brief and restricted. One has a feeling that such a character might well have been lent unto us for years, and been made to contribute its wealth to our common humanity. As we call to mind this man in his service as son, husband, father, brother, friend; as eminent citizen, as exemplary Christian; as we measure the record of the past and dwell upon prospects in the future, the greatness of our loss seems equaled only by the mystery of his departure."

*Prepared by Albert M. Tallmadge and John A. Porter, Esquires, at the request of the Reporter. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 13, appendix pages 21 - 22

Born at Shrewsbury, Mass., July 17th, 1768; educated at Dartmouth College, where he graduated an 1786; studied law with Jeremiah Halsey, Esq. of Preston; was admitted to the bar, at Norwich, in November, 1790; settled in the practice of law at Plainfield, in this State. He representative of the town of Plainfield in the General Assembly, at its sessions in October, 1795; October, 1797; May and October, 1798; slay 1799, when he was chosen one of the clerks; May 1800, a clerk; October 1800, chosen speaker; and May 1801, speaker. He was a representative of the people of this State, in the Congress of the United States, from the 4th of March, 1801, to the 4th of March, 1805; and was then re-elected, but before the next meeting of Congress, he resigned his place. In May 1807, he again represented the town of Plainfield, in the General Assembly, and was again chosen speaker. Devoting himself now to his professional duties, his practice extended itself into the adjoining county of New-London to such a degree, that he was induced to change his place of residence; and he accordingly removed, in the spring of 1807, to Norwich, and there purchased a seat, distinguished alike for its natural beauties and its historical associations, which he still occupies. In May 1808, he was elected an assistant , or member of the upper house in the legislature; which place he held, by successive annual elections, until June 1815, when he relinquished it, and accepted the office of a judge of the superior court and of the supreme court of errors. This office he held until June 1818, when, the political party opposed to him having gained the ascendancy, he was permitted to return to practice. At the next succeeding election, he was chosen a representative of the town of Norwich, in the General Assembly. He was State's Attorney for the county of New-London, from 1810 to 1815; and Mayor of the city of Norwich, from 1814 to 1831. He was one of the delegates from the several New-England States, who met at Hartford in 1814, known as the Hartford Convention-an event, associated as it is with the mens consciarecti, which he recurs to with evident satisfaction.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 201, page 821

1908 - 1986

The Honorable Henry J. Goldberg, 78, of West Hartford, a State Trial Referee who retired as a judge of the Superior Court in 1978, died on August 8, 1986.

Judge Goldberg was appointed to the Circuit Court in 1966, to the Court of Common Pleas in 1974, and to the Superior Court in 1977.

Judge Goldberg was born in Hartford in 1908. He graduated in 1925 from Weaver High School and in 1929 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. degree. He returned to the University of Pennsylvania for his law degree, which he received in 1933.

Judge Goldberg was engaged in private practice until his appointment to the bench. He also served with the United States Army Intelligence during World War II.

Judge Goldberg was a founding member of the Beth El Temple in West Hartford and served on its board of trustees. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Bar, the Connecticut Bar, the Hartford County Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association.

He was survived by his wife, Miriam.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 15, appendix page 25

Born at Durham, Ct., March 24th, 1761; educated at Yale College, where he graduated in 1779. While a student, when the British forces took and pillaged the town of New-Haven, he was wounded and taken a prisoner. From 1781 to 1783 he was a tutor in Yale College. He studied law with Charles Chauncey, Esq., afterwards a judge of the superior court; was admitted to the bar in 1783; and immediately commenced practice in New-Haven, where he has ever since resided. In May, 1795, he was a representative from that town in the General Assembly, and continued such, by semi-annual elections, until December, 1799, when, by the suffrages of the freemen of the State, he became a representative in the Congress of the United States, filling the vacancy made by the resignation of John Allen, Esq. He was also reelected a member of the succeeding Congress. He served until February, 1801, when he appointed, by President Adams, collector of the port of New-Haven, and resigned his seat in Congress. From this office he was removed, by President Jefferson, in July, 1801, on the ground of a difference in politics. In October following, he was returned, by the freemen of New-Haven, a representative from that town in the General Assembly of this state; and was reelected for both the sessions of 1802. In May and October, 1798, in October, 1799, in October, 1801, and in May, 1802, he was one of the clerks, and in May, 1799, and October, 1802, he was speaker, of the house of representatives. In May, 1803, he was elected a member of the council (or upper branch of the legislature) which situation he held, by successive annual elections, until May, 1818, when he and his associates in office were succeeded by those who were politically opposed to them. He was judge of the court of probate, for the probate district in which he resided, from June, 1802, to June, 1819; and judge of the county court, for the county of New-Haven, from June, 1805, to June, 1818. He was also mayor of the city of New-Haven from Sept. 1st, 1803, until the 4th day of June, 1822, when he resigned the office. In September, 1801, he was appointed Professor of Law in Yale-College; which office he held until 1810, and then resigned it, as interfering too much with other public duties. He has since received from the corporation of that institution the honorary degree of LL.D.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 52, pages 595 - 596

Hiram Goodwin was born in New Hartford, Litchfield County, Connecticut, on the 5th day of May, 1808, and died on the 3d day of February, 1885, in the 78th year of his life. His father died in his son's early infancy, so that the son had no recollection of him. He was brought up by his mother, and during his early years was engaged in the usual occupations of a farmer's life. He early resolved to obtain an education more or less liberal, and by keeping district schools and slight aid from his mother, he was enabled to complete at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., a preparatory course for admission to college. Being somewhat advanced in life and with limited means he abandoned the intention of a collegiate education, and in 1826 entered the office of William G. Williams, a lawyer residing in New Hartford, of much learning in the law and especially skilled in special pleading, an acquisition in those days of no mean importance. He also studied for about a year in the law school in New Haven. He was admitted to the bar by the Superior Court at Litchfield in October, 1830, and immediately located himself at Hitchcocksville, now known as Riverton, in the town of Barkhamsted in Litchfield County, then a small manufacturing village. At that time and for many years thereafter, that part of the county was rife with litigation, in which he engaged with all the ardor and sanguine expectations of youth, and soon attained a lucrative practice, though surrounded by able and experienced lawyers in neighboring towns, which he retained until his fatal illness. Soon after his settlement he married Caroline Abernethy, daughter of Doctor Andrew Abernethy of New Hartford, and in a short time he had provided for himself and family a comfortable home from his own earnings, and was largely instrumental in the erection of a neat church edifice and the organization of a Congregational church and society, and a Sabbath school, of which he was superintendent for more than thirty years; and during his life he was a liberal contributor for the support of the church and by his will devised the greater part of his property for its maintenance.

