Elisha Payne House, Canterbury (Windham County, Connecticut)

Elisha Payne (7 March 1731 – 20 July 1807) was a prominent businessman and political figure in the states of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

following the events of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. He is best known for serving as Lieutenant Governor of the

Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic ( French: ''République du Vermont''), officially known at the time as the State of Vermont ( French: ''État du Vermont''), was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The ...

and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont.

Early life

The son of a prominent cleric of the same name, Elisha Payne was born in

Canterbury, Connecticut Canterbury is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,045 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area was settled by English colonists in the 1680s as ''Peagscomsuck''. It c ...

, on March 7, 1731. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

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.

Career

From 1765 to 1768 Payne served in the

Connecticut Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Ther ...

. In 1774 Payne relocated to

Orange, New Hampshire Orange is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 277 at the 2020 census, down from 331 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauAmerican FactFinder 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, 2011. History ...

, then called Cardigan, where he practiced law, farmed, and operated a successful saw and gristmill. In addition, he served in the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 legislative district ...

. In 1775 Payne was appointed a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the

militia. In 1776 he was named a

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the Court of Common Pleas and Register of

Probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

for Grafton County. In 1780 Payne relocated to

Lebanon, New Hampshire Lebanon is a city in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 14,282 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 13,151 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is in western New Hampshire, south of Hanover, New Hampshire, H ...

. During this period

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 The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, the experience under colonial rule would ...

, but Payne declined. In 1781 Payne was elected to the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

. He was subsequently elected Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and appointed Chief Justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The Court ...

. In addition, he was appointed a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the Vermont militia. Payne was appointed in 1782 as one of Vermont's delegates to negotiate with the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

. 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 The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on populatio ...

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. Payne was treasurer of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

from 1779 to 1780, and a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of the college from 1784 to 1801. In 1788 Payne was a delegate to the New Hampshire convention that considered adoption of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

and voted for its ratification. Payne also appears to have been the final clinching vote of the New Hampshire legislature that ultimately ratified the

. The final vote in the New Hampshire legislature was 57–47, which means that Payne's fifty-third vote was the deciding vote needed to officially ratify the

Personal life

Payne was married twice: first to Anna Waldo (1753–1759) and, after her death, to Elizabeth Spaulding (1762–1809). Among his children were: * Ruth Payne (1770–1828), who married Nathan Jewett (1767–1861); parents of

Vermont State Treasurer The State Treasurer's Office is responsible for several administrative and service duties, in accordance with Vermont Statutes. These include: investing state funds; issuing state bonds; serving as the central bank for state agencies; managing the ...

Elisha Payne Jewett and grandparents of painter

Ruth Payne Burgess Ruth Payne Burgess, (October 11, 1865 in Montpelier, Vermont – March 11, 1934 in New York), was a naturalistic painter of portraits, still lifes, and genre work. Personal life Ruth Payne Jewett was born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1865, the d ...

. Payne died in Lebanon on July 20, 1807.Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States
edited by John Howard Brown, Volume 6, 1903, pages 174 to 175 He was buried in East Lebanon Cemetery.Cemetery inscription transcriptions, East Lebanon Cemetery
by Frances L. Hanchett & Peggy McKinney, June, 2011, page 3

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Elisha 1731 births 1807 deaths Yale College alumni American militia generals People from Lebanon, New Hampshire Lieutenant Governors of Vermont Justices of the Vermont Supreme Court People of Vermont in the American Revolution Vermont militiamen in the American Revolution Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives New Hampshire state senators New Hampshire lawyers New Hampshire state court judges People of pre-statehood Vermont