George W. Paine, one of the early settlers of Carroll, and a prominent member of the Carroll County bar, located here in 1872. His paternal ancestors were among the early Puritans of New England. He was born in the town of North East, Dutchess County, New York, where his great-grandfather, Joshua Paine, settled in 1749. The latter was a grandson of Thomas Paine, Jr., who, in 1621, when but ten years of age, landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, from England, his father having joined the Plymouth colony only a few months after the landing of the pilgrims from the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. Thomas Paine, Jr., in 1680, purchased land of the Indians in the town of Truro, Massachusetts, upon which some of his descendants yet live. The father of our subject, Barnabas Paine, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was one who volunteered to defend New York when that city was threatened by the British. His grandfather was a soldier in Queen Anne’s war. His mother was formerly Harriet Powers. Her grandfather, Yost Powers, immigrated from Germany in 1758, and settled in Dutchess County, New York. Mr. Paine was reared in his native county, and educated at Armenia Seminary. He began the study of law in 1845, when but sixteen years of age, at Salisbury, Connecticut, with John H. Hubbard, Esq. In 1848 he went to Newburg, New York, and continued his studies with the late Judge John J. Monell. In January, 1859, he entered the law school at Cherry Valley, New York, and was admitted to the bar at Albany May 7 of that year, the day before his twenty-first birthday. July 1, 1849, he opened a law office in Poughkeepsie, New York, and continued the practice of law in Dutchess County until 1860. He then went to New York City, where he had a successful practice for a number of years. Failing health compelled him to come West, where he soon established a large and lucrative practice, and he recovered his health to a great extent. Mr. Paine is noted for his superior legal attainments, and as a citizen is esteemed for his many excellencies of character. Politically he was formerly a Whig, casting his first presidential vote for General Winfield Scott. He has affiliated with the Republican party since its organization. He and his wife are Congregationalists, and were for some time members of Beecher’s church in Brooklyn. They have one son — Theodore, born in Dutchess County in 1852, now residing in Carroll.

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