He had two children by his marriage, a son who died at the age of seventeen, just as he was prepared for a college education, and a daughter about the age of twenty-five, who lost her life by an accidental fall from a precipice in 1881. The mother, after a protracted and painful illness, died in January, 1883. Mr. Goodwin soon after became the victim of nervous prostration, which finally culminated in his death.

He was a member of the General Assembly, in the House in 1836 and 1837, and in the Senate in 1860 and 1862; also a judge of Litchfield county court in the years 1851 to 1855, when the county courts were abolished.

As a lawyer he was sound, careful, and deliberate. He thoroughly prepared his cases for trial, both as to the facts and the law. In his arguments before the court and jury he was always self-possessed, calm and emphatic. He was a safe, sound counselor, an excellent, perspicuous draughtsman, and above all he was thoroughly honest and a devoted Christian; these last traits being manifested by his whole life and conversation.

*Prepared at the request of the Reporter by Hon. Abijah Catlin, of the Litchfield County bar. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 209, page 833

1902 - 1988

The Honorable Samuel S. Googel, a retired Superior Court judge and former minority and majority leader in the state House of Representatives, died on September 16, 1988.

Judge Googel stepped down from the bench in the late 1970s, but continued to serve as a state referee until 1987. He was named a Superior Court judge in 1966 after serving as chief judge on the Court of Common Pleas.

He was state representative from New Britain in the 1931, 1933, 1955, 1957 and 1959 sessions of the General Assembly. He was elected minority leader in 1957 and majority leader in 1959. He was the first Democratic majority leader in eighty-two years.

Born in Orsa, Russia, Judge Googel arrived at Ellis Island as a child. He attended New Britain schools, the Bentley School of Accounting and Finance and Brooklyn Law School.

Judge Googel is survived by two sons, Jonathan Googel and Fredric Googel; a daughter, Susan Cramer; a brother, Simon Googel; a sister, Esther White; and six grandchildren.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 61, pages 601 - 602

WILLIAM SUMNER GOSLEE, a member of the bar of Hartford County, died at his home in Glastonbury on March 31st, 1892. Mr. Goslee was born in that town on August 15th, 1832, and with the exception of the time spent in attending school and in preparation for his admission to the bar, he always resided there. After attending the common school and the academy in Glastonbury, he was for a short time in Williston Academy at East Hampton, Mass. He afterwards entered Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., where he studied several terms. He was for several years engaged in teaching school - an occupation common to the average New England young man of ambition, whose scanty purse compels him to seek employment to defray the expenses of his education. He studied law at Tolland with the late Judge Loren P. Waldo, and was there admitted to the bar in 1857. After his admission he opened an office in Glastonbury, where he always practiced.

As a lawyer Mr. Goslee was careful and painstaking. He studiously looked after every fact and detail that might affect the interests of his client. His tastes however inclined him to the quieter part of practice. For many years he was counsel for his town. He acquired a numerous clientage, and was especially well versed in matters relating to the powers and duties of towns - a branch of the law in which he took much interest. He acquired a considerable general practice besides.

Mr. Goslee was a good citizen. He was interested in public affairs and in every question which affected the community where he lived, whether it related to the church or to the town. His fellow townsmen honored him with numerous local offices. He was clerk of the House of Representatives in 1858, and in 1870 was elected to the state Senate, where he served his constituents with fidelity.

He had a natural literary taste, which he kept fresh by constant reading, extending over a variety of subjects. His love for his native town was a distinctive feature of his character. Its broad streets, its quaint houses, its wide meadows and noble river, its ancient and majestic elms, had an irresistible charm for him. He had an accurate knowledge of the history of the town, and he left some valuable manuscripts, which he had prepared, relating to it and to its ancient families. He had a decided taste for historical matter connected with colonial and later times, and was an authority on that subject.

Mr. Goslee married Mary S. Storrs, of Mansfield in this state, who with a son survives him. He was a member of the Congregational Church in Glastonbury, having joined it in his early manhood.

*Prepared, at the request of the Reporter, by John R. Buck, Esq., of the Hartford bar. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 66, pages 600 - 602

Miles Tobey Granger, son of James L. Granger and Abigail Tobey, was born August 12th, 1817, in New Marlborough, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, a town but little north of the Connecticut line. From his earliest youth he had his own way to make, and the story of his fight for an education, told in the history of Litchfield County, is illustrative of the times as well as of the man. He used to say: "I never had but one dollar in my life except what I earned by hard work. My father once gave me a silver dollar - my whole inheritance and patrimony." We condense the following from the biographical sketch in question:

At the age of ten he began to work in a woolen mill at twelve and a half cents a day. After two years thus employed, he hired out to a Norfolk farmer at twenty-five cents a day, and continued to work for various farmers until he was eighteen. He then entered the office of Dr. Benjamin Welch of Norfolk, and began "reading up" to qualify himself to teach a common school. In the fall of that year (1835) he passed the examination and taught a district school at $12.50 a month. After three years chiefly spent as a teacher, wishing to become better fitted for his work, he entered a seminary in Amenia, N.Y. His proficiency as a scholar had so impressed Mr. Davis W. Clark, the principal of the Amenia school, that, on his return in the fall of 1838, after one term's study, he called Mr. Granger up to his room and advised him to fit for college. Following his teacher's advice, he began the studies required to enter the freshman class at Wesleyan University, Middletown.

