Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/734

696 met in Antwerp, and held a similar appointment from the New York state chamber of commerce.

PEACOCK, Thomas Brower, poet, b. in Cam- bridge, Ohio, 16 April, 1852. He was educated in Zanesville, Ohio, and for about ten years was asso- ciate editor of the Topeka, Kan., " Democrat." He has made and patented several inventions, the most important of which is a fire-escape specially adapted to large hotels. He has published " Poems " (Kansas City, 1872); "The Vendetta, and other Poems " (Topeka, 1876) ; " The Rhyme of the Bor- der War" (New York, 1880); and "Poems of the Plains and Songs of the Solitudes " (1888). The last volume reached a 3d edition in a year, and is being translated into German by Karl Knortz. PECK, Clarissa C, philanthropist, b. in Mara- thon, Cortland co., N. Y., in 1817 ; d. in Chicago, 111., 22 Dec, 1884. Her maiden name was Brink. She married Philander Peck in 1837 and removed to Little Rock, 111., in the same year, to White Water, Wis., in 1841, and to Chicago in 1851. Mrs. Peck was left with a large fortune, and bequeathed $65,000 to various religious and charitable institutions, and the residue of her estate, about $535,000, to found the Chicago home for incurables.

PENROSE, William Henry, soldier, b. in Madison Barracks, Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., 10 March, 1832. His father, Capt. James W. Pen- rose, was an officer of the regular army. The son took an irregular two-years course in Dickinson college and became a civil and mechanical engi- neer. In April, 1861, he was appointed 2d lieu- tenant in the 3d U. S. infantry, and, after his pro- motion to 1st lieutenant in May, served with the Army of the Potomac till the close of the civil war. He became colonel of the 15th New Jersey regiment in April, 1863, and thereafter had com- mand of Philip Kearny's 1st New Jersey brigade, in the Sixth corps. At times he had charge of a di- vision, and on 27 June, 1865, he was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. During the war he won the brevets in the regular army, including that of brigadier-general. He has since had com- mand of various posts, and on 31 May, 1883, he became major of the 12th infantry, and lieutenant- colonel of the 16th Infantry on 22 Aug., 1888. Gen. Penrose has invented several mechanical de- vices and a set of infantry equipments which was recommended by a board of officers.

PHELPS, George May, inventor, b. in Water- vliet, N. Y., 19 March, 1820 ; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 18 May, 1888. He early found employment in the shop of his uncle, Jonas H. Phelps, a maker of sur- veying and astronomical instruments in Troy. In 1850 he had established himself in business, mak- ing various kinds of light machinery, and models. Soon afterward Mr. Phelps was chosen to manu- facture the type-printing telegraph of Royal E. House; and when, a few years later, the American telegraph company was formed to operate the Erinting system of David E. Hughes, Mr. Phelps ecame the superintendent of its factory. Several important modifications of this machine were de- vised by him, and by gradual adaptation it be- came the well-known " combination printer." His most valuable invention was the motor-printer, which is now in use on the lines of the Western union telegraph company. The machinery and apparatus made by Mr. Phelps were noticeable for symmetry and gracefulness, expressing an innate sense of fitness and proportion, which was the most striking characteristic of his talent as an in- ventor and constructor.

PHILLIPS, George Searle, English author, b. in Northamptonshire, England, in 1818. He was educated at Trinity college, Cambridge, came to this country, and was connected with the New York press. He returned to England about 1845, edited the Leeds " Times," became principal of the People's college, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1846, and in 1854 was lecturer to the Yorkshire union of mechanics' institutes and literary societies. He has been an inmate of an insane asylum in New Jersey since 1873. Mr. Phillips wrote generally under the pen-name of "January Searle," and among other works published " Chapters in the History of a Life " (1849) ; " Life of Ebenezer Elli- ott" (i850); "Memoirs of William Wordsworth" (1852); "The Gypsies of the Dane's Dike" (1855); and " Chicago and her Churches " (Chicago, 1868). His pamphlet on Ralph Waldo Emerson was warm- ly commended by Theodore Parker. PIERCE, Winslow Smith, pioneer, b. in Bos- ton, Mass., 3 May, 1819 : d. in Brooklyn, N. Y„ 29 July, 1888. He was educated at Dartmouth and the Harvard medical school, settled in Illinois, and was a professor in Rock Island medical college for several years. He removed to California in 1849, and was state comptroller in 1849-'53. Dr. Pierce was one of the originators of the first line of steamships between the Isthmus of Panama and San Francisco. He declined the nomination of the Democratic party for U. S. senator in Cali- fornia, settled in Indiana in 1860, devoted him- self largely to the coal and iron industries, and laid out and at one time owned a large part of In- dianapolis. He left in manuscript a complete col- lection of material for a book entitled " Reminis- cences of Public Men from 1828 till 1888." Both his wives were sisters of Thomas A. Hendricks.

PINSONNEAULT, Peter Adolphus, Canadian R. C. bishop, b. in Montreal, Canada, in 1815 ; d. in Canada in 1883. He studied in the College of Montreal with the intention of becoming a lawyer, but, resolving to become a priest, went to Paris, studied theology in the College of St. Sulpice, en- tered the Sulpitian order, and was ordained in 1840. He exercised his ministry in Montreal, on his re- turn, until 1856, when he was consecrated bishop of the newly erected diocese of London, Ont. He removed to Sandwich in 1859, and obtained the alteration of the name of the diocese to Sandwich. He resigned in 1867, and lived principally in Montreal, where he rendered great services to the bishop. He published a work in favor of the in- fallibility of the pope (1870).

POTTER, Joseph Adams, soldier, b. in Potter's Hollow, N. Y., 12 June, 1816; d. in Painesville, Ohio, 21 April, 1888. He entered the U. S. service as a civil engineer in 1835 and was engaged in build- ing public works and making surveys of the great lakes until the beginning of the civil war. In 1861 he was ordered to Detroit, and was appointed, on 27 Sept., 1st lieutenant in the 15th U. S. infantry. He was soon transferred to the quartermaster's department, with the rank of captain, and sent to Illinois, where he was engaged in fitting out troops and in building Camp Douglass at Chicago and Camp Butler at Springfield. He disbursed millions of dollars, purchasing large amounts of supplies and great numbers of cavalry horses. Subsequently he had charge of the quatermaster's departments at various posts until 1874, when he became chief quartermaster of the Department of the Gulf, with headquarters at New Orleans. On 21 April, 1879, he was retired. He received the brevets from major to brigadier-general in the U. S. army on 13 March, 1865.

POTTS, Benjamin Franklin, soldier, b. in Carroll county, Ohio, 29 Jan., 1836; d. in Helena,