met in Antwerp, and held a similar appointment from the New York state chamber of commerce.
PEACOCK, Thomas Brower, poet, b. in Cam-
bridge, Ohio, 16 April, 1852. He was educated in
Zanesville, Ohio, and for about ten years was asso-
ciate editor of the Topeka, Kan., " Democrat."
He has made and patented several inventions, the
most important of which is a fire-escape specially
adapted to large hotels. He has published " Poems "
(Kansas City, 1872); "The Vendetta, and other
Poems " (Topeka, 1876) ; " The Rhyme of the Bor-
der War" (New York, 1880); and "Poems of the
Plains and Songs of the Solitudes " (1888). The
last volume reached a 3d edition in a year, and is
being translated into German by Karl Knortz.
PECK, Clarissa C, philanthropist, b. in Mara-
thon, Cortland co., N. Y., in 1817 ; d. in Chicago,
111., 22 Dec, 1884. Her maiden name was Brink.
She married Philander Peck in 1837 and removed to
Little Rock, 111., in the same year, to White Water,
Wis., in 1841, and to Chicago in 1851. Mrs. Peck was
left with a large fortune, and bequeathed $65,000
to various religious and charitable institutions, and
the residue of her estate, about $535,000, to found
the Chicago home for incurables.
PENROSE, William Henry, soldier, b. in
Madison Barracks, Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., 10
March, 1832. His father, Capt. James W. Pen-
rose, was an officer of the regular army. The son
took an irregular two-years course in Dickinson
college and became a civil and mechanical engi-
neer. In April, 1861, he was appointed 2d lieu-
tenant in the 3d U. S. infantry, and, after his pro-
motion to 1st lieutenant in May, served with the
Army of the Potomac till the close of the civil
war. He became colonel of the 15th New Jersey
regiment in April, 1863, and thereafter had com-
mand of Philip Kearny's 1st New Jersey brigade,
in the Sixth corps. At times he had charge of a di-
vision, and on 27 June, 1865, he was commissioned
a brigadier-general of volunteers. During the war
he won the brevets in the regular army, including
that of brigadier-general. He has since had com-
mand of various posts, and on 31 May, 1883, he
became major of the 12th infantry, and lieutenant-
colonel of the 16th Infantry on 22 Aug., 1888.
Gen. Penrose has invented several mechanical de-
vices and a set of infantry equipments which was
recommended by a board of officers.
PHELPS, George May, inventor, b. in Water-
vliet, N. Y., 19 March, 1820 ; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y.,
18 May, 1888. He early found employment in the
shop of his uncle, Jonas H. Phelps, a maker of sur-
veying and astronomical instruments in Troy. In
1850 he had established himself in business, mak-
ing various kinds of light machinery, and models.
Soon afterward Mr. Phelps was chosen to manu-
facture the type-printing telegraph of Royal E.
House; and when, a few years later, the American
telegraph company was formed to operate the
Erinting system of David E. Hughes, Mr. Phelps
ecame the superintendent of its factory. Several
important modifications of this machine were de-
vised by him, and by gradual adaptation it be-
came the well-known " combination printer." His
most valuable invention was the motor-printer,
which is now in use on the lines of the Western
union telegraph company. The machinery and
apparatus made by Mr. Phelps were noticeable for
symmetry and gracefulness, expressing an innate
sense of fitness and proportion, which was the
most striking characteristic of his talent as an in-
ventor and constructor.
PHILLIPS, George Searle, English author,
b. in Northamptonshire, England, in 1818. He
was educated at Trinity college, Cambridge, came
to this country, and was connected with the New
York press. He returned to England about 1845,
edited the Leeds " Times," became principal of the
People's college, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1846,
and in 1854 was lecturer to the Yorkshire union of
mechanics' institutes and literary societies. He
has been an inmate of an insane asylum in New
Jersey since 1873. Mr. Phillips wrote generally
under the pen-name of "January Searle," and
among other works published " Chapters in the
History of a Life " (1849) ; " Life of Ebenezer Elli-
ott" (i850); "Memoirs of William Wordsworth"
(1852); "The Gypsies of the Dane's Dike" (1855);
and " Chicago and her Churches " (Chicago, 1868).
His pamphlet on Ralph Waldo Emerson was warm-
ly commended by Theodore Parker.
PIERCE, Winslow Smith, pioneer, b. in Bos-
ton, Mass., 3 May, 1819 : d. in Brooklyn, N. Y„ 29
July, 1888. He was educated at Dartmouth and
the Harvard medical school, settled in Illinois, and
was a professor in Rock Island medical college for
several years. He removed to California in 1849,
and was state comptroller in 1849-'53. Dr. Pierce
was one of the originators of the first line of
steamships between the Isthmus of Panama and
San Francisco. He declined the nomination of
the Democratic party for U. S. senator in Cali-
fornia, settled in Indiana in 1860, devoted him-
self largely to the coal and iron industries, and
laid out and at one time owned a large part of In-
dianapolis. He left in manuscript a complete col-
lection of material for a book entitled " Reminis-
cences of Public Men from 1828 till 1888." Both
his wives were sisters of Thomas A. Hendricks.
PINSONNEAULT, Peter Adolphus, Canadian R. C. bishop, b. in Montreal, Canada, in 1815 ; d. in Canada in 1883. He studied in the College of
Montreal with the intention of becoming a lawyer,
but, resolving to become a priest, went to Paris,
studied theology in the College of St. Sulpice, en-
tered the Sulpitian order, and was ordained in 1840.
He exercised his ministry in Montreal, on his re-
turn, until 1856, when he was consecrated bishop
of the newly erected diocese of London, Ont. He
removed to Sandwich in 1859, and obtained the
alteration of the name of the diocese to Sandwich.
He resigned in 1867, and lived principally in
Montreal, where he rendered great services to the
bishop. He published a work in favor of the in-
fallibility of the pope (1870).
POTTER, Joseph Adams, soldier, b. in Potter's
Hollow, N. Y., 12 June, 1816; d. in Painesville,
Ohio, 21 April, 1888. He entered the U. S. service as
a civil engineer in 1835 and was engaged in build-
ing public works and making surveys of the great
lakes until the beginning of the civil war. In 1861
he was ordered to Detroit, and was appointed, on 27
Sept., 1st lieutenant in the 15th U. S. infantry.
He was soon transferred to the quartermaster's
department, with the rank of captain, and sent to
Illinois, where he was engaged in fitting out troops
and in building Camp Douglass at Chicago and
Camp Butler at Springfield. He disbursed millions
of dollars, purchasing large amounts of supplies
and great numbers of cavalry horses. Subsequently
he had charge of the quatermaster's departments
at various posts until 1874, when he became chief
quartermaster of the Department of the Gulf, with
headquarters at New Orleans. On 21 April, 1879,
he was retired. He received the brevets from
major to brigadier-general in the U. S. army on
13 March, 1865.
POTTS, Benjamin Franklin, soldier, b. in Carroll county, Ohio, 29 Jan., 1836; d. in Helena,
