Litchfield enquirer., 1877-02-22
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 From Harrer's Monthly.l .LTCHElgLD MILL.
, RE JOHN D, .eHAARL1H, IR-

c ; < q 4 s About one hundred miles from New
 York city, perched among the hills of Northwestern Connecticut, at an elevation of more than 1900 feet above the level i of the sea, ,.lies one of the most pictur- esque of New England's villages, now 1 chiefly known to the people of the metrop- | oils as place of summer residence, but l whose crown of glory is it's connection
 with the past Though much of the modern prosperity | of the Hill is due to its improved means l of communication with the outer world,
 its ancient importance may be largely credited to its comparative isolation. On
 this account. probably, was it selected in
 the war of the Revolution as one of the
 chief depots for military stores, and for
 the safe keeping of royalist prisoners.
 When New York fell into the hands of the British, tho road from Hartford through
 Litchfield became the principal highway ! between New England and the West. and over it was hauled most of the provisions
 and munitions of war for the Continental
 forces beyond the Hudson The village
 being far inland and away from any nav 1 igable river, it became the army head
 quarters in Western Connecticut, and a place of considerable activity. Its work. l shops rang with the busy sounds of prep
 aration. the lowing of beeves and the | shouts of teamsters were often heard in
 its streets, and its taverns brlstled with general officers of the Revolution visited l it at various times. and although it was
 never the scene of great events, 1t bore it's
 share of the burdens of the struggle, and
 It's hospitable roofs doubtless witnessed
 many 3 consultation which led to impeF-l tant results. .if.stg, -af,ef,sT IeqTsf :. esz
 But great as were the. glories of the
 Hill in the Revolutionary times. they were fairly eclipsed in the period sue ceeding them, when the celebrated law school, and the nc less famous female seminary which existed contemporaneous- ly with it. attracted pupils from every State in the Union. These accessions to it's population contributed largely to a society already brilliant, and which in- cluded in it's numbers a large proportion of highly educated men and women. It is no exaggeration to to say that this iso- lated New England town was at that time the centre os culture unexcelled, and in some respects unequaled, in its day. The Rev. Dan Huntington, who was called in 1798 from tutorship iD Yale College to the pastorate of the Congregational church, describes it as ga delightful vii lage on a fruitful hill, richly endowed with it's schools. both professional and scientific. and their accomplished teach CTS, with it's venerable Governors and judges. with it's learned lawyers, and Sen ators and Representatives both in the national and State departments. and with a population enlightened and respecta- ble." Of the heads of families resident there at this time, seventeen were gradu- ates of colleges, seven were captains in the Continental army, and four became general officers, four became members of Congress, two Chief Justices, and two Governors of the State. An anecdote of the Hill were no less accomplished than their lords, and that they won admiration abroad as we'll as at home. Among the ladies at the national capitol during the second administration of Washington, none was more noted for personal attrac- tions than the wife of the Secretary of the Treasury. Said MT. Liston, the British minister, one day, to General Tracy, then United States Senator from Connecticut, ''Your country woman, Mrs. Wolcott, would be admired even at St. James," "Sir," replied General Tracy, "she is ad- mired even on Litchield Hill."
 It is no reflection on the intelligence of summer visitors to the Hill to say that there are probably some among them who never heard of it's chief claim to distinc- tiou, and who pass by the simple head stone that marks the grave of Reeve and the more ambitious monument that com memorates in Latin the virtues of Gould, unconscious that through their efforts Litchfeld became better known through out the Union than any other place of it's population ill the country. Yet in many a distant State their memory is still green, and the writer has often been questioned concerning the law school, particularly in the South, by those whose fathers or grandfathers had enjoyed it's benefits, yet who had never heard of it's discontin- uance.
 It was in 1772 that Tapping Reeve, g young lawyer fresh from his studies, re. moved from Princeton. New Jersey. where he had for several years held a tutorship in the college, and began the practice of law upon the Hill, then. Q quiet country village, but already beginning to feel the leaven of the Revolution. With him came his newly married wife. born Sally Burr, daughter of the Rev. Aaron Burr, presi- dent of the College of New Jersey, and O1 OOudtuhU Cu W6IuSs Oub a few years suficed to give him reputa- tion for intellect and varied learning and a commanding position among the law yers of the State MT. Reeve was re- markable man in many respects. tsHe was" says Hollister, "a man of ardent temperament, tender sensibilities, and of a nature deeply religious. He was the first eminent lawyer in this coun- try who dared to arraign the common law of England for it's. severity and refined cruelty in cutting off the natural rights of married women. and placing their prop erty as we'll as thelr persons at the mercy of their husbands, who might squander 1t or hoard it up at pleasure. All the mitigating changes m onr jnrispru- dence which have been made to redeem helpless woman from the barbarities of her legalized tyrant may fairly be traced to the author of the first American trea- tise on The Domestic Relations. He is described by one who sat under his teach ings as ''most venerable man in charac. ter and appearance-his thick gray hair parted and falling in profusion upon his shoulders, his voice only loud whisper, but distinctly heard by his earnestly at tentive pupils s.
 In 17S4 MT. Reeve began the instruction of legal students, and met with such suc- cess that up to I798 more than two hun dred young men from his office had been admitted to the bar. In this year he was chosen a judge of the Superior Court, and he associated with himself in the conduct of the school James Gould. one of his own graduates. and who had previously held a tutorship in Yale College. Gould was man of no less ability than Reeve, and perhaps q more profoundly philoso- phical lawyer. His treatise on Rleading ia Civit Actions is remarkable for con- ciseness and logical reasoning, and is still standard textbook in the best law. schools of the country. It is hut an epi- tome of the work originally planned by it's author, bat the publication of Chitty's great work while Goud was preparing materials for his own induced a change of plan. He too became judge in 1916.
 Under the conduct of these two able men the schools fourished until 1S20-the aQ mo vnar xrhinl rifpoScaI kho foun1rnn.