Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814

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Robert Treat Paine (March 11, 1731 – May 11, 1814) was an American lawyer, politician, and Founding Father of the United States who signed the Continental Association and the Declaration of Independence as a representative of Massachusetts. He served as the state's first attorney general, and served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the state's highest court. Paine was also a founding member of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and had always opposed slavery.

Born in Boston, Paine attended the Boston Latin School and at the age of fourteen entered Harvard College, from which institution he graduated in 1749 at age 18. He then was engaged in teaching school for several years and attempted a merchant career before undertaking the study of law. Admitted to the bar in 1757, he practiced law in Boston and in Taunton, Massachusetts. 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 1776. 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 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 state constitution in 1780. He was Massachusetts Attorney General from 1777 to 1790 and prosecuted the treason trials following Shays' Rebellion. In 1780, he was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 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 Boston's Granary Burying Ground. Many of his papers, including correspondence and legal notes, are now held by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Rosenbach, A. S. W. (Abraham Simon Wolf), 1876-1952,. Signers of the Declaration of Independence autograph collection, 1756-1818. Rosenbach Museum & Library
referencedIn Adams, John, 1735-1826. Letters to Benjamin Rush and Mercy Otis Warren, 1813-1814. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. ALS, 1782 March 29 : Boston, to Nathaniel Freeman, Sandwich. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. ALS, 1789 May 30 : to Judge Sumner at Roxbury. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. ALS, 1775 June 17 : Philadelphia, to Dr. David Cobb. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
referencedIn Elliot L. Richardson papers, 1780-1999 Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. ALS, 1778 January 26 : New Haven, to Elbridge Gerry. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
creatorOf Whiting, William, 1730-1792. William Whiting papers, 1775-1787. Massachusetts Historical Society
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. Robert Treat Paine papers, 1659-1862. Massachusetts Historical Society
creatorOf Sea Flower (Sloop). Logbook, 1754 May 6-August 27. Old Dartmouth Historical Society Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat. Document signed, 1792 Jan. 2. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Gwathmey collection, 1708-1852 University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Frederick M. Dearborn collection of military and political Americana, Part I: The Revolution and the Administration, 1669-1958. Houghton Library
referencedIn Adams, John, 1735-1826. Letter to Mercy Otis Warren and portrait, 1814 February 2. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Hancock family. Hancock family papers, 1728-1815. Massachusetts Historical Society
creatorOf United States. Commissioners on Claims against Mexico (1849-1851). Note to the president of the United States i.e., Zachary Taylor : Washington (D.C.) : LS, 1849 Apr. 20. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. ADS, 1780 Jan. 4, Boston, to the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Suffolk County. Rosenbach Museum & Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. Writ annotated and signed by Paine, 1765 July 5. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Thomas Addis Emmet collection, 1483-1876 (bulk:1700-1800) New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. Legal document, 1780 February 5. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. U.S. Loan Office certificate [manuscript] 1795 March 4. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert. Miscellaneous papers. Jacksonville University, Carl S. Swisher Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1866-. Family papers, 1754-1901. Boston Athenaeum
referencedIn Bamberger, Louis, 1855-1944,. Autograph collection, 1683-1929. New Jersey Historical Society Library
creatorOf Boston (Mass.). Citizens. Petitions, 1759-1773, Boston, Mass. Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
referencedIn Harvard University Archives Visual Collections - Locations File, Chronological, ca.1650- (inclusive), 1752- (bulk). Harvard University Archives.
referencedIn Elliot L. Richardson papers, 1780-1999 Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Henry A. Willard II Collection, 1743-1888, (bulk 1770-1840) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Autograph File, P, 1554-2005. Houghton Library
creatorOf Weare, Meshech, 1713-1786. Papers, 1776-1785. Library of Congress
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. Letter and power of attorney, 1779-1798. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Harvard College Library. Early Catalogs and Shelflists of the Harvard College Library, 1723-1822. Harvard University Archives.
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. Autograph letter signed : to William Channing, 1792 Mar. 20. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Signers collection, 1770-1826. Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library
creatorOf Crosman, George Hampton, 1798-1882. George Hampton Crosman letters received, 1847 May 16-29. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Letters and documents of signers of the Declaration of Independence, 1750-1933. Houghton Library
creatorOf Paine, Robert Treat, 1731-1814. ADS, 1779 March 15. : Pay Abstract. Copley Press, J S Copley Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Adams, John, 1735-1826. person
associatedWith Albert H. Small Declaration of Independence Collection (University of Virginia) corporateBody
associatedWith Bamberger, Louis, 1855-1944, person
associatedWith Boston (Mass.). Citizens. corporateBody
associatedWith Bourne, Shearjashub, 1746-1806. person
associatedWith Brindley, Thomas. person
associatedWith Caner, Henry, 1700-1792. person
associatedWith Channing, William, fl. 1792, person
associatedWith Chase, Thomas, fl. 1765. person
associatedWith Clark, Waters. person
associatedWith Cobb, David. person
associatedWith Cobb, David, 1748-1830. person
associatedWith Cranch, Richard, 1726-1811. person
associatedWith Crosman, George Hampton, 1798-1882. person
associatedWith Cushing, John, 1741-1812, person
associatedWith Dearborn, Frederick M. (Frederick Myers), b. 1876 person
associatedWith Emmet, Thomas Addis person
associatedWith Freeman, Nathaniel, 1741-1827. person
associatedWith Gates, Horatio, 1728-1806. person
associatedWith Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814. person
associatedWith Gilman, W. Daniel. person
associatedWith Greenleaf, Joseph, 1720-1809. person
associatedWith Hancock family. family
associatedWith Hancock, John, 1737-1793. person
associatedWith Hannah (Ship) corporateBody
associatedWith Harvard College Library. corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Harvard University corporateBody
associatedWith Hubbard, John, collector. person
associatedWith Johnson, John, fl. 1765. person
associatedWith Kelley, Gad. person
associatedWith Longacre, James Barton, 1794-1869. person
associatedWith Massachusetts. Attorney General's Office corporateBody
associatedWith Massachusetts. Attorney General's Office. corporateBody
memberOf Massachusetts. Supreme Judicial Court corporateBody
associatedWith Massachusetts. Supreme Judicial Court. corporateBody
associatedWith Paine family. family
associatedWith Paine, Robert, 1770-1798. person
associatedWith Paine, Robert, 1773-1811. person
associatedWith Paine, Robert Treat, 1773-1811. person
associatedWith Paine, Robert Treat, 1803-1885. person
associatedWith Paine, Robert Treat, 1866- person
associatedWith Paine, Thomas, 1694-1757. person
associatedWith Palmer, Joseph, 1716-1788. person
associatedWith Pratt, Isaac, fl. 1765. person
associatedWith Richardson, Elliot L., 1920-1999. person
associatedWith Rosenbach, A. S. W. (Abraham Simon Wolf), 1876-1952, person
associatedWith Seaflower (Ship) corporateBody
associatedWith Sea Flower (Sloop) corporateBody
associatedWith Success (Ship) corporateBody
associatedWith Sullivan, John, 1740-1795. person
associatedWith Sumner, Increase, 1746-1799. person
associatedWith United States. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Commissioners on Claims against Mexico (1849-1851) corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Continental Army corporateBody
memberOf United States. Continental Congress corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Continental Congress (1774) corporateBody
associatedWith Washington, George, 1732-1799. person
associatedWith Weare, Meshech, 1713-1786. person
associatedWith Whiting, William, 1730-1792. person
associatedWith Willard, Henry A. (Henry Augustus), 1902- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Boston MA US
Boston MA US
Cambridge MA US
Taunton MA US
Subject
Account books
Actions and defenses
American loyalists
Astronomy
Boston Massacre, 1770
Crown Point Expedition
Estates, (Law)
Judges
Law
Lawyers
Private libraries
Logbooks
Merchant marine
Money
Ocean travel
Rhode Island, Battle of, R.I., 1778
Sermons
Shays' Rebellion, 1786-1787
Taxation
Trials
Voyages and travels
Whaling
Occupation
Attorneys general
Delegates, U.S. Continental Congress
Jurists
Lawyers
Activity

Person

Birth 1731-03-11

Death 1814-05-11

Male

Britons,

Americans

English

Information

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