Boudinot, Elias, 1740-1821

BOUDINOT, Elias, a Delegate and a Representative from New Jersey; born in Philadelphia, Pa., May 2, 1740; received a classical education; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1760 and commenced practice in Elizabethtown, N.J.; member of the board of trustees of Princeton College 1772-1821; member of the committee of safety in 1775; commissary general of prisoners in the Revolutionary Army 1776-1779; Member of the Continental Congress in 1778, 1781, 1782 and 1783, serving as President in 1782 and 1783, and signing the treaty of peace with England; resumed the practice of law; elected as a Pro-Administration candidate to the First, Second, and Third Congresses (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1795); was not a candidate for renomination in 1794 to the Fourth Congress; Director of the Mint from October 1795 to July 1805, when he resigned; elected first president of the American Bible Society, in 1816; died in Burlington, Burlington County, N.J., October 24, 1821; interment in St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church Cemetery.

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>10/28/1795 U. S. Mint Director Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>10/09/1792 NJ At-Large Won 10.79% (-5.51%)</li>
<li>01/26/1791 NJ At-Large Won 13.71% (-0.04%)</li>
<li>02/11/1789 NJ At-Large Won 12.50% (-0.50%)</li>
<li>12/31/1782 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/04/1782 US President of the Congress Won 63.64% (+45.45%)</li>
<li>12/31/1781 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1780 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1777 NJ Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>

<p>Elias Boudinot (/ɪˈlaɪ.əs buːˈdɪnɒt/ i-LY-əs boo-DIN-ot; May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821) was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress (more accurately referred to as the Congress of the Confederation) and served as President of Congress from 1782 to 1783. He was elected as a U.S. Congressman for New Jersey following the American Revolutionary War. He was appointed by President George Washington as Director of the United States Mint, serving from 1795 until 1805.</p>

<p>Elias Boudinot was born in Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania on May 2, 1740. His father, Elias Boudinot III, was a merchant and silversmith; he was a neighbor and friend of Benjamin Franklin. His mother, Mary Catherine Williams, was born in the British West Indies; her father was from Wales. Elias' paternal grandfather, Elie (sometimes called Elias) Boudinot, was the son of Jean Boudinot and Marie Suire of Marans, Aunis, France. They were a Huguenot (French Protestant) family who fled to New York about 1687 to avoid the religious persecutions of King Louis XIV.</p>

<p>Mary Catherine Williams and Elias Boudinot Sr. were married on August 8, 1729. Over the next twenty years, they had nine children. The first, John, was born in the British West Indies-Antigua. Of the others, only the younger Elias and his siblings Annis, Mary, and Elisha reached adulthood. Annis became one of the first published women poets in the Thirteen Colonies, and her work appeared in leading newspapers and magazines. Elisha Boudinot became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.</p>