William Paterson (judge)

William Paterson
Paterson as a Supreme Court Justice
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
In office March 4, 1793 – September 9, 1806
Nominated by	George Washington
Preceded by	Thomas Johnson
Succeeded by	Henry Brockholst Livingston
2nd Governor of New Jersey
In office October 29, 1790 – March 30, 1793
Preceded by	Elisha Lawrence as Acting Governor
Succeeded by	Thomas Henderson as Acting Governor
United States Senator from New Jersey
In office March 4, 1789 – November 13, 1790
Preceded by	None (new seat)
Succeeded by	Philemon Dickinson
Personal details
Born	(1745-12-24)December 24, 1745 County Antrim, Ireland
Died	Albany, New York
Alma mater	Princeton University
Religion	Presbyterian

William Paterson (December 24, 1745 – September 9, 1806) was a New Jersey statesman, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, who served as the 2nd governor of New Jersey, from 1790 to 1793.

Biography

William Paterson was born in County Antrim, now in Northern Ireland, moved to what is now the United States at the age of two, and entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) at age 14. After graduating, he studied law with the prominent lawyer Richard Stockton and was admitted to the bar in 1768. He also stayed connected to his alma mater, helping found the Cliosophic Society with Aaron Burr.

He was selected as Somerset County, New Jersey delegate for the first three provincial congresses of New Jersey, where, as secretary, he recorded the 1776 New Jersey State Constitution.

After Independence, Paterson was appointed as the first Attorney General of New Jersey, serving from 1776 to 1783, maintaining law and order and establishing himself as one of the state's most prominent lawyers. He was sent to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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. Paterson went on to become one of New Jersey's first US. senators (1789–90). He was a strong nationalist who supported the Federalist party. 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. The first nine sections of this very important law are in his handwriting.

He resigned from the U.S. Senate in 1790 in order to succeed fellow signer William Livingston as governor of New Jersey. As governor, he 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.

George Washington nominated Paterson for the Supreme Court on February 27, 1793, to the seat vacated by Thomas Johnson. The nomination was withdrawn by the President the following day – Washington had realized that since the law creating the Supreme Court had been passed during Paterson's current term as a Senator, the nomination was a violation of 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. He was immediately confirmed by the Senate, and received his commission.

He resigned the governorship to become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1793–1806). On 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 George Washington successfully quelled the uprising, and for the first time the courts had to interpret the provisions of the Constitution in regard to the use of troops in civil disturbances. Here, and in fact throughout his long career, Paterson extolled the primacy of law over governments, a principle embodied in the Constitution he helped write. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1801.

Paterson served on the Supreme Court until his death (from the lingering effects of a coach accident suffered in 1803 while on circuit court duty in New Jersey) on September 9, 1806, aged 60. He was on his way to Ballston Springs, New York to "take the waters" when he died at the Albany, New York home of his daughter and Van Renssalaer son-in-law. He was laid to rest in the Van Renssalaer family vault in 1806, and remained until the property was acquired by the city. His remains were relocated to Albany Rural Cemetery Menands, Albany County, New York, United States of America. He shares this cemetery with Associate Justice Rufus W. Peckham and President Chester A. Arthur.

Paterson, New Jersey, and William Paterson University are named after him.

See also

• Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States
• List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
• List of U.S. Supreme Court Justices by time in office

• United States Supreme Court cases during the Jay, Rutledge and Ellsworth Courts
• United States Supreme Court cases during the Marshall Court
• U.S. Constitution, floor leader in Convention.

Further reading

• Bibliography on William Patterson at Supreme Court Historical Society.
• Flanders, Henry. The Lives and Times of the Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1874 at Google Books.
• Warren, Charles. (1928) The Supreme Court in United States History, 2 vols. at Google books.

External links

• William Paterson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• William Paterson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• New Jersey Governor William Paterson, National Governors Association
• Oyez Project, U.S. Supreme Court media, William Paterson.

Legal offices
First	New Jersey Attorney General 1776–1783	Succeeded by Joseph Bloomfield
Preceded by Thomas Johnson	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States March 4, 1793 – September 9, 1806	Succeeded by Henry Brockholst Livingston
United States Senate
New seat	United States Senator (Class 2) from New Jersey 1789–1790 Served alongside: Jonathan Elmer	Succeeded by Philemon Dickinson
Political offices
Preceded by Elisha Lawrence Acting Governor	Governor of New Jersey 1790–1793	Succeeded by Thomas Henderson Acting Governor