In 1839 after a year's preparation, he passed his examinations for the freshman class, and for the sophomore year in mathematics. His slender means, derived from the scanty earnings of his farm labor and teaching, were now about exhausted; he therefore obtained a school at Glastonbury where he taught at six months at $20 a month, and kept up with studies at the same time. At the opening of his junior year he not only obtained from the faculty the privilege of taking his junior and senior years together - of doing two years work in one, but taught school for three months besides; and at its close passed his examination in both classes and received his diploma as A. B. in 1842, and the degree of A. M. three years after. While it must not be forgotten that such an achievement was then more easily accomplished than now - the demands, intellectual and pecuniary, being so much lighter then than they are now - nevertheless it was a remarkable feat, even in those days, for a young man to fit himself for, and work his way through college in four years, with but the slenderest means, and those laid by from his own hard earnings.

In 1843 Mr. Granger went to Louisiana as a preceptor in the family of Mr. Francis A. Evans, reading law at the same time. He staid at the South about two years and was admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1845. This visit was of importance, it is believed, as influencing Mr. Granger's political views to a considerable degree. He saw enough of southern life to convince him that the negroes were not, as a rule, unkindly treated, and that the tales of atrocity in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," though possibly founded on facts, gave an unfair idea of the usual workings of the system of slavery. Hence, always a Democrat, he became known as a very bitter opponent of anti-slavery opinion, and, during and after the war, of the emancipation policy of the Republican party.

Returning North in the summer of 1845, he entered the office of Leman Church of Canaan, then one of the most noted lawyers in the county, and was admitted to the Litchfield County bar in October of that year. He remained in Mr. Church's office till the spring of 1847, when he opened an office at Couch's "hatshop," in the old village of "Canaan Four Corners," whence he shortly removed to the depot, where he continued to reside for the remainder of his life. At that time the northwestern corner of this county was a thriving business section, largely engaged in the manufacture of iron. Some of the brightest lawyers were to be found there, and the heaviest cases in our courts came thence.

Mr. Granger was never a "hustler," but a cautious, candid, safe adviser. In the trial of cases he was quick to discern pivotal points, shrewd to avoid pitfalls, a judicious cross-examiner, in argument sound, terse, and never tiresome. Throughout he abounded in dry humor, one of his marked characteristics, but which opponents sometimes found more caustic than pleasant. He soon won the confidence of his townspeople, and in 1849 was elected judge of probate, an office which he continued to hold, one term excepted, until appointed a judge of the Superior Court. He was also town clerk and treasurer.

With the bar he was not only popular, but his witty sayings were constantly flying about. One of these occurs to the writer. Gen. Charles F. Sedgwick, for many years our State's Attorney, used to drive over, every session of court, from Sharon to Litchfield. One term he arranged to take Granger over from West Cornwall to the county seat. The General was an elephant in size; his horse, neither very young nor very fast. They slowly rose many hundred feet from West Cornwall to Goshen, and as they conquered the last hill the General cried triumphantly to his companion, "Now, Granger, there is nothing between us and Litchfield." "No, General, nothing but the old mare." His doggerel was famous. A passage at arms in verse with a former clerk of the Superior Court got into print at the time, was re-discovered years after by some discriminating editor, and again went the rounds of our papers.

In 1857 Mr. Granger was elected to the lower house of the legislature. Then everything was Republican; but in 1867 the Democratic party began to revive, elected its governor and sent Mr. Granger to the senate. In 1868 he was reelected senator, became chairman of the judiciary committee, and was appointed a judge of the Superior Court. He proved a good trier, keen of perception, patient, and, in the sometimes difficult application of the law to the facts, intuitive good judgment supplied the place of great legal learning. In 1876 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, an office he held until 1887, when, a few months before he would be disqualified by age, he resigned to become a member of Congress, a position to which he had been elected in the fall before. In 1893 he was appointed a State Referee, an office which he held until his death, which occurred on October 21st, 1895.

On October 21st, 1846, Judge Granger married Miss Caroline S Ferguson, of East Sheffield, now Clayton, Mass., by whom he had a son, a promising physician, who died in 1876, and four daughters, who with his wife, survive him.

A grave, honest, shrewd man, he inspired confidence and respect, while his sense, wit and kindly nature won him general esteem, and his loyalty many and lasting friends.

*Prepared by George A. Hickox, Esq., of the Litchfield County bar, at the request of the reporter. 

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 44, page iii

Elected by the General Assembly at its May session, 1876, to fill the vacancy made by the resignation of Judge Foster.

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 55, page iv

Resigned [as Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors] March 1, 1887.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 60, pages 602 - 603

HENRY BENNETT GRAVES, of the Litchfield County bar, died at his home in Litchfield on the 10th of August, 1891, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He came of ancestors who were prominent in public affairs, his grandfather, Ezra Graves, representing New Fairfield several sessions in the General Assembly, and his father, Jedediah Graves, being for many years a representative from the town of Sherman, besides which he was a judge of the County Court and a member of the constitutional convention of 1818. His mother was a daughter of David Northrop, a leading citizen of the same town. The following obituary notice of Mr. Graves appeared in the Litchfield Enquirer: -

"Mr. Graves had the advantages of an academic education, but never graduated from college. He studied law with the Hon. James C. Loomis of Bridgeport, and was admitted to the bar at Litchfield in April, 1845. He began practice the same year at Plymouth. In 1849 he removed to Litchfield, where he has ever since resided. All that time he has been engaged in a wide and successful professional experience. No man during the time has been engaged in more trials, few have ever had a better general success. He was the executive secretary to Gov. Henry Dutton during his incumbency of the governorship, and was clerk of the County Court one year. He has represented the town of Litchfield in the Lower House of the General Assembly seven times, viz. : 1858, 1867, 1868, 1876, 1877, 1879 and 1889. He always took a leading part in the legislation of the state, and drafted many of the laws now found in the public statutes."

"As a lawyer he possessed high professional skill, and had great fluency of speech, energy, industry, good judgment, courage and tact. He was always enthusiastic, hopeful and full of resources. These faculties could hardly fail to bring to him a large measure of favorable results. He was a man of the most kindly feelings - warm and ardent in his friendships, generous and helpful to all, and never vindictive even to his opponents. His failings seemed hardly more than the overflow of his good qualities.

"He was twice married - once to the daughter of Gov. Henry Dutton; the second time to Sarah, daughter of the late Simeon Smith of Morris. She survives him. There are three children, daughters - two of the first and one of the second marriage."

A felicitous sketch of Mr. Graves, from the pen of Greene Kendrick, Esq., of the Waterbury bar, appeared in one of the papers, from which the following paragraph is taken: -

"Mr. Graves was a typical lawyer of the old school. He had great keenness of perception, an instinctive power to grapple with a legal complication and unravel it, splendid capacities for analysis, and he was a compact and logical thinker. That attorney must indeed have his legal armor strong and bright if Mr. Graves could not somewhere puncture it. Shrewd, quick, sarcastic and logical, he has for many years occupied a commanding position at the bar of this state. Little given to rhetorical flourish, seldom attempting masterly speeches, he was a thoroughly argumentative lawyer. Before a jury, he won their confidence by his clear, concise and fair manner of putting his case, while for his deep research in matters of pleading and evidence, he possessed the respect and commanded the attention of the bench. In figure, Mr. Graves was tall, handsome and striking. In heart, he was generous, fair and without shams. He was the same "Henry Graves" always and to every one. He had no Sunday face and another for Monday. If he possessed faults, (which is only another way of saying that he was human,) he had the honesty of character not to conceal them. Every one knew him exactly as he was. He occupied a place in the profession which few men could fill.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 102, pages 763 - 764

GARDINER GREENE was born in Norwich, in this State, August 31st, 1851; lived there all his life; and died there at his home, February 10th, 1925.

Descended from Sir Henry Greene, Lord Chief Justice of England in 1353, his ancestry was distinguished and brilliant. His grandfather, William P. Greene, came to Norwich, Connecticut, in 1820, and established the cotton manufacturing industry at Greenville, the name being in memory of the Greene family.

Gardiner Greene was graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1868; from Yale College in 1873; and from Columbia Law School in 1877. He was admitted to the New York bar in May of that year.

He was admitted to the Connecticut bar in March, 1878, and immediately thereafter, at Norwich, began his active professional career. The New London County bar, to which he came, was one of the ablest in the State. It was the bar of Hovey and Augustus Brandegee; of Wait and Jeremiah Halsey. With one of these, John Turner Wait, Judge Greene immediately formed a partnership for general law practice, and this partnership continued under the name of Wait and Greene until the death of its senior member in 1899.

He was a member of the General Assembly in the memorable deadlock session of 1891-1892, and as chairman of the committee on canvass of votes was the Republican house leader. He was again a member of the House in 1895; and was a member of the Commission which prepared the 1902 Revision of the Connecticut statutes. On April 4th, 1894, he was married to Louise Eustis Reynolds, of Norwich, who survives him.

On February 5th, 1910, he became a judge of the Superior Court, which position he held with honor and distinction until his retirement on August 31st, 1921, because of age limitation. While his career at the Bar was distinguished and memorable, it is as a judge of our Superior Court that we of a later day shall longest remember him, and affectionately cherish his memory.

Few indeed were his equals in clear thinking, absolute impartiality, and moral courage. Courteous at all times, calm and dignified in manner, precise in dress and appearance, and with a grace and bearing which instantly attracted and held the respect of all, he was the ideal judge. Possessed of a profound knowledge of law, he was pre-eminently fitted for high judicial office. In the disposition of causes before him, his decisions disclosed a thorough knowledge of the law of the case and a mastery of detail seldom equaled. He delighted in the perfection of achievement.

For many years he was a devoted member of Christ Episcopal Church, Norwich, and for more than twenty-five years its senior warden. Seven times he had been chosen a lay delegate to the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Judge Greene was an outstanding example of the highest type of citizenship. In the community, state, and church, he touched life at many points; and at no point did he fail to adorn it with character unsullied, and charity unrestrained.

*Prepared by Charles L. Stewart, Esq., of the New London County Bar, at the request of the Reporter. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 195, pages 805 - 806

REMARKS OF CHIEF JUSTICE ELLEN A. PETERS ON THE OCCASION OF THE RETIREMENT OF ASSOCIATE JUSTICE ANTHONY E. GRILLO

January 8, 1985

___________

Good Morning.

Before court is opened today, I want to take note of the fact that this is the last occasion for Justice Anthony E. Grillo to sit as a member of this court. At the end of this month he will reach the age for constitutional retirement. Although we look forward to having him serve as a state referee for many years, this is an appropriate moment to pause to acknowledge his many contributions to our state.

Justice Grillo joined this court just about two years ago, in February of 1983. Prior to that time, he had served as a judge of the Superior Court of Common Pleas for two years. In his varied and distinguished career since his graduation from Yale College and the Yale Law School, Justice Grillo served in the United States Army, as a town prosecutor, as town counsel, and as a workers' compensation commissioner.

When Justice Grillo came to sit on this court, he had already amassed a distinguished record on the trial court. As most of you know, it is a mark of special distinction to have one's opinions published as a Superior Court Judge. Only in the appellate courts is publication automatic. It is therefore quite remarkable that Judge Grillo, before he became Justice Grillo, wrote forty-nine opinions that appear in the Connecticut Supplement. He helped to shape the development of the law in cases involving insurance and gambling and taxation and defamation and of course workers' compensation. In a case reminiscent of Gaines v. Manson, which this court decided last summer, he held ten years ago that it was unconstitutional to imprison for nonpayment of fines those who could not pay the fines because of their poverty. In other criminal cases, he explored the inherent tensions between the government's prosecutorial needs and the defendant's needs for discovery.

