Charles Jackson Paine was an American soldier, businessman, and yachtsman. He served in the Union Army.
Background
Charles Jackson Paine was born on August 26, 1833 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. He was the eldest of the nine children of Charles Cushing and Fanny Cabot (Jackson) Paine. He was the great-grandson of Robert Treat Paine, signer of the Declaration of Independence, a grandson of Charles Jackson, jurist, and a brother of Robert Treat Paine, 1835-1910.
Education
Paine attended the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard in 1853. Later he studied in the law office of Rufus Choate and was admitted to the bar on September 15, 1856.
Career
Charles Jackson Paine visited Europe and on his return spent some months in St. Louis, but from 1858 to the outbreak of the Civil War he maintained an office in Boston. On September 5, 1861, he was authorized to recruit a company, and on October 8, he was mustered in as captain and left with his troops to join the force about Washington. He was commissioned major January 16, 1862 and was made colonel of the 2nd Louisiana Volunteers on October 23 of the same year. On November 7, 1863, he was given command of a brigade, but he relinquished this assignment to join the staff of General B. F. Butler. On July 4, 1864, the Senate confirmed him as brigadier-general. He commanded a division in various operations under Butler, was made major-general of volunteers by brevet on January 15, 1865, and was mustered out of the army January 15, 1866. After the war he devoted his energies to business affairs. He employed the extensive capital he controlled in large enterprises of the period, principally railroad building and development. His financial power and acumen were recognized by the well informed, but he gained little public recognition except an appointment as one of three members of a commission on bimetalism accredited by the United States to Great Britain, France, and Germany in 1897.
Paine was best known as a yachtsman. His narrow escapes from drowning as a youth did not reduce his love for this sport, and in the seventies he became prominent by purchasing the Halcyon, a slow craft, and making changes that greatly increased her speed. In 1885 he joined a syndicate to build a cup-defender to represent New England, and this boat, the Puritan, won the trial races and beat the British challenger Genesta. In the two succeeding years he assumed the entire cost of two more defenders: the Mayflower, which won in the trials and in the cup races against the Galatea, and the Volunteer, which defeated both American competitors and the Scotch challenger Thistle. Edward Burgess, who designed all of Paine's successful defenders, died before the next race in 1893, but Paine had an entry, the Jubilee, which was eliminated in the trials. His interest in yachting continued, however, to his last years, and his practical skill and conspicuous fairness were influences on American yacht design and international sport. Charles Jackson Paine died in Weston, Massachussets on August 12, 1916.
Achievements
Personality
Charles Jackson Paine was an unpretentious man, avoiding any kind of display. The old straw hat and plain garb in which he sailed his cup-defenders were often contrasted with the elaborate costumes of less famous and less wealthy owners. He was without aloofness and his unobtrusiveness may have contributed to an underestimation of his ability and achievement.
Connections
On March 26, 1867 Charles Jackson Paine married Julia Bryant, a grand-daughter of Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee. They had seven children.