Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/269

 PECK

PECKHAM

the U.S. Military academy as a cadet, July 1, 1823, but left after one year's study on account of ill health and studied law with Judge Samuel Prentiss at Montpelier and with Dennison Smith at Barre, with whom he formed a partnership im- mediately after his admission to the bar in Sept- ember, 1833. He was married, May 10, 1833, to Martha, daughter of Ira Day of Barre.Vt. He rep- resented Barre in the state legislature in 1831; removed to Montpelier and practised law there, 1833-66, the later years of his life in partnership with B. F. Fifield. He was a Democratic repre- sentative from the second district of Vermont in the 30th and 31st congresses, 1847-51, and U.S. district attorney for Vermont, 1853-57. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for gov- ernor of Vermont in two elections, and president of the Vermont and Canada railroad, 1859-66. He died suddenly in Lowell, Mass., Dec. 28, 1866.

PECK, Luther Wesley, clergyman, was born in Kingston, Pa., June 14,1835; son of the Rev. George (q.v.) and Mary (Myers) Peck. He attended the Wesleyan university, 1841-43, was graduated from the University of the City of New York, A.B., 1845, A.M. 1849; studied theology, and joined the New York conference on trial in 1845, He was stationed at Brooklyn, Durham, Rhine- beck, Newburg, Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Mid- dleton and smaller places, 1845-66, and in the Wyoming conference where he was presiding elder of the Honesdale district, 1875-79. He was married, Jan. 18. 1848, to Sarah Maria, daughter of Dr. Ransom H. Gibbons of Dormansville, N. Y. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by the University of the City of New York in 1878. His pastorate covered a period of forty- five years and he retired in 1891. He was an ex- tensive contributor to the National Magazine, Quarterly Revieio, and Ladies' Repository; edited "A View from Campbell's Ledge in Wyoming," by his father, and is the author of: T7ie Golden Age (1858); TJie Burial of Lincoln, a poem in Jesse T. Peck's " History of the Great Republic," and The Flight of the Humming Birds, a poem (1895). He died at Scranton, Pa., March 31, 1900.

PECK, Samuel Minturn, poet, was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Nov. 4, 1854; son of Elijah Wolsey and Lucy (Randall) Peck, and grandson of David and Christiana (Minturn) Peck, and of Samuel and Lucy (Lamb) Randall. He at- tended the public schools; was graduated from the University of Alabama in 1876; studied medi- cine, and was graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical college, N.Y., M.D., in 1879. He never practised his profession, but devoted himself to literary work, contributing his first work, a lyric entitled The Orange Tree, to the New York Even- ing Post in 1878. He published long and short stories in the leading periodicals and also com-

posed numerous lyrics, including: A Knot of Blue; Tlie Dimple in her Cheek; Cupid at Court; My Little Girl, and The Grape Vine Swing, all of which have been set to music. Among his pub- lished volumes are: Cap and Bells (1886); Rings and Love Knots (1893), and Rhymes and Roses (1895), all poems.

PECKHAM, Mary Chase Peck, author, was born at Nantucket, Mass., July 15, 1839; daughter of Charles Miller and Adriana (Fisher) Peck; granddaughter of Philip and Abigail (Chase) Peck and of Rufus and Mary (Pease) Fisher, and great-granddaughter of Capt. Jonathan Peck, a Revolutionary officer. She attended the Provi- dence high school and taught schools in that city, 1857-65. She was married, June 13, 1865, to Stephen F. Peckham (q.v.) and accompanied him to Southern California. On their return to Pro- vidence in 1866, she engaged in literary work, and in 1873, removing to Minneapolis, Minn., devoted herself to philanthropy. She was a mem- ber of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage asso- ciation and of the Association for the Advance- ment of Women. She is the author of: Father GabrieVs Fairy (1873), and Windfalls Gathered Only for Friends (1894). She died at Ann Arbor, Mich., March 30, 1893.

PECKHAM, Rufus Wheeler, jurist, was born in Rensselaerville, N.Y., Dec. 30, 1809; son of Peleg and Desire (Watson) Peckham; and grand- son of Benjamin, Jr., and Mary (Hazard) Peck- ham. His parents removed to Cooperstown, N.Y., where he was prepared for college. He was graduated from Union in 1827; studied law; was admitted to the bar, and in 1830 established himself in practice in Albany, N.Y. He was appointed district attorney of Albany county, 1838; was a Democratic representative in the 33d congress, 1853-55, and in June, 1855, resumed his law practice in partnership with Judge Lyman Tremain. He was a justice of the New York su- preme court, 1859-70, and a judge of the court of appeals, 1870-73. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Union college in 1870. He married in 1833, Isabella, daughter of the Rev. William B. and Hannah Lacey of Albany, N.Y. She died April 4, 1848, and in February, 1863, he married Mary E. Foote of Brooklyn, N.Y. His health failing, he sailed for France with his wife, and both perished in the wreck of the Ville du Havre, Nov. 33, 1873.

PECKHAM, Rufus Wheeler, associate justice of the United States supreme court, was born in Albany, N.Y., Nov. 8, 1838; son of Judge Rufus Wheeler and Isabella (Lacey) Peckham. He attended school in Albany, N.Y., and in Phila- delphia, Pa., and studied law with his father, be- ing admitted to the bar in December, 1859. He was married, Nov. 14, 1866, toHarriette, daughter