As a productive member of the Supreme Court, Justice Grillo wrote fifty-six cases, covering again a large variety of issues. Many of his opinions in criminal law explored problems of criminal procedure and constitutional rights. It is, however, likely that the most important of his constitutional cases is the case of Caldor, Inc. v. Thornton, now awaiting decision in Washington, which held a sabbath day-of-rest statute to be violative of constitutionally protected rights of freedom of religion. We are also grateful to Justice Grillo for his decisions with respect to significant civil law matters, such as quotient verdicts, indemnity agreements, and the relationship between state administrative remedies and federal § 1983 actions.

This is a record of judicial achievement in which Justice Grillo can take justifiable pride. It is record of concern for the growth and development of the law, and a record in which that concern has repeatedly been expressed with verbal felicity and insight.

And so I am happy, in closing, to have this opportunity to express to Anthony Grillo my own appreciation, and that of the court as a whole, for his many contributions to our court and for his many years of hard work and dedication to justice on behalf of the people of the state of Connecticut.

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 247, pages 965 - 967

Centuries ago, some wise Greek writer stated that the measure of a man's life is the well spending of that life. Anthony E. Grillo was a man whose life was certainly well spent.

Anthony E. Grillo was born on January 21, 1915, in Hamden and passed away in Florida on February 5, 1999. He attended Hamden public schools and was later graduated from Yale College in 1936 and from Yale Law School in 1941. While attending law school, he taught Spanish and English in the New Haven evening school program in order to help pay for his education.

In September, 1941, he volunteered for service in the United States Army. He entered as a private and was discharged four and one-half years later as a first lieutenant. During his military service, he graduated from the Army's counterintelligence school. His skill and command of at least three languages was significant in his counterintelligence work. His military service took him to, among other places, Aruba, where he met his future wife, Jeanette, whose father was stationed there as a representative of the Dutch government. They were married there in 1944 and ultimately became the parents of three sons.

After his discharge from the service, he and his wife returned to Hamden, and, after passing the Connecticut Bar in 1946, he became associated with the New Haven firm of O'Keefe, Johnson and O'Keefe. Some years later he became associated with William Halloran and Frank Daley. With the experience gained from those associations, Attorney Grillo later opened his own office for the general practice of law.

From the time that he was admitted to practice, he developed and maintained an interest in government and community affairs, especially in the town of Hamden, where he was active in the Democratic party. He was a prosecutor in the town court and later became town counsel. Attorney Grillo was also active on the service side of Hamden community life. He was one of the original group that brought the first Lion's Club charter to town, and he eventually became president of that organization. He was also influential in a group known as the Better Boys Brigade, preparing boys to become good citizens, and he worked in the Boy Scout movement.

In 1959, Governor Abraham Ribicoff appointed Attorney Grillo to be the workers' compensation commissioner for the third district. The governing statute for that office was and is remedial and humanistic, and he was ideally suited to administer it by his attributes of compassion and understanding. In discharging the duty of that office, his goal was not to be one of inflexible justice, but of justice tempered with mercy.

In 1964, Governor John Dempsey appointed Commissioner Grillo to the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1967 that same governor appointed him to the Superior Court. Judge Grillo served some eighteen years as a trial judge. He was well qualified for judicial office by experience, interest and temperament. He was an insightful student of the law and an adept writer. His writings demonstrated a studied craftsmanship and were thorough in their preparation, logical in their analysis and decisive in their tone. It is a mark of his competence as a trial judge that, at a time when the Reporter of Judicial Decisions was the only person to select what trial court opinions were to be published in the Connecticut Supplement, fifty-nine of Judge Grillo's opinions were printed there.

On February 18, 1983, Governor William O'Neill elevated Judge Grillo to the Supreme Court, where he served until January 21, 1985, when he reached the constitutional age limitation of seventy years. Despite the fact that he served on the Supreme Court for only two years, he authored fifty-six opinions that, again, demonstrated the preparation, scholarship and analysis so apparent in his trial court work. He was a valued and productive member of the court and had a good rapport with the Bar there. Upon his retirement, he worked for a number of years as a state referee in New Haven.

Judge Grillo's life in public service was shaped by humble beginnings, was schooled in the humanities and in the law, and was forged in the crucible of an active trial practice, meaningful political experience and respectable community service. His well spent life calls to mind the following lines by Walter Foss: "Let me live in a house by the side of the road where the race of men go by. The men who are good and the men who are bad. As good and bad as I. I'll not sit in the scorner's seat or hurl the cynic's ban. Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man." Justice Grillo will be remembered as just such a man.

*Taken from the remarks of Justice Arthur Healey at the New Haven County Bar Association's Service of Remembrance on November 10, 1999.

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 189, page iii

Appointed to the Supreme Court February 9, 1983, to take effect February 18, 1983.

 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 195, page iii

Retired February 1, 1985, under constitutional limitation as to age. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 62, pages 599 - 603

JAMES GRISWOLD was born at Old Lyme, Connecticut, on the 8th day of February, 1828, and died at his home in that town, after a brief illness, on the 7th day of May, 1892.

He was the son of Col. Charles Griswold of Lyme, and the grandson of Hon. Roger Griswold, one of the most distinguished judges and governors of Connecticut. He could trace his lineage direct through the honored names of Griswold and Wolcott back to that historic stock which, it has been stated by a historian of Connecticut, "furnished forty-three judges of the highest courts and sixteen governors of the respective states." He graduated from Yale in the class of 1848, was admitted to the bar of New London County in 1856, and soon after commenced the practice of law in his native town and the home of his ancestors.

