Elisha Boudinot, Supreme Court Justice

Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819)

Elisha Boudinot, the youngest child of Catharine Williams (b. 1714) and Elias Boudinot III (1706-1770), was born on January 2, 1749 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied law under his brother Elias Boudinot IV (1740-1821), and after being accepted to the bar, moved to Newark, New Jersey and set up a practice there. He was called to be a counselor in 1773 and to the position of sergeant-at-law in 1792. He became an associate judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1798 and held that position until 1804.

Elisha and his brother Elias were both early supporters of the Revolution. In 1755, when the patriots of Newark created the General Committee of Newark to organize their efforts, Elisha was made its clerk. He also held the office of Secretary of the Council of Safety in 1778. Boudinot was involved with many important personages of the time and entertained such men as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton at his Newark home.

In addition to his other activities, Boudinot was a trustee for the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and the president of the Newark Banking and Insurance Co., Newark�s first bank. Elisha Boudinot was also an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark.

Elisha Boudinot married Catherine Smith (1750-1797), the daughter of Mary Bryant (1720-1811) and William Peartree Smith (1723-1801), with whom he had eleven children: Anna Maria, Catharine, Eliza, Susan, Julia, Eliza Emelia Stockton, William, Anna Emelia, Elias E., Eliza Pintard, and William Alexander Hamilton.

Catherine Smith died in 1797 and Elisha remarried in 1798. His second wife was Rachel Bradford (d. 1804), to whom he was married for six years before her death. A year later, he remarried again, this time to Catherine Beekman. Elisha Boudinot died in Newark on October 17, 1819.

Supreme Court Justice

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-01-02-0543