Thomas Hanson Paynter (December 9, 1851March 8, 1921) was a

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

and Representative from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Born on a farm near Vanceburg, Kentucky, Paynter attended the common schools, Rand's Academy, and

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

. There he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1872, and commenced practice in Greenup, Kentucky. He served as the

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

of Greenup County, Kentucky from 1876 to 1882, and then resumed the practice of law in Greenup. Paynter was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first, Fifty-second, and Fifty-third Congresses in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from March 4, 1889, until January 5, 1895. There he served as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department. He resigned in 1895, having been elected as a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, where he served from 1895 to 1906. He resigned from this position as well, having been elected a U.S. Senator. Paynter served in the Senate from March 4, 1907, to March 3, 1913. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1912. In the Senate he served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee to Examine Branches of the Civil Service. After his career in politics, he moved to

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

in 1913 to continue the practice of law and follow agricultural pursuits. He died in Frankfort and was interred in the State Cemetery.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paynter, Thomas Hanson 1851 births 1921 deaths Burials at Frankfort Cemetery Kentucky state court judges Kentucky lawyers American prosecutors Centre College alumni Democratic Party United States senators from Kentucky People from Lewis County, Kentucky Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky People from Greenup, Kentucky People from Frankfort, Kentucky 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives