Elijah Paine (1757 - 1842)

Born 21 Jan 1757 in Pomfret, Windham County, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Porter) Paine — married 7 Jun 1790 in New Hampshire, United States

Descendants

Died 28 Apr 1842 at age 85 in Williamstown, Orange County, Vermont, USA

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Preceded by Stephen R. Bradley

Elijah Paine US Senator (Class 3) from Vermont[1] 1795—1801

Succeeded by Stephen R. Bradley

Biography

Elijah Paine is Notable.

Elijah Paine was born at Pomfret, Connecticut, on 21 January 1757, recorded as the son of Seth Paine Jr. & Mabel. ^[2] Many biographies of him (such as the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress) identify his place of birth as Brooklyn, Connecticut; the town of Brooklyn was created in 1786 from portions of the towns of Pomfret and Canterbury.^[3]

In his childhood he attended the local public schools. He had military service during the Revolutionary War and studied at Harvard College, where he received an A.B. degree in 1781. ^[4][5]

After reading law, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Windsor, Vermont. in 1784. In 1786 was a member of the State constitutional convention and served as its secretary. The following year, he became a member of the Vermont state house of representatives, an office he held until 1790. In 1788 he became Judge of probate court for the Randolph District of Vermont, holding that position until 1791 when he became a Judge in the Vermont Supreme Court. He was elected to the United States Senate for Vermont in 1794 and left the state supreme court to begin his term in the Senate on 4 March 1795. He was re-elected to the Senate as a Federalist in 1800, serving until 1 September 1801, when he resigned from office after having become United States District Judge for the District of Vermont. He had been nominated for that judgeship by President John Adams on February 24, 1801, was confirmed by the Senate on February 25, 1801, and received his commission on March 3, 1801. He served as judge until resigning on April 1, 1842, less than a month before his death on 28 April 1842. ^[4][5]

Elijah Paine died at age 85 in Williamstown, Vermont, on 28 April 1842. The town death card identifies him as "Elijah Paine, L.L.D., A.A.S." and as "United States Senator." Burial was in West Hill Cemetery in Williamstown.^[6]

Marriage and Family

Elijah Paine married Sophia Porter in 1790 in New Hampshire.^[7]

They had four sons and two daughters.

Elijah Paine employed Asa Rand, then a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, to teach his children and several others for a period of about nine months in the period 1806 to 1808.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Resigned, vacant September 1, 1801 – October 15, 1801 when successor elected.
2. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. Pomfret, page 140: PAINE, PAIN. Elijah, s. Seth Jr. & Mabel, b. Jan. 21, 1757
3. ↑ Wikipedia: Brooklyn,_Connecticut
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Elijah Paine (biography), in History of the Federal Judiciary: Judges, Federal Judicial Center website.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
6. ↑ Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008. (From microfilmed records. Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013.) Deaths P-Q to 1871, page 1035.
7. ↑ "New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLXH-J1B : 26 September 2017), Elijah Paine and Sarah Porter, 07 Jun 1790; citing New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,291.
8. ↑ Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.) NEHGR, Vol. 1 (1847), page 184.

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Elijah Paine, 1757-1842, accessed 9 March 2022.
• Brigham, Willard I. Tyler, The Tyler Genealogy, 1912 (Brigham-#1386).
• Find A Grave Memorial# 7179958
• Elijah Paine on Wikipedia