There is something in the atmosphere or in the associations of this quiet New England village which seems peculiarly adapted to the production of great lawyers and judges. It was here that Roger Griswold, one of the greatest judges and governors of Connecticut, as well as a distinguished member of Congress, was born, of whom it was said by another great judge "that he was the most brilliant man that Connecticut ever produced." It was here that Gov. Matthew Griswold, Chief Justice of Connecticut, was born, lived and died. Here Henry M. Waite, another of Connecticut's great lawyers and chief justices, lived and died. This too was the birthplace of Morrison R. Waite, late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Here also was the birth-place and home of Charles J. McCurdy, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Connecticut and minister of the United States at the court of Vienna, who was recently gathered to his fathers, ripe in years and crowned with honors. It was amid such associations, surrounded by the traditions of these great names, in the quiet of this typical New England village, near the tomb of Lady Fenwick and in sight of the ever-flowing Connecticut, the very air laden with memories of the historic past, that young Griswold commenced the practice of the law. He had the gift of a charming personality. He was of medium height, graceful figure, light wavy hair, blue eyes, and an address at once reserved and persuasive, which bespoke confidence and trust at first sight. His conversation was replete with a quaint humor which gave an added charm to the pure and vigorous Anglo-Saxon in which he clothed his thought. He had a certain air of high breeding about him, easily distinguishable, but difficult to describe, which the biographer of Erskine compares to "the look of a blooded horse." He was neither by temperament nor taste fitted for the stormy arena of conflict in the courts - those battles of the bar, where blows are given and received, and where all the energies of mind and body must be marshaled whether for assault, for parry or for defense. He was by nature modest and undemonstrative, and his sensitive soul shrank from the "sound of the trumpets, the thunder of the captains, and the shoutings."

His tastes were cultivated and refined. He loved music and books, pictures and fields, trees and flowers, and above all his family and friends. He was at one with nature, and held with her congenial converse - whether in the sweet scented woods, or amid the daisies and lilies of the field, or along the banks of the silent river, ever flowing past his door to the bosom of the ocean, or beneath the unspeaking heavens, spangled with stars. He was fond of reading, and his memory was stored with the choicest productions of both English and classic literature; and from this source, aided by a sparkling originality of his own, he drew forth treasures new and old, which gave a piquant zest to his conversation and made him a most delightful companion.

Nor was he a mere idle dreamer of dreams. To his sweet and gentle nature were added some of those masterful gifts and qualities by which leadership amongst men is compelled. His mind was vigorous, clear, penetrating and judicial. He easily mastered the learning of the law, and explored its primal principles to their deep foundation. He knew when and how to insist upon their application in all their rigor, and when to adapt their flexible conditions to the ever-varying requirements of social life and human affairs.

He was endowed with that supreme gift of common sense, which has an intuitive perception of the relations of things, which distinguishes between the sham and the real, the false and the true, and which is greater than genius because it is more useful. It was for the possession of this rare faculty, and the absolute probity of his character, that it came to pass that he was more frequently selected by the judges and by his brethren for the hearing of those causes which are tried out of court, than any other member of the bar.

His temper, his tastes, his leisure, his patience, his impartiality, his supreme love of justice and truth, all conspired to make him a model arbitrator, committee, or referee. And in the decision of the many important questions which came before these tribunals, his judgment was rarely at fault and seldom overruled.

With such qualities of mind and heart he soon came to be to all his neighbors and towns-folk, not only their oracle, but their guide, their counselor and their friend. He was the composer of strife and the promoter of peace to the entire community in which he lived. His sense of honor was as lofty as that of any knight-templar who ever set a lance in rest; his word when once passed was as a sacrament; to him a stain was like a wound; his measure of courtesy to rich and poor alike was "noblesse oblige." He had an instinctive aversion to the whole brood of shams, hypocrisies, subterfuges and lies.

"Finally, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report," all these were garnered up in this man's life.

And so he went in and out among his people, doing faithfully and lovingly what his hands found to do. "None knew him but to love him, none named him but to praise." To young men and maidens, old men and children, his daily presence was as a daily benediction.

At last the summons came for him to appear before the all-wise, all-seeing, all-powerful Judge. "Sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust" he met the call

"Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch

About him and lies down to pleasant dreams."

To the foregoing admirable sketch of Mr. Griswold by Mr. Brandegee the reporter adds a more full statement which has been sent him by one of the family relatives, of the remarkable number of leading public men connected with his family. It repeats to some extent what has already been stated on the subject, but goes much more into details; and is a paper not only of much interest, but well worth preserving for its historical facts.

The recent death of James Griswold calls our attention to the inheritance of legal talent in his family since the early settlement of this country. Hon. Daniel Clarke, who came to Windsor, Conn., from 1636 to 1639, and one other person admitted by Andros, were the earliest admitted attorneys in the colony of Connecticut. He was secretary of the colony for many years, an attorney and a magistrate. He married for his second wife Mrs. Martha [Pitkin] Wolcott, sister of the famous lawyer William Pitkin of Hartford. She was the widow of Simon Wolcott, Esq., and cousin of five judges of the Pitkin family, of whom three were chief justices of Connecticut, and one was a judge in Massachusetts. She was mother of Gov. Roger Wolcott, a lawyer and judge of the Superior Court, whose wife was a granddaughter of Hon. Daniel Clarke. Among her Wolcott relatives of other names there have been Gov. William Wolcott Ellsworth, judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, Josiah Hawes, judge of the Circuit Court of Michigan, and Henry Baldwin, a justice of the United States Supreme Court. It may also be added that Henry Matson Waite, chief justice of Connecticut, and Morrison Remick Waite, chief justice of the United States, descended from her own and her husband's ancestor, Henry Wolcott, the first Wolcott in this country, and from Matthew Griswold, also the first of his line in America. We are glad to say also that our honored legal friend, Hon. John Turner Wait, was of the same remote Wolcott and Griswold descent, as was also the late Daniel Chadwick. Ursula, daughter of Gov. Roger and Martha [Pitkin] Wolcott, had three brothers and a Wolcott nephew, who were judges of Connecticut. Her husband, Gov. Matthew Griswold, was chief justice of Connecticut. Two sons of Gov. Matthew and Ursula [Wolcott] Griswold were judges of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, one of whom, the famous Gov. Roger Griswold, was declared by the late Chief Justice Henry M. Waite to have been "the most brilliant man this state had ever produced." Among the descendants of Gov. Matthew and Mrs. Ursula [Wolcott] Griswold were Marian Chandler, their granddaughter, who married James Lanman, judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and her daughter, Joanna Lanman, who married Lafayette S. Foster, judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, distinguished as a lawyer, senator, and acting vice-president of the United States. Other descendants were Ebenezer Lane, their grandson, chief justice of Ohio, and their great grandson, Charles Johnson McCurdy, judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Among their grandchildren who were lawyers were Roger and Col. Charles Griswold, sons of Gov. Roger Griswold, of whom Col. Charles was father of James Griswold. One daughter of Gov. Roger Griswold married Major Thomas Perkins, who will be remembered as a prominent lawyer in New London; one married her cousin Chief Justice Lane of Ohio; a third married Charles Leicester Boalt, a lawyer of high standing in Ohio, and their son John Henry Boalt is now a distinguished lawyer in California. Simon Greenleaf, the eminent law professor and legal author of Harvard University, was a grand-nephew of Gov. Matthew Griswold. We stop here. A descendant of Gov. Matthew Griswold has traced among the family connections, by birth or marriage, forty-three judges of the high courts, and sixteen governors of states, one of the last of whom is now the president of the United States.

