OBITUAEIES, AMERICAN. 



687 



was bestowed by tbe dwarf upon his brother, 

 the " Major." After being for many years 

 faithful to an early love, the little man mar- 

 ried, two years before his death, a lady in 

 Redwood City, California. 



PALFREY, JOHN GORHAM, was born May 2, 

 1796 ; died April 26, 1881, in Cambridge, Mas- 

 sachusetts. He was a grandson of William 

 Palfrey, who was paymaster-general in the 

 Revolutionary army, and served as aide-de-camp 

 to Washington on the occupation of Dorches- 

 ter. The future historian of New England re- 

 ceived his elementary education at a boarding- 

 school kept by Mr. William Payne, the father 

 of John Howard Payne, and entered Harvard 

 University in the class of 1815. Jared Sparks 

 and Theophilus Parsons were among his class- 

 mates. Mr. Palfrey devoted himself to the- 

 ology, and in 1818 was ordained pastor of the 

 Brattle Square Church, Edward Everett having 

 preceded him. His pastorate continued about 

 thirteen years, and was resigned in 1831, when 

 he accepted the appointment as Dexter Pro- 