Newell Jennings (May 12, 1883 – February 17, 1965) was a justice of the

Connecticut Supreme Court 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, ac ...

from 1937 to 1953. Born in

Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, th ...

, to John J. and Elizabeth (Newell) Jennings, he attended the public schools in Bristol, "interrupted by two years of study abroad, one in

Hanover, Germany Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, and one in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

". He received his BA from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1904,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

, and an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

in 1907, cum laude."Judge Newell Jennings, 'Iron Man' Dies at 81", '' Hartford Courant'' (February 18, 1965), p. 1, 4. In 1922, Governor Everett J. Lake appointed Jennings to a seat on the State Superior Court, where Jennings was most noted for presiding over the murder trial of notorious criminal

Gerald Chapman Gerald Chapman (August, 1887 – April 6, 1926), known as "The Count of Gramercy Park", "The Gentleman Bandit", and "Gentleman Gerald", was an American criminal who helped lead an early Prohibition-era gang from 1919 until the mid-1920s. His nick ...

. Chapman was convicted by the jury, and Jennings sentenced Chapman to death by hanging, despite threats from Chapman's confederates. In 1937, Jennings was elevated by Governor

Wilbur Lucius Cross Wilbur Lucius Cross (April 10, 1862 – October 5, 1948) was an American literary critic who served as the 71st governor of Connecticut from 1931 to 1939. Biography Born in 1862 in Mansfield, Connecticut, Cross attended Natchaug School in Wil ...

to a seat on the Connecticut Supreme Court. By the time of his resignation in 1953, after 31 years of combined judicial service, Jennings had been nicknamed "Iron Man". Jennings died in Bristol Hospital following a long illness.

References

Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court 1883 births 1965 deaths Yale University alumni Yale Law School alumni 20th-century American judges {{Connecticut-state-judge-stub