Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/735

Rh PEARSON, Richard Mumford, jurist, b. in Davie county, N. C, 28 June, 1805 ; d. in Winston, N. C, 13 Jan., 1878. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1828, licensed to practise law in 1826, was in the legislature in 1829-33, and an unsuccessful candidate for con- gress in 1834. He was a judge of the superior court in 1836-'48, and at the latter date he was elevated to the supreme bench, succeeding Chief- Justice Frederick Nash in 1850, and holding office until his death. He conducted a law-school at his residence at Richmond Hill for many years. It was attended by hundreds of students from his own and the adjacent states. Judge Pearson was re- garded as one of the leading lawvers of his day.

PEARSONS, Daniel Kimball, benefactor, b. in Bradford, Vt., 14 April, 1820. He was gradu- ated at the Medical college of Woodstock, Vt., practised for some time at Chicopee, Mass., and in 1857 remoA'ed to Ogle county. HI., where he became a farmer. From 1860 till 1877 he was a real estate and loan agent in Chicago. From 1877 till 1880 the treasury of the city of Chicago was in bad con- dition, and certificates of indebtedness were issued for the payment of city debts. During this cri- sis Dr. Pearsons entered the council as alderman. His integrity, financial ability, and positive assur- ance to capitalists in Chicago, New York, and else- where, that Chicago would pay all of its indebted- ness, did much to restore confidence and relieve the embarrassment. Having accumulated a fortune, he retired from active business. During 1887 he gave away more than $150,000 for the advance- ment of Christianity, morality, and the relief of the suffering poor.

PEASE, Alfred Humphreys, musician, b. in Cleveland, Ohio, 6 May, 1838 ; d. in St. Louis, Mo., 12 July, 1882. He was educated at Kenyon college, Ohio, and later studied music in Germany under Theodor Kullak, Richard Wuerst, Wieprecht, and, on a second visit to Europe, under Hans von Bil- low, for three years. After his return he gave concerts in different cities of the Union, and be- came known as a brilliant and graceful pianist. Of his compositions, his songs, of which " Break, break, break " (1864) was the earliest, were perhaps most popular, and they found favor with some of the foremost vocalists of the day. His piano-music also met with success, and his orchestral composi- tions include a " Reverie and Andante," " Andante and Scherzo," " Romanze," and " Concerto " (1875), all of which have been performed by Theodore Thomas's orchestra in New York and other cities.

PEASE, Calvin, clergyman, b. in Canaan, Litch- field CO., Conn., 12 Aug., 1813 ; d. in Burlington, Vt., 17 Sept., 1863. He was graduated at the Uni- versity of Vermont in 1838, and was president of Montpelier academy in 1839-'41. He became pro- fessor of Latin and Greek in the University of Vermont in 1842, and in 1845 was appointed its president, and ordained to the ministry of the Con- gregational church. While president of the uni- versity, he was a member of the state board of education, president of the Vermont teachers' organization, and took an active part in unifying the common-school system. Failing health induced his resignation in 1861, and he became pastor of the 1st Presbyterian church in Rochester, N. Y., where he was especially active in the revival of 1863. Middlebury gave hini the degree of D. D. in 1865, and he became a member of the American philosophical society in 1883. He was a constant contributor to the " Bibliotheca Sacra." His pub- lished addresses include " A Discoui'se on the Import and Value of the Popular Lecturing of the Day " (Montpelier, 1840) : " Address before the Medical Department of the University " (1856) ; and "Baccalaureate Sermons" (1856-'60).

PEASE, Henry Roberts, senator, b. in Con- necticut, 19 Feb., 1835. He was educated for a teacher, followed that calling several years, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. During the civil war he was a captain on staff duty in the National army. He was appointed superintendent of edu- cation in Louisiana while it was imder military rule, became superintendent of the education of freedraen in Mississippi in 1867, took an active part in the reconstruction of that state, and was ap- pointed state superintendent of education in 1869. He also published and edited the " Mississippi Educational Journal." which was the first of that character in the south. He was elected to the U. S. senate as a Republican in 1874, to fill the va- cancy occasioned by the resignation of Adelbert Ames, served in 187"4-'5, and in the latter year was appointed postmaster of Vicksburg, but was re- moved a few weeks afterward for political reasons. PEASE, Joseph Ives, engraver, b. in Norfolk. Conn., 9 Aug., 1809 ; d. at Twin Lakes, near Salis- bury, Conn., 2 July, 1883. At the age of fourteen he was placed in a dry-goods store in Hartford, where he employed his time in imitating labels and such other designs as came under his notice. He early showed the inventive faculty, and when a mere boy constructed a turning-lathe. Before he knewthat such a thinghad beenthought of by others, he built a power-loom with which ho wove a strip of cloth six inches wide by simply turning a crank. He also devised a propeller on the plan of those that are now in use. and fitted it into a boat with perfect success. This was several years before the adoption of the propeller for steam navigation. He abandoned trade very soon, and made an at- tempt at engraving, with an awl for a tool and a piece of thermometer brass for a plate. This re- sulted m his being placed with Oliver Pelton, an engraver in Hartford, with whom he remained un- til he was of age. In 1835 Pease went to Philadel- phia, and there he engraved some of his choicest plates for the '• Gift," an annual. He left Phila- delphia in 1848. went to Stockbridge, Mass., and finally settled on a farm at Twin Lakes, where he died. Like most of our engravers, he found em- ployment during his later years on bank-note work. His plates are engraved in pure line, with much taste and excellence of execution, and are faithful renderings of the original paintings. His " Tough Story " after Mount, " Mumble the Peg " after In- man, and *' Young Traders " after Page, are choice examples of his work.

PEASE, Phineas, soldier, b. in Somers, Conn., 16 April, 1826. He was educated in the connnon schools, and subsequently was employed on rail- roads in Illinois. He became lieutenant-colonel of the 49th Illinois infantry at the beginning of the civil war, was severely wounded at Shiloh, partici- pated in the battle of Corinth, commanded a bri- gade at Du Glaise, La., Little Rock. Ark., and Franklin, Mo., and was at the battle of Nashville, and numerous subsequent small engagements. In March, 1865, he received the brevet of brigadier- general of volunteers. He became general super- intendent of the Indiana. Bloomington. and West- ern railroad in 1875, and superintendent of the Ohio Central railroad in 1880, and in 1885 became receiver and general manager of the Cleveland and Marietta railroad.

PEASLEE, Edmund Randolph, physician, b. in Rockingham county. N. H.. 22 Jan., 1814; d. in New York citv, 12 J;ui.. 1878. He was graduated