Robert Treat Paine

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

Robert Treat Paine
Robert Treat Paine by Edward Savage & John Coles, Jr. Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.
Born	March 11, 1731(1731-03-11) Boston, Massachusetts
Died	May 11, 1814(1814-05-11) (aged 83) Boston, Massachusetts
Cause of death	poor health
Resting place	Granary Burying Ground, Boston
Residence	Taunton, Massachusetts
Education	Harvard College
Occupation	Lawyer
Known for	Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Home town	Boston
Signature

Statue of Robert Treat Paine (1904), Taunton, Massachusetts

Robert Treat Paine (March 11, 1731 – May 11, 1814) was a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Massachusetts.

Biography

Early life and ancestors

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1731. He was one of five children of the Rev. Thomas Paine, Harvard College 1717, who was pastor of Franklin Road Baptist Church at Weymouth, Massachusetts until 1734 but moved his family to Boston in 1730 and subsequently became a merchant there; and Eunice Treat, the daughter of Rev. Samuel Treat, Harvard College 1669, and Abigail Willard. Rev. Samuel Treat and his father Robert Treat, were the principle founders of Newark, New Jersey.

He was the great-grandson of Reverend Samuel Willard, Harvard College 1659, pastor of the Old South Church, Boston, vice-president of Harvard College and the acting president of Harvard College; Robert Treat, the lieutenant-governor and governor of Connecticut for thirty years; prominent in the Charter Oak incident and as commander of the Connecticut forces in protecting the settlers of western Massachusetts during King Philip's War; and the great great grandson of Richard Treat (or Trott) an early New England settler and a Patentee of the Royal Charter of Connecticut, 1662 and Stephen Hopkins (settler), a tanner and merchant who was one of the passengers aboard the Mayflower on the voyage to North America landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.

Education

Paine attended the Boston Latin School, and at the early age of fourteen, he became a member of Harvard College from which institution he graduated from in 1749 at age 18. He then was engaged in teaching school for several years back at the Boston Latin and at Lunenburg, Massachusetts He also attempted a merchant career with journeys to the Carolinas, the Azores, and to Spain, as well as a whaling voyage to Greenland. He began the study of law in 1755 with his mother's cousin in Lancaster, Mass. Another cousin, Col. Samuel Willard, raised a regiment to fight in the French & Indian wars. Paine was unsuccessful in gaining an officer's commission in that regiment and so volunteered to serve as chaplain. When he returned from a brief military campaign to Lake George (the Crown Point Expedition), he did some occasional preaching and returned to his legal studies. In 1756 he returned to Boston to continue his legal preparations with Samuel Prat, and he was admitted to the bar in 1757. He first considered establishing his law practice at Portland (then part of Massachusetts but now in Maine), but instead in 1761 moved to Taunton, Massachusetts, then back to Boston in 1780.

Marriage and family

He married, March 15, 1770, Sally Cobb, the daughter of Thomas and Lydia (Leonard) Cobb and a sister of General David Cobb (Massachusetts) and cousin of Samuel Wilde. She was born May 15, 1744, died June 6, 1816. They were the parents of eight children:

i. Robert Paine, b. May 14, 1770; d. July 28, 1798, unmarried. graduate of Harvard College, 1789.

ii. Sally Paine, b. March 7, 1772; d. Jan. 26, 1823, unmarried.

iii. Thomas Paine, b. Dec. 9, 1773 ; name changed by law in 1801 to Robert Treat Paine, Jr.; d. Nov. 13, 1811. graduate of Harvard College, 1792.

iv. Charles Paine, b. Aug. 30, 1775; d. Feb. 15, 1810. graduate of Harvard College, 1793.

v. Henry Paine, b. Oct. 20, 1777; d. June 8, 1814; m. Olive Lyman, daughter of Theodore Lyman (1755–1839). Issue.

vi. Mary Paine, b. Feb. 9, 1780 ; d. Feb. 27, 1842 ; m. Rev. Elisha Clap. No issue,

vii. Maria Antoinetta Paine, b. Dec. 2, 1782; d. March 26, 1842; m. Deacon Samuel Greele. No issue

viii. Lucretia Paine, b. April 30, 1785; d. Aug. 27, 1823, unmarried.

Career

In 1768 he was a delegate to the provincial convention which was called to meet in Boston and along with Samuel Quincy conducted the prosecution of Captain Thomas Preston and his British soldiers following the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770; John Adams was opposing counsel and his arguments won the jury's sway, and most of the troops were let off.

Paine served in the Massachusetts General Court from 1773 to 1774, in the Provincial Congress from 1774 to 1775, and represented Massachusetts at the Continental Congress from 1774 through 1778. In Congress, he signed the final appeal to the king (the Olive Branch Petition of 1775), and helped frame the rules of debate and acquire gunpowder for the coming war, and in 1776 was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

He returned to Massachusetts at the end of December 1776 and there was speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1777, a member of the executive council in 1779, a member of the committee that drafted the constitution of 1780. He was Massachusetts Attorney General from 1777 to 1790 and prosecuted the treason trials following Shays' Rebellion. He later served as a justice of the state supreme court from 1790 to 1804 when he retired. When he died at the age of 83 in 1814 he was buried in the Granary Burying Ground in Boston, Massachusetts. A statue to commemorate him was erected in the Church Green area of Taunton.

Robert Treat Paine was a Congregationalist and a devout Christian. When his church, The First Church of Boston, moved into Unitarianism, Paine followed that path.

Descendants

Some of his notable descendants include;

• Charles Jackson Paine
• John Paine (sport shooter)
• Robert Treat Paine, Jr.
• Robert Treat Paine Storer
• Robert Treat Paine Storer, Jr.
• Robert Treat Paine (philanthropist), owner of the The Robert Treat Paine Estate, known as Stonehurst
• Lyman Paine He married, in 1926, Ruth Forbes of the distinguished Forbes family and a great-granddaughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Sumner Paine
• Michael Paine, husband of Ruth Paine

Death

Paine died on May 11, 1814 at Boston, Massachusetts. He is buried in the Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts.

Trivia

Paine is featured in the 2008 miniseries John Adams. In episode one, Paine (played by Brennan Brown) prosecutes the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre. After losing in court, Paine and some colleagues visit Adams at home and attempt to enlist his support and use his credibility as an impartial party in taking a stand against the British. Paine admires Adams' ability to be impartial even while he detests the British stationed in Boston.

External links

• Robert Treat Paine at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
• Robert Treat Paine at Find a Grave