Benjamin Bourne

Benjamin Bourne ( born September 9, 1755 in Bristol, Rhode Iceland, † September 17, 1808 ) was an American lawyer and politician. Between 1790 and 1796 he represented the state of Rhode Iceland in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Benjamin Bourne was still born in the colonial period as a British citizen. Until 1775 he studied at Harvard University. After studying law and qualifying as a lawyer in Providence, he began to work in his new profession. In 1776 he was during the Revolutionary War ensign in a unit of his home state. After the war, he held a number of regional offices. He was, among other things, justice of the peace and member of a commission that revised the laws concerning the militia. Politically, he supported Alexander Hamilton and George Washington and later became a member of the Federalist Party.

Between 1789 and 1790, Bourne sat in the House of Representatives from Rhode Iceland. After the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, he was elected as a deputy of his state in the first Congress. In the House, he practiced after a few elections from his seat between 31 August 1790 and 1796. Then he stepped back, because he had been appointed by President Washington judge of the Federal District Court for the District of Rhode Iceland. This office he held as a successor of Henry Marchant between October 1796 and February 20, 1801 13. Between February 1801 and July 1802 he was the presiding judge in the first federal court district. Benjamin Bourne died in September 1808 in his native Bristol and was also buried there.