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TKenry Charles ^^te
September 1. 1856— "Bfebruar? 7, 19X4

' ' The sun set, but set not his hope :
Stars rose ; his faith was earlier up. '

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MEETING OF THE
NEW HAVEN COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION
TO TAKE ACTION UPON THE
DEATH OF HENRY C. WHITE
MARCH 3, 1914

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1914
9.45 A. M.

Meeting of the New Haven County Bar Asso
ciation TO TAKE Action upon the Death
of Henry C. White
Mr. Fowler : Gentlemen of the Bar, please come
to order. This meeting is called to take action
upon the death of Mr. Henry C. White.
Mr. Daggett: Mr. Secretary, I nominate Mr.
John Q. Tilson as Chairman in the absence of the
President and the Vice-President.
Mr. Fowler: If there is no objection, Mr. Tilson
may act as President pro tern of the meeting.
Mr. John Q. Tilson: Gentlemen of the Bar:
I more readily assent to preside over this meeting
on account of the relations existing between the sub
ject of this meeting and myself, which were very

dear to me, and which called forth from me my
profoundest regret, my most sincere admiration,
and I may say my love for him as a man and as a
friend. Mr. Watrous: Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman: Mr. Watrous.
Mr. Watrous : I beg leave to present the report
of the Committee which was appointed to present
resolutions.

"The undersigned, a Committee appointed to
present resolutions in memory of Henry C. White,
who died at New Haven, on February 7th, 19 14,
respectfully recommend that the following minute
be adopted by the Bar of New Haven County;
that the Superior Court be asked to cause the same
to be spread upon its records; and that copies be
sent to Mrs. White, his wife, and to Miss White,
his sister, by the Clerk of the Superior Court.
'Henry C. White was admitted to practice in
this County, in the year 1883, upon his graduation
from the Yale Law School, and continued in active
practice until the long illness that preceded his
death, on February 7th, 19 14.

He was born in Utica, N. Y., on September ist,
1856. His boyhood was spent at the home of
relatives at Vernon, N. Y., his father having died
in 1861 and his mother in 1863.
He attended Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H.,
and graduated from Yale in 1881. While in col
lege he gained many of the most coveted of college
honors, was universally respected by students and
faculty, and made a large number of friendships
which he retained throughout his life.
Among his classmates in college and in the law
school were Hon. George W. Wheeler, Hon. How
ard J. Curtis, and many well known members of
this Bar.
He then spent a year in graduate study at the
Law School and received the degree of M.L. in
1884. For a short time he studied in the office with
Prof. S. E. Baldwin and Prof. Wm. K. Townsend.
He practiced alone for several years, and in 1892
formed a partnership with Mr. L. M. Daggett
under the firm name of White & Daggett. Later
Hon. John Q. Tilson was admitted to the firm and
on his retirement, Mr. J. Kingsley Blake was taken
in — the firm name being White, Daggett & Blake.

After Mr. Blake's death in 191 1, Mr. Thomas
Hooker, Jr., became a partner. In 1913 this firm
united with Messrs. Henry Stoddard, John W.
Bristol and Samuel H. Fisher, to form the firm of
Bristol & White.
Mr. White decided to make New Haven his
home, without friends or associations other than
those formed during his college life. For this
reason the impress which he made upon this com
munity, and the place which he made for himself,
solely by his pwn merits, tell more eloquently than
can be told in words, how exceptional his merits
were. He succeeded in his profession from the first,
with a constantly increasing circle of clients and
friends, and it may truly be said that no man in
this community commanded its respect and con
fidence to a higher degree than he.
He did not confine himself to a strictly profes
sional life. He took a vital interest in civic and
charitable affairs, and rendered many public ser
vices of great value.
He served on a Commission, in 1893 and 1894,
to draft a new charter for New Haven, and gave
many months of hard labor to that work, with a

view to bringing about a consolidation of the
Town, City and School District governments.
In 1897 and 1898, after the adoption of a charter,
which he had helped to frame, he accepted a posi
tion on the Board of Finance, during the difficult
period of transition from the old system to the
new. He served also on the last Commission to revise
the General Statutes of the State.
He was deeply interested in the problems of
politics and municipal government, and lectured
for some years upon these subjects in the Graduate
Department of the University.
For nearly twenty years he was a member of
the State Bar Examining Committee, and for
several years its treasurer.
As a lawyer he was painstaking, thorough and
methodical. While he tried many cases, and tried
them well, his greatest success was as counsellor
and adviser. His mind was direct. He hated
shams and unnecessary formaHties. He brushed
them aside and went straight to the heart of things.
His sense of right and justice was very strong, and
his utmost desire was that the right should prevail.
His advice was earnestly sought, and his services

