Judge Calvin Goddard Child (April 6, 1834 – September 28, 1880) was an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 1870 to 1880.

Family

Calvin Goddard Child was born in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

on April 6, 1834. His father was

Asa Child Asa Child (December 2, 1798 – May 11, 1858) was an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut under Andrew Jackson. Biography Asa Child was born on December 2, 1798. He was the oldest of nine c ...

a former

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the district of Connecticut under President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, and his mother was Alice H. Goddard the daughter of Judge Calvin Goddard for whom he was named. He was also a great-grandson of Dr.

Joseph Bellamy Joseph Bellamy (20 February 1719 – 6 March 1790) was an American Congregationalist pastor and a leading preacher, author, educator and theologian in New England in the second half of the 18th century. He was a disciple of Jonathan Edwards, and ...

Education

He began his education in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School ("Columbia Grammar", "Columbia Prep", "CGPS", "Columbia") is the oldest nonsectarian independent school in New York City, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (5 West 93rd Street). The school serves gr ...

, because his family moved there in 1845. He went to college at his father's alma mater

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

graduating in 1855. He studied law in his father's office and in

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

where he graduated from in 1858, the same year he was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. He was married September 16, 1858, to Kate Godfrey, daughter of Captain Jonathan Godfrey, of

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Career

He began practicing law in Norwich, Connecticut from his residence and continued to do so until June 1864. For two years starting in May 1862, he was the private secretary to Governor Buckingham, being named

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

and helping the governor with Connecticut's role in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. During his last year in Norwich he was also Judge of the City Court. In 1864 he opened an office in New York City, his residence being in Southport, Connecticut at the time. In 1867, he relocated both his office and his home to

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, where he formed a partnership with Joshua B. Ferris a fellow

graduate. He was appointed District Attorney for Connecticut on March 1, 1870, and held that position until his death.

Death

After being in poor health for numerous years, in early 1880, he was stricken with

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

. He recovered enough to make a visit to the Hot Springs of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, under his doctors advice. At the end of August, while at Saratoga Springs, another attack seized him. He was brought home and lingered in great feebleness until his death, on September 28, when he was only 46. He was survived by his wife and children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Child, Calvin G. 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers 1834 births 1880 deaths American judges Connecticut lawyers New York (state) lawyers Harvard Law School alumni People from Norwich, Connecticut People from Stamford, Connecticut People from Southport, Connecticut People of Connecticut in the American Civil War United States Attorneys for the District of Connecticut Yale College alumni Union Army officers