Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/264

 PEASE

PEASE

the so-called paleocrystic ice (floe-berg). He made an unsuccessful attemj)t to reach the pole in the spring of 1901; encamped at Cape Sabine in the winter of 1901-02, living among the Eskimos, whose customs he had tlioroughly mastered, and having established ample caches of provisions along the route, was preparing to start for the pole in March, 1902, by way of Smith Sound and Kennedy and Robeson channels to Cape Hecla. planning to make his " dash " from that point, about 500 miles south of the pole. After continuing his travels 150 miles he found insuperable natural obstacles preventing further progress and the attempt was abandoned when he was within 350 miles of the nortli pole. He found Greeley's outfit and reached 84° 17' north latitude, the highest yet attained by any American. In the fall of 1902 he met the Wind- ward at Cape Sabine and arrived in Portland, Me.. Sept. 23,1902. Lieutenant Peary attributed his failure to reach the pole to the fact that his ship was unequal to the requirements, and to his lack of sufficient money and time. In May, 1902, the Geographical Society of Philadelphia awarded the Kane gold medal to Lieutenant Peary.

PEASE, Calvin, educator, was born in Canaan, Conn., Aug. 12, 1813. He removed with his parents to Charlotte, Vt., in 1826, attended Hines- burgh academy, and was graduated from the University of Vermont, A.B., 1838. A.M., 1841. He was principal of the academy at Montpelier, Vt., 1838-42; professor of Latin and Greek at the University of Vermont, 1842-55, and librarian of the university, 1847-53. He was licensed to preach in 1851, and in December, 1853, was elected president of the University of Vermont, to succeed the Rev. Worthington Smith. He presided during the monetary crisis of 1857-58, and resigned on account of failing health in 1861. He was pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Rochester, N.Y., 1861-63. He was a member of the Vermont board of education; president of the Vermont Teachers' association, and a member of the American Philosophical society. The honorary degree of D.D. was con- ferred on him by Middlebury college in 1856. He is the author of: A Discourse on the Import and Value of the Popular Lecturing of the Day( 1840); Address Before the Medical Department of the University (1856); Baccalaureate Sermons (1856- 60), and many contributions to the " Bibliotheca Sacra." He died in Burlington, Vt., Sept. 17,1863.

PEASE, Elisha Marshall, governor of Texas, was born at Enfield, Conn., Jan. 3, 1812; son of Lorain Thompson and Sarah (Marsliall) Pease, and grandson of John Pease, a soldier in the Con- tinental army during the Revolutionary war. His first ancestors in America, Robert and Mar-

garet Pease, emigrated from Great Baddow, England, and settled in Boston in 1634. Elisha attended the district schools of Enfield and an academy at Westfield, Mass., and in 1826 obtained employment as a clerk in a country store. He removed to Miua, Col., in 1834; studied law with Col. D. C. Barrett; entered the Texan insurgent army in 1835, and engaged in the battle of Gon- zales. He was secretary of the provisional coun- cil of Texas, 1835-36; chief clerk of the navy and treasury departments, and for a short time act- ed as secretary of the treasury. He was a mem- ber of the committee that framed the state con- stitution, and in November, 1836, was appointed clerk of the judiciary committee of the state leg- islature. He was admitted to the bar in April. 1837, and practised in Brazoria, Texas. He was district attorney of Brazoria, and upon the an- nexation of Texas in 1845, a representative in the state legislature for two terms, and state senator in 1849. He was married in 1850 to L. C. Niles of Windsor, Conn. He was governor of Texas, 1853-57, and during the civil war lived in retirement, be- ing opposed to secession. In 1866 he was a delegate to the convention of southern loyalists and chosen vice- president of the same. He was candidate for governor on the Union ticket being defeated by J. W. Throckmorton in 1866, but .served as provisional governor by appointment of General Sheridan, 1867-69. He retired from law practice in 1877 and was appointed collector of the port of Gal- veston, Texas, in 1879. He died at Lampasas Springs, Tex., Aug. 26, 1883.

PEASE, Henry Roberts, senator, was born in Connecticut, Feb. 19, 1835. He received a normal school training and engaged in teaching in 1848- 59. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and practised until 1861, when he entered the Union army as a private. He attained the rank of cap- tain and served principally on staff duty, and in 1865 was appointed superintendent of education in Louisiana while the state was under military rule. He was appointed superintendent of edu- cation by the Freedmen's bureau in Mississippi in 1867; was active in the reconstruction of that state; was elected state superintendent of educa- tion in 1869, and was elected to the U. S. senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Adelbert Ames, and served from Feb. 12, 1874, to March 3, 1875. He was appointed postmaster of Vicksburg, Miss., in 1875, but was soon removed for political reasons. He established and edited T7ie Mississippi Educational Journal, the pioneer of popular education in the south, and subse- quently removed to Dakota.