Background
Bourne, Benjamin was born on December 9, 1755 in Bristol, Rhode Island, United States. Son of Shearjashub and Ruth (Bosworth) Church Bourne.
United States representative judge lawyer politician
Bourne, Benjamin was born on December 9, 1755 in Bristol, Rhode Island, United States. Son of Shearjashub and Ruth (Bosworth) Church Bourne.
Bachelor of Arts, Harvard, 1775, A.M. (honorary), 1778.
He represented Rhode Island in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as a judge in both the federal district and federal appellate courts. He read law to enter the Bar and began practice in Providence. During the Revolutionary War, he served as ensign, then quartermaster of the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment in 1776.
In 1799, Bourne was appointed to a committee to revise the state's militia laws. From 1783 to 1784, Bourne collected excise tax for Providence County. Then, between 1785 and 1789, he served as Justice of the Peace in Providence County.
Bourne served on the federalist (pro-Constitution) committee which negotiated an end to William West's armed anti-federalist (Country Party) protest on July 4, 1788. In 1789, with the Reverend James Manning, Bourne petitioned Congress regarding relief from import duties imposed upon Rhode Island as a foreign nation. After Rhode Island ratified the Constitution, Bourne was elected as Pro-Administration to the First through Third Congresses and as a Federalist to the Fourth and Fifth Congresses.
He resigned before the fifth Congress began, however. Upon returning to Rhode Island, Bourne received a recess appointment from President George Washington on October 13, 1796, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated by Henry Marchant. Bourne was formally nominated on December 21, 1796, and was confirmed by the United States Senate, and received his commission, the following day.
On February 18, 1801, Bourne was nominated by President John Adams to a new seat on the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit created by 2 Stat. 89. He was confirmed by the Senate, and received his commission, on February 20, 1801. Bourne's judicial service ended on July 1, 1802, due to abolition of the Circuit court.
Bourne died in Bristol, and is buried in the Juniper Hill Cemetery there.
Member Rhode Island Council of War, 1780. Member Rhode Island General Assembly, 1787-1790. Member United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island, 1st-4th congresses, 1790-1796.
Married Hope (Child) Diman, 4 children.