With such an ancestry and family connection as James Griswold had, another man, taking for his motto "Noblesse oblige," might have been ambitious to reach the heights of his profession and of political life. No one who knew him could doubt that he possessed the industry, calm dispassionate judgment, the clear insight, bright intellect, thorough knowledge of the law, and the ready and witty use of the best language to convey his ideas - in brief, the thoroughly furnished "legal mind," which might have brought to him distinguished success. But with his sensitiveness, modesty, and habit of undervaluing himself, his ancestral honors depressed rather than stimulated him. This in a great degree accounts for the undemonstrative and quiet course which he pursued through his life. Not attempting to do great things, he filled so full of duty and daily kindness the narrower range which he had laid out for himself, that he is missed and mourned in his own sphere as few men in any sphere have the privilege to be. He had time for much reading in many lines of thought, for the study and practice of music of the highest class, and for the use of his keen wit, gentle humor, and knowledge of books, and of colonial and contemporary history, and wide practical information, in intercourse with the few friends who had the privilege of his intimate acquaintance.

*Prepared at the request of the reporter by Augustus Brandegee, Esq., of the New London bar.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 103, pages 771 - 773

The death of CHARLES E. GROSS on December 31st, 1924, took from the rolls of the bar of this State a name prominent among those of its leaders for an unusually long period. Admitted to the bar at Hartford in 1872, Mr. Gross continued in the active practice of his profession until a few weeks before his death, and the record of those many years of successful effort are worthy of careful consideration by those upon whom the duty rests of maintaining the traditions of the law.

Mr. Gross was born in Hartford, August 18th, 1847, the son of Mason and Cornelia (Barnard) Gross. On both sides of the family his ancestry goes back to the founding of the Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies, and for many generations his family has been prominent in the affairs of Hartford. In Hartford he received his early education, and after graduating from the public high school, he entered Yale College, receiving the degree of B. A. with the class of 1869. He then taught for one year at Hall’s School in Ellington. His legal training was commenced under the Hon. Charles J. Hoadley, State Librarian, and the influence of this course of study had a marked effect upon his later development as a lawyer. His preparation for the law was completed in the office of the firm of Waldo, Hubbard and Hyde. He was admitted to practice September 22d, 1872. Thereafter he continued as a law clerk with the same partnership, composed of Judge Loren P. Waldo, Governor Richard D. Hubbard and Alvan P. Hyde, and until his death he was associated with this law firm and its successors. Shortly before the death of Judge Waldo in 1881, he was admitted to partnership and later the name was changed to Hubbard, Hyde and Gross. After the death of Governor Hubbard in 1884, the firm name was again changed to Hyde, Gross and Hyde, William Waldo Hyde and Frank E. Hyde being successively admitted to partnership. The partnership name was again changed to Gross, Hyde and Shipman in 1894 when Alvan P. Hyde died and Arthur L. Shipman became a partner. Subsequently Mr. Gross’ son, Charles Welles Gross, and Alvan Waldo Hyde were in turn admitted to partnership, and in 1919 when Mr. Shipman retired, the name was again changed to Gross, Gross and Hyde.

Mr. Gross in 1875 was married to Ellen C. Spencer of Hartford, the daughter of Calvin and Clarissa (Root) Spencer. Three children were born to them, of whom one son died in infancy. The others, Charles Welles Gross and Helen Clarissa Gross (Mrs. Woods Chandler), and three grandchildren, Spencer Gross, Mason W. Gross and Cornelia Gross, survive him.

Though a man of many diverse interests, the calls of his practice at all times stood first with Mr. Gross. In the preparation of cases for trial he deemed it a duty to the court to be thoroughly informed as to both facts and law. This duty he performed with painstaking care. In court he relied upon a clear and logical statement of his case rather than upon eloquence, and his success is evidenced by the many reports of cases in which he appeared. However, his inclination was less to the field of the advocate than to that of the adviser. Though at the time he began the practice of law, success in court was considered a more important test of legal ability than it is today, he preferred to devote himself to the other branches of practice. Though fearless as to the outcome of necessary litigation, he always believed the greatest opportunity for a lawyer to be in so guiding a client as to avoid such necessity. It was to this work as a legal adviser that he preferred to devote himself and in which he had his largest success. In this work, too, it was his intention to limit his advice to matters of law and not to volunteer suggestions upon questions of business policy. When requested to express his views upon other subjects, however, his opinions were sound and helpful. In his chosen field he was an important influence especially in the development of the law of banking and insurance.