as Committee and arbitrator often in demand. He
might have held high judicial office, but he felt
that the interests committed to his care had the
higher claim upon him.
His standards and ideals were the highest. He
was of a deeply religious nature, he loved the right,
he hated the wrong and abhorred whatever was
mean and low.
He was strong and fearless, loyal and devoted
to his friends. With a stern Puritan conscience,
he was relentless in self-criticism, but lenient and
forbearing toward the failings of others.
His life — ^personal, civic and professional — typi
fies in the highest degree what can be achieved by
earnestness of purpose, moral worth, and purity
of character.
By those who have known him, he will always
be remembered as a man 'without fear and with
out reproach.' George D. Watrous,
Isaac Wolfe,
Leonard M. Daggett, Committee."
New Haven, March 3d, 1914.

Mr. Watrous : To me, Mr. Chairman, Henry C.
White was all that the resolutions have depicted,
and far more, for he was one of my best and most
intimate friends. It was my privilege to know him
as relatively few have, and if what I may say of
him shall seem to some to be extravagant, my
answer must be that I knew him.
Though our names appear together in the col
lege catalogue, as classmates in the Yale Law
School, I merely took my examinations with the
class, after an absence abroad.
Our friendship began when we studied together
in the years 1883 and 1884, for the degree of
Master of Laws. It was impossible for any man
to know him, then or later, without realizing at
once his seriousness of mind and his earnestness
of purpose. But, notwithstanding these traits of
mind, he was an extremely companionable man,
fond of his fellow men and capable of bringing out
the best that was in them. He was, as it seemed
to me, intensely ambitious, — not for the material
rewards of life, whether riches, high office, or
fame, — ^but to make the utmost of his life, by mak
ing it most useful to others. This purpose he kept
steadfastly in view to the end of his life. It led

him, early in his career, to take an active interest
in politics and in public affairs. Time and again
he took part on the side of the public in the inves
tigation and correction of official abuses of power,
and he performed this work with courage, deter
mination and ability. His last service of that kind
was when, as counsel for Clarence Deming, and
other men of high public spirit, he sought to pre
vent the granting of legislative gratuities. He did
not win the case in the courts, but it was won in
the Forum of public conscience.
We seldom met in the courts, either as associates
or as antagonists, but we were associated in many
outside activities. In the struggle for the new city
charter in the years 1893 and 1894, he took an
exceedingly active part. He served as a member
of the Legislative Commission appointed in 1893
to draft a new charter, and he gave many months
of unremitting toil and labor to that work. The
preface which accompanied the report of 1894, and
which, as some may know, is an interesting his
torical discussion of the different forms of city
government under which New Haven has lived,
was largely his work, — almost entirely so.
When a new charter was finally granted in 1897

Mr. White was persuaded to take, or readily
accepted, perhaps I should say, a position on the
Board of Finance, which was deemed by all to be
the crucial instrument or feature of the new system
of government. He believed in the charter, and
he felt that, by taking that office and devoting what
was best in him to the work, it might be demon
strated what the worth of the new system of gov
ernment was. In this transition period, service on
the Board required most exacting and most con
structive labor. His work and example helped to
bring this Board to a high state of efficiency, and
to demonstrate to many the advantages of the new
system of government. It also led other men of
high character to follow his example and to accept
position upon, and dignify the work of, this Board.
I do not intend to speak of Mr. White's profes
sional work, either in the office or in the court
room ; but I do wish to testify to his intense inter
est in law as a science, and to his love for justice.
In every way within his power, by influence and
by example, he sought to dignify the practice of
the law, as a noble profession, devoted to the search
for the truth, the protection of rights and the
redress of wrongs.

As a member of the American Bar Association,
and of the State and County Associations, he was
always ready to do his share, and more, to advance
legal education, and to place the profession where
it should be, — beyond the reproach of men.
But it is as a man, after all, that he stands forth
most clearly in our minds and memories. A man
universally beloved and trusted, and worthy of all
love and trust.
His religious nature, his sense of duty towards
God and man, and his strength and purity of char
acter united to form a rare personality. Few men
have ever measured more nearly up to the full
stature of manhood. And, as the years went by,
his mind constantly broadened, his faith strength
ened, and his soul grew greater.
And in the last few months of his life, as he felt
his strength ebbing, he was obliged to give up,
one by one, the associations which were so dear to
him ; and never, as his pastor said of him so beau
tifully, was his soul greater than during that period
of renunciation. May I read those few words of
Dr, Maurer which seem to me to very beautifully
express his estimate of Mr. White's character as
he knew him :

"There are some characters that are dwarfed
by failure. They undertake some task and when
they find it will not be successful, they begin to
shrink. On the other hand, there are some great
souls which seem to gain strength every time they are
thrown to the earth. Not this church alone," —
for Dr. Maurer was speaking from the pulpit of
Center Church, — "but the entire city is mourning
the death of a man who possessed this power. Mr.
White knew what it was to suffer failure. Within
the last few years again and again some treasured
purpose of his had been thwarted by ill health and
physical weakness; and yet the true greatness of
Henry White's character was never more visible
than during the final weeks of his illness. Many a
man in New Haven has gone forth from that bed
side feeling that truth and honor and manliness
are things worth while; and many a person too,
who knew him in his last illness, has gained a new
conception of the meaning of immortality, lived in
the midst of time."

Mr. Leonard M. Daggett: Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman: Mr. Daggett.

15

Mr. Daggett: The minutes presented and the
remarks of other members of the Committee will
have placed upon the record and brought to the
minds of all present better than I can express it
the story of Henry C. White's life and position
among us in many respects; but it has been my
high privilege to have been associated with him
in the intimate relationship of daily work, an asso
ciation which began nearly twenty-five years ago,
when he, then thirty-two years of age, had already,
with confidence and vigor, stood up in his earliest
professional contests and as a citizen had asserted
himself in the cause of good government.
Of the man, — of the whole man, in the many-
sided relations of life, much might be said ; of the
lover of outdoor life and observer of nature, from
which he drew not only entertainment and physical
refreshment, but also the sturdiness of a deeply
rooted tree ; of the reader who found in his Plato,
and in the direct and simply stated truths of his
toric addresses, such as Lincoln's at Gettysburg,
a fresh stimulus to straight thinking and direct
action, who found in the historic conflicts of master
minds a fresh conviction that straight thinking and
direct action would triumph over strategy. Of

this and other sides of the life and character of
Henry C. White, we might say much. But it is
especially of the lawyer that I wish to speak, as
he appeared to his office associates and his clients.
The lawyer is first the man, but those who have
known Henry White outside of his office only have
not known him as the lawyer that he was. How
ever true it is that the lawyer's best work is done
in his office, there is more in that oft-repeated
statement than is generally understood by those who
make and hear it. It refers to the prudent counsel
which prevents and settles controversies, but it
also means that in the contests which reach the
court there has been in the office a consideration
and a decision which shapes the controversy for the
court. The character of the issue presented proves
even better the character of the man than the way
in which it is presented.
To the minds of those who have known Henry
White in his office a familiar picture will arise:
On the walls they may have seen the portraits of
Lincoln, the man of homely countenance, of homely
humor and simple truth; of Daniel Webster, the
man of indomitable energy and power of eloquence ;
of Edward J. Phelps, the teacher of equitable prin-

ciples upon which the law is founded ; of Governor
IngersoU, the courtly advocate who searched the
traditions of Connecticut law. The visitor in that
office never found any confusion of surroundings
or of thought. Was the question ever "What can
be done?" — ^Was it not rather "What ought to be
done?" Was it ever "Can we do it?" — ^Was it not
rather "How shall we do it ?"
In the last few weeks I have thought of Henry
White's life and work, and have tried to define its
controlling impulse. I think it was faith. Con
fidence in self and in one's conclusions and in one's
fellow men may be effective; it may mean self-
respect and consideration for others; but I choose
for Henry White a more vital principle of thought
and action. The singleness of purpose and strength
of resolution which marked his life, in his work
as in other things, had its origin far back of his
days among us as a lawyer; had its origin in the
days when, left in early youth without either
father or mother, he resolutely ventured among
strangers to gain his education, and prepare for
his profession; undismayed even then by the set
backs due to lack of perfect health, making good
use of every opportunity, permitting to himself

few of the indulgences by which, though trivial,
even strong natures are sometimes warped from
their true development. Confidence may be induced
by the successful grasp of opportunity to surpass
others; but there is a richer and more lovable
quality which is induced by self-control and self-
denial, in the abiding faith that the world can be
made better, that there is work to be done, that it
can best be done by the man who has first conquered
self. Confidence may be shattered by defeat, — faith
knows no defeat.
I believe that Henry White's faith was to a great
extent the keynote of his work as a lawyer — faith
in the ultimate triumph of his own ideals of right
and of justice; faith in the law, his chosen tool;
faith that it was built and ever building upon the
same enduring principles; faith that his fellow
lawyers were working with the same ideals; that
the law could not be employed to an unjust end,
that the people could be trusted, that the court was
a temple of justice.
The law, to a lawyer, is a livelihood; if it were
not it would become but a field of scholarly specula
tion. That our work has to do with the bargain
and sale of the market place takes nothing from its

dignity; it is not a ground of just reproach. Con
troversies arising from misunderstandings, per
haps from avarice or ill-nature, call for the services
of the lawyer and by that service are brought to
an issue and to a just decision. By the nature of
our business we are, to a great extent, concerned
with controversy and engaged in it. Henry White
never flinched from the battle, if battle it had to
be ; but with him the closed hand was a gesture not
of defiance, but of resolution, — the resolution
founded upon faith.
Many have reason to know of his unusual suc
cess in bringing, in difficult cases, parties to an
amicable and satisfactory adjustment. I think the
secret of his success in that was that he lived up
to his principles. He demanded no more than he
believed to be his due. He thus started by conced
ing to his adversary what he beheved to be his
adversary's due. He reposed a trust which others
learned to repose in him.
Looking over his diary the other day, — one of
his earliest diaries, — within two years after he was
admitted to the bar, — I was interested to find the
entry of the purchase of the Life and Speeches of
Rufus Choate; and a few pages further on that

he had spent a large part of one of his office days
in reading that book. Now that is significant of
the man, he sought the highest sources of mind
and character, and he looked for the spirit before
he looked up the precedent. And is it strange that
a man who starts with that idea and with that
ideal should finally give, by his own mind, a fresh
stimulus to every mind that came into contact with
him. What there was in the man, — what were his
character and ideals, — what was his soundness of
judgment, — is attested by the numbers of devoted
friends who are the better for his counsel and
companionship. No man ever put more heart into
his work; none better loved the community in
which he lived, the courts, the bar, the traditions
of Connecticut life and history.
On behalf of all with whom he worked we pay
him our tribute of affection and honor. He faced
his going with that courage and calm which is
sometimes granted to those of rare Christian faith
and spirit. I can assure his associates at the bar
that he wished for a continuance of life that he
might continue to work with us here. May his
spirit, and the spirit of others whom he honored
and followed, remain with us in all that we
undertake.

Hon. Isaac Wolfe : Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman : Judge Wolfe.
Judge Wolfe : If , in what I have to say, I repeat
some of the things that appear in the resolutions
just read, it is because in speaking of Henry C.
White, I feel it impossible to refrain from empha
sizing those splendid traits of character, to which
the resolutions refer, and which he so fully
possessed. The principal characteristic in Mr. White that
first attracted my attention, and which he never
seemed to have lost during his life, was the feel
ing that made him conceive it to be the bounden
duty of a man to live, not a purely selfish and
wholly personal life, but to live for others as well
as for self ; to give to the great cause of humanity
a part of one's self, of one's being, in the work of
endeavoring to solve, for the better, those ever-
present problems of life, which so materially affect
the happiness and well-being of the whole human
family. And acting upon this principle, and in this
belief, he ever found time, notwithstanding the
demands of his professional Hfe and of his private

interests, and surely they were many, to give aid
in the work of directing, as well as in supporting,
philanthropic, charitable and benevolent institu
tions, and also to a consideration of the larger
questions and problems of the State and of the
Nation, as well as of the community in which he
lived, as these questions and problems affected the
general welfare of the public, and which called
for the best thought of the best citizen. And such
a citizen Henry C. White was.
What would benefit the whole people, was the
thought always uppermost in his mind, for he had
a deep and broad sympathy for those who must
most heavily bear and feel the ordinary bvirdens
of this life. To these problems, he gave deep and
conscientious thought and study, and so sincere was
he in a belief when once reached, and so true was
he to his convictions, that he never hesitated to
give his support to that cause that best represented
such convictions.
He was not only a close student of the then
present political and social conditions, but he pos
sessed a clear and far-reaching vision of coming
events, which he often saw approaching long
before they appeared to others, and he would give

to them earnest and serious consideration before
men generally began to realize their far-reaching
effect and importance.
In his study of political and social questions, his
mind moved along and reached a conclusion in the
same keen, logical and analytical manner in which
he studied and reached a conclusion upon a proposi
tion of law. His mind was cast in such a mold
that his processes of reasoning led to accuracy;
his judgment was ever well-balanced; in intel
lectual honesty he was ever true to his conscience ;
in moral character he was without reproach. As
the resolutions so truly state, he hated shams and
frauds and detested hypocrisies. He had no
patience with false doctrines or their authors, and
yet so charitable was his nature, so fair was his
judgment, that he bore no man real malice.
In his representations of the interests of a client,
one invariably got the impression that Henry C.
White was not so much representing his client, as
that he seemed to be fighting for a cause which
seemed to him to be just, for you could not other
wise picture him as representing it.
He was firm in his beliefs, yet he was never
stubborn in maintaining his position, always

patiently listening to and being moved by reason,
when uttered by others. Even though he may
have had cause for anger, he rarely, if ever,
allowed his feelings to move him to anger or to
angry retort. He could not help being a gentle
man, for Nature had molded him one. Beneath
an outward mien, which scarcely gave an index to
his true character, there was lodged a nature most
kindly, courteous and considerate. He believed
in his friends and they believed in him.
He was ever earnest and sincere. In fact, sin
cerity was the keynote of his whole life. He was
withal a very modest man. With all his oppor
tunities and his many qualifications, he sought no
preferment for himself, but declined it when
opportunity came. Rather, he preferred to remain
in the shadow, doing his work in this modest way,
and leaving it to others to bask in the public sun
light. But he ever wanted those others to be
worthy of the tasks committed to their care.
His thoughts were ever of a high and lofty
nature; his aspirations were ideal, but he had the
rare quality of combining the hope and inspiration
of the dreamer and of the theorist, with the prac
tical mind of the true thinker and philosopher.

His life in our community speaks volumes in
itself and furnishes its own commentary. Truly,
a man coming into a community almost a total
stranger and who in but a few years, by virtue of
sheer merit, reaches the proud position in the com
munity that Henry C. White reached, must have
had in him those elements and those worthy attri
butes which the world recognizes as the standard
of the man of character, of strength and of man
hood. Were the profession of which we are members,
Mr. Chairman, made up wholly of Henry C.
Whites, there would be no occasion to-day for
adverse criticism of the law or of lawyers, for he
was a lawyer in the very best sense of the term.
It was not permitted to Henry C. White to live
long in years, counted by time alone, but we should
not forget that "That life is long which answers
life's great end."
Thus measured, our friend lived long indeed.
Mr. Chairman, an honored and valued member
of this bar — a man that all who knew him loved
most deeply and esteemed most highly, has gone
from among us forever. We share to-day a com
mon grief; we feel a common sorrow. No more

in these halls shall we look upon his gentle face,
nor listen to his kindly voice, nor receive his
friendly greeting. But though he has thus gone
from among us, he has left behind, as a precious
legacy to his family and to friends, the record of
a life well spent; of duty fully performed. And,
as we bring him into our mental vision, there
appears the picture of a noble and true-hearted
gentleman, whose lovable qualities, genial nature,
and nobility of soul endeared him to all. And this
picture we will ever carry in our thoughts as a
sweet remembrance of one whom it was our privi
lege to know and to call by that priceless word,
friend. And in this way, sir, will Henry C. White
continue to live in our consciousness.
"For to live in hearts we love, is not to die."
The Chairman: The question is on the adop
tion of the resolutions presented. As many as
favor the adoption of the resolutions as read will
say aye. Opposed no.
Mr. Watrous: Mr. Chairman, I would move
that the presiding officer be requested to present
these resolutions to the Superior Court, and ask
that the minutes be inscribed upon its records.

The Chairman: It is moved by Mr. Watrous
that the presiding officer be requested to present
these resolutions to the Superior Court and ask
that they be inscribed on its records. As many
as favor that motion will say aye. Opposed no.
It is a vote. If there is no objection the meeting
stands adjourned. (Bar Meeting adjourned)
New Haven County,
Superior Court,
March 3, 1914.
Hon. Edwin B. Gager, J.
Mr. John Q. Tilson : If your Honor please, at
a special meeting of the bar called for the purpose,
resolutions have been adopted relative to the mem
ory of Henry C. White, and I have been directed
by that meeting to present these resolutions to the
Court and ask that they may be placed on the rec
ords of the court.
The Court : The resolutions may be placed upon
the record.

.n,.c UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 01486 6736

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