David Torrance (March 3, 1840 – September 5, 1906) was a soldier, lawyer, politician, and chief justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in Connecticut. Torrance was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on March 3, 1840. Torrance's widowed mother emigrated to the United States in 1849 with her five children, settling in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, Connecticut. Torrance worked in cotton and paper mills to support his family, receiving little formal education. In 1862 he enlisted in the Union army as a private, but he rapidly rose in rank. He was captured at the

Second Battle of Winchester The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell move ...

and spent time in

Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army. It gained an infamous reputation for the overcrowded and harsh conditions. Prison ...

, but was soon paroled. In January 1864 he was commissioned a captain in the 29th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops, commanded by William B. Wooster, a lawyer in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. By the end of the war Torrance was lieutenant colonel under Wooster. Torrance began to study law under Wooster during the war, and moved to Derby after the war to study law with him. In 1868 they formed the lawfirm of Wooster & Torrance and remained in practice with each other until Torrance became a judge in 1885. Torrance represented Derby in the General Assembly in 1871 and 1872. In 1879 he was elected Secretary of State, serving until 1881. In 1881 he was appointed Judge of Common Pleas in New Haven County; in 1885 he was appointed to the Superior Court, and in 1889 to the Supreme Court. He was appointed Chief Justice in 1901 and served until his death in 1906.http://www.cslib.org/memorials/torranced.htm Connecticut State Library bio, from the Connecticut Reports He was awarded an honorary M.A. by

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 ...

in 1883; he became a law school instructor there in 1893 and a professor in 1898. Torrance married Annie France in 1864; they had three children.

References

External links

bio of Torrance with quotes and pictures
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrance, David Secretaries of the State of Connecticut Connecticut state court judges Chief Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court Connecticut lawyers Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives 1840 births 1906 deaths People of Connecticut in the American Civil War Scottish emigrants to the United States Military personnel from Connecticut 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges