COLLECTION GUIDES

1659-1916

Guide to the Microfilm Edition

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Representative digitized documents from this collection:

Restrictions on Access

Use of this collection is restricted. Select items are available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Black and white microfilm is also available for use in the library, P-392.


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of the papers of Robert Treat Paine, Massachusetts lawyer, politician, member of the First Continental Congress (1774), signer of the Declaration of Independence, and justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The collection also contains the papers of other family members, including Thomas Paine.

Biographical Sketches

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine (1694-1757), a native of Barnstable, Mass., graduated from Harvard College in 1717. He worked as an itinerant preacher until, in 1719, he was ordained as the minister of Weymouth. In 1721, he married Eunice Treat of Boston, daughter of Rev. Samuel Treat of Eastham and granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Willard of the Old South Church, Boston. Paine left the ministry in 1734 and embarked on a career as a merchant in Boston, often suffering from the vagaries of trade in the 1740s. In 1754, he moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, but became ill and returned to Boston in 1756. He died the following year in Germantown at the home of his daughter Abigail Greenleaf.

Paine's surviving children were: Abigail (1725-1809), who married Joseph Greenleaf; Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814); and Eunice Paine (1733-1803), unmarried sister and frequent correspondent of Robert Treat Paine.

Robert Treat Paine

Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814), son of Thomas Paine (1694-1757), was born in Boston, attended the Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard College in 1749. For one year, he taught school in Lunenburg, Mass., then worked as a merchant in the southern trade, traveling to the Azores and Spain and on a whaling voyage to Greenland. In 1755, he served as chaplain for the Crown Point campaign. Paine returned to Boston in 1756 to continue his law studies, which he had begun informally two years earlier in Lancaster, Mass. He studied under Benjamin Prat and was admitted to the bar in 1757. Initially burdened with the settlement of his father's insolvent estate, Paine moved to Taunton in 1761, where he developed his legal practice, following the circuit of courts through Massachusetts and the province of Maine. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1763, served in various local capacities, and was eventually elected to represent Taunton in the state legislature beginning in 1773.

Paine's involvement in provincial politics began in 1770, when the town of Boston asked him to assist in the prosecution of the Boston Massacre trials. A member of the Massachusetts delegation to the First Continental Congress in 1774, he served in Philadelphia as chairman of the ordnance committee and was among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He represented Taunton in the three Provincial Congresses and returned to the state legislature in 1777, when he was chosen Speaker pro tempore. Elected attorney general that same year, Paine supervised the condemnation of Tory estates, prosecuted the insurgents of Shays' Rebellion, participated in the Commonwealth's Constitutional Convention, and served on the committee to revise the laws. In 1790, he was appointed an associate justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and served on the bench until his retirement in 1804. He died in Boston in 1814, aged 80.

Paine was married to Sally Cobb of Taunton (1744-1816), sister of Gen. David Cobb. Their eight children were: Robert (1770-1798), Sally (1772-1823), Thomas (who, in 1801, changed his name to Robert Treat Paine, Jr.) (1773-1811), Charles (1775-1810), Henry (1777-1814), Mary (1780-1842), Maria Antoinette (1782-1842), and Lucretia (1785-1823).

Sources

For further information on Thomas Paine (1694-1757), see Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 6: 201-207.

For further information on Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814), see Sibley's Harvard Graduates, 12: 462-482.

Collection Description

This collection consists of the papers of Robert Treat Paine (1731-1814), Massachusetts lawyer, politician, member of the First Continental Congress (1774), signer of the Declaration of Independence, and justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Included are correspondence; account books (1751-1814); business and legal papers kept by Paine as a lawyer, attorney general, and judge; minutes of trials, including the Boston Massacre and Shays' Rebellion trials; and documents related to his work as a local and state politician. Earlier papers include his sea journals/logbooks (1750-1754) kept on trading voyages to Cape Hatteras and North Carolina, the Azores, and Cadiz, Spain, and on a whaling voyage off Greenland; diaries (1745-1814); and sermons given in Massachusetts and as chaplain on the Crown Point Expedition during the French and Indian War (1755).

The collection also contains the papers of other family members, a significant amount of Paine family correspondence, and legal and financial papers (including the estates of Robert Treat Paine and his father Thomas). Papers of family members include the annotated almanacs (1716-1750) and sermons (1724-1733) of Paine's father Thomas Paine (1694-1757); the diary (1785-1791) of Paine's son Robert Paine (1770-1798); and the astronomical observations (1833-1837) of Paine's grandson Robert Treat Paine (1803-1885). Other family members represented in the collection include Paine's sons Robert Treat Paine, Jr. (1773-1811) (originally Thomas Paine) and Charles Paine (1775-1810); grandson Charles Cushing Paine (1808-1874); and great-grandson Charles Jackson Paine (1833-1916). The collection also contains catalogs of private libraries and genealogical information. Among the many correspondents are Richard Cranch, Joseph Greenleaf, John Hancock, David Cobb, Shearjashub Bourne, and Elbridge Gerry.

Arrangement

A one-volume index to the Paine papers was prepared by Charles Cushing Paine, and many of the items in this collection were numbered in the upper right-hand corner. This index, located at the end of Reel 8 (Series I.N.), reflects an earlier arrangement of the collection and is now obsolete.

This revised microfilm edition supersedes all previous guides to the Robert Treat Paine papers, including the 1991 Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Robert Treat Paine Papers, microfilmed on Reel 1.

Acquisition Information

The first items in this collection, two manuscript sermons by Thomas Paine, were donated to the MHS on 12 April 1888 by Robert Treat Paine (1861-1943) from the estate of his late cousin Robert Treat Paine (1803-1885). The first major group of papers came from John B. Paine, Helen P. Kimball, Georgina P. Fisher, Mary A. Winsor, and Frank C. Paine in 1940. An addition containing printed material and more manuscripts was added in 1954. In 1972, an allegorical letter from Robert Treat Paine to Mr. and Mrs. George Leonard, Jr., dated 1 January 1760, was purchased by the MHS.

Restrictions on Access

Use of this collection is restricted. Select items are available as color digital facsimiles (see links below). Black and white microfilm is also available for use in the library, P-392.

Other Formats

Portions of this collection have been published as The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, edited by Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson (MHS Collections, vols. 87-89, 92). Digital editions of Vols. 1-4 are available at https://www.masshist.org/publications/rtpp/.

Portions of Paine's legal notes are available as color digital facsimiles. See the Detailed Description of the Collection below for links to digital images.

Black and white digital images of this collection--produced from the microfilm edition--are available as part of History Vault: Revolutionary War and Early America, a digital resource from ProQuest. This resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS also provides access onsite to the Society's contributions to this resource; see a reference librarian for more information.

Digital facsimiles of the Robert Treat Paine logbooks are available on Life at Sea, a digital publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS makes this resource available onsite; see a reference librarian for more information.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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I. Family papers, 1659-1916

Close I. Family papers, 1659-1916

II. Robert Treat Paine diaries and journals, 1745-1814

This series consists of the diaries and sea journals of Robert Treat Paine, kept from 25 Mar. 1745 to 8 May 1814. Diary entries describe Paine's daily activities, including his education at Harvard; his theological and legal studies; his career as a lawyer in Taunton, Mass.; his role as prosecuting attorney in the Boston Massacre trial; his participation in the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1776; his career as attorney general of Massachusetts, 1777-1796; and his role as judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1796-1804. Also included are Paine's sea journals/logbooks describing his travels between 1750 and 1754, including trading missions from Boston to North Carolina; Fayal, Azores; Cadiz, Spain; and a whaling voyage to Greenland. Entries note weather and general sailing conditions.

Close II. Robert Treat Paine diaries and journals, 1745-1814

IV. Robert Treat Paine business, legal, and financial papers, 1677-1814Digital Content

This series consists of papers created and acquired by Robert Treat Paine in his merchant business, legal practice, and personal transactions. Included are account books, cash books, writs, powers of attorney, records of court sessions, rulings, deeds, and mortgages. This series also contains papers related to the Boston Massacre trial, Tyng vs. Gardiner (Kennebeck Purchase), Banister vs. Copley, and the settlement of the estates of Thomas Paine and Robert Treat Paine.

Note: Loose items from the notes, account books, bank books, and cash books (Reel 11) have been removed and microfilmed chronologically with the loose papers on Reel 15. Loose items from the minutes of trials and law cases (Reel 13 and 14) have been microfilmed at the end of Reel 16.

Close IV. Robert Treat Paine business, legal, and financial papers, 1677-1814Digital Content

V. Robert Treat Paine political and judicial papers, 1758-1807Digital Content

This series consists of documents created and acquired by Robert Treat Paine during his public service at the town, county, state, and national levels, including his years as justice of the peace, attorney general, justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and delegate to the Continental Congress. This series also contains Paine's political writings, local and county committee reports, papers related to Shays' Rebellion and absentees, minutes of trials and law cases, and petitions to the legislature for compensation as attorney general.

Close V. Robert Treat Paine political and judicial papers, 1758-1807Digital Content

List of Family Correspondence

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This list contains all of the letters in Series I.A. (Family correspondence). Items are arranged chronologically.

Preferred Citation

Robert Treat Paine papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Bourne, Shearjashub, 1746-1806.
Cobb, David, 1748-1830.
Cranch, Richard, 1726-1811.
Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814.
Hancock, John, 1737-1793.
Paine family.
Paine, Robert, 1770-1798.
Paine, Robert Treat, 1773-1811.
Paine, Robert Treat, 1803-1885.
Paine, Thomas, 1694-1757.
Palmer, Joseph, 1716-1788.

Organizations:

Massachusetts. Attorney General's Office.
Massachusetts. Supreme Judicial Court.
United States. Continental Congress (1774)
United States. Declaration of Independence.

Subjects:

Account books--1751-1814.
Astronomy--Observations.
Boston Massacre, 1770.
Crown Point Expedition, 1755.
Estates (Law)
Judges--Massachusetts.
Lawyers--Massachusetts.
Private libraries.
Massachusetts--Politics and government--1775-1865.
Merchant marine.
Ocean travel.
Sermons--1724-1733.
Sermons--1755.
Shays' Rebellion, 1786-1787.
Trials--Massachusetts.
United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.
Voyages and travels.
Whaling.

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