Elisha Payne

Elisha Payne (March 7, 1731 -- July 20, 1807) was a Vermont and New Hampshire attorney, farmer, businessman and political figure who served as Lieutenant Governor of Vermont.

Biography

The son of a prominent cleric of the same name, Elisha Payne was born in Canterbury, Connecticut on March 7, 1731. He graduated from Yale University in 1750, studied law, and attained admission to the bar. In addition, Payne was a partner with his brother in law in a successful mercantile business.[1]

From 1765 to 1768 Payne served in the Connecticut Assembly.[2]

In 1774 Payne relocated to Orange, New Hampshire, then called Cardigan, where he practiced law, farmed and operated a successful sawmill and gristmill. In addition, Payne served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.[3]

In 1775 Payne was appointed a Lieutenant Colonel of the New Hampshire militia. In 1776 he was named a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and Register of Probate for Grafton County.[4]

In 1780 Payne relocated to Lebanon. During this period Vermont was an independent republic, and for several years there was a political movement to join New Hampshire's Connecticut River Valley towns, including Lebanon, to Vermont. In 1778 members of this movement tried to induce Payne and his townsmen to join by appointing Payne to Vermont's Governor's Council, but Payne declined.[5][6]

In 1781 Payne was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. He was subsequently elected Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and appointed Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. In addition he was appointed a Major General in the Vermont militia.[7][8] Payne was appointed in 1782 as one of Vermont's delegates to negotiate with the Continental Congress.[9]

After the attempted union of western New Hampshire and Vermont was ended, Payne resumed his involvement in New Hampshire politics and government, serving in the New Hampshire Senate from 1786 to 1787, and the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1787 to 1788. He served in the New Hampshire House again in 1790, 1793, 1796 to 1797, and 1800.[10]

Payne was Treasurer of Dartmouth College from 1779 to 1780, and a Trustee of the college from 1784 to 1801.[11]

In 1788 Payne was a Delegate to the New Hampshire convention that considered adoption of the United States Constitution and voted for its ratification.[12]

Payne died in Lebanon on July 20, 1807.[13] He was buried in East Lebanon Cemetery.[14]

References

  1. ^ Paine Family Records, by Henry D. Paine, Volume 2, pages 260 to 262
  2. ^ A History of Dartmouth College and the Town of Hanover, New Hampshire, by Frederick Chase, Volume 1, 1891, page 447
  3. ^ Early History of Vermont by Lafayette Wilbur, Volume 2, 1900, pages 380 to 381
  4. ^ The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire, by Charles Henry Bell, 1893, pages 557 to 558
  5. ^ Magazine article, A Trip to Cardigan -- Elisha Payne, by Walter Harriman, Granite Monthly magazine, October, 1880, pages 10 to 12
  6. ^ Ethan Allen and His Kin: Correspondence, 1772-1819, by Ethan Allen, edited by John J. Duffy, Volume 1, 1998, page 86
  7. ^ Provincial and State Papers, compiled and edited by Nathaniel Bouton, Volume 10, 1877, page 288
  8. ^ Men of Vermont: An Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters and Sons of Vermont, compiled by Jacob G. Ullery, 1894, page 173
  9. ^ The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, edited by Rossiter Johnson and John Howard Brown, Volume 8, 1904, Payne-Payne page
  10. ^ Gazetteer of Grafton County, New Hampshire, by Hamilton Child, Volume 1, page 14
  11. ^ History of New Hampshire, by John Norris McClintock, 1888, pages 435 to 437
  12. ^ The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790, by Merrill Jensen and Robert A. Becker, Volume 4, 1976, page 812
  13. ^ Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States, edited by John Howard Brown, Volume 6, 1903, pages 174 to 175
  14. ^ Cemetery inscription transcriptions, East Lebanon Cemetery, by Frances L. Hanchett & Peggy McKinney, June, 2011, page 3
Preceded by
Benjamin Carpenter		 Lieutenant Governor of Vermont (Independent Republic)
1781–1782		 Succeeded by
Paul Spooner