# William Paterson (judge) *American statesman, jurist and Founding Father (1745–1806)* William Paterson (December 24, 1745 – September 9, 1806) was a lawyer, jurist and statesman. He signed the United States Constitution and is counted among the Founding Fathers of the United States.[^1] He was New Jersey's attorney general from 1776 to 1783 and one of the state's first members of the [[United States Senate]]. He was also the second [[governor]] of New Jersey and an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1793 until his death.[^1] Paterson was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and came to North America as a child. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention he put forward the New Jersey Plan, under which each state would have had equal representation in Congress. In the Senate he helped draft the Judiciary Act of 1789.[^2] ## Early life Paterson's father was Richard Paterson, an Ulster Protestant. The family landed at New Castle, Delaware, in 1747. They moved among several places before making their home at Princeton, New Jersey.[^3] Paterson entered the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University, at age 14. After graduating he studied law under Richard Stockton, and he was admitted to the bar in 1768.[^3] He kept his ties to the college and was a founder, with Aaron Burr, of the Cliosophic Society.[^3] ## Career ### Early career Paterson represented Somerset County in the first three provincial congresses of New Jersey. As their secretary, he recorded the state constitution of 1776.[^4] He became New Jersey's first attorney general and held the post from 1776 to 1783.[^4] At the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 he introduced the New Jersey Plan. It called for a single-chamber legislature in which every state had equal representation. The Constitution as signed followed the Connecticut Compromise instead. That compromise created a two-chamber Congress: a Senate with equal representation for each state, and a House of Representatives apportioned by population.[^5] ### Military service Paterson received a commission in 1775 in the Somerset County Minutemen of the New Jersey militia. He also sat on the Council of Safety, which developed and managed New Jersey's military forces during the American Revolutionary War.[^6] ### United States Senator Paterson supported the Federalist Party and represented New Jersey in the Senate in 1789–1790.[^7] He sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and had an important part in drafting the Judiciary Act of 1789, the law that set up the federal court system. The first nine sections of the act are in his handwriting.[^7] ### Governor of New Jersey In 1790 Paterson left the Senate to succeed William Livingston, a fellow signer of the Constitution, as governor of New Jersey. He was the first person to resign from the Senate.[^8] As governor he codified the English statutes that had been in force in New Jersey before the Revolution.[^8] ### Associate justice President George Washington appointed Paterson an associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1793. He remained on the court until his death in 1806.[^1] ## Personal life In 1779 Paterson married Cornelia Bell (1755–1783), daughter of the Somerset County landowner John Bell. The couple had three children, and she died in 1783 soon after the birth of their only son.[^9] Their children were: - Cornelia Bell Paterson (1780–1844), who married Stephen Van Rensselaer (1764–1839) after the death of his first wife, Margaret Schuyler; - Frances Van Paterson (1781–1783), who died in childhood; - William Bell Paterson (1783–1832), who married Jane Eliza Neilson.[^9] In 1785 Paterson married Euphemia White (1746–1832), sister of Anthony Walton White.[^9] Her father, Anthony White, was a New Jersey landholder and a judge of the Somerset court. Her grandfather, Lewis Morris, was chief justice of New York from 1715 to 1733 and governor of New Jersey from 1738 to 1746.[^9] ### Death and interment Paterson died on September 9, 1806, aged 60. His death resulted from the lasting effects of a coach accident in 1803, which happened while he was on circuit court duty in New Jersey.[^10] He was travelling to the spa at Ballston Springs, New York, when he died at Van Rensselaer Manor in Albany. The manor was the home of his daughter Cornelia and her husband, Stephen Van Rensselaer.[^10] He was first placed in the Van Rensselaer family vault. After the city acquired that property, his remains were moved to Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, Albany County, New York. Associate Justice [[Rufus W. Peckham]] and President Chester A. Arthur are also buried there.[^10] ### Descendants Paterson's grandchildren through his eldest daughter included Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1808–1860), a Presbyterian clergyman. They also included Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (1810–1864), a politician who served as a Union Army general in the American Civil War.[^11] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — birth and death dates, signer of the Constitution, offices held, 1793 appointment by Washington and service until 1806. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^2]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — birth in County Antrim, New Jersey Plan at the 1787 Convention, role in drafting the Judiciary Act of 1789. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^3]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life" section — parentage, 1747 arrival at New Castle, Delaware, education, admission to the bar in 1768, Cliosophic Society. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^4]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career – Early career" — provincial congresses, 1776 state constitution, attorney general 1776–1783. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^5]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career – Early career" — New Jersey Plan and the Connecticut Compromise. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^6]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career – Military Service" — 1775 commission in the Somerset County Minutemen, Council of Safety. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^7]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career – United States Senator" — Senate service 1789–90, Judiciary Committee, drafting of the Judiciary Act of 1789. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^8]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career – Governor of New Jersey" — 1790 resignation from the Senate, succession to Livingston, codification of English statutes. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^9]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Personal life" — marriages of 1779 and 1785, children, family connections. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^10]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Personal life – Death and interment" — 1806 death, 1803 coach accident, burial and reinterment at Albany Rural Cemetery. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)> [^11]: Wikipedia, *William Paterson (judge)* (revision 1381375073, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Personal life – Descendants" — grandchildren through his eldest daughter. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Paterson_(judge)>