Peter Godwin Van Winkle (September 7, 1808April 15, 1872) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician. For many years a leading officer of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad, he became one of the founders of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Early and family life

Born in New York City to an established family, Van Winkle completed preparatory studies, studied law, and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

. He married Juliet Rathbone, the eldest daughter of William Palmer Rathbone (1784 - 1862) and his wife Martha Ming Valleau Rathbone (1793 - 1846), an influential family in western Virginia who were developing the oil field at Burning Springs. Four years later, the Van Winkles had moved to

Parkersburg, Virginia Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metrop ...

(now West Virginia). They had three children who survived to adulthood before Julia Van Winkle's death: Rathbone Van Winkle (1834 - 1870), Godwin Van Winkle (1836 - 1883), and Mary Van Winkle Blackford (1838 - 1927).

Career

After further studies locally with lawyer and General John Jay Jackson Sr., Van Winkle began his legal practice in Parkersburg in 1835. He was president of the town

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

from 1844 until 1850. In 1850, Wood County voters also elected Van Winkle to represent at the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

State constitutional convention in 1850. He was treasurer and later president of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad Co. beginning in 1852 through the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

as discussed below. After Virginia seceded from the Union, much to the distress of many in its northwestern corner, Wood County voters elected Van Winkle to the second

Wheeling Convention The 1861 Wheeling Convention was an assembly of Virginia Southern Unionist delegates from the northwestern counties of Virginia, aimed at repealing the Ordinance of Secession, which had been approved by referendum, subject to a vote. The first ...

in 1861. He helped organize the

Restored Government of Virginia The Restored (or Reorganized) Government of Virginia was the Unionist government of Virginia during the American Civil War (1861–1865) in opposition to the government which had approved Virginia's seceding from the United States and joini ...

and also served in 1862 as an influential delegate to the convention which framed the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

of West Virginia. He was also elected to the first session of the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

in 1863. When West Virginia was admitted as a State into the Union, voters elected Van Winkle as a Unionist to the U.S. Senate, where he served from August 4, 1863, to March 3, 1869. While in the Senate, Van Winkle was chairman of the Committee on Pensions (Fortieth Congress). During President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

impeachment trial An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...

, Van Winkle broke party ranks, along with nine other Republican senators and voted for acquittal, defying their party and public opinion in voting against conviction (which failed by one vote). Seven of these Republican senators were disturbed by how the proceedings had been manipulated in order to give a one-sided presentation of the evidence. The other senators who voted against impeachment along with him were

James Dixon James Dixon (August 5, 1814 – March 27, 1873) was a United States representative and United States Senator, Senator from Connecticut. Biography Dixon, son of William & Mary (Field) Dixon, was born August 5, 1814 in Enfield, Connecticut, ...

James Rood Doolittle James Rood Doolittle (January 3, 1815July 27, 1897) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869. He was a strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln's administration during the ...

William Pitt Fessenden William Pitt Fessenden (October 16, 1806September 8, 1869) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. Fessenden was a Whig (later a Republican) and member of the Fessenden political family. He served in the United States House o ...

Joseph S. Fowler Joseph Smith Fowler (August 31, 1820April 1, 1902) was an American attorney and politician. As a resident of Tennessee, he was notable for his support of the Union during the American Civil War. Fowler served as state comptroller during the mili ...

James W. Grimes James Wilson Grimes (October 20, 1816 – February 7, 1872) was an American politician, serving as the third Governor of Iowa and a United States Senator from Iowa. Biography Born in Deering, New Hampshire, Grimes graduated from Hampton Acad ...

John B. Henderson John Brooks Henderson (November 16, 1826April 12, 1913) was a United States senator from Missouri and a co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For his role in the investigation of the Whiskey Ring, he was cons ...

Lyman Trumbull Lyman Trumbull (October 12, 1813 – June 25, 1896) was a lawyer, judge, and United States Senator from Illinois and the co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Trumbull esta ...

Daniel S. Norton Daniel Sheldon Norton (April 12, 1829July 13, 1870) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the Minnesota State Senate and as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Life and career Norton was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio to Daniel Sheldon and ...

, and

Edmund G. Ross Edmund Gibson Ross (December 7, 1826May 8, 1907) was a politician who represented Kansas after the American Civil War and was later governor of the New Mexico Territory. His vote against convicting President Andrew Johnson of "high crimes and ...

(the latter of whom provided the decisive vote). After the trial, Congressman

Benjamin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...

conducted hearings on the widespread reports that Republican senators had been bribed to vote for Johnson's acquittal. In Butler's hearings, and in subsequent inquiries, there was increasing evidence that some acquittal votes were acquired by promises of patronage jobs and cash cards.David O. Stewart, ''Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy'' (2009), pp. 240-249, 284-299. West Virginia Governor

Arthur Boreman Arthur Ingram Boreman (July 24, 1823April 19, 1896) was an American lawyer, politician and judge who helped found the U.S. state of West Virginia. Raised in Tyler County, West Virginia, he served as the state's first Governor, and a United Sta ...

was elected to succeed Van Winkle. Van Winkle also served as a delegate to the Southern Loyalist Convention at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1866.

Death and legacy

Van Winkle died in Parkersburg in 1872, survived by a son and daughter. He was buried beside his wife (whom he had survived by nearly three decades) in Riverview Cemetery.

Marshall Van Winkle Marshall Van Winkle (September 28, 1869 – May 10, 1957) was a U.S. Representative from New Jersey, grandnephew of Peter G. Van Winkle. Biography Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Van Winkle attended the public schools. He studied law. He was a ...

, Peter Van Winkle's

grandnephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

, was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in the Fifty-ninth Congress. His former home at Parkersburg, now known as the Peter G. Van Winkle House, is a contributing property in the

Julia-Ann Square Historic District The Julia-Ann Square Historic District, is a national historic district located at Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. It is to the west of the Avery Street Historic District. It encompasses all houses on Ann and Juliana Streets from Riverv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Winkle, Peter 1808 births 1872 deaths Politicians from New York City Godwin Family American people of Dutch descent Unconditional Union Party United States senators from West Virginia Republican Party United States senators from West Virginia West Virginia Unconditional Unionists Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Parkersburg, West Virginia Trustees of populated places in Virginia People of West Virginia in the American Civil War Delegates of the 1861 Wheeling Convention