Paca, William, 1740-1799

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>11/24/1784 MD Governor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/22/1783 MD Governor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/15/1782 MD Governor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1778 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1777 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>02/13/1777 MD Governor Lost 1.92% (-75.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1776 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1775 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1774 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>08/01/1774 MD Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<p>William Paca (October 31, 1740 – October 13, 1799) was a Founding Father of the United States who was a signatory to the Continental Association and the United States Declaration of Independence. He was a Maryland delegate to the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress, Governor of Maryland, and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.</p>

<p>Born on October 31, 1740, in Abingdon, Province of Maryland, British America, Paca entered school at the Philadelphia Academy and Charity School in 1752, and went on to attend the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), graduating in 1759 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was also to receive a Master of Arts degree from the same institution in 1762, though this required no further study, only that Paca request it and be in good standing. He also attended the Inner Temple in London, England and read law in 1761, with Stephen Bordley and was admitted to the bar that year. Paca entered private practice in Annapolis, Province of Maryland, starting in 1763.</p>

<p>Paca was a member of the lower house of the Maryland Proprietary Assembly from 1767 to 1774. He was a delegate to the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress from Maryland from 1774 to 1779. He was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. He was a member of the Maryland Senate from 1776 to 1777, and from 1778 to 1780. He was a Judge of the Maryland General Court in 1778. He was a Judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture from 1780 to 1782. He was Governor of Maryland from 1782 to 1785. He was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1786. He was influential in establishing Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland in 1786. He was a delegate to the Maryland State Convention of 1788, to vote whether Maryland should ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States.</p>

<p>William Paca was born in Abington, Maryland on October 30, 1740. His education in law was impressive. He was tutored at home in the classics before attending Philadelphia College at age fifteen, where he graduated at eighteen with a Masters degree. He then studied law in Annapolis at the office of an eminent lawyer.</p>

<p>Before seeking admission to the Bar of Maryland, he attended training at the Inner Temple in England. His political engagement began in his interest in the law. He wrote and organized against a poll-tax originated by the royal governor just prior to the outbreak of hostilities. He was a local leader in the patriot movement in the late 1770s.</p>

<p>Elected to the State Legislature of Maryland in 1771, he was appointed to the Continental Congress in 1774. He was reelected and served there until 1779 when he was appointed chief justice of the State of Maryland. In 1782 he was elected governor of that state. He was appointed federal district judge for the State of Maryland from 1789, until his death in 1799.</p>

WILLIAM PACA, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Abingdon, Maryland on October 31, 1740. After studying at home, he attended the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1759 and a master’s degree in 1762. Afterwards, he studied law in both Annapolis and the Middle Temple in London. Paca served as a member of the Annapolis City Council in 1766 and the Maryland House of Delegates from 1768 to 1774. He was a member of the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1779. He also served in the Maryland State Senate from 1777 to 1780; was judge on the Maryland General Court from February to October 1778; and was a judge of the Admiralty Court from 1780 to 1782. Paca won election to the Maryland governorship in 1782. He went on to win reelection in 1783 and 1784. After his gubernatorial term, he served as a member of the 1788 state convention that ratified the federal constitution. In his last position, he secured an appointment to serve on the U.S. District Court for Maryland, a post he held from 1789 until his death in 1799. Governor William Paca passed away on October 13, 1799, and was buried in the family graveyard in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland.