William Paterson (Patterson) was born in County
Antrim, Ireland, in 1745. When he was almost 2 years of age, his
family emigrated to America, disembarking at New Castle, DE. While
the father traveled about the country, apparently selling tinware,
the family lived in New London, other places in Connecticut, and in
Trenton, NJ. In 1750 he settled in Princeton, NJ. There, he became a
merchant and manufacturer of tin goods. His prosperity enabled
William to attend local private schools and the College of New
Jersey (later Princeton). He took a B.A. in 1763 and an M.A. 3 years
later.
Meantime, Paterson had studied law in the city
of Princeton under Richard Stockton, who later was to sign the
Declaration of Independence, and near the end of the decade began
practicing at New Bromley, in Hunterdon County. Before long, he
moved to South Branch, in Somerset County, and then in 1779
relocated near New Brunswick at Raritan estate.
When the War for Independence broke out,
Paterson joined the vanguard of the New Jersey patriots. He served
in the provincial congress (1775-76), the constitutional convention
(1776), legislative council (1776-77), and council of safety (1777).
During the last year, he also held a militia commission. From 1776
to 1783 he was attorney general of New Jersey, a task that occupied
so much of his time that it prevented him from accepting election to
the Continental Congress in 1780. Meantime, the year before, he had
married Cornelia Bell, by whom he had three children before her
death in 1783. Two years later, he took a new bride, Euphemia White,
but it is not known whether or not they had children.
From 1783, when he moved into the city of New
Brunswick, until 1787, Paterson devoted his energies to the law and
stayed out of the public limelight. Then he was chosen to represent
New Jersey at the Constitutional Convention, which he attended only
until late July. Until then, he took notes of the proceedings. More
importantly, he figured prominently because of his advocacy and
coauthorship of the New Jersey, or Paterson, Plan, which asserted
the rights of the small states against the large. He apparently
returned to the convention only to sign the final document. After
supporting its ratification in New Jersey, he began a career in the
new government.
In 1789 Paterson was elected to the U.S. Senate
(1789-90), where he played a pivotal role in drafting the Judiciary
Act of 1789. His next position was governor of his state (1790-93).
During this time, he began work on the volume later published as
Laws of the State of New Jersey (1800) and began to revise the rules
and practices of the chancery and common law courts.
During the years 1793-1806, Paterson served as
an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Riding the grueling
circuit to which federal judges were subjected in those days and
sitting with the full Court, he presided over a number of major
trials.
In September 1806, his health failing, the
60-year-old Paterson embarked on a journey to Ballston Spa, NY, for
a cure but died en route at Albany in the home of his daughter, who
had married Stephen Van Rensselaer. Paterson was at first laid to
rest in the nearby Van Rensselaer manor house family vault, but
later his body was apparently moved to the Albany Rural Cemetery,
Menands, NY. |
