William Paterson

Paterson, William (1745–1806), U.S. jurist and politician. A delegate from New Jersey, he was author of the New Jersey plan at the Constitutional Convention (1787), a U.S. senator (1789–90), governor of New Jersey (1790–93), and from 1793 associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Paterson, N.J. is named for him.

See also: Supreme Court of the United States.