Paul Spooner

Biography

Paul Spooner was born in Dartmouth, Massachusetts on March 20, 1746. He was the youngest of the 10 children of Elizabeth (Ruggles) and Daniel

Spooner. He was raised in Petersham, Massachusetts, studied medicine, and moved to Hartland, Vermont to begin a medical practice in 1768.

Dr. Spooner married Asenath Wright on April 15, 1770. They produced three children; Betsy, Paul and Amasa Spooner, before her death in March of 1777. He married a cousin, Anna Cogswell in 1779.

In 1775, Spooner was a delegate to the New York Provincial Congress. (At the time jurisdiction over Vermont was the subject of a dispute between New Hampshire and New York.

Spooner served as a member of Vermont's Revolutionary War Council of Safety from 1778 to 1782. In 1779 he was elected Hartland's Town Clerk, and he also served as Hartland's Town Meeting Moderator.

From 1779 to 1789 Spooner served as a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.

In 1780 and 1781 Spooner was Windsor County's Probate Judge, and from 1780 to 1782 he was one of Vermont's agents who negotiated with the Continental Congress.

In 1782 he became Lieutenant Governor of the territory, serving until 1787. The Republic of Vermont was not created until 2 years after his death. He was Assistant Judge of the Windsor County Superior Court from 1779 to 1782, Chief Judge from 1784 to 1785, and Assistant Judge again from 1785 until his death.

Spooner died at the age of 44 in North Hartland on September 4, 1789. His home can still be found in North Hartland, very close to Cutts Cemetery where he is buried.