Litchfield enquirer., 1879-05-01
[Prom Mansdeld's Personal Memories.l LITCHFIELD IN 1928.

of the year, and just before sunset The scene was most striking. Litchield is on
 hill, about one thousand feet above the sea,
 and having fine scenery on every side. On the west rises Mount Tonl," dark, frown-
 ing peak in the southwest, Bantam Lake" on whose shores have often walked and rid l den. In the north and east other ridges rolled
 away in the distance, and so, from Litchfield ! Hill, there is varied and delightful prospect.
 One of the first objects which struck my eyes
 was interesting and picturesque This was
 long procession of scheol girls, coming down 1 North street, walking under the lofty elms, 1 and moving to the music of a flute and fageo-
 let. The girls were gayly dressed and evl- dently enjoying their evening parade, in this
 most balmy season of the year. It was the school of Miss Sally Pierce, whom have men, toned before, as one of the earliest and best of the pioneers in American female education. | That scene has never faded from my memory. l The beauty of nature, the loveliness of the season, the sudden appearance of this school of girls all united to strike and charm the
 mind of young man, who, however varied
 his experience, had never beheld a scene like
 that. In the evening my father and myself
 walked up to the home of Judge Gould, who
 was to be my future preceptor. The judge
 was handsome man, very able lawyer, with keen and superior mind, subtle, dis eliminating, and yet clear as crystal His treatise on Pleading" which was one of the
 law titles upon. which he lectured to our class, | is the ablest law book there is eXtant. My l father was acquainted with him, and it was soon announced that 1 should enter as law student, and, as it turned out, my residence in
 Ltchtield continued the next two years, and
 was admitted to the bar by the county court | of Litchtield, in June, 1895. The next morn ing my father introduced me to Governor Vol l o,,I on0h PI Rn1 1 for at Mrs. Lords, whose house was just across 1 the street from Dr. Lyman Beecher's, then pastor of the Litchfield Congregational Church. 1 As my residence at Litchfield was one of the
 most important periods of my life, and, as 1
 was there introduced into society, of which
 this country had none superior, 1 will state
 something of the growth and character of
 Litchtield before 1 was there. Litchtield was | settled nearly hundred years after the first
 settlement of New Haven, and chiefly by | immigrants from Hartford. The Wolcott
 family early came there, and they and
 their connections were among the most dis | tinguished people in the state. Three success | sive w olcotts were governors of the state, the
 second being one of the slgners of the Declara- l tiOn of independence, and the third the suc-
 cessor of Hamilton, as secretary of the treasu- ry, in the administration of Washington.
 This was the one then living in Litchield Then there were the Talmadges, the Seymours,
 the Buells, with Tracy and others, who had
 made Litchtield noted for talent and social ar
 istocracy long before 1 came there. Many
 striking anecdotes were told of the men and
 women of the former days, which still fingered | i'll tradition. Two or three are worth preserv- ing, because they attest to wit far superior to | what we have now.
 Uriah Tracy, who lived at Litchtield, was a
 very superior man. and noted for wit. He
 was United States Senator from Connecticut l in the time of Washington and Adams, and to
 him are attributed, whether true or not, some
 of the sharpest sayings of that day. It is said
 that he was standing on the steps of the Capi
 tol, which you know looks down Pennsylvania
 avenue, when drove of mules was coming
 up. Randolph, who was standing by him,
 said: ''There, Tracy, are some of your c0nstit-
 uents." Yes, sir ;' said Tracy, they are going to Virginia, to keep school" At anoth- CT time Tracy was standing by the British Am
 bassador, in one of those receptions which ! Huntington has so we'll depicted, in what he
 calls the Court of Washington, in the midst characters. This lady was think, of the
 Wolcott family, and distinguished for beauty,
 grace, and manners. The ambassador was much struck by the appearance of Mrs. Good l rich, and exclaimed; By George, Tracy,
 Mrs. Goodrich would be distinguished in the 1 Court of England :" 'Yes, sir" said Tracy,
 bewing ''she $ distinguished even on Litch- field Hill '" Tracy was right, for, to be ad- mired in that society," at that time would have required talents and graces sufficient to secure l distinction in any court of the world But all this is gone, and nothing can illustrate the ev- anescent state of our society more than the changes it has undergone in many of the old places in the old states. However excellent or able may be the people who live in Litch- field now, there is no such social glery, no such marked superiority there, as that which distinguished the noted people of Litchtield in the generation just passing away, wben 1 came upon the stage. The change in people,
 manners, and conditions is quite as great as tue change Tn the dress of gentlemen. When was law student, few old gentlemen still retained the dress of the Revolution. It was a powdered queue, white-topped boots, silk stockings, and brooches with buckles. 1 can remember to have seen David Daggett, chief justice, and half dozen others, walking in the streets with this dignified dress. It is in vain to say that the present dress is at all equal
 to t-in what ought to be one of the objects of good dress-to give an idea of dignity and respect. The man who is now inside of plain black dress, with unprete:diDg boots, may be as good man, as able a man, as he Tn white-topped boots and brooches, but he is not respected as much, for he no longer assumes as much. In ceasing to claim the superiority due to high social position, he has lost part of his own elf-respect. He had become only one of multitude instead of being one above a multitude.
 But must hasten on. Perhaps you will like to know how the day passed with law student, in a school and place which has fur nished many great man to this nation. My room, at Mrs. Lords, was in the northwest corner of large house, and, from it's win- dows, l looked on one side, over at Dr. Beecher's house, and, from another, west, to Mount Tom" From the rooms of my fel- low-s students, on the south side might be seen Bantam Lake, and the distant ridges and blue skies in the south. It was pleasant house, and good landlady, and to Mrs. Lord I was in debted for many an act of kindness. She was tine widow of Sheriff Lord, the mother of Mrs. Pierpont, wife of the celebrated poet and min ister. Pierpoint was a noted Unitarian but Mrs. Lord was member of Dr. Beechers church. The Plerpoints came from what was called "South Farms" a part of Litchfield township, on the road to New Haven The father of John Pierpent was deacon in the orthodox Congregational church; but the poet, for some reason, wandered off and became noted Unitarian, having at one time a congre- gation in Boston. Whatever else may have been his qualifications he was real poet. and also wit. have always thought that some parts of his Airs of Palestine" were among the best specimens of American poetry. It is unfortunate that so many fine pieces of poetry are likely t> be lost, because they are forgot ten, and are only preserved in collections which themselves are likely to be ephemeral But will return to my day in the law school We breakfasted from seven te eight in the morning, and at nine o'clock went to the lec- ture-room to hear and take notes of Judge Gould's lecture. The founder of the Litchfield Law School was Judge Tapping Reeve, and,i if tradition is correct, few better men have ever lived, and scarcely any one was then better known to the bar He was the author of Treatise on Domestic Relations, which the lawyers admired, but said was not law, on ac- count, 1 believe, of it's leaning too much to women's rights, a fault which would not be found with it in tIlis day. At the time ar rived in Ltchield. Judge Reeve had given up the law school to Judge Gould. who had been his partner, and he soon after died He