PEYTON
PEYTON
La. He was appointed U.S. district attorney at
New Orleans, by President Harrison, in March,
1841, and was olTered but declined the portfolio
of war in President Tyler's cabinet. At the out-
break of the Mexican war he raised a volunteer
regiment of liOO men. Since the regiment was
not accepted by President Polk, he became chief of
General AVortli's staff; was present at the battle
of Monterey, and presented with a reward by the
state of Louisiana for his gallantry in that battle;
w;is ajipoiiited U.S. minister to Chili b}" Presi-
dent Taylor in 1849, serving, 1849-53, and practised
law in San Francisco, Cal., 1853-58. He returned
to Gallatin, Tenn., in 1859, and was an elector-
at-large from Tennessee on the Bell and Everett
ticket in 1860. He was a Unionist throughout
the civil war, and a member of the Tennessee
senate. 1869-70. He was married in 1830 to Ann
Carr. daugliter of William and Alethia (Eaton)
Smith of Granville county, N.C. Their son,
Balie Peyton, Jr., a lieutenant on the staff of
Gen. F. K. Zollicoffer, of the Confederate array,
was killed in the battle of Fishing Creek, Ky.,
Jan. 19, 1862. Peytonsville, Tenn., was named
in honor of Balie Peyton, Sr., who died at
Gallatin, Tenn., Aug. 19, 1878.
PEYTON, Ephralm Geoffrey, jurist, was born in Elizabetlitown, Ky., Oct. 29, 1802: son of Ephraim and (Jennings) Peyton, and grand- son of Robert and Ann (Guffey) Peyton, and of Jonathan Jennings. He was a cousin of Balie Peyton of Tennessee, their fathers being brothers. He was educated in Gallatin college. Tenn., and in 1818 removed to Mississippi, where he taught school and learned the printer's trade. He was admitted to the bar in 1824, and settled in prac- tice first in Copiah county, and then in Gallatin, Miss. He was married, March 81, 1831, to Artemisia G., daughter of Francis Patton, a planter of Clai- borne county, Va. He was a representative in the Mississippi legislature in 1835, was district attorney of the fourth judicial district for several years from 1839, and in 1861 refused to favor seccession. He was a member of the Mississippi con.stitutional convention of 1865, and a Republican representative to the .39th congress in the same year, but was denied his seat because Mississippi was not a reconstructed state. He was judge of the su- preme court of Mississippi, 1868-70, and chief justice, 1870-75. He lost his fortune, estimated at about -SIOO.OOO. by the failureof the banks, and was left dce|)ly in debt, which debt he fully paid. He died in Jackson. Miss., Sept. 5, 1876.
PEYTON, John Howe, lawyer, wa-s born in Stafford county, Va., April 29, 1778; son of John Rowze and Ann (Howe) Peyton; grandson of John and Elizabeth (Rowze) Peyton, and of How- son and Mary (Dade) Howe, and a descendant of
Henry (of London) and Ellen (Partington) Pey-
ton who settled in Westmoreland county, Va.
He was graduated from the College of New
Jersey, A.B., 1797, A.M., 1800; was a law student
in the office of Bushrod Washington, and was
admitted to practice in 1799. He married Ann
Montgomery, daughter of Maj. John and Mary
(Preston) Lewis. He represented Stafford county
in the Virginia assembly, 1806-10; was prosecut-
ing attorney for the Augusta district, 1809-10:
major on the staff of General Porterfield in the
war of 1812; mayor of Staunton, 1815; deputy
U.S. attorney for the western district of Virgina,
1815-36; refused a nomination for representative
to the 17th congress in 1820, and a U.S. judgeship
in 1824; served as state senator, 1836-44; as
trustee of Washington college, 1832-46; as visitor
to the U.S. Military academy, 1840, writing the
report of the board, and as president of the
board of directors of the Western Virginia
Lunatic asylum, 1837-47. He is the author of:
Resolutions upon the attitude of Pennsylvania
with reference to an Amendment to the Constitu-
tion of the United States, providing a tribunal for
settling disputes beticeen the State and Federal
judiciary, pronounced by Daniel Webster as
conclusive and admitting of no further discussion.
He died in Staunton, Va., April 27, 1847.
PEYTON, John Lewis, author, was born in Staunton, Va., Sept. 15, 1824; son of John Howe (q.v.) and Ann Montgomery (Lewis) Peyton. He was graduated at the University of Virginia, LL.B. in 1845; was in Europe on official business connected with the state department of Secretary Webster, 1852-53; resided in Chicago, 111., 1853- 55, and there served as major of the 1st Chicago regiment, and as lieutenant-colonel of the 18th battalion of the National Guards. He declined the office of U.S. district attorney of Utah, offered by President Pierce in 1855, returned to Virginia that year, and was made magistrate, bank director, and member of the board of visitors of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind institution at Staunton. He was married, Dec. 17, 1855, to Henrietta E. Clark, daughter of Col. John C. and Mary (Bond) Washington of Lenoir count}', N.C. He recruited and drilled troops for the Confederate army in 1861; was appointed agent of the state of North Carolina in Europe, and remained abroad, 1862-76. He was made a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London; of the Society of American i.sts of Luxembourg, Prussia; an honorary meniiier of the Reform club, London, and a corresponding member of the Virginia and Wisconsin Historical societies. He was entertained by Napoleon HL in the Tuileries and had audience with Cardinal Anto- nelli in the Palace of the Vatican. He edited Dauenhower's Journal, while in Chicago, con-
