Samuel Ritter Peters (August 16, 1842 – April 21, 1910) was a lawyer, newspaper editor, and

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

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Born in Walnut Township, near Circleville, Ohio, Peters attended the common schools and the

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

at Delaware. Enlisted in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

as a private in Company E, Seventy-third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in October 1861 and was mustered out in June 1865, having held successively the ranks of sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain. He was graduated in law from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1867. He was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Memphis, Missouri. He was editor of the Memphis Reveille from 1868 to 1873. He served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1872. He served as mayor of Memphis in 1873. He moved to

Marion, Kansas Marion is a city in, and the county seat of, Marion County, Kansas, United States. It was named in honor of Francis Marion, a brigadier general of the American Revolutionary War, known as the "Swamp Fox". As of the 2020 census, the population ...

, in 1873 and resumed the practice of law. Peters was elected a member of the

Kansas State Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members o ...

in 1874 and served until his resignation in March 1875. He was appointed and subsequently elected judge of the ninth judicial district and served from 1875 until 1883, when he resigned. He moved to

Newton, Kansas Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 18,602. Newton is located north of Wichita. The city of North Newton is located immediately north and e ...

, in 1876. Peters was elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1891). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1890. He resumed the practice of law in Newton. He served as member of the board of managers of the State reformatory 1895-1899.

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Newton 1898-1910. He was editor of the Newton Daily Kansas-Republican in 1899. He died in

on April 21, 1910. He was interred in Greenwood Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Samuel Ritter 1842 births 1910 deaths People from Pickaway County, Ohio Kansas state court judges Republican Party Kansas state senators People from Marion, Kansas Union Army officers University of Michigan Law School alumni Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas 19th-century American legislators People from Memphis, Missouri People from Newton, Kansas 19th-century American judges