James Gould (5 December 1770 in

Branford, Connecticut Branford is a shoreline town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, about east of downtown New Haven. The population was 28,273 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a to ...

– 11 May 1838 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 boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorpora ...

) was a jurist and an early professor at the

Litchfield Law School The Litchfield Law School of Litchfield, Connecticut, was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietary school was unaffiliated with any college or university. (Wh ...

Biography

Gould was born in

December 5, 1770 to Dr. William and Mary (Guy) Gould. Richard, his great-grandfather, came from Devonshire to Branford about 1700. Despite poor eyesight, he graduated from

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 1791, and was a tutor there in 1793–1795. He also worked as a teacher in

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...

and

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

prior to 1795, when he entered the

. After his admission to the bar, in 1798 he became associated with the law school's founder,

Tapping Reeve 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 first law school in the United States, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Early life Tapping Reev ...

as professor in that institution. In the same year, he married Sally McCurdy Tracy, daughter of Senator

Uriah Tracy Uriah Tracy (February 2, 1755July 19, 1807) was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut. He served in the US House of Representatives (1793 to 1796) and the US Senate (1796 to 1807). From May to November 1800, Tracy served as Preside ...

, with whom he had nine children. Gould was raised in 1816 to the office of judge of the

Supreme Court of Connecticut The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, acr ...

, from which he was displaced in 1818 by the adoption of the new constitution. In 1820, Gould became superintendent of the law school, and after the death of Reeve, in 1823, continued to conduct it until 1833. He published ''Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions'' (New York, 1832; new ed. by Franklin F. Heard, Albany, 1887). His son Edward Sherman Gould was a noted critic, author and translator. Another son, John W. Gould (5 November 1814 – 1838), was also an author who wrote sea tales and sketches until his death at sea. Sons William Tracy Gould, James Reeve Gould, and George Gould all attended the Litchfield Law School. William Tracy Gould would later move to Georgia where he established a law school based upon the Litchfield model. Gould's descendant, Col. John W. Barnes, bequeathed the Gould family estate in trust to USC (University of Southern California) Law in 1940. Two decades later, the law program of USC was renamed to the "Gould School of Law", continuing James Gould's legacy. Another descendant (his great-grandson) was noted New York Times TV critic,

Jack Gould John Ludlow Gould (February 5, 1914 – May 24, 1993) was an American journalist and critic, who wrote commentary about television. Early life and education Gould was born in New York City into a socially prominent family and attended the Loomi ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, James 1770 births 1838 deaths Litchfield Law School faculty Yale University alumni Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court People from Branford, Connecticut 19th-century American lawyers