John Paine (1812 - 1889)

Born 12 Jan 1812 in East Woodstock, Connecticut

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 14 Jul 1889 at age 77 in Woodstock, Connecticut

Biography

The Record of the Marriage of John Paine Esqr to Betsey Smith the Daughtor of Ebenr Smith Esqr, the sd John & Betsey were married November 13th 1805 and the Names of their Children as follows:^[1]

1. Samuel C Son of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born Febr 21 1807
2. William son of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born April 8 1809
3. John Junr son of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born Janry 12 1812
4. George A son of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born August 6 1814
5. Nancy S Daughter of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born March 6 1817
6. Albert Son of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born July 21 1819
7. Elizabeth Daug. of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born March 5 1822
8. Ellen Daug. of John Paine By Betsey his wife Born Oct' 31 1824

JOHN PAINE, son of John Paine and Betsey Smith, was born in East Woodstock, Jan. 12, 1812. He attended Woodstock Academy in 1831, and taught school several terms. He married, May 16, 1836, Mary Ann, dau. of Chester May and Hannah Lyman. He began married life on the Water's farm lately occupied by his son-in-law Pea. George T. Bixby. After two years he bought a farm in Brimfield, Mass., where he lived five years and where his two daughters were born. Returning upon invitation of his father he took charge of the home farm in 1843, and, after the death of his father in 1846, he purchased it from his four brothers and sister and arranged with his stepmother for her dower rights. By honesty, industry, frugality, forethought and great strength of mind and body, he prospered, paid for the farm, and accumulated a competence, which was heroically diminished by the outlay necessary to pay the expenses of two sons through college. For a period of forty years he filled many offices of trust and honor in church and state, but did not allow public affairs to interfere with private duties. He was Representative to the Legislature in 1858. He held such offices as Selectman, Assessor, Agent of the Town Deposit Fund, and School Visitor, many times, and was executor and administrator of many estates. He was Director of the First National Bank of Putnam for many years and was Deacon in the Congregational Church in East Woodstock from 1872 until his death. He had previously declined the office of deacon because his boys were growing and he was not sure that he was qualified as required by St. Paul: "Ruling their children and their own houses well." His children had no such doubts of his qualifications. Our father stood five feet ten inches in height and his ordinary weight was one hundred and ninety pounds, and his children easily recognized the fact that he was the head of the house. Mother sometimes remarked that a father was a great help in bringing up a family. It was certainly true in that house. One flash of his eye to an offender was like lightning from Mount Sinai. Father was an acceptable teacher in the Sunday School and was very familiar with the Bible, reading a chapter in course every morning at family prayers; and twice on Sunday, reading from Scott's Commentaries, not omitting the "Practical Observations". He was generally able, when quizzed by his children, to name the book of the Bible containing any verse they might read to him. Men servants and maid servants were expected to attend the family devotions, and no pressure of work, nor haste to catch a train, was sufficient to cause an omission of the daily chapter and prayer. He was an excellent reader and speller, and during my childhood was usually called upon to read a sermon in church when the pastor was ill or out of town and no other preacher present. The three-seated wagon could carry nine, and the buggy could take three, and for many years the Congregational Church in East Woodstock could be reasonably sure of eight or ten worshippers every Sunday from father's house without regard to heat or cold, rain or shine. He had a keen sense of humor and his laugh was hearty and contagious. A native of Woodstock who had been absent for twenty years remarked that his greatest reason for desiring to visit Woodstock was that he might hear Mr. John Paine laugh. The impressions of childhood are confirmed in maturity that our father was essentially a strong man; strong mentally, morally, physically. In 1881 he began to show signs of waning powers of body. One hand began to shake when relaxed, then both hands, then his feet. For eight years his ever increasing infirmity continued and the "shaking palsy" never allowed him a moment of repose, except in sleep; but no word of complaint ever passed his lips, only at rare intervals an expression of unutterable weariness. He continued his interest in things about him almost to the last, and was tenderly and devotedly cared for by his wife and his two faithful children, Mary and John. His strong frame yielded gradually to the inevitable, and he sank to rest July 14, 1889, in the same house in which he was born.

"Happy he whom neither wealth nor fashion, Nor the march of the encroaching city, Drives an exile From the hearth of his ancestral homestead."

After fifty-three years of married life, enriched with the advent of six children, the head of the household was the first to break the family circle. Happy are those who remain in the memory of such a father. Truly the glory of children are their fathers.

Reference: My Ancestors: A Memorial of John Paine and Mary Ann May of East Woodstock, Conn by Lyman May Paine, 1914.^[2]

Research note

See Christoper C. Child's "Civil War memories" Vita Brevis dated 20 May 2021on AmericanAncestors.org for more information about his children & family.

Sources

1. ↑ "Vital Records of Woodstock 1686-1854." (Hartford: The Case, Lockwood and Brainard Co., 1914) p. 512
2. ↑ Entered by Joshua Allen.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20010319054919/http://stevepayne.home.mindspring.com/ps03/ps03_093.htm
• Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/47326495/john-paine : accessed 27 June 2021), memorial page for John Paine (12 Jan 1812–14 Jul 1889), Find A Grave: Memorial #47326495, citing East Woodstock Cemetery, Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut, USA ; Maintained by KChaffeeB (contributor 46506715) .

Acknowledgments

• Thanks to Joshua Allen for starting this profile.