Paine Wingate (May 14, 1739March 7, 1838) was an American preacher, farmer, and statesman from

Stratham, New Hampshire Stratham is a New England town, town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town had a population of 7,669 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is bounded on the west by the Squamscott ...

. He served

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 ...

in 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. ...

and both the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Early life, education, ministry, and farming

Wingate was born the sixth of twelve children, in

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settle ...

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

, in 1739. His father (also Paine) was a minister there. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1759. Wingate was ordained a minister of the

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

in 1763. He became a pastor in

Hampton Falls, New Hampshire Hampton Falls (formerly the "Third Parish and Hampton Falls") is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,403 at the 2020 census. History The land of Hampton Falls was first settled by Europeans in 1638, ...

. In 1776, Wingate gave up his ministry and moved to Stratham, where he took up farming.

Political career

Wingate was elected to several terms 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 ...

, and was a delegate to their state constitutional convention in 1781. In 1788, he served as a delegate to the

. Despite his own background as a preacher, Wingate successfully proposed that the salaries for the two chaplains of the Continental Congress be cut by 25% probably due at least partly to the Confederation's untenable financial problems. Wingate was a strong advocate for ratification 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 ...

, writing as follows in March 1788:

ose who are well-wishers to their country, and best know the situation we are in, are most sensible of the necessity of its adoption, and great pains are taken to obtain the end.

New Hampshire appointed him to the first

, in which he served from 4 March 1789 until 3 March 1793. He was then elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, where he served from 4 March 1793 to 3 March 1795. Between 1789 and 1794, the U.S. Senate's deliberations were conducted in secret, which Wingate supported: "How would all the little domestic transactions of even the best regulated family appear if exposed to the world; and may not this apply to a larger body?" He believed that secrecy promoted respect for the Senate: "to be a little more out of view would conduce to its respectability in the opinion of the country." While in the Senate, Wingate served on the committee that drafted the

Judiciary Act of 1789 The Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, ) was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States. Article III, Secti ...

, which set up the federal court system. He was disappointed that the bill "will not extend to a tenth part of the causes which might by the Constitution have come into the federal court". The remaining nine-tenths of cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States were left for the state courts to decide. Wingate voted against the bill, but it passed.

Judicial career, retirement, and longevity

After his national service, he served as an associate justice of the

New Hampshire Supreme Court The New Hampshire Supreme Court is the supreme court of the U. S. state of New Hampshire and sole appellate court of the state. The Supreme Court is seated in the state capital, Concord. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate ...

from 1798 to 1808. Once he made up his mind, a change of mind was unlikely. According to

Theophilus Parsons Theophilus Parsons (February 24, 1750October 30, 1813) was an American jurist. Life Born in Newbury, Massachusetts to a clergyman father, Parsons was one of the early students at the Dummer Academy (now The Governor's Academy) before matricula ...

, "it was of great importance, that your Judge Wingate should form a correct opinion before he pronounces it—for after that, law, reason, and authority will be unavailing." With the death of

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

in 1836, Wingate drew some attention for surviving so long. Before he died at age 98 in 1838, Wingate was one of two surviving delegates to the Continental Congress (along with

John Armstrong, Jr. John Armstrong Jr. (November 25, 1758April 1, 1843) was an American soldier, diplomat and statesman who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, U.S. Senator from New York, and United States Secretary of War under President James Madison. A me ...

), and the last surviving member of the

first United States Congress The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in ...

. For several years he had been the oldest graduate of Harvard. Wingate's wife, Eunice, was the sister of United States Secretary of State

Timothy Pickering Timothy Pickering (July 17, 1745January 29, 1829) was the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. He also represented Massachusetts in both houses of Congress as a member of the Federalist Party. ...

, and she died in 1843, having passed the century mark. The Wingates are buried in the Stratham Cemetery.''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''
/ref>

Footnotes

External links

Find a grave: Paine Wingate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wingate, Paine 1739 births 1838 deaths People from Amesbury, Massachusetts People of colonial Massachusetts People of colonial New Hampshire American people of English descent American Congregationalists Continental Congressmen from New Hampshire Anti-Administration Party United States senators from New Hampshire Pro-Administration Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Justices of the New Hampshire Supreme Court People from Stratham, New Hampshire Harvard College alumni Burials in New Hampshire Members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire