Wheeler Hazard Peckham
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Wheeler Hazard Peckham (January 1, 1833 – September 27, 1905) was an American lawyer from New York and an unsuccessful nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States.


Early life

Peckham was born in
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...
, on New Year's Day, 1833 to Rufus Wheeler Peckham and Isabella Adoline; his mother died when he was 15. He was educated at
The Albany Academy The Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school for boys in Albany, New York, USA, enrolling students from Preschool (age 3) to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Renssela ...
and at his father's alma mater,
Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
, where he joined The Kappa Alpha Society before leaving early due to poor health. Peckham studied law at his father's partnership with Lyman Tremain and was also among the first students to attend
Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...
. Peckham then left New York to practice in the northwestern United States, where he became what the ''New York Times'' called "one of the best known attorneys in that part of the country."''Wheeler H. Peckham's Career: An Upright and Able Lawyer Who Has Served the Public Well.'' ''New York Times'', January 23, 1894.


Legal practice

Poor health caused him to return to New York City in 1867, where he established the firm of Miller & Peckham and gained fame first as a constitutional lawyer, and later as a special prosecutor for the State. He was involved in the unsuccessful prosecution of Mayor
A. Oakey Hall Abraham Oakey Hall (July 26, 1826 – October 7, 1898) was an American politician, lawyer, and writer. He served as Mayor of New York from 1869 to 1872 as a Democrat. Hall, known as "Elegant Oakey", was a model of serenity and respectability. ...
in 1872, and also prosecuted former
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
leader "Boss" Tweed with Tremain in 1873. Peckham again represented the State against Tweed in 1876, when he won a $6 million verdict in a civil fraud suit. Championed by his brother and businessman Daniel Manning, Peckham was appointed by Governor
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
as
New York County District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ...
on November 30, 1883, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
John McKeon John McKeon (March 29, 1808, Albany, New York – November 22, 1883, New York City) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. From 1835 to 1837, and 1841 to 1843, he served two non-consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representativ ...
, despite pressure from a barrage of applicants. However, Peckham tendered his resignation a mere eight days after taking the oath of office, citing ill health. He then returned to private practice in the Wall Street offices of Miller, Peckham & Dixon, where he focused primarily on civil practice. Peckham also served as the President of the New York City Bar Association from 1892 to 1894.


Nomination to U.S. Supreme Court

In 1894, Cleveland, who was then in his nonconsecutive second term as
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, nominated Peckham to replace Samuel Blatchford on the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the nomination was caught in the middle of a political tug-of-war between Cleveland and New York Senator
David B. Hill David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891 and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1892 to 1897. In 1892, he made an u ...
, and Wheeler became the second nominee of Cleveland that Hill managed to block, by a vote of 32-41 on February 16, 1894. Senator
Edward Douglass White Edward Douglass White Jr. (November 3, 1844 – May 19, 1921) was an American politician and jurist from Louisiana. White was a U.S. Supreme Court justice for 27 years, first as an associate justice from 1894 to 1910, then as the ninth chief ...
was instead confirmed to the Court. By the time another seat on the Court was vacant after the death of Howell E. Jackson in 1895, Hill had been weakened politically, and Cleveland turned to Wheeler's brother,
Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin '' rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician * Rufus ...
, who was confirmed within six days.


Social role

Peckham was one of the most famed New York City lawyers of his time, and an active participant in New York City politics and society. He presided over social events as a member and president of the City Club, and he advocated for reform of "municipal degradation:"
The issue is simply one of men. You cannot remedy matters by law nor by system, you have got to remedy it by the simple expedient of turning out the maladministrators and putting in their places men who are honest and capable. We must organize a power that will overcome present conditions and put in office men who are capable and aggressively so. Vice, that has awakened such an outburst of public opinion, is but one of the things that must go.''New York Times'', January 5, 1901
mdash;account of dinner talk on "The Causes of Our Present Municipal Degradation," presided over by Wheeler Peckham.
Samuel Clemens Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
was among the notable guests.


Family

His father, Rufus Wheeler Peckham, was also a lawyer, and a New York Court of Appeals judge and congressman. His brother, also named Rufus Wheeler Peckham, was also a New York lawyer, state court judge, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice.


Legacy

Peckham is buried in the Peckham family plot at
Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical A ...
, along with his wife, Annie Aertsen Keasbey (1826,
Salem, New Jersey Salem is a city in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the city's population was 5,146,
– October 30, 1916), whom he married in 1855. His father, who was lost at sea, also has a
cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
there.


References


Sources


''The History Box: Brief Sketches on Important Men of New York City''
from ''Celebrated Trials'' by Henry Lauren Clinton, 1897. *Many of the family names and dates were found at the Peckham family plot at Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 11, Lot 19. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peckham, Wheeler Hazard 1833 births 1905 deaths Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery New York County District Attorneys New York (state) lawyers Lawyers from Albany, New York Presidents of the New York City Bar Association Union College (New York) alumni Unsuccessful nominees to the United States Supreme Court The Albany Academy alumni 19th-century American judges