Ebenezer Peck

Ebenezer Peck
From the March 1896 edition of McClure's Magazine
Judge of the Court of Claims
In office March 10, 1863 – May 1, 1878
Appointed by	Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	Seat established by 12 Stat. 765
Succeeded by	William H. Hunt
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 57th district
In office 1858–1860 Serving with Caspar Butz
Preceded by	Isaac N. Arnold A.F.C. Mueller
Succeeded by	Solomon M. Wilson Homer Wilmarth
Member of the Illinois Senate
In office 1838–1839
Succeeded by	James Hutchinson Woodworth
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
In office 1829–1834
Personal details
Born	Ebenezer Peck (1805-05-22)May 22, 1805 Portland, District of Maine
Died	May 25, 1881(1881-05-25) (aged 76) Chicago, Illinois, US
Political party	Democratic (until 1853) Republican (from 1856)
Education	read law

Ebenezer Peck (May 22, 1805 – May 25, 1881) was an attorney and politician in the United States and Lower Canada and a judge of the Court of Claims.

Education and career

Born on May 22, 1805, in Portland, District of Maine (then part of Massachusetts), Peck read law in Montreal, Lower Canada (now Quebec), British North America in 1827. He entered private practice in Stanstead and Sherbrooke, Lower Canada from 1827 to 1833. He was King's counsel for Lower Canada in 1833. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1829 to 1834. He moved to Illinois in 1835. He was an internal improvement commissioner for Chicago, Illinois in 1837. He was a member of the Illinois Senate from 1838 to 1839. He was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1840 to 1842, and from 1858 to 1860. He was a member of the Democratic Party until 1853, but his anti-slavery views led him to leave that party in 1853, and by 1856, he was assisting in establishing the Republican Party in Illinois. He was clerk for the Illinois Supreme Court from 1841 to 1848. He was in private practice in Chicago from 1846 to 1863. He was publisher and editor of The Argus in Chicago in 1850. He was reporter for the Illinois Supreme Court from 1849 to 1863.

Ebenezer Peck; painting by Healy, 1864

Federal judicial service

Peck was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln on March 6, 1863, to the Court of Claims (later the United States Court of Claims), to a new seat authorized by 12 Stat. 765. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 10, 1863, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on May 1, 1878, due to his resignation.

Death

Peck died on May 25, 1881, in Chicago.