Among the ancestors of Paine, who was born at Boston in 1731,
were many New England religious and political leaders. His
father was a merchant who had once been a clergyman. Young Paine
led his class at Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard
in 1749. He then taught school for a time before yielding to
family tradition and entering the ministry. In 1755, during the
French and Indian War, he served as chaplain on a military
expedition to Crown Point, N.Y. To improve his health, he made a
voyage to the Carolinas, England, Spain, and Greenland. About
this time, he decided to forsake the ministry for the law, in
which he had become interested during his theological studies.
Admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1757, he opened an office
in Portland but in 1761 moved to Taunton. Paine, a friend of
John Adams and John Hancock, early became involved in the
patriot movement. As a result, he was chosen in 1770 as one of
the prosecuting attorneys in the Boston Massacre trial and thus
gained recognition throughout