Letters on Agriculture from His Excellency, George Washington, President of the United States, to Arthur Young, Esq., F.R.S., and Sir John Sinclair, ... Jefferson, Richard Peters, and Other...
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Address Delivered Before the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Richard Peters Jr. was an American lawyer, jurist, farmer and politician.
Background
He was born on June 22, 1744 at "Belmont, " the family home, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, son of William Peters and his second wife, Mary Breintnall.
His father, an elder brother of the Rev. Richard Peters, was a lawyer, was born in England, and came to Pennsylvania some time prior to 1739. He was register of admiralty (1744 - 71) and judge of the court of common pleas, quarter sessions and orphans court. In his youth Richard was greatly influenced by his uncle from whom he acquired a thorough knowledge of the classics and of whom he later wrote: "I was his adopted son and constant companion. With no man have I ever enjoyed more pleasure, or solid instruction, or delight". At his uncle's home he met Washington, George Whitefield, and other prominent men.
Education
He attended the Philadelphia Academy and graduated from the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, in 1761. Ambitious to follow the profession of his father, he then studied law.
Career
He was admitted to the bar in 1763, and soon acquired a successful practice. He was a commissioner to the Indian conference at Fort Stanwix (1768) and from 1771 to 1776 was register of admiralty. Although previously associated with the proprietaries, at the outbreak of the Revolution Peters aligned himself with the Whigs and in May 1775 was chosen captain of militia. His military career, however, was short-lived.
On June 13, 1776, Congress elected him secretary of the board of war of which he became a full-fledged member on November 27, 1777. Much of the drudgery of the board's work fell upon him and after the summer of 1780 he seems to have managed the war office alone. He was particularly diligent in exposing the peculations of Benedict Arnold and in the latter part of the war in raising money and provisions for the army. He resigned from the board in December 1781 when a single-headed department of war was inaugurated. In 1782, he was elected to Congress for one year.
He traveled in Europe in 1785, and while in England was instrumental in obtaining the ordination of three bishops for the Episcopal Church in America. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly (1787 - 90), serving as speaker the last two years, and of the state Senate (1791 - 92), serving as speaker there also. When the new federal government was organized he was tendered the appointment of comptroller of treasury but declined the post.
On April 11, 1792, Peters was commissioned judge of the United States district court of Pennsylvania. He held this office for the remainder of his life. He published Admiralty Decisions in the District Court of the United States for the Pennsylvania District, 1780-1807 (1807).
Peters was also a practical farmer. The "Memoirs" of the Philadelphia society for the promotion of agriculture, of which he was the first president, contain more than one hundred papers by him on the subject Ïf agriculture. On his estate he experimented with new agricultural methods, with different breeds of sheep and cattle, with dairy products, and continually exchanged ideas with Washington and his other farmer friends.
His estate, "Belmont, " inherited from his father, and standing high on the west bank of the Schuylkill, was the scene of frequent visits by his large circle of prominent friends. From 1788 to 1791 he was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania.
He died in 1828.
Achievements
Richard Peters Jr. was well-known as judge of the United States district court of Pennsylvania. His opinion (United States vs. Worrall, April 1798) that there was a common law of the United States from which the federal courts acquired a jurisdiction over crimes in addition to that bestowed by federal statute was the basis for prosecutions for libel against the federal government by the Federalists prior to the passage of the sedition law (1798). He was the author of the influencial work Admiralty Decisions in the District Court of the United States for the Pennsylvania District. Besides, as a sucessful farmer Peters experimented with new agricultural methods. His work Agricultural Enquiries on Plaister of Paris (1797) exercised a wide influence in introducing the culture of clover and other grasses.
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Views
He stressed the need for scientific farming, urged the use of plaster of Paris and other fertilizers, the growth of clover, scientific drainage, premiums for excellence in production, and a state-planned system of roads and canals to give a "more elastic spring" to agriculture.
Personality
Peters was a brilliant conversationalist, noted for his witticisms, and beloved by his friends for his kindliness and sympathetic feeling. Both in public and private matters he was punctual, painstaking, and patient.
Quotes from others about the person
Justice Joseph Story declared himself indebted to Peters "for his rich contributions to the maritime jurisprudence of our country".
Connections
His wife was Sarah Robinson, whom he married in August 1776 and by whom he had six children. Richard Peters, 1810-1889, was a grandson. Peters' son Richard (1779 - 1848) succeeded Henry Wheaton as reporter for the United States Supreme Court and compiled the Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of the United States.
