Peleg Whitman Chandler (April 12, 1816 – May 28, 1889) was an American lawyer, legal news reporter and editor, Boston's city attorney (

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

), and a two-term state legislator in the Massachusetts General Court. As City Solicitor, Chandler defended Boston's exclusion of African American students from its public schools in the legal case of ''

Roberts v. City of Boston ''Roberts v. Boston'', Case citation, 59 Mass. (5 Cush.) 198 (1850), was a court case seeking to end racial discrimination in Boston public schools. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of Boston, finding no constitutional basi ...

''.

Life

Chandler's father and grandfather were also named Peleg Chandler; his mother was Esther Parsons Chandler. Born in New Gloucester, Maine, he studied at

Bangor Theological Seminary Bangor Theological Seminary was an ecumenical seminary, founded in 1814, in the Congregational tradition of the United Church of Christ. Located in Bangor, Maine, and Portland, Maine, it was the only accredited graduate school of religion in Nor ...

and received his degree from

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

in 1834. He studied law with his father, in the law office of Theophilus Parsons, and at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. Chandler was admitted to the

Massachusetts Bar Association The Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) is a voluntary, non-profit bar association in Massachusetts with a headquarters on West Street in Boston's Downtown Crossing. The MBA also has a Western Massachusetts office. The purpose of the MBA is t ...

in 1837, in which year he also married Martha Ann Bush, with whom he went on to have four children.Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums-Peleg W. Chandler Gilded Age Collections, Biographical Sketch
/ref> Chandler practiced law in Boston, contributed law reports to the '' Boston Daily Advertiser'' and also founded the ''Law Reporter'' journal, which was the first magazine on law to be successful in the US. He served on the Boston City Council from 1843 to 1845 and in the Massachusetts Governor's Council in 1850. He was also a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 1844-1845 and 1862-1863. In 1850, as City Solicitor, Chandler defended Boston's exclusion of African American students from its public schools in the legal case of ''Roberts v. City of Boston''. Chandler died at his Boston home from heart failure, after a long illness, on May 28, 1889.

Publications

Among Chandler's published writings are: * * * * * *

Legacy

In 1872, Chandler funded the refurbishment of Massachusetts Hall, Bowdoin College according to designs by

A. C. Martin A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

. The works included removal of a staircase, the creation of a first-floor recitation room and space to house the Cleaveland Cabinet of mineral and natural history specimens. Cleaveland was his father-in-law. Chandler's papers are kept several institutions including the Phillips Library,

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...

, the Hayes Presidential Center, and the Bowdoin College Library.

References

External links

*Reviews of ''American Criminal Trials'' in:
''North American Review''

''The American Jurist''

''The Law Magazine and Review''

''The Christian Examiner and General Review''

''The Pioneer: A Literary and Critical Magazine'' (p. 46)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Peleg 1816 births 1889 deaths People from New Gloucester, Maine Lawyers from Boston Politicians from Boston Journalists from Massachusetts Bowdoin College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Presidents of the Boston Common Council Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council Writers from Boston Writers from Maine 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers