Robert Treat Paine (1731 - 1814)

Born 12 Mar 1731 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Cobb) Paine — married 15 Mar 1770 in Attleboro, Bristol, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 12 May 1814 at age 83 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

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Biography

Robert Paine was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

Information developed from "Find A Grave" memorial no. 787 (Note: needs to be paraphrased)

Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Massachusetts.

His father was a clergyman, and his mother was the daughter of Reverend Mr. Treat of Barnstable county. His maternal grandfather was Governor Treat of Connecticut. Stephen Hopkins, Mayflower is his third great grandfather.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Paine graduated from Harvard University in 1749 at the age of 18, and taught school in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. Discovering he lacked the patience to teach, after one year, he began to sail about the Atlantic, going to Spain, the Azores, and Greenland. Returning home in 1754, he began to study law, and became a lawyer in 1757 in Taunton, Massachusetts. There he married Sally Cobb, who was already pregnant with their first child, and eventually they would have eight children.

In the 1760s and early 1770s, he was active in the resistance movement to the hated Stamp Act and Townshend Acts, and quickly became a patriot for the cause of independence. In 1770, Boston hired him to prosecute the British soldiers involved with the "Boston Massacre," and although he only convicted two of the eight soldiers (who were dismissed from the Army), he became popular among the patriots. In 1775, he was elected to the Second Continental Congress as a delegate from Massachusetts, and supported the move for independence. Following the war, he returned to his Massachusetts legal profession, and in 1779-80, he helped to write the Massachusetts constitution. In 1790, he because a justice of the state court, where he served until retiring in 1804 when he became too deaf to hear the cases. He was considered a conservative justice and very judgmental.

When one of his sons, Robert Jr, married a stage actress, he disavowed his son (in those days, many people considered actors and actresses as morally corrupt people), reconciling just before his son died in 1811. He died at his home in 1814. (bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)

For More see Wikipedia article on Robert Treat Paine

Timeline

1770: tried case of Captain Preston

1772: Chairman of the Committee of Virgilance in Taunton, MA

1774: Member of the Provincial Assembly; commissioner appointed to conduct the proceeding in the case of the impeachment of Chief Justice Oliver

1775: Elected to the General Congress

1776:' Voted for the Declaration of Independence, was one of its signers.

1777: Attorney-General of MA; held office until 1790

1790: Appointed Judge of the Supreme Court

1814: Died at the age of 84; “His long and active life was devoted to the public service, and his labors were duly appreciated by a grateful people.” ^[1]

Marriage

On March 15, 1770 at Attleborough, Robert married Sally Cobb.^[2]

Sally Cobb, the daughter of Thomas and Lydia Leonard Cobb and a sister of General David Cobb. She was born May 15, 1744, died June 6, 1816.

In 1770 he was married to sally, daughter of Thomas Cobb, Esq., and sister of General David Cobb.^[3]

Children of Sally and Robert

1. Robert Paine, b. May 14, 1770; d. July 28, 1798, unmarried. graduate of Harvard College, 1789.
2. Sally Paine , b. March 7, 1772; d. Jan. 26, 1823, unmarried.
3. Thomas Paine, b. Dec. 9, 1773 ; name changed by law in 1801 to Robert Treat
4. Paine, Jr.; d. Nov. 13, 1811. graduate of Harvard College, 1792.
5. Charles Paine, b. Aug. 30, 1775; d. Feb. 15, 1810. graduate of Harvard College, 1793.
6. Henry Paine, b. Oct. 20, 1777; d. June 8, 1814; m. Olive Lyman, daughter of Theodore Lyman (1755–1839). Issue.
7. Mary Paine, b. Feb. 9, 1780 ; d. Feb. 27, 1842 ; m. Rev. Elisha Clap. No issue,
8. Maria Antoinetta Paine, b. Dec. 2, 1782; d. March 26, 1842; m. Deacon Samuel Greele. No issue
9. Lucretia Paine, b. April 30, 1785; d. Aug. 27, 1823, unmarried.

Sources

1. ↑ Lossing, Benson John. Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence: The Declaration Historically Considered; and a Sketch of the Leading Events Connected with the Adoption of the Articles of Confederation and of the Federal Constitution. Derby & Jackson, 1857 - 384 pages. p. 39
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1V-YX5N : 25 February 2020), Robert Treat Paine and Sally Cobb, 8 Mar 1770; citing Marriage, Town of Attleborough, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009342.
3. ↑ P. 27 Paine Ancestry: The Family of Robert Treat Paine, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Paine-463 created through the import of wikitree.ged on Aug 1, 2011 by Abby Brown.

• This person was created on 10 February 2011 through the import of James_s Complete Family Tree.ged.