Elias Boudinot

Elias Boudinot served as a Representative from New Jersey in the United States Congress from 1789 to 1795. A member of the Unknown Party, Elias Boudinot contributed to the legislative process during 3 terms in office.

Elias Boudinot’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, Elias Boudinot participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Elias Boudinot ( il-EYE-əs boo-DIN-ot; May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, statesman, and early abolitionist and women’s rights advocate. During the Revolutionary War, Boudinot was an intelligence officer and prisoner-of-war commissary under general George Washington, working to improve conditions for prisoners on both the American and British sides. In 1779, he was elected to the Continental Congress and then to its successor, the Congress of the Confederation, serving as President of Congress in 1782–1783, the final years of the war. After being elected to the first, second, and third U.S. Congresses, where he served from 1789 to 1795, Boudinot was appointed director of the United States Mint by president Washington and held the position through 1805 under the presidencies of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. An advocate for women’s rights, he led a Federalist campaign in New Jersey during the early 1790s to encourage women to become active in politics. Boudinot, a devout Presbyterian, spoke out frequently against slavery, both as a member of Congress and as a private citizen. In 1816, he helped found the American Bible Society and served as its first president for five years. Boudinot was also a member of the board of trustees of Princeton College from 1772 to 1821, the year of his death.