the county of New York, and member of various medical societies. lie was the physician and friend of Washington Irving. In 1873 he vol- unteered to go to the south to examine the chol- era, suggested measures by which the plague was stopped, and assisted Dr.' Ely JMeClellan in pre- paring a "Report on Cholera," which was pub- lished by order of congress (Washington, 1873). In 1878 he went to Memphis to aid in arresting the yellow -fever scourge. He had edited the " North American Journal of Homoeopathy " and the " Transactions of the Pathological Society " (1873-'6), and, in conjunction with Dr. Alexander S. Wotherspoon, translated Rokitansky's " Patho- logical Anatomy" (New York, 1849). With Dr. Frederick Gr. Snelling and others he published " Materia Medica " (1856-'60). In addition to arti- cles in medical journals he is the author of " Dis- eases of the Brain and Nervous System " (New York, 1852) ; " Diseases of Women " '(1853) ; " Dis- eases of the Eye "(1854); and "Notes on Asiatic Cholera" (1866) ; and he assisted Dr. Edmund C. Wendt in his book on "Asiatic Cholera" (1885).
PETERS, John Thompson, jurist, b. in He-
bron, Conn., 11 Oct., 1765 ; d. in Hartford, Conn.,
28 Aug., 1834. He was graduated at Yale in 1789,
studied law, and began to practise in his native
town. In 1813 he was appointed collector of reve-
nue for the 1st district, and in May, 1818, he was
made judge of the state supreme court, which office
he held for many years. — His son, Hugli, poet, b.
in Hebron, Conn., 30 Jan., 1807 ; d. in Cincinnati,
Ohio, 9 June, 1831, was graduated at Yale in 1826,
studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began
practice in Cincinnati. His body was found in the
Ohio river, and it is supposed that he drowned
himself while temporarily insane. He wrote a
series of humorous Yankee lyrics, which were
printed in the " New England Weekly Review."
His farewell to Connecticut, written on Long Island
sound, and entitled " My Native Land," is consid-
ered his best poem.
PETERS, Richard, clergyman, b. in Liverpool,
England, in 1704; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 10 July,
1776. His father, Ralph, was town-clerk of Liver-
pool. The son was educated at Westminster school,
and at Oxford and Leyden, and after studying law
took orders in the Church of England in 1730-'l, and
came to this countryon account of domestic troubles
about 1735. He was employed for some time in
Christ church, Philadelphia, Pa., as assistant min-
ister, but, having resigned in 1737, he became sec-
retary to the land office, was secretary to a succes-
sion of governors, and was one of the provincial
council until his death. In the summer of 1762 he
was invited to officiate in the United churches of
Philadelphia, and was chosen to be rector at the
close of the year. He made a visit to England in
1764, for the benefit of his health chiefly, and re-
turned to Philadelphia at the close of 1765. He
received the degree of D. D. from the University
of Oxford in 1770. Conscious of the infirmities of
age, he resigned his rectorship in September, 1775.
He was one of those that, with Benjamin Frank-
lin, founded the Public academy, out of which
grew the College of Philadelphia. He was one of
the original trustees of the latter, president of the
board in 1756-64, an incorporator of the Phila-
delphia library, and one of the original managers
of the Pennsylvania hospital. Bishop White speaks
of Dr. Peters " with respect and affection," he hav-
ing been one of the assistant ministers in the
United churches during the latter years of Dr.
Peters's rectorship. Bishop White says that he had
adopted the fantastical notions of Jacob Bochman,
the German cobbler, in regard to the " inward
light" and kindred topics, and he was a public
opponent of George Whitefield during the latter's
evangelistic journey through the country. He
published "The Two Last Sermons preached at
Christ Church," printed by Franklin (Philadel-
phia, 1737) ; and other discourses. — His nephew,
Richard, jurist, b. at his father's seat of Bel-
mont, Philadelphia, 22 June. 1744; d. there, 22
Aug., 1828, was a son of William Peters, who was
for many years register of the admiralty, and a
judge of the courts of common pleas, quarter ses-
sions, and orphans' court. The son was gradu-
ated in 1761 at the College of Philadeljjhia (now
University of Pennsylvania), from which he re-
ceived the degree of LL. D. in 1827, and of which
he was a trustee in 1788-'91. He studied law,
came to the bar in 1763, and soon rose to eminence
in his profession. In 1771 he became register of
the admiralty, retaining this post until the war for
independence was begun. When most of the lead-
ers of the Philadelphia bar went over to the side
of the king in the early days of the Revolution, he
remained true to the cause of the colonies. He
commanded a company of provincial troops in
1775, on 13 June, 1776, was elected by congress
secretary of the Continental board of war, and
later was also a commissioner of war, in which post
he rendered important services to the patriot
cause. Peters discovered that Benedict Arnold was
applying to his own use funds that had been placed
in his hands for the purchase of the clothing
and subsistence for the army, and an attempt on
Peters's part to stop this robbery produced between
him and Arnold an open quarrel. In a letter to a
friend he wrote : " I did not conceal, but wrote to
headquarters my want of confidence in Arnold.
W^hen his traitorous conduct at West Point became
public, neither Col. Pickering nor myself were the
least surprised." In 1780 Peters was one of those
that subscribed £5,000 each to the Pennsylvania
bank for the provisioning of the army. In Decem-
ber, 1781, when he resigned his post in the war
office, congress voted him their "thanks for his
long and faithful services." In 1782-'3 he was a
member of the Continental congress; in 1787 he
became a member of the assembly, and he was the
speaker of this body in 1788-'90, in which capacity
he and Gen. Thomas Mifflin, the speaker of the
senate, were the representatives of Pennsylvania
that met Gen. Washington as he entered the state
on his way to New York to be inaugurated as first
president of the United States. In 1791 he was
the speaker of the state senate. On the formation
of the Federal government he was teiidei-ed the
comptrollership of the treasury, but declined it.
On 11 April, 1792, he was commissioned judge of
the U. S. district court for Pennsylvania, which
office he held until his death. Judge Story wrote
of him : " I have learned much in his school, and
owe him many thanks for his rich contribution to
the maritime jurisprudence of our country." One
of Mr. Peters's important works was his active in-
strumentality in securing the act of succession for
the ministers of the Protestant Episcopal church
in the United States. In 1785 he went to England
to obtain from the British prelates ordination to
the office of bishop for three priests of the Ameri-
can church, and it wjis largely through his energy
and endeavor that this end was accomplished.
Judge Peters was a practical farmer, one of the
founders of the Philadelphia agricultural society,
and its first president, retaining the place till his
death, a period of more than thirty years. The
" Memoirs " of the society contain more than one