The plan for the reorganization of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1889 was largely the work of Mr. Gross. This was the first instance of the mutualization of a stock life insurance company and the papers prepared for the purpose have been precedents in many similar cases since that time.

For many years he was president and a trustee of the Society for Savings, and for twenty-four years president and director of the Holyoke Water Power Company, and until his death he was a director and counsel of the Aetna Insurance Company and of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company. For many years he was vice-president of the Hartford County Bar Association and from 1917 until 1922, when he refused to stand for re-election, he was its president. He took an active part in securing the adoption of the first medical practice act, and in recognition of his services in that respect was made an honorary member of the State Medical Society.

His interest in his profession did not stand in the way of many other interests. He never took an active part in politics, but was always attentive to the affairs of the State and City. For eighteen years he was a member of the Board of Park Commissioners of the city of Hartford. As a trustee of the Wadsworth Atheneum and for several years as its president, he rendered valuable service in increasing the usefulness of that institution to the city. These were but a part of his interests, but the results of his services there were typical of the work he did in other State and City matters.

It is impossible to sum up the character of Mr. Gross in a few words. His interests were so varied and his abilities so great that they cannot be stated in a narrow compass. A man of strictest principles, he adhered closely to rules which he had fixed for his own conduct. Yet toward others he was kindly and forgiving and ever ready to make allowances for human weakness. Industrious, sincere and able, he has left a lasting record of deserved accomplishment.

*Prepared by Alvan Waldo Hyde, Esq., of the Hartford County bar, at the request of the Reporter.

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 130, pages 733 - 735

Jonathan Grout of Fairfield died on April 9, 1942, of pneumonia following a minor operation. He was fifty years of age.

Descended from Colonel Jonathan Grout of Vermont, who was a member of the first United States Congress, he was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 17, 1892, the son of Edward Marshall and Ida Ludovike (Loeschigk) Grout. His father, a New York lawyer, served as president of the borough of Brooklyn and as comptroller of the city of New York.

Mr. Grout attended Prospect School in Brooklyn, Morristown School, Morristown, N. J., and Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Conn., and was graduated from Colgate University in 1913. He received his legal education in part at New York Law School, which he attended until 1915, and in part as a student in the law firm of Butcher, Tanner & Foster of New York, with which he was associated from 1913 to 1916.

Admitted to practice in New York in 1916, he came to Bridgeport in the fall of that year and was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1917. After four years with the firm of Marsh, Stoddard & Day, he joined William B. Boardman in forming the firm of Boardman & Grout, which at the time of Mr. Grout's death was known as Boardman, Grout & McCarthy. Richard S. Swain was a member from 1925 until he became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1939.

In his practice Mr. Grout devoted himself chiefly to corporate and business problems. He grasped quickly and analyzed thoroughly the facts, figures and principles involved, and usually produced an apt solution. He was a distinguished draftsman, and had the gift of stating most complicated arrangements in a document which, while accurate and inclusive, was expressed in the fewest words and was crystal clear. As a peacemaker, he was very effective. He excelled in the ability to determine the common ground advantageous to or for the best interest of both parties, to present it with tact, dignity and patience, and finally to persuade the parties to agree, thus avoiding litigation and more than once turning bitter antagonists into friends. He never lost his temper, never talked down to anyone, and was a good listener, quick to appreciate another's point of view. Though not primarily a trial lawyer, his high percentage of successes, many against opponents of longer and broader trial experience, was attained by painstaking analysis, careful preparation and a simple but forceful manner of presentation. Especially in cases involving complicated financial problems, his ability to analyze figures and then to express concisely and with entire clarity his conclusions in argument or brief was outstanding. He derived the utmost satisfaction from a job thoroughly done, regardless of his client's ability to pay for the time consumed.

Having at once the liking and the capacity for precise and accurate detail, it is not surprising that his chief avocation was in the field of architectural design. A characteristic modesty accounts for the fact that his skill in this field was not exhibited or even widely known. Some of his friends, however, have seen his designs of his own home, and the beautiful drawings of medieval castles on which he labored during many a long evening, and have realized that when Jonathan Grout became a lawyer the profession of architecture lost an accomplished craftsman.

Mr. Grout was judge of the Town Court of Fairfield from 1921 to 1925, and was town counsel from 1925 to 1931. He was a director of the Fairfield Trust Company and of numerous other local corporations. He was a member and past president of the Bridgeport Bar Association, and was a member of the Connecticut and American Bar Associations. For many years he served on the budget committee of the Bridgeport Community Chest and was its chairman at the time of his death.

Interested in all sports, Mr. Grout played excellent golf and tennis, frequently competed in tournaments and won his full share of the prizes. From 1927 to 1935 he spent much of his leisure in racing small sailing yachts. In addition to winning many a yacht club series, he won the Atlantic Class championship of Long Island Sound in 1935 with his sloop "Sirocco." He was a past president of the Brooklawn Country Club, a former commodore of the Black Rock Yacht Club, and a member of the University Club of Bridgeport and the Country Club of Fairfield. He was a communicant and vestryman of St. George's Episcopal Church, Bridgeport. In politics he was a Republican.

He is survived by his wife, Alice Bartram Pierce, whom he married on January 2, 1917, and by three sons, Jonathan DeWitt, a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard, Phillipp DeForest, a graduate of Colgate University and an ensign in the Navy, and Thomas DeForest, a student at the Berkshire School. A sister, Katharine, also survives.

Mr. Grout will perhaps be longest remembered for his capacity for making and keeping friends. Rarely has there been a member of the Connecticut bar whose death has so sincerely affected so many people in so personal a way. His character and ability would have entitled him to profound respect, but the feeling which most men had for him went far deeper than that. It was a spontaneous tribute to a kindly gentleman, whose natural courtesy and friendliness were at once a distinction and a happiness.

*Prepared by William B. Boardman and Branford Boardman, of the Bridgeport bar. 

As Printed in the Connecticut Reports, volume 272, page iii

Appointed to the Appellate Court January 1, 2005, to take effect January 27, 2005.