Tapping Reeve (October 1, 1744 – December 13, 1823) was an American lawyer, judge, and law educator. In 1784 he opened the
Litchfield Law School
The Litchfield Law School was a law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, that operated from 1774 to 1833. Litchfield was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietar ...
, the first law school in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, in
Litchfield, Connecticut
Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are ...
. He was also the brother-in-law of the third vice-president of the United States,
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805 d ...
.
Early life
Tapping Reeve was born in
Brookhaven, New York
Brookhaven is a large Suburb, suburban town in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York (state), New York. With a population of 488,497 as of 2022, it is the second most populous town in New York (after Hempstead, New Yo ...
, on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, to Reverend Abner Reeve (1708–1798). He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
) with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in 1763, and continued on to earn a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in 1766.
During his graduate studies at Princeton, Reeve also served as a headmaster of a grammar school in nearby
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Aaron Burr Sr.: his son Aaron Burr Jr., a future
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...
, and his daughter Sarah Burr (known as Sally). Reeve married Sarah Burr on June 4, 1771, when he was 26 years old and she was 17 years old.
Career
Reeve tutored at Princeton from 1767 to 1770. In 1771 he began to study law with Judge Jesse Root of
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
. In 1772 he moved to Litchfield, situated on the crossroads of important inland trade routes, to open a new law practice. In 1773, he built a six-room, two-story house.
Reeve, while a fervent supporter of the patriot cause, did not enter active service early in the Revolutionary War. His wife's poor health held him at home. However, in December 1776, the Connecticut Assembly called upon him to travel the state to drum up volunteers for the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
. He then accepted a commission as an
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
and accompanied his recruits as far as New York before returning to his ailing wife.
Reeve took his brother-in-law, Aaron Burr Jr. as a law student. In the beginning, Aaron Burr lived upstairs and took instruction in the downstairs parlor, adjacent to the gathering room where Reeve held mock court. Also on the first floor was Reeve's private law office.
In 1781 Reeve worked with
Theodore Sedgwick
Theodore Sedgwick (May 9, 1746January 24, 1813) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served in elected state government and as a delegate to the Continental Congress, a U.S. representative, and a senator from Massachusetts. H ...
Massachusetts Constitution
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual states that make up the United States of America. It consists of a preamble, declaration ...
, the latter containing the phrase " all men are born free and equal". She then asked Sedgwick to take her case to a local court. Reeve and Sedgwick successfully secured her freedom on constitutional grounds. The case, ''Brom & Bett v. Ashley'', set a precedent that led to the
abolition of slavery
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...
in Massachusetts.
Due in part to notoriety gained from the Elizabeth Freeman case, Reeve's student enrollment began to grow. In 1784, he added a second building (known as the Samuel Seymour House) to house and instruct his law students. Among the students was
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American s ...
who, like Aaron Burr, became
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...
.
Reeve unsuccessfully ran for Congress six times in the 1790s: he was first a candidate in the 1790 election for Connecticut's five at-large congressional seats, in which the top five candidates would win; Reeve placed sixth. He was then a candidate in a separate December 1790 special election for one of the five seats, finishing fourth of seven candidates. He later ran in the 1792 at-large election, and in an April 1793 special election for the seat vacated by
Jonathan Sturges
Jonathan Sturges (August 23, 1740 – October 4, 1819) was an American lawyer, jurist and politician from Fairfield, Connecticut. He represented Connecticut as a delegate to the Continental Congress and in the United States House of Repres ...
, finishing last in the latter two. His last two attempts were in a December 1797 special election and the 1798 at-large election.
In 1798, Reeve became a judge of Connecticut's Superior Court. He then hired James Gould, a former student, to assist in running the school. Together, they built up the most prominent law school of its time.
Reeve is also noted for bringing Reverend Lyman Beecher (father of
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...
) to Litchfield in 1810 to serve as a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
minister for over 25 years, during which time he became notable for his preaching against alcohol and
Unitarianism
Unitarianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian sect of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the wikt:unitary, unitary God in Christianity, nature of God as the singular and unique Creator deity, creator of the universe, believe that ...
.
In 1814, Reeve was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. At this time, Gould took over the law school. Reeve maintained contact with the school until 1820, three years before his death. The school continued to operate until 1833.
Reeve's ''Law of Baron and Femme'', first published in 1816, was the preeminent American treatise on family law for much of the 19th century. It underwent revisions and re-publication in 1846, 1867, and 1888.
Personal life and family
Reeve's only child, Aaron Burr Reeve, was born on October 3, 1780. Aaron Burr Reeve went on to graduate from
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
, and became a lawyer in
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...
.
Sarah Reeve was often in ill health, and died on March 30, 1797. In 1799, Reeve married Elizabeth "Betsy" Thompson, with whom he had no children.
Reeve died on December 13, 1823, in Litchfield, Connecticut, at the age of 79. His home, now known as Tapping Reeve House and Law School, was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1965.
Works
* ''The Law of Baron and Femme; of Parent and Child; of Guardian and Ward; of Master and Servant, etc.'' (New Haven, 1816; 2d ed., by Lucius E. Chittenden, Burlington, Vt., 1846; with appendix by J. W. Allen, 1857; 3d ed., by Amasa J. Parker and C. E. Baldwin, Albany, 1862)
* ''Treatise on the Law of Descents in the Several United States of America'' (New York, 1825)
Notes
References
*
* Baker, Mark. ''Connecticut Families of the Revolution, American Forebears from Burr to Wolcott''. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014.
* Beecher, Lyman. ''A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of the Hon. Tapping Reeve: Late Chief Justice of the State of Connecticut, who Died December Thirteen, Eighteen Hundred and Twenty-Three, in the Eightieth Year of His Age, with Explanatory Notes.'' Litchfield, CT: S.S. Smith, 1827.
* Blondel-Libardi, Catherine, "Rediscovering the Litchfield Law School Notebooks," ''Connecticut History'' 46 (Spring 2007): 70–82.
* Calder, Jacqueline. 1978. ''Life and Times of Tapping Reeve and his Law School.'' Typescript.
* Collier, Christopher. "Tapping Reeve, The Connecticut Common Law, and America's First Law School." ''Connecticut Supreme Court History'' 1 (2006): 13–25.
* Farnham, Thomas J. "Tapping Reeve and America's First Law School." ''New England Galaxy'' 17 (1975): 3–13.
* Fisher, Samuel H. ''The Litchfield Law School: Address by Samuel Fisher.'' Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Enquirer Press, 1930.
* Fisher, Samuel H. ''Litchfield Law School, 1774–1833: A Biographical Catalogue of Students.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1946.
* Halow, D. Brooke. ''Litchfield's Legacy in Law: A Study of the Litchfield Law School's Influence on Legal Training in America, 1784–1833.'' American Studies 493, Yale University Law School, 1996.
* Kilbourn, Dwight C. ''The Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1709–1909: Biographical Sketches of Members, History and Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Historical Notes.'' Litchfield, CT: Self published, 1909.
* Kronman, Anthony, ed. ''History of the Yale Law School.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.
* Litchfield Historical Society. ''The Litchfield Law School, Litchfield, Connecticut: A Brief Historical Sketch.'' Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Historical Society, 1952.
* Litchfield Historical Society. ''Presentation of the Reeve Law School building to the Litchfield Historical Society at Litchfield, Conn., August 22d, 1911.'' Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Enquirer Press, 1911.
* Litchfield Historical Society. ''The Noblest Study: The Legacy of America's First School of Law.'' Permanent Exhibition, Tapping Reeve House, Litchfield, CT.
* Litchfield Law School. ''Catalogue: Reprint of 1900.'' Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Enquirer Press, 1900.
* Litchfield Law School Students. ''Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School from 1798 to 1827 Inclusive.'' Litchfield, CT: S.S. Smith, 1828.
* McKenna, Marian C. ''Tapping Reeve and the Litchfield Law School.'' New York: Oceana, 1986.
* Sheppard, Steve, ed. ''The History of Legal Education in the United States.'' 2 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, Inc., 1999.