Peleg Arnold
Peleg Arnold | |
---|---|
Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court | |
In office June 1795 – June 1809 | |
Preceded by | Daniel Owen |
Succeeded by | Thomas Arnold |
In office 1810–1812 | |
Preceded by | Thomas Arnold |
Succeeded by | Daniel Lyman |
Personal details | |
Born | June 10, 1751 Smithfield, Rhode Island |
Died | 1820 |
Parent(s) | Thomas Arnold and Patience Cook |
Alma mater | Brown University |
Occupation | Lawyer, tavernkeeper, chief justice |
Peleg Arnold (1751–1820) was a lawyer, tavern-keeper, jurist, and statesman from Smithfield, Rhode Island (now North Smithfield). He represented Rhode Island as a delegate to the Continental Congress in the 1787–1788 session. He later served as the chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from June 1795 to June 1809, and from May 1810 to May 1812.[1]
Personal life
Arnold was born on June 10, 1751, at Smithfield (now North Smithfield), the ninth of the fifteen children of Thomas Arnold. His mother was Patience Cook of Newport who was Thomas' third wife. After starting in the common schools, he graduated from Brown University in Providence. Like many of his generation he prospered in a number of careers at the same time, and combined these with a government service and civic efforts.
Arnold
Arnold built his home in Union Village, which is now part of North Smithfield. During the Revolutionary War he was the colonel of the 2nd regiment of the Providence County Militia.
When the need for additional troops led to the re-formation of the 1st Rhode Island regiment of the Continental Line in 1778, Arnold was one of the proponents for the idea of using a bounty and freedom to encourage the enlistment of blacks. He continued this interest after the war when in 1790 he founded the Providence Society for the Abolition of Slavery.
Arnold's concern for his community is also evidenced by the creation of the Smithfield Union Bank in 1803. He was the bank's first President, and it first conducted business from his home in Union. beginning in 1810, he served as president of a local preparatory school, the Smithfield Academy. Arnold died at Smithfield on February 13, 1820, and is buried in the Union Cemetery in today's North Smithfield. According to one source, "[t]owards the close of his life Judge Peleg was widely known, not only as an extensive dealer in, but an ardent lover of, New England Rum."[2]
Political career
Arnold was first elected to Rhode Island's governing body, the
Arnold made two unsuccessful attempts to win a seat in the United States House of Representatives. In the election of 1794, he ran against the incumbent Benjamin Bourne as an Anti-Federalist (Country Party) candidate. When Bourne resigned in 1796, he ran in the special election to finish the incomplete term, this time as a member of the Republican Party, and lost to Elisha Reynolds Potter.
In 1795 Arnold was named the chief justice of Rhode Island's Superior Court of Judicature,
See also
- Peleg Arnold House
References
- ^ Manual - the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1891), p. 208-13.
- OCLC 1727747. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
External links
- United States Congress. "Peleg Arnold (id: A000293)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.