Litchfield enquirer., 1864-12-22
Hon. Daria sherman Boaram.n.

man, died at New Milford on the 2d day of De- cember inst. Some friend who was better ac- quainted than the writer of this article with him, and his daily habits and deportmsnt, should before this have taken some public no tice of his life and character. He was an emil neht and distinguished citizen of our county for long course of years, universally respect ed and beloved for his high toned honorable in. tegrity, for his bland and courteous manners, and for the genial flow of kind feelings which marked bis intercourse with hts friends and associates. He was born in December l768. and thus had nearly completed niaety-six years of his life He was grandson of Rev. Daniel Boardman, the first Congregational Pastor of New Milford, and the family to which he be- ionged have ever maintained q high and hon. orab'e position in that town. After he was twenty-one years of age. he commenced Q course Of study with view to qualify himself for professional life. being encouraged to such course by his older brother, the late Hen Elijah Boardman, who, being wealthy, prom ised him such pecuniary aid as might be ne cessary to complete the course. He made such rapid progress in his studies, that he was prepared to enter the Junior Class in Yale College in Q little more than two years. He was examined for admission by President Stiles, in person. and his examination, though strict and exacting, was entirely satisfactory to that eminent scholar. It was then that his acquaintance with Dr.. Stiles commenced, and during the whole course of his life he was in the habit of speaking of that venerable man in terms of the highest admiration. He gradua- ted in l793, and among his elassm ates was the late Asa Bacon Esq. of Litchfeld, and during the long life of that gentleman, they were warm and intimate friends. Since the death of Father Waldo. Judge Boardman had been the oldest living graduate of Yale College. He pursued his legal studies under the direction of the late Judge Reeve, and was admitted to the bar in l7s5. Immediately after, he com menced the practice of law in his native town, and there he has lived, beloved and honored, through very long life. He very soon ac- quired espectable standing at the bar, and
 
 course with his brethren are now we'll remem bered by the older members of the bar. He was a very nice and accurate classical scholar and any mistakes of his brethren Tn the strue- words. would draw his instant attention, sometimes provoking mirth and sometimes ridicule. His own arguments to the Court and Jury were models of classic purity. precision and force; but he failed to be very impress i've speaker through q deficiency of vocal power. His voice was weak and his utterances feeble, being seldom heard, unless he made an unnatural effort, beyond the circle immediately surrounding him; and yet no member of the bar was more successful in his cases, or engaged in more extensive practice. Amang such lawyers as Barzillia Slosson, Elisha Ste,- ling, Noah B. Benedict, Asa Bacon and Samue! Church. he was esteemed as one of the best of professional advisers.* He was appoint ct Chief Justice of the County Court in 1881, sue ceeding the late Judge Pcetibone, who had held that place for fifteen years. He remained y he was there, the highest expectations of his friends were more than realized, by his able, honorable and diguihed administration Of the duties of that position. His eharges to ,Le jury were models of judicial accuracy, being clear and concise. His associates on the bench. Judges Burrali and Woodruff, regarded hiu with the greatest respect and venern,ion After his retirement from the bench and up to a late period of his life, he addicted himself to a course of historical and classical reading, and to other literary avocations. His mind was remarkably we'll stored with facts which he had acquired in his own experience and by quired by his course of study. He onee said to the writer of this, that he remembered eve ry incident of the revolutionary war, and tha, he had frequently been able to correct the mistakes of historical critcs, by his own re- collection of dates and incidents belonging to that exciting period. He also said that during the naval battle off Newport, R. l., in ITS, he was with his father, who was ploughing in the field, and that he distinctly heard the re- port of cannon. During the next winter his father took him to Quaker Hill in Duchess County, N Y. about ten miles from New Mil ford, to visit the army of General Washington, which was then encamped at that piace, and there for the first time he saw that great Gen. eral, on horseback, and greatly admired the beauty of the animal and the skill of the rider Many such "reminiscences as these gave a very great interest to-an acquaintance with him in his old age. The last time the writer saw him, before he became so enfeebled by age as not to be able to read much, he was studying Hil- dreth's History of the United States, aud he seemed to admire that work beyond any other bearing on that subject.
 Judge Boardman retained, in a remarkable degree, his knowledge of the Greek and Latin classlcs. In a letter to the writer, of the date of February 1855, he says: "During the last year, was thinking of the story of the Eneid, and looked up an old Dlvidson's Virgil which had been neglected for some sixty odd years,