Paine family.

This collection includes the papers of four generations of the Paine family of Worcester, Mass. The first generation is represented by Timothy Paine (1730-1793), a 1748 graduate of Harvard, American Loyalist who remained in the United States through the Revolution, and an active civic leader in Worcester. Paine was the stepson of the wealthy John Chandler (1693-1762) of Worcester and he married his stepsister Sarah Chandler (1726-1811). They had nine children: William; Timothy (1752-1775), who died unmarried; Samuel; Hannah (1755-1841), who married Ebenezer Bradish; Nathaniel (1755-1757); Nathaniel; Anthony; John (1762-1832), who died unmarried; and Sarah.

The eldest son, Dr. William Paine (1750-1833), was a 1768 graduate of Harvard and an American Loyalist. William studied medicine in Salem, Mass., with Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829) and Joseph Orne (1749-1786). From 1773 to 1783, he was a partner in an apothecary shop in Worcester, Mass., with Levi Shepard ( - ) and Ebenezer Hunt (1745-1820). In 1774, he sailed for London. After securing a medical degree, which the University of Aberdeen produced for him on a few weeks' notice, he served with the British forces in American in various capacities including physician to His Majesty's Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the war, he was granted land on Passamaquoddy Bay (on the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick), but by 1784 he was spending a good part of his time in Salem, Mass., the home of his wife, Lois Orne Paine (1756-1822). He eventually returned to Worcester and was naturalized a United States citizen in July of 1812. In his later years, he was an active civic leader in Worcester and maintained the family's business and agricultural interests.

Samuel Paine (1754-1807), a 1771 Harvard graduate, followed the tradition of his father and eldest brother as a Loyalist. He never married and spent much of his adulthood in England.

Nathaniel Paine (1759-1840), a 1775 Harvard graduate, reinforced the family's ties with the Chandler family by marrying Elizabeth Chandler (1764-1830). He was admitted to the bar of Worcester County in 1781 and lived in Worcester the rest of his life. He was active in local affairs and served as a Justice of the Peace for Worcester County for many years.

Several other of Timothy Paine's children are represented in the collection including Anthony (1760-1788) who died before he had time to establish himself in business or local affairs. Paine's daughter, Sarah (1764-1841), married James Perkins, Jr. ( -1822) of Boston who was a partner in the important commercial firm of J. & T. H. Perkins with his brother, Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764-1854).

The third generation of Paines is represented primarily by two sons of Dr. William and Lois Orne Paine: William Fitz Paine (1783-1834 or 1837) and Frederick William Paine (1788-1869). William Fitz Paine spent most of his life as an itinerant merchant in Java, China, Penang, and the Isle of France (Mauritius). He died unmarried. His brother, Frederick William Paine, also traveled widely as an agent of J. & T. H. Perkins. In the late 1820s, he settled in Worcester where he busied himself in local affairs. He was an active member of the Worcester Horticultural Society and the American Antiquarian Society. Frederick William Paine married Ann Cushing Sturgis (1797-1892) who is often referred to as "Nancy" in the family correspondence. She was niece of Thomas Handasyd Perkins and James Perkins. Her sister Elizabeth Sturgis (1788-1873) never married and was known to her family as "Aunt Betsy."

The fourth generation of Paines is represented by two of the children of Frederick William and Ann Cushing Sturgis Paine: George Sturgis Paine (1833-1908) and Elizabeth Orne Paine Sturgis (1826- ). George was an 1853 graduate of Harvard and an Episcopal priest who never married. After the death of his mother, he spent most of his time in England. Elizabeth married back into the Sturgis family and wrote family and local histories.

The fourth generation is also represented by Nathaniel Paine (1832-1917), the son of Gardiner and Emily Baker Paine and the namesake grandson of Nathaniel Paine (1759-1840), and a second cousin to George Sturgis Paine and Elizabeth Orne Paine Sturgis. The younger Nathaniel worked in a bank in Worcester, was active in local affairs, and was very interested in local history and the genealogy of the Paine family.

From the description of Papers, c. 1721-c. 1918. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 191259588