Robert treat paine jr

Founding Father, Massachusetts attorney general and judge ()

For others with the same name, see Robert Treat Paine (disambiguation).

Robert Treat Paine
Portrait by Edward Savage & John Coles, Jr., –
Born	()March 11, Boston, Massachusetts, British America
Died	May 11, () (aged&#;83) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Resting place	Granary Burying Ground, Boston
Education	Harvard College
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, politician
Known&#;for	Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Spouse	Sally Cobb (m. &#;; his death)
Children	8

Robert Treat Paine (March 11, &#;&#; May 11, ) was a lawyer, politician and Founding Father of the United States who signed the Continental Association and Declaration of Independence as a representative of Massachusetts.

He served as the state's first attorney general and as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the state's highest court.

Early life and ancestors

Robert Treat Paine was born in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in British America, on March 11, He was one of five children of the Rev.

Thomas Paine and Eunice (Treat) Paine.^[1] His father was pastor of Franklin Road Baptist Church in Weymouth but moved his family to Boston in and subsequently became a merchant there. His mother was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Treat, whose father Maj. Robert Treat was one of the principal founders of Newark, New Jersey, and later a governor of Connecticut.

Robert Treat Paine's Treat family had a long history in the British colonies and his Paine family, in particular, can trace a lineage back to the Mayflower.^[2]

Education

Paine attended the Boston Latin School and then entered Harvard College at age 14; he graduated in at age He then taught school for several years, first back at Boston Latin and later in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.

Paine also attempted a merchant career, with journeys to the Carolinas, the Azores, and Spain as well as a whaling voyage to Greenland. He began the study of law in with his mother's cousin in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Robert treat paine house

Robert treat paine biography

Robert treat paine jr

Paine served as a chaplain in the Crown Point Expedition in during the French and Indian War. Upon returning to civilian life, he did some occasional preaching and returned to his legal studies. In , he returned to Boston to continue his legal preparations with Samuel Prat, and he was admitted to the bar in He first considered establishing his law practice at Portland (then part of Massachusetts but now in Maine), but instead in moved to Taunton, Massachusetts, then back to Boston in ^[3]

Legal career

In , he was a delegate to a provincial convention called to meet in Boston.

Paine, along with the Solicitor General of Massachusetts Samuel Quincy, conducted the prosecution of Captain Thomas Preston and eight soldiers under his command following the Boston Massacre of March 5, John Adams was opposing counsel, and Adams' arguments won the jury's sway, and most of the troops were let off.^[4]

Paine served in the Massachusetts General Court from to , in the Provincial Congress from to , as well as represented Massachusetts at the Continental Congress from through In that Congress, he signed the final appeal to the king (the Olive Branch Petition of ) and helped frame the rules of debate and acquire gunpowder for the coming war, and in was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.^[5]

He returned to Massachusetts at the end of December and was speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in , a member of the executive council in , a member of the committee that drafted the state constitution in He was Massachusetts Attorney General from to and prosecuted the treason trials following Shays' Rebellion.

From to , his acting Attorney General was Benjamin Kent.^[6][7] In , he was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[8] He last served as a justice of the State Supreme Court from to when he retired.

Robert treat paine family tree The works, in verse and prose, of the late Robert Treat Paine, jun., esq.: with notes, to which are prefixed sketches of his life, character and writings [Hardcover] by Robert Treat Paine avg rating — 0 ratings.

Death and legacy

Paine died at age 83 in and was buried in Boston's Granary Burying Ground.^[9] Many of his papers, including correspondence and legal notes, are now held by the Massachusetts Historical Society.^[10] Paine was a Congregationalist and a devout Christian.

When his church, the First Church in Boston, moved into Unitarianism, Paine followed that path. A statue of Paine by Richard E. Brooks was erected at Taunton's Church Green in ^[11][12] Paine is an honoree of the Washington, D.C., Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Paine married Sally Cobb, the daughter of Thomas and Lydia (née Leonard) Cobb and a sister of General David Cobb, on March 15, She was born May 15, , and died June 6, They were the parents of eight children:

• Robert Paine (May 14, – July 28, ), died unmarried, graduate of Harvard College.
• Sally Paine (March 7, – January 26, ), died unmarried.
• Robert Treat Paine Jr.

  (December 9, – November 13, ), graduate of Harvard College.

• Charles Paine (August 30, – February 15, ), graduate of Harvard College, married Sarah Sumner Cushing (niece of both U.S. Supreme Court associate Justice William Cushing and Massachusetts Governor Increase Sumner).^[13]
• Henry Paine (October 20, – June 8, ), married Olive Lyman, daughter of Theodore Lyman.
• Mary Paine (February 9, – February 27, ), married Rev.

  Elisha Clap, graduate of Harvard College.^[14]

• Maria Antoinetta Paine (December 2, – March 26, ), married Deacon Samuel Greele.
• Lucretia Paine (April 30, – August 27, ), died unmarried.

Some of his notable descendants include:

References

Bibliography

• Robert Treat Paine Papers Digital Edition.
• The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, ed.

  Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, vol. 1, –, Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society 87 (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, ).

• The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, ed. Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, vol.
  Robert treat paine signature The Paine family greatly increased the collection of Robert Treat Paine papers and rare books in Among the new acquisitions were four large volumes containing minutes of trials and law cases from through , as well as his notes kept during the Boston massacre trials.

  2, –, Collections 88, ().

• The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, ed. Edward W. Hanson, vol. 3, –, Collections 89, ().
• The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, ed. Edward W. Hanson, vol. 4, –, Collections 92, ().

External links