Paine Page Prim

Paine (Payne) Page Prim (May 2, 1822 – August 8, 1899) was an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. He was the 6th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court serving in that role three times between 1864 and 1878. Prim served on Oregon’s highest court for 21 years. Prim was the first graduate of Cumberland University's law school, and a participant at the Oregon Constitutional Convention.

Early life On May 2, 1822, Paine P. Prim was born in Wilson County, Tennessee. He grew up on his father’s farm before enrolling at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. Then in 1851 he traveled to Oregon via the Oregon Trail. Then in 1860 he was elected to a full six-year term on the bench. He served again at the next session in 1885 in both the regular and special sessions that year. Paine Page Prim then died in Oakland, California, on August 8, 1899, at the age of 77 and is buried in Jacksonville, Oregon.

In 1961, the actor Arthur Franz was cast as Prim in the episode, "Justice at Jackson Creek", on the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. Prim is shown as a drunken, ostracized lawyer who hesitates to help a miner in legal trouble but must overcome his personal demons. The episode also stars Dub Taylor as Jake; William Schallert as Carl Spenger, and Bill Bixby as Kinney.