Spouse(s) Sarah Porter Paine Name Elijah Paine | Preceded by Stephen R. Bradley Children Charles Paine | |
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Born January 21, 1757Brooklyn, Connecticut ( 1757-01-21 ) Profession lawyer, politician, judge Role Former United States Senator Died April 28, 1842, Williamstown, Vermont, United States | ||
Previous office Senator (VT) 1795–1801 | ||
Elijah Paine (January 21, 1757 – April 28, 1842) was a United States Senator from Vermont, serving as a Federalist from 1795 to 1801, and thereafter a long-serving United States federal judge.
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Biography
Born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, Paine attended the public schools. He served in Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, from 1776 to 1777, and then received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1781 before reading law to be admitted to the bar in 1784. He married Sarah Porter of Plymouth, New Hampshire. They had four sons; Martin Paine, an eminent physician; Elijah Paine Jr, a judge of the New York Supreme Court; George Paine, a prominent lawyer; and Charles Paine, who was Governor of Vermont from 1841 to 1843.
Career
Paine began practicing law from 1784 to 1787 in Windsor, Vermont while cultivating a farm. He also began a settlement at Williamstown, Orange County, Vermont, and established a cloth factory and a saw and grist mill in Northfield, Vermont on Robinson Brook running down Mill Hill.
Paine served as secretary of the State constitutional convention in 1786, and as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1787 to 1790, also serving as a Vermont probate judge for the Randolph District from 1788 to 1791. He was a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1791 until he resigned in 1795, having been elected to the United States Senate in 1794 and taking office on March 4, 1795. He was reelected as a Federalist in 1800, but only served until September 1, 1801, when he resigned after having taken a federal judicial position.
On February 24, 1801, Paine was nominated by President John Adams to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont vacated by Samuel Hitchcock. Paine was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 25, 1801, and received his commission on March 4, 1801. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1812, and a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813. From 1815 to 1842, he was also the postmaster of Williamstown, Vermont. Paine's judicial service was terminated on April 1, 1842, due to resignation for health reasons.
Death
Paine died within a month of resigning, on April 28, 1842, in Williamstown, Vermont. He is interred at West Hill Cemetery in Williamstown, Orange County, Vermont.