The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the second formal school offering training for the legal profession founded in the United States of America, after the William & Mary School of Law. It was established in 1784 by Tapping Reeve, who later became the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. By the time the school closed in 1833, over 1,100 young men from throughout the country had attended, many of whom went on to have significant influence on political, economic, and legal development of the United States during the antebellum period. Some of the school's most notable students include John C. Calhoun and Aaron Burr.
The law school, including Reeve's house, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965 as the Tapping Reeve House and Law School. The Tapping Reeve House and Law School are owned and operated by the Litchfield Historical Society as a museum and contains the interpretive exhibit The Noblest Study which illustrates the lives and studies of the students who traveled to Litchfield to study at the Litchfield Law School and Litchfield Female Academy.
The Society also operates the Litchfield History Museum, and admission includes both sites.
Read more about Litchfield Law School: Tapping Reeve, Law School, Notable Students
Famous quotes containing the words law and/or school:
““If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, “the law is a ass—a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience—by experience.””
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“A sure proportion of rogue and dunce finds its way into every school and requires a cruel share of time, and the gentle teacher, who wished to be a Providence to youth, is grown a martinet, sore with suspicions; knows as much vice as the judge of a police court, and his love of learning is lost in the routine of grammars and books of elements.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)