US Supreme Court justice from 1793 to 1806
"Justice Paterson" redirects here. For other similarly named justices, see
Justice Patterson
.
William Paterson
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In office
March 11, 1793 ? September 9, 1806
[1]
|
Nominated by
| George Washington
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Preceded by
| Thomas Johnson
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Succeeded by
| Henry Livingston
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|
In office
October 29, 1790 ? March 30, 1793
|
Preceded by
| Elisha Lawrence
(acting)
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Succeeded by
| Thomas Henderson
(acting)
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|
In office
March 4, 1789 ? November 13, 1790
|
Preceded by
| Seat established
|
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Succeeded by
| Philemon Dickinson
|
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|
In office
1776?1783
|
Governor
| William Livingston
|
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Preceded by
| Position established
|
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Succeeded by
| Joseph Bloomfield
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|
Born
| (
1745-12-24
)
December 24, 1745
County Antrim
,
Ireland
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Died
| September 9, 1806
(1806-09-09)
(aged 60)
Albany
,
New York
,
U.S.
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Political party
| Federalist
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Spouses
|
Cornelia Bell
(
m.
1779; died 1783)
Euphemia White
(
m.
1785)
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Children
| 3
|
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Education
| Princeton University
(
BA
,
MA
)
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Signature
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William Paterson
(December 24, 1745 ? September 9, 1806) was an American statesman, lawyer, jurist, and signer of the
United States Constitution
. He was an
Associate Justice
of the
United States Supreme Court
, the second
governor of New Jersey
, and a
Founding Father of the United States
.
Born in
County Antrim
, Ireland, Paterson moved to the North American British colonies at a young age. After graduating from the College of New Jersey (now
Princeton University
) and studying law under
Richard Stockton
, he was admitted to the bar in 1768. He helped write the 1776
Constitution of New Jersey
and served as the
New Jersey Attorney General
from 1776 to 1783. He represented New Jersey at the 1787
Philadelphia Convention
, where he proposed the
New Jersey Plan
, which would have provided for equal representation among the states in
Congress
.
After the ratification of the Constitution, Paterson served in the
United States Senate
from 1789 to 1790, helping to draft the
Judiciary Act of 1789
. He resigned from the Senate to take office as governor of New Jersey. In 1793, he accepted appointment by President
George Washington
to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He served on the court until his death in 1806.
Early life
[
edit
]
William Paterson was born December 24, 1745, in County Antrim, Ireland, to Richard Paterson, an
Ulster Protestant
.
[2]
Paterson immigrated with his parents to
New Castle, Pennsylvania
, in 1747.
[3]
At 14, he began college at Princeton. After graduating, he
read law
with the prominent lawyer Richard Stockton and was admitted to the bar in 1768. He also stayed connected to his alma mater and helped found the
Cliosophic Society
with
Aaron Burr
.
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
Paterson was selected as the
Somerset County
delegate for the first three provincial congresses of New Jersey, where, as secretary, he recorded the 1776 New Jersey State Constitution.
[5]
After
Independence
, Paterson was appointed as the first attorney general of New Jersey, serving from 1776 to 1783, establishing himself as one of the state's most prominent lawyers.
[6]
He was sent to the
1787 Philadelphia Convention
, where he proposed the New Jersey Plan for a
unicameral
legislative body with equal representation from each state. After the
Great Compromise
(for two legislative bodies: a Senate with equal representation for each state, and a House of Representatives with representation based on population), the Constitution was signed.
[5]
United States Senator
[
edit
]
Paterson, who was a strong nationalist who supported the
Federalist Party
, went on to become one of New Jersey's first U.S. senators (1789?90).
[5]
As a member of the
Senate Judiciary Committee
, he played an important role in drafting the
Judiciary Act of 1789
that established the federal court system.
[5]
The first nine sections of this very important law are in his handwriting.
[7]
Governor of New Jersey
[
edit
]
In 1790, he became the first person to
resign from the U.S. Senate
, when he did so in order to succeed fellow signer
William Livingston
as governor of New Jersey.
[5]
As governor, Paterson pursued his interest in legal matters by codifying the English statutes that had been in force in New Jersey before the
Revolution
in Laws of the State of New Jersey. He also published a revision of the rules of the
chancery
and
common law
courts in Paterson, later adopted by the
New Jersey Legislature
.
[7]
[6]
United States Supreme Court
[
edit
]
President George Washington nominated Paterson for the Supreme Court of the United States on February 27, 1793, to the seat vacated by
Thomas Johnson
. Washington withdrew the nomination the following day, having realized that since the Judiciary Act of 1789 (the law creating the Supreme Court) had been passed during Paterson's current term as a Senator, the nomination was a violation of the
Ineligibility Clause
(Article I, Section 6) of the Constitution. Washington re-nominated Paterson to the court on March 4, 1793, after his term as Senator had expired; Paterson was immediately confirmed by the Senate and received his commission.
[8]
He resigned from the governorship to become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. On the circuit, he presided over the trials of individuals indicted for treason in the
Whiskey Rebellion
, a revolt by farmers in western Pennsylvania over the federal excise tax on whiskey, the principal product of their
cash crop
. Militia sent out by President Washington successfully quelled the uprising, and for the first time, the courts had to interpret the provisions of the Constitution concerning the use of troops in civil disturbances. Here, and, throughout his long career, Paterson extolled the primacy of law over governments, a principle embodied in the Constitution he helped write.
[9]
He declined an appointment as Secretary of State in 1795. Paterson was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
in 1789.
[10]
He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1801.
[11]
Paterson served on the Supreme Court until he died in 1806.
[5]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In 1779, Paterson married Cornelia Bell (1755?1783), daughter of John Bell, a wealthy Somerset County landowner.
[12]
[5]
Together, they had three children, but she died in 1783 shortly after giving birth to their only son. Their children were:
In 1785, he married Euphemia White (1746?1832),
[12]
sister of
Anthony Walton White
(1750?1803), daughter of Anthony White (1717?1787), a New Jersey landholder and judge of the Somerset court, and the granddaughter of
Lewis Morris
(1671?1746), chief justice of New York from 1715 to 1733 and governor of New Jersey from 1738 to 1746.
[15]
[16]
Death and interment
[
edit
]
On September 9, 1806, Paterson, aged 60, died from the lingering effects of a coach accident suffered in 1803 while on circuit court duty in New Jersey. He was on his way to the spa at
Ballston Springs, New York
, to "take the waters", when he died at the
Van Rensselaer Manor home
of his daughter, Cornelia, and son-in-law, Stephen Van Rensselaer, in
Albany, New York
. He was laid to rest in the Van Renssalaer family vault. When the city acquired the property, Paterson's remains were relocated to
Albany Rural Cemetery
Menands in
Albany County, New York
. Also buried there are Associate Justice
Rufus W. Peckham
and President
Chester A. Arthur
.
[17]
[18]
Descendants
[
edit
]
Through his eldest daughter, his grandchildren include
Cortlandt Van Rensselaer
(1808?1860), a noted
Presbyterian
clergyman,
[13]
and
Henry Bell Van Rensselaer
(1810?1864), a politician and general in the
Union Army
during the
American Civil War
, who married Elizabeth Ray King, a granddaughter of U.S. Senator
Rufus King
.
[13]
Through his son, his grandchildren included twin brothers, William Paterson (1817?1899), who married Salvadora Meade, a Spanish-born woman living in Philadelphia,
[19]
and Stephen Van Rensselaer Paterson (1817?1872),
[20]
who married Emily Sophia King (1823?1853), daughter of
Charles King
(1789?1867), the president of
Columbia University
, and the second son
Rufus King
. Both grandsons were members of the Princeton University class of 1835 and William was admitted to the bar in 1838. He later served as a member of the New Jersey Assembly from 1842 to 1843, Secretary of the
New Jersey Constitutional Convention of 1844
, a lay judge of the Court of Errors and Appeals, and mayor of
Perth Amboy
for ten years in between 1846 and 1878.
[20]
Honors
[
edit
]
Both the city of
Paterson
, and the college,
William Paterson University
, are named after him.
[5]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Justices 1789 to Present"
. Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States
. Retrieved
February 15,
2022
.
- ^
McCarthy, Joseph F. X. (1999).
"The Constitution of the United States"
. In Glazier, Michael (ed.).
The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America
.
Notre Dame, IN
:
University of Notre Dame Press
. p.
185
.
ISBN
978-0-268-02755-1
.
[Thomas Fitzsimons] was one of the two Catholic delegates to the Convention (Daniel Carroll was the other).
- ^
"PATERSON, William - Biographical Information"
.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
.
United States Congress
.
Archived
from the original on January 6, 2010
. Retrieved
July 28,
2019
.
- ^
"Daily Princetonian Special Class of 1991 Issue 27 July 1987 ? Princeton Periodicals"
.
princeton.edu
.
Archived
from the original on November 4, 2020
. Retrieved
May 15,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Vile, John R. (October 10, 2013).
The Men Who Made the Constitution: Lives of the Delegates to the Constitutional Convention
. Scarecrow Press.
ISBN
978-0-8108-8865-4
. Retrieved
February 21,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Haskett, Richard C. (1950)
William Paterson, Attorney General of New Jersey: Public Office and Private Profit in the American Revolution.
William and Mary Quarterly
, 3rd. Ser., 7 (January): pp. 26?38.
- ^
a
b
c
O'Connor, John E.,
William Paterson: Lawyer and Statesman, 1745?1806
(New Brunswick, N.J.:
Rutgers University Press
, 1979), pp. 108, 117.
- ^
Myers, Gustavus (1912).
History of the Supreme Court of the United States
. C. H. Kerr. p.
149
. Retrieved
February 21,
2017
.
- ^
Wright, Robert K. Jr.; MacGregor, Morris J. Jr. (1987).
Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution
. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History. p. 166.
LCCN
87001353
.
Archived
from the original on January 22, 2021
. Retrieved
July 28,
2014
.
- ^
"William Paterson"
.
American Philosophical Society Member History
.
American Philosophical Society
. Retrieved
December 14,
2020
.
- ^
"Book of Members, 1780?2010: Chapter P"
(PDF)
. American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on May 15, 2011
. Retrieved
July 28,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Epstein, Lee; Segal, Jeffrey A.; Spaeth, Harold J.; Walker, Thomas G. (July 29, 2015).
The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions, and Developments
. CQ Press.
ISBN
978-1-4833-7663-9
. Retrieved
February 21,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
Reynolds, Cuyler (1914).
Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York, Volume 3
. New York: Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 1166, 1341.
Archived
from the original on August 4, 2020
. Retrieved
February 21,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Wood, Gertrude Sceery,
William Paterson of New Jersey, 1745?1806
(Fair Lawn, N.J.: Fair Lawn Press, 1933), pp. 49, 199.
- ^
Marcus, Maeva (1985).
The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789?1800
. Columbia University Press.
ISBN
978-0-231-08869-5
. Retrieved
February 21,
2017
.
- ^
Lefferts, Elizabeth Morris, comp.,
Descendants of Lewis Morris of Morrisania
(New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1907).
- ^
Christensen, George A.
"Here Lies the Supreme Court: Gravesites of the Justices"
.
Yearbook 1983 Supreme Court Historical Society
(1983). Washington, D.C.:
Supreme Court Historical Society
: 17?30. Archived from
the original
on September 3, 2005
. Retrieved
June 5,
2018
– via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
See also
,
Christensen, George A. (February 2008). "Here Lies the Supreme Court: Revisited".
Journal of Supreme Court History
.
33
(1).
Blackwell Publishing
: 17?41.
doi
:
10.1111/j.1540-5818.2008.00177.x
.
eISSN
1540-5818
.
ISSN
1059-4329
.
S2CID
145227968
.
- ^
Bond, Gordon.
"To Cast A Freedman's Vote: How a Handyman from Perth Amboy Made Civil Rights History"
(PDF)
.
metuchen-edisonhistsoc.org
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on June 24, 2016
. Retrieved
February 21,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Manuscript Group 718, William Paterson (1817?1899), Student and author"
.
www.jerseyhistory.org
. The New Jersey Historical Society.
Archived
from the original on February 8, 2017
. Retrieved
February 21,
2017
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Abraham, Henry J. (1992).
Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court
(3rd ed.). New York:
Oxford University Press
.
ISBN
0-19-506557-3
.
- Bibliography on William Patterson at
Archived
September 15, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
Supreme Court Historical Society
.
- Cushman, Clare (2001).
The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789?1995
(2nd ed.). (Supreme Court Historical Society,
Congressional Quarterly
Books).
ISBN
1-56802-126-7
.
- Flanders, Henry.
The Lives and Times of the Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court
Archived
June 17, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine
. Philadelphia:
J. B. Lippincott & Co.
, 1874 at
Google Books
.
- Frank, John P. (1995). Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L. (eds.).
The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions
.
Chelsea House
Publishers.
ISBN
0-7910-1377-4
.
- Hall, Kermit L., ed. (1992).
The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States
. New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
0-19-505835-6
.
- Martin, Fenton S.; Goehlert, Robert U. (1990).
The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography
. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Books.
ISBN
0-87187-554-3
.
- Urofsky, Melvin I. (1994).
The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary
. New York:
Garland Publishing
. p. 590.
ISBN
0-8153-1176-1
.
- Warren, Charles. (1928)
The Supreme Court in United States History
Archived
June 9, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine
, 2 vols. at
Google books
.
- Wright, Robert K.; MacGregor, Morris J. Jr. (1987).
"William Paterson"
.
Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution
.
United States Army Center of Military History
. CMH Pub 71-25.
Archived
from the original on October 9, 2019
. Retrieved
July 20,
2010
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Articles
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Amendments
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Formation
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Clauses
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Interpretation
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Signatories
| Convention President
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New Hampshire
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Massachusetts
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Connecticut
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New York
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New Jersey
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Pennsylvania
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Delaware
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Maryland
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Virginia
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North Carolina
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South Carolina
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Georgia
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Convention Secretary
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Related
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Display
and legacy
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- John Jay
(
1789?1795
,
cases
)
- John Rutledge
(
1795
,
cases
)
- Oliver Ellsworth
(
1796?1800
,
cases
)
- John Marshall
(
1801?1835
,
cases
)
- Roger B. Taney
(
1836?1864
,
cases
)
- Salmon P. Chase
(
1864?1873
,
cases
)
- Morrison Waite
(
1874?1888
,
cases
)
- Melville Fuller
(
1888?1910
,
cases
)
- Edward Douglass White
(
1910?1921
,
cases
)
- William Howard Taft
(
1921?1930
,
cases
)
- Charles Evans Hughes
(
1930?1941
,
cases
)
- Harlan F. Stone
(
1941?1946
,
cases
)
- Fred M. Vinson
(
1946?1953
,
cases
)
- Earl Warren
(
1953?1969
,
cases
)
- Warren E. Burger
(
1969?1986
,
cases
)
- William Rehnquist
(
1986?2005
,
cases
)
- John Roberts
(
2005?present
,
cases
)
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*
Also served as Chief Justice of the United States
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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