Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/737

Rh the Old Genesee Conference" (1860); '• Om- Coun- try, Its Trials and its Triumphs" (1865); and "Life and Times of G. Peek. D. D." (1874).— His son, Luther Wesley, clergyman, b. in Wyoming valley. Pa., in 1825, was graduated at New York university in 1845, and entered the ministry. lie has published " The Golden Age," a poem (New York, 1858). — George's brother, Jesse Truesdell, M. E. bishop, b. in Middlefield, Otsego co., N. Y., 4 April, 1811 ; d. in Syracuse, N. Y., 17 May, 1888, was educated at Cazenovia seminary, began to preach in 1829, and became a member of the Oneida conference in 1832. He was principal of Gouverneur seminary in 1837-'41, of Troy conference academy in 1841-"8, and president of Dickinson college. Pa', in 1848-'o2. After a short pastorate in Washing- ton, D. C, he was appointed secretary and editor of the Tract society, removing to New York. In 1856 he became pastor of a church in that city, but after two years he was transferred to California, where he served as pastor and presiding elder for eight years in San Francisco and Sacramento. He was also president of the board of trustees of the University of the Pacific, and president of the Cali- fornia state Bible society. Subsequently, he was pastor of churches in Peekskill, Albany, and Syra- cuse, where he became the chief founder of Syra- cuse university, serving as president of the board of trustees and chairman of the building committee. In 1872 he was elected bishop, and in 1881 he was a delegate to the Methodist ecumenical conference in London, where his ability as a presiding officer won recognition. In the summer of 1881 he made a tour of Europe, holding conferences and studying educational systems and facilities. His principal works are " The Central Idea of Christianitv " (New York, 1855); "The True Woman" (1857); " What Must I do to be Saved ? "' (1858) ; and " The Great Piepublic " (1868).

PECK, George Washington, author, b. in Rehoboth, Bristol eo., Mass., 4 Dec, 1817; d. in Boston, Mass., 6 June, 1859. His ancestor, Joseph, came from Hingham, Norfolk, England, to Reho- both in 1641. After spending his boyhood on his father's farm, he was graduated at Brown in 1837, taught in Indiana, and edited " The Daily Sun " and " Republican " in Cincinnati, Ohio. He then studied law in Boston, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He became musical and dramatic critic for the " Boston Post," and in 1845 issued " The Bos- ton Musical Review." He was subsequently con- nected with the " New York Courier," the " Ameri- can Review," " The Literary World," and various other publications, until 1853, when he sailed for Australia. He witnessed in Melbourne the excite- ment that followed the discovery of gold, and de- livered the first Fourth of July address on that continent. On his return he visited Lima and the Chincha islands. He published " Melbourne and the Chincha Islands, with Sketches of Lima and a Voyage Round the World " (New York, 1854). Among his novelties in prose and verse were a series of " Sonnets of the Sidewalk," " Aurifodina, or Adventures in the Gold Region." and " Sum- mer Sketches." At the time of his death he was engaged upon an essay on Shakespeare, part of which was printed in the " Atlantic Monthly."

PECK, George Wesley, clergyman, b. in Kings- ton, Pa.. 7 Feb.. 1849. He is a great-nephew of Bishop Jesse T. Peck, was licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal church in 1872, graduated at Syracuse university in 1878, and at once elected president of Hedding college. 111., where he served four years, receiving there the degree of LL. D. in 1882. After one year's leave of absence in Europe and the Orient, he resigned the presidency and held pastorates in Buffalo. Medina, and Dansville, N. Y. In 1881 he was appointed a delegate to the Methodist ecumenical conference in London. He is a popular lecturer, and author of " The Realiza- tion and Benefit of Ideals " (Syracuse, 1879) ; " Walk in the Light" (1882); and is" preparing "The Life of Bishop Jesse T. Peck."

PECK, Henry Everard. clergvman, b. in Rochester, N. Y.. 27 July. 1821 : d. in Port an Prince, Hayti, 9 June, 1867. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1841, studied theology, and, enter- ing the Congregational ministry, preached in Rochester. He was associate professor of intel- lectual and moral philosophy at Oberlin from 1852 till 1865, an ai'dent champion of the anti-slavery cause, and took an active part in the presidential canvass of 1856. In 1858 he was arrested under the charge of violating the fugitive-slave law. and confined with others in the countv jail in Cleve- land, Ohio. From 1862 till 1865 he was U. S. com- missioner to Hayti. and was then appointed U. S. minister to that republic. — His half-brother, Will- iam Farley, journalist, b. in Rochester, N. Y., 4 Feb., 1840, was graduated at Williams in 1861, and at the Albany law-school in 1863. He was chairman of one of the boards of municipal exam- iners for the civil service of Rochester, and a mem- ber of the local board of state examiners. He was connected with the press of Rochester for several years, and is the author of " Semi-Centennial His- tory of Rochester " (Syracuse. 1884).

PECK, John James. soldier, b. in Manlius, N. Y., 4 Jan., 1821 ; d. in Syracuse, N. Y., 21 April. 1878. His father was one of the earliest settlers in Onondaga county. The son was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1843. assigned to the 2d artillery, and was on garrison duty in New York harbor till he was ordered to Texas in 1845. During the Mexican war he was at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, took part in the assault on Federa- tion Hill at Monterey, and afterward received two brevets for gallantry — that of captain for Contreras and Churubusco, and that of major for Molino del Rey, where he had turned a captured gun on the enemy with great effect. " His name and services," said his division commander. Gen Worth, "will be found in the official account of every battle save one from the commencement of the war to the conquest of the basin of IMexico." He was given a sword on his return home in 1848, and after serving against the Navajo Indians in New Mexico, and on recruiting service, resigned his commission on 31 March, 1853. He was then con- nected with a projected railroad from New York to Syracuse by way of Newburg, and also organ- ized in Syracuse the Burnet bank, of which he was cashier till the civil war. He was also president of the board of education in that city in 1859-61, and was interested in politics, serving as a delegate at the Democratic national convention of 1856, and in that at Charleston in 1860. running for con- gress in 1856 and 1858, and once declining a foreign mission. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers on 9 Aug., 1861. and served first in the defences of Washington and then in the peninsular campaign. He rendered signal service at York- town ; and at Williamsburg, where he arrived with re-enforcements at a critical point in tiie battle, his troops, by steadily withstanding repeated attacks from a superior force, did much to preserve the army from rout. At Fair Oaks a horse was shot under him, and he afterward covered the left flank of the army by holding White Oak swamp. He held an important place in the seven days' change