David Sherman Boardman

David Sherman Boardman (December 8, 1768 – December 2, 1864) was an American lawyer, judge, and state assemblyman in the early United States. The youngest child of Deacon Sherman and Sarah (Bostwick) Boardman, he lived for nearly his entire life in New Milford. He was born at a farm near Housatonic, and suffered severe illness. For a time this illness Attendance at school in his father's house for a few months, and in the village for four months at the age of fourteen, gave him all the common-school education he received. For a time, failure in his eyesight seemed to bar him from further education; however in 1791, after stints in local boarding schools, he matriculated at Yale University. Near the end of his first semester, he was elected member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He graduated in 1793. In 1796 Yale President Dwight proposed to nominate him as a tutor, but he had already been admitted to the Bar, and declined the offer. He opened an office in his native town. He practiced in Litchfield and Fairfield counties. After thirty-six years, he was appointed for five successive years Chief Judge of the County Court for Litchfield County, before he was displaced for political reasons. He was made Judge of Probate for the district of New Milford in 1805, and held the place by successive annual appointments for sixteen years. He was Justice of the Peace for thirty-two years. He was elected Representative to the General Assembly eight times. In 1808, he was elected a member of the Connecticut Society of Arts and Sciences, and was Vice-President of the Connecticut Historical Society from its first establishment.