Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/266

 PECK

PECK

milted to the bar in 1832, settled in practice in Montpelier and was at one time associated with Archibald Hyde and later with D. A. Smalley, He was originally a Democrat in politics, but in 1848 became a Free Soiler. and a memV)er of the convention at Buffalo that nominated Van Buren and Adams, and was subsequently active in or- ganizing the Republican party. He was judge of the circuit court of Vermont, 1851-57, judge of the supreme court of the state, 1860-74, and gov- ernor of Vermont, 1874-76. He retired to his farm in Jericho Vt., in 1876, where he died. May 18. 1879.

PECK, Elijah Wolsey, jurist, was born in Blenheim, Schoharie count}', N. Y., Aug. 7, 1799 ; son of David and Christiana (Minturn) Peck. He was educated for the profession of law and was admitted to the bar in 1824. He prac- tised law in Ely ton, Ala., 1824-38; removed to Tuskaloosa, Ala., in 1838, and was chancellor of Alabama, 1839-40. He opposed secession in 1861 ; was chairman of the military reconstruction con- vention of 1867 ; was elected a judge of the su- preme court of Alabama, and chief-justice in 1869, resigning in 1874, before the end of his term of office. He was married in 1828 to Lucy, daughter of Samuel and Lucy (Lamb) Randall of Talladega, Ala. He died at Tuskaloosa, Ala. , Feb. 13. 18S8.

PECK, Ferdinand Wythe, commissioner, was born in Chicago, 111., July 15, 1848 ; son of Philip F. W. and Mary Kent (Wythe) Peck. He was admitted to the bar in 1869. He engaged in philanthropic work in Chicago, was one of the founders of the Illinois Humane society ; presi- dent and a member of the board of governors of the Chicago Athenaeum, and president of the Chicago Auditorium association. He conceived and carried into completion the Chicago audi- torium and hotel. He was vice-president of the Chicago board of education for four years, being twice appointed by the mayor to that position. He was chairman of the finance committee, a vice- president of the World's Columbian exposition and a member of the commission of five to visit Europe in the interest of the exposition. He was a trustee of the University of Chicago, 1894-97. In 1898 he was appointed by President McKinley U. S. commissioner-general to the Paris exposition of 1900, where he secured much additional space for American exhibits and con- cluded the plans for the execution of the bronze equastnan statue of Lafayette, executed by Paul Wayland Bartlett, paid for by popular sub- scriptions largely from school children in the United States and placed in the court of the Louvre at Paris. Hr was appointed a grand offi- cer of the Legion of Honor by the president of France in 1900.

PECK, George, clergyman and editor, was born in Middletield, Otsego county, N. Y., Aug. 8, 1797 ; son of Luther and Annis (CoUer) Peck ; grandson of Jesse and Ruth (Hoyt) Peck, and a descendant of Henry Peck, who emigrated from England to America in the ship Hector in 1637 and settled in New Haven, Conn., in 1638. George Peck attended the district school, and when nineteen years old became active as a Methodist preacher. He was pastor and presid- ing elder in the Oneida conference, 1816-35 ; was principal of the Oneida conference seminary at Cazenovia, N. Y., 1835-39 : editor of the Method- ist Quarterly Review, 1840-48, and of the Christian Advocate, 1848-52. He returned to the Wyom- ing, Pa., conference in 1852, and was pastor of the church at Scranton and presiding elder of the Wj-oming district, 1852-73. He was a member of thirteen general conferences, 1824-72. and a delegate to the first evangelical alliance in Lon- don in 1846. He received the honorary degree A.M. from Wesleyan university in 1835, andD.D. from Augusta college, Kentucky, in 1840. He was married, June 10, 1819, to Mary, daughter of Philip Myers of Kingston, Pa. Their sons, George Myers and Luther Wesley (q.v.), were clergymen. He is the author of : Universalism Examined (1826) ; History of the Apostles and Evangelists (1836) ; Scripture Doctrine of Chris- tian Perfection (1841) ; Rule of Faith (1844) ; Reply to Dr. Bascom's Defence of American Slav- ery (IS^i)) ; Manly Character (\8~i2) ; Wyoming, Its History, Romantic Adventures, etc. (1858) ; Early Methodism, within the Bounds of the Old Genesee Conference (1860); Our Country, Its Trials and Its Triumphs (1865) ; Life and Times of the Rev. George Peck, D. D. (1874), He died in Scranton. Pa., May 20, 1876.

PECK, George Wesley, educator, was born in Kingston, Pa., Feb. 7, 1849 ; son of the Rev, George Wesley and Abigail (Bennett) Peck, and grand-nephew of the Rev. George (q. v.) and Mary (Myers) Peck. He was educated in the public schools ; was licensed to preach in 1872, and was graduated at Syracuse university. Ph. D., 1878. He was president of Hedding college, Abingdon, 111., 1878-82; traveled in Europe and the Orient, 1882-83, and was in New York state as pastor in Buffalo, 1882-85, Medina, 1885-86, Danville, 1886-91, Rochester, 1891-96, and Buf- falo, from 1896. He was a delegate to the iletho- dist Ecumenical conference in London in 1881. He was married, June 11, 1890, to Ina Merle Car- ter of Adams, N. Y. He received the degrees of A.B. and A.M. from Illinois W^esleyan university in 1879 and that of LL. D. from Hedding college in 1882. He is the author of : The Realization and Benefit of Ideals (1879) ; Walk in the Light (1882), and Life of Jesse T. Peck (1887).