| |
| |
|
| |
WILLIAM PATERSON
was born on December 24, 1745, in County Antrim, Ireland..
His family emigrated to America two years later and eventually
settled in Princeton, New Jersey. Paterson was graduated
from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University)
in 1763 and earned a graduated degree in 1766. He read
law, was admitted to the bar in 1769, and established
a law practice. During the Revolutionary War, Paterson
served as an officer with the Somerset County Minutemen
and was a member of the Council of Safety. He was elected
a delegate to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey in
1775 and to the State Constitutional Convention in 1776.
After helping draft the New Jersey Constitution, he became
Attorney General of that State, serving from 1776 to 1783.
Paterson was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
of 1787 and, as a Senator in the First Federal Congress,
he helped to draft the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established
the federal court system. He left the Senate in 1790 to
become Governor and Chancellor of New Jersey. President
George Washington nominated Paterson to the Supreme Court
of the United States on March 4, 1793, and the Senate
confirmed the appointment the same day. Paterson served
for thirteen years on the Supreme Court and died on September
9, 1806, at the age of sixty. |
|
|
