PARTRIDGE, Oliver, member of the Colonial congress, born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, 13 June, 1712; died in Hadley, Massachusetts, 21 July, 1792. He was graduated at Yale in 1730, studied law, and became a successful practitioner at Hatfield. He was a delegate to the congress that was called by the British government to meet in Albany, New York, in June, 1754. In 1765 he was a delegate from Massachusetts to the congress that assembled in New York city to take action with regard to the stamp-act, and voted for the petition to the king, the memorial to parliament, and the bill of rights. In 1769-'74 he was judge of common pleas for Hampshire county. When hostilities with the mother country were impending he was at first opposed to revolution, but soon he embraced the American cause.