Thomas Bines was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

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Born in Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...

, Bines attended the common schools.
He was appointed coroner for Salem County on October 16, 1802.

Bines was elected sheriff of Salem County in 1808 and served until 1810.

Bines was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Thirteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Jacob Hufty (November 2, 1814 – March 3, 1815).
He was not a candidate for renomination to the Fourteenth Congress in 1814.

Bines was elected Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

of Lower Penns Neck Township in 1822 and served in this capacity until 1826.
He died in Lower Penns Neck Township, Salem County, April 9, 1826.