New Britain herald., 1927-01-31
SIMEON EBEN BALDWIN

SIMEON EBEN BALDWIN
 The Grand old Man" of Connecti- cut is no more. Citizens of the state pause today while in pursuit of their more mundane affairs to read and talk about the astonished career of the jurist. and ex-governor who in private and public life was such a noble complication of rational llV- ing.
 'Old age" the juridical patriarch once said, lis the only natural way !, to death;" hence he deprecated el- forts of physicians to prolong life when death approached from physi- tal causes or when the patient was incurably i'll. No address he ever made attracted such widespread at l: tention as that he made when presi- dent of the American Social Service association in 1899, when he spoke , on the topic of "The Natural Right to Natural Death" A grewsome , subject, perhaps, but in it he includ- ed a logical philosophy of life as well es a reasoning attitude toward the inevitable decomposition of the flesh. Yet nothing he ever said eoualled in force how he lived, and how it enabled him to approach the shadows of the unknown with grace !. and fortitude. With right did he escribe his long years of good health .. to the long walks he took daily, and at a pace which most younger men , would have regarded as fast His mode of life would have entitled him to speak with authority upon "The . Natural Right to a Long and Useful Life
 The records disclose that the former governor cast his first. vote for President Lincoln. He cast his first vote in New Haven and each successive one there ever since. His admiration for Grover Cleveland was we'll known-it was at that time when he became a Democrat-and when nominated for governor by the Democrats in 1910, after he had been retired from the position of chief justice by reason of age, his election was assured not only be- cause of his own personal strength and the affection of Nutmeggers to- ward him, but partly also because of . schism in the Republican ranks of the state. Thus he became the first Democratic governor of the state since 1s93-95, and was reelected in 1912. Thus an original Republican became the strongest and best-re- garded governor of the Democratic part in the state in the last gener- ation.
 The fact that he had been corp oration and railroad lawyer and legislative agent before his appoint ment upon the state supreme court bench in 1893 did not temper his thought when upon the bench. This is worth noting in a day when it is widely held that corporation law yer necessarily cannot think judicial ly when he becomes a judge. No one at the time expected the judge to environment; the legislature and the people knew his character, his un- failing flair for fairness his possess sion of the judicial temperament; and no one was disappointed. The people knew his history-how at % he had been an instructor in the Yale law school and how later he had become full professor; how he had been prominently identified with many learned and legal societies; his profound knowledge of the law generally.
 When he was set up for governor by the Democrats in 1910 one of the criticisms heard against him was that he was ''too old'-he was past 70 at the time. This claim, however, failed to hold good Men of his type are apt to improve with age. His ripe mentality and matured experi- ence brought dignity and breath to the governorship that young men naturally would envy. When govern- or he usually topped off a busy day at the capital by taking a walk to Wethersfield and return, or to West Hartford and back, and such ac- commodating automobile drivers who offered to give him q lift" were always courteously thanked but never given the satisfaction of know ing they had their distinguished gov ernor for passenger. There have been paratively young" govern