John Paine Cushman (March 8, 1784 Plainfield, Windham County, Connecticut – September 16, 1848 Troy, Rensselaer County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.^[1]

Cushman attended the common schools and Plainfield Academy, and graduated from Yale College in 1807. Then he studied law at the Litchfield Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1809, and commenced practice in Troy, New York.^[1]

In 1817, Cushman was elected as a Federalist to the 15th United States Congress with 54.98% of the popular vote, topping the incumbent Hosea Moffitt, a fellow Federalist.^[2] After holding office from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1819, Cushman resumed the practice of law.^[1]

He was a regent of the University of the State of New York from April 1830 until April 1834, when he resigned. He was a trustee of Union College from 1833 until his death. He was Recorder of Troy from 1834 to 1838, and Judge of the Third Circuit from 1838 to 1844.^[1]

While in law school he met and married Maria Jones Tallmadge (1790–1878), the daughter of Benjamin Tallmadge, a Revolutionary War officer who was the leader of the Culper Ring who later became a U.S. Representative, and sister of Frederick A. Tallmadge. Together, they had:^[3]

• Julia Paine Cushman (b. 1822), who married Amos Henry Farnsworth (b. 1825)^[3] in 1850.^[4]
• Tallmadge Cushman^[3]
• Edward Cushman^[3]
• Harriet Delafield Cushman (1825-1897), who married Col. George Thatcher Balch (1828–1894).^[3]
• Mary Floyd Cushman (1827–1916), who married Edward C. Williams (1820–1913)^[3]
• John Paine Cushman, Jr. (1830–1901), a Presbyterian minister,^[3] who married H. Caroline Maltby in 1860.^[5]

After his death on September 16, 1848, he was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York.