Winfield Scott Peters (May 25, 1861 – July 20, 1919) was an American lawyer and politician who served as District Attorney of Essex County, Massachusetts from 1899 to 1911.

Early life

Peters was born in

Porter, Maine Porter is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. It is included in the Portland- South Portland-Biddeford, Maine metropolitan New England City and Town Area. Porter includes Porter village and part of Kezar Falls. The population was 1,60 ...

. His family moved to

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

when he was 14 years old. He graduated from

Haverhill High School Haverhill High School (HHS) is a public high school in Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Haverhill Public Schools district and is open enrollment. History At least three buildings have served as Haverhill High School. ...

and the

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

Public service

Peters was elected Haverhill city solicitor in 1894. In 1898 he was elected district attorney of Essex County. In 1901, Peters, Massachusetts Attorney General Hosea M. Knowlton, and Assistant District Attorney Roland H. Sherman prosecuted John C. Best for the murder of George E. Bailey. Best was found guilty of murder in the first degree. Peters was unable to run for reelection in 1910 due to term-limits, so he ran for the 4th Essex District seat in the Massachusetts Senate. He lost the Republican nomination to incumbent Arthur L. Nason. The main issue in the campaign was 1910–11 United States Senate elections, that year's United States Senate election. Nason supported Butler Ames and Peters backed Henry Cabot Lodge.

Private practice

In 1905, Peters was retained by two cousins of Stephen Salisbury III who sought to contest his will. Salisbury left the bulk of his estate to the Worcester Art Museum and the cousins were two of the five blood relatives not mentioned in Salisbury's will. Peters represented Jessie M. Chapman, who was arrested for killing her neighbor and former friend, Eva F. Ingalls. On May 15, 1913, Chapman pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree. He defended Arturo Giovannitti, a leader of the 1912 Lawrence textile strike who was charged with the murder of Anna LoPizzo, a striker who was killed in the protest. Giovannitti and co-defendants Joseph James Ettor and Joseph Caruso were found not guilty. In 1913 he was counsel for Charles L. Eaton, who was charged with manslaughter in the shooting of Michael Bernstein. The case ended in a mistrial when the hung jury, jury was unable to reach a verdict. In 1916, Peters defended Haverhill mayor Albert L. Bartlett and aldermen Roswell L. Wood, Albert E. Stickney, Charles M. Hoyt, and Christopher C. Cook, who were charged with failure to suppress an unlawful assembly after the Leyden riot. The jury returned not guilty verdicts on all of the charges against Hoyt and on one of the two charges against Bartlett. They were unable to come to an agreement on the charges against Cook, Wood, and Stickney. In 1919 Peters represented the Haverhill Shoe Manufacturers' Association in negotiations with the Shoe Workers' Protective Union, who were represented by Frederick Mansfield.

Death

Peters died suddenly on July 20, 1919, in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, W. Scott 1861 births 1919 deaths Boston University School of Law alumni District attorneys in Essex County, Massachusetts Massachusetts lawyers Massachusetts Republicans People from Oxford County, Maine Politicians from Haverhill, Massachusetts