Elijah Paine

Born on January 21, 1757, in Brooklyn, Connecticut Colony, British America,[1] Paine attended the public schools and served in the Continental Army from 1776 to 1777, during the American Revolutionary War.[1] He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1781 from Harvard University and read law in 1784.[1] He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Windsor, Vermont from 1784 to 1787.[1] He cultivated a farm and began a settlement at Williamstown, Vermont.[2] He established a cloth factory and a saw and grist mill in Northfield, Vermont.[2] He was secretary of the Vermont constitutional convention in 1786.[2] He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1787 to 1789.[1] He was a Judge of the Probate Court for the Randolph District of Vermont from 1788 to 1791.[1] He was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont from 1791 to 1795.[1]

Paine was elected to the United States Senate from Vermont in 1794.[2] He was reelected as a Federalist in 1800 and served from March 4, 1795, to September 1, 1801, when he resigned to accept a federal judicial post.[2][3]

Paine was nominated by President John Adams on February 24, 1801, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Vermont vacated by Judge Samuel Hitchcock.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 25, 1801, and received his commission on March 3, 1801.[1] His service terminated on April 1, 1842, due to his resignation.[1]

Paine died on April 28, 1842, in Williamstown.[1][4] He was interred in West Hill Cemetery in Williamstown.[2][5]

The son of Seth Paine, Paine married Sarah Porter of Plymouth, New Hampshire.[6] 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.[6]

Paine was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1812,[7] and a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813.[8]

• United States Congress. "Elijah Paine (id: P000026)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Elijah Paine at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Govtrack US Congress
• Elijah Paine at Find a Grave
• The Political Graveyard
•  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.