Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-10-08
|THE ELLSWORTH HOMESTEAD
Windsor Landmark Now Pro
 psrty of the D. of the A. R.


 Was Present and Took Part in the
 Exercises.
 Hartford, Oct S.-The Ellsworth homestead at Windsor was formally presented this afternoon, to the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution by the descendants of Oliver and Abigail (Wolcott) Ellsworth. The occasion was made a notable one by the Daugh- ters, many distinguished people from all sections of the state being in at tendance at the presentation exercises. Oliver Ellsworth, who was born in 1745, was judge of the'supreme court of this state member of the council of safety, one of the framers of the federal constitution, a minister pleni- potentiary to France, senator and chief justice of the United States.
 Mrs Sara T. Kinney, state regent of the Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution, presided at the exercises this afternoon, the greeting of the large and distinguished gather ing being made by Governor Chamber lain. His excellency briefly reviewed the achievements of Oliver Ellsworth,
  ality, his patriotism and his scholarly attachments. He praised the work being done by. the Daughters of the Revolution in honoring the memory of their distinguished ancestors and com mended the transfer to their charge of the historic homestead of one of Con nec1cut's greatest sons.
 Increased interest was added to the days exercises by the fact that every living descendant of Oliver Ellsworth had united in making the transfer to the D. A. R. The money value of the property is about $5,OOO and the Daughters have restored the place, making it beautiful in every way. It has been fitted with rare old furniture, no reproductions, but with articles of genuine historic interest.
 William W. Ellsworth in an interest ing address presented the deed of the homestead, and the response on the be- half of the Daughters was made by Mrs Kinney in speech which besides expressing the honor reflected upon the organization by the transfer of the res idence to it's care, assured the donors of the pride which would be taken in caring for it, and expressed the heart felt thanks of the D. A. R. for the beautiful gift One of the chief fea- 1 lures was the address by Attorney Ar thur L. Shipman of Hartford on Oli- yer Ellsworth. In part he said: MT Shipman gave an account of the l life of Ellsworth detailing his early struggles and reviewing the use which he made of his opportunities. He said ! regarding Chef Justice Ellsworth's work on the constitution:
 Tn the first place, he abrogated state lines, but preserved state proceed ure in common law lines.
 Second, he provided for a common law equity procedure.
 Tn the third place, he made it pos sible for every nonresident citizen in substantial matters to go before the l federal court when sued by or sueing resident
 Fourth, he made the judges ap- pointees of the executive to be con ffrmed by the senate.
 l That in small comprises all his novel portions of the statute. The rest was the invention of machinery l to enable Article III of the constitu- ton to operate. The cleverest device or 'Ellsworth's was the method by I which matters involving constitution al questions are taken from state trib- unals to the supreme court of the Unit ed States. The writ of error under I EllsWorth's scheme goes from the l supreme court of the United States to that of state only when the state is in favor of the constitutionality of the law or ordinance. A less astute draughtsman would have surely drawn the provision so that the SUI preme court should review decisions of the state courts adverse to constitu. tionality.'
 After detailing other acts and ac. complishments of Ellsworth, the speaker said: 'He watched the in. trigue of Jefferson 1n Washington's cabinet, but his strong Anglo-Saxon sense was always to be depend, ed on to overcome by words and influence of the Jacobism of the more ardent republicans whose leader was Jefferson, even in the midst of 'Washington's council. He was tower, as have haid, in Wash ington's administration, and yet he was not blinded to the fraiHy which Wash 1ngton possessed with the rest of man kind. He impatiently wrote to Vol colt when Jays treaty lay before Washington: 'If the president decides wrong, or does not decide soon, his good fortune will forsake him.'' IT conclusion the speaker compared Els worth with Washington, calling then ] both most potent Americans,
 The Right Rev Chauncey B. Brew ster, bishop of Connecticut, made the | invocation at the opening of the exer cises, and others who took part were Mrs Frank c. Porter, Judge Henry B Taintor of Hartford and Mrs Johr Marshall Holcombe, also of Hartford Mrs s. s. Thompson sang several solos and selections were rendered by the chapter glee clubs. The exercises con cluded with the benediction pronounced by the Rev Roscoe Nelson of Windsor after which there Tas reception tc Governor and Mrs Chamberlain. Al inspection of the colonial homestead followed during which there was {