MBHJB8 PKTKKHtURG. 



Spt 7, 1806. In 1 S2f. IIP wa employed at the Alton* lisbed 18 volumes of Report*, besides condensations and 

 " ' digest*. 



KllS, SAMIKI ANDREW (1735-1826), <i.m- 

 in. .nly known as " 1 'arson IVt.rs," was born at He 



8t*archfs in regard t<> tin- motion of the fixed stars bron. Conn.. IVc. VI, I7.;.">. He was a grandncphcw 

 obuinfd lor him iulini.-.-ion to the St. Petersburg of Hugh I'ti-i- < 'rmiiwell's chaplain, for whom see 

 Academy. These investigations he continued to the the BMCTCLOPJKDU HKITAXNICA. He graduated at 



Yale College ill IT.'i". went to Europe ana took orders 

 in the Church of England in 17'.o. Returning to 

 Connecticut lie liail charge of churches at llartli.nl 



.HIM! in 1833 was made aMMtantat the Ham- 



burc < M.^Tvatory. In IS.'I'.i he t">k a similar jMisition 

 IT St. Petersburg His valuable re 



.nl 



of his lite. In 1>I'J he was made professor at 

 Kbuigsberg and in ls">4 director of the Altona Observ- 

 atory. Here also he became editor of the Attrono- 

 muchr X<irliri<liti-n. of which 58 volumes appeared 

 under his direction. In 1872 the observatory was re- 

 moved to Kid. win ie Peters was made also professor 

 in the university. Here he died May 8, 1880. 



PKTERS. CHRISTIAN HUSKY FREDERICK, astron- 

 omer, was bom at Coldenbiittel. Schleswig, Sept. 9, 

 1813. After, graduating at the University of Berlin he 

 was employed in astronomical work at Copenhagen and 

 Gottingen. In ISiiS he set out on scientific explora- 

 tions which extended from Sicily to Palestine. In 

 1843 he was made a.-tivnomer at Naples, but having 

 taken part in the revolutionary movement of 1848 he 

 afterwards went to Constantinople. After the Crimean 

 war he removed to the United States and was for a 

 time connected with the Coast Survey. In 1858 he 

 was made professor of mathematics and astronomy at 

 Hamilton College, at Clinton, N. Y. ; where he took 

 charge of the observatory, now called Li tch field Observ- 

 atory. Some of his labors here have been noted 

 under HAMILTON COLLEGE, to whose reputation he 

 has greatly contributed. He also was prominent in the 

 observation of the total solar eclipse of Aug. 7, 1869, 

 at Des Moines, and had charge of the expedition sent 

 to New Zealand by the U. S. government to observe 

 the transit of Venus, Dec. 9, 1874. Owing to his skil- 

 ful management his party was the only one which had 

 entire success, having secured 237 photographs of the 

 transit. He is widely known as a discoverer of as- 

 teroids. 



His brother, WILHELH KARL HARTWIG PETERS 

 (1815-1883), noted as a traveller and zoologist, was 

 born at Coldenbiittel, April 22, 1815. After studying 

 medicine at Copenhagen ami Berlin, he first investi- 

 gated the fauna of the Mediterranean, and was ap- 

 pointed assistant to the Anatomical Institute at Berlin. 

 In 1S42 he went to Lisbon, and then undertook a scien- 

 tific exploration of the Portuguese possessions in 

 Africa. Returning to Berlin in 1848 he was made 

 prosector, afterwards professor extraordinary and in 

 1857 professor of zoology and director of the zoologi- 

 cal collections. Under his care these were raised to 

 the first rank. His chief work is Natwrwastnschaft- 

 liehe Rei*e nach Mozambique (5 vols., 1852-68). His 

 contributions to comparative anatomy, philology, and 

 the natural sciences were valuable. He died at Ber- 

 lin. April 20, 1883. 



PETERS, RICHARD (1744-1828), jurist, was born 

 near Philadelphia June 22, 1744. 1 1 is father. Wil 

 liam Peters, held several judicial offices. The son 

 graduated at what is now tne University of Pennsyl- 

 vania in 1761, and was admitted to the bar in 1763. 

 He commanded a company of provincial troops in 1775, 

 and was made secretary of the Congressional Board of 

 War in 1776. He detected ai.d exposed Benedict 

 Arnold's embezzlement of funds while in command at 

 Philadelphia. In 1781 Peters resigned from the 

 Board of War and was soon elected to Conirr. 

 was afterwards speaker of the Pennsylvania A.-scmhly 

 and of the State Senate. In 1785 he vi-iicd I 

 and assisted in securing the act of succession for the 

 bishops of the Protc-tant Episcopal Church in 

 America. In 1792 he was made judge of the U. S. Dis- 

 trict Court of Pennsylvania and held this office till his 

 death. Aug. 22, Is'jx. He was. noted as a wit and was 

 a practical farmer. His country-seal at Bcltuont is 

 now included in Fairmount Park. Philadelphia. 



His son. RICHARD PETERS 07 HI HI 848), was reporter 

 of the U. S. Supreme Court for many years and pub- 



and Hebron. During the agitation which preceded 

 the revolution Pciei> ..Mended his neighbors by the 

 political letters he .-ent to England and New York. In 

 1774 he was rudely driven out and went to Boston and 

 thence to England. His satirical (Iwnil Uistnri/ nf 

 ii-iil (London, 17SI) provoked loud remon- 

 strance in that State. It has U en republished several 

 tiiiu.- and even defended as a sober history (see M.- 

 Cormick's edition, N. Y.. IN77), though it seems more 

 like the. after-dinner talk of a spiteful humorist. It is 

 the chief authority for the current fiction about the 

 Connecticut. Blue Laws. (Sec I in K LAWS.) In 17U4 

 Peters was chosen bishop of Vermont, accepted the 

 office and wrote an cpi.-copal letter to tho churches, 

 but was refused consecration by the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury. He returned to America in I.MI'I and 

 published a Hixt'uy nf tl- AVr. llut/h fiteri (18U7), 

 in which vanity, family pride, and his customary 

 recklessness in regard to facts are strangely blended. 

 At the age of eighty he made a journey to .Minnesota 

 to prosecute some land claims. He died in New York 

 city, April 19, lS2ii. 



PETERSBURG, a city of Virginia, in Dinwiddie 

 county, is on the. S. bank of the Appomattox River, 

 23 miles S. of Richmond. The falls of the river near 

 by mark the head of tidewater and navigation, though 

 flat boats are used above. Large vessels receive cargoes 

 of tobacco at City Point at the mouth of the Appo- 

 mattox, TJ miles below. Two railroads connect the 

 city with Richmond, Norfolk, and other places. Pe- 

 tersburg has a court-house, government building (in- 

 cluding custom house and post-office). 6 banks be 

 .vings banks, a daily and 3 weekly newspapers, 

 25 churches, several schools, both public and private, 

 a theatre, and 2 public libraries. Its industrial works 

 comprise foundries, cotton- and flour-mills, and tobacco- 

 factories. The city is well built and has good natural 

 drainage. It is lighted with gas and has water works 

 and a fine park. The town was laid out in 17:'.:! by 

 Col. William Byrd and was incorporated in 17 Is. 

 During the revolutionary war it was twice occupied 

 by British troops. During the second war with < ireat 

 Britain it obtained the name "Cockade City," from 

 (he ardor of its volunteers. In the war of secession 

 it attained still greater prominence, as it was the last 

 stronghold of the Southern Confederacy. After the 

 various attempts to reach Richmond from the north 

 and east had failed, Gen. (!rant, iust after the battle 

 of Cold Harbor (q. v.Y determined to seize Petersburg. 

 On .June 12. isr>4. the army id' the Potomac cms- ed 

 the James River below City Point, but the attack on 

 the works was delayed until the 15th. (Jen. \V. F. 

 Smith then succeeded in capturing some redans, and 

 on the next day Generals Hancock and Meadc cap 

 tu red more. But Gen. JJcaun ijard. in command of 

 the Confederates, maintained hi.- hold of the city anil 

 strengthened its inner line of defences. The army of 

 the Potomac now invested the city and the Wddon 

 Railroad was torn up by cavalry. On June _ > ">th Gen. 

 Piimiside. at the MiL'L'esiion of Col. Pleasant*, whose 

 regiment w;is composed of Pennsylvania miners, au- 

 thorized the construction of a mine under the enemy's 

 works. The mine was ready July 2:M, but the explo- 

 sion was delayed until "> A. M. on .Inly ;!i>. when it 

 made a crater ItMlft. long and 20 ft. deep. The I nion 

 batteries b.-.in a vigorous cannonade and a divi.-ion 

 prompt Iv entered the crater, but its cowardly ecu, 

 mandcr left the troops to themselves, and most ot their 



