Shearjashub Bourne (June 14, 1746 – March 11, 1806) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

who served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Bourne was born in Barnstable in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

on June 14, 1746, the son of Timothy and Elizabeth Bourne. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1764, studied law and became an attorney in Barnstable. He served in local office including justice of the peace. Among the individuals who studied law with him and later embarked on their own legal careers was

Lot Hall Lot Hall (April 2, 1757 – May 17, 1809) was a Vermont attorney, politician, and judge. A veteran of the American Revolution, Hall served as a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1794 to 1800. His name sometimes appears in written record ...

, who served as a Justice of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The court ...

. From 1782 to 1785 and 1788 to 1790 he served in the

. He was also a delegate to the Massachusetts convention which ratified the U.S. Constitution. Bourne represented

in the

from March 4, 1791, to March 3, 1795. He later served as Chief

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

of the

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County ( ) is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston ...

Court of Common Pleas. He died in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on March 11, 1806.

References

External links

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Letter from Shearjashub Bourne
To George Washington'' 1746 births 1806 deaths Harvard College alumni Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts People from colonial Boston Massachusetts lawyers People from Barnstable, Massachusetts Politicians from Barnstable County, Massachusetts 18th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 18th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub