Paine, Eleazer A.

Born: 1815-09-10 Geauga County, Ohio

Died: 1882-12-18 Jersey City, New Jersey

Flourished: Monmouth, Illinois

Alternate name: Paine, Eleazar A.

Born in Parkman, Ohio, Eleazer A. Paine was a soldier, author, attorney, deputy U.S. marshal, militiaman, state representative, and Union Army officer. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1839, he served in the First Infantry during the Second Seminole War, resigning in October 1840. He then commenced the study of law. In May 1843, he married Charlotte Chapin, with whom he eventually had at least four children. After passing the bar exam in 1843 and publishing a book on military instruction, he practiced law in Painesville, Ohio from 1843 to 1848. He also served as deputy U.S. marshal for Ohio from 1842 to 1845, as a lieutenant-colonel in the Ohio Militia, and held the rank of brigadier-general from 1845 to 1848. He relocated to Monmouth, Illinois in 1848, where he practiced law until 1861 and became friends with Abraham Lincoln. He also began a political career while in Illinois, serving in the Illinois General Assembly from 1852 to 1853. In 1850, he owned real estate valued at $1,100; by 1860, he owned more than $8,000 in real and personal property. He resumed his military career after the start of the Civil War, joining the Union Army. On July 3, 1861, he was elected colonel of the Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, then promoted to brigadier-general just two months later. In March 1862, he was placed in command of the First Division of the Army of the Mississippi. He participated in several significant military campaigns and received commendations for his service, but was also formally reprimanded by a congressional investigative committee for ill treatment of civilians while commanding troops in Kentucky and Tennessee. He resigned from the military April 5, 1865.

James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., "Paine, Eleazer A.," Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton, 1887-1889), 627; Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, 24 May 1843, Lake County (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2016); Myron J. Smith, Jr., Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015), 180; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Warren County, IL, 86; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Monmouth, Warren County, IL, 172; Gravestone, Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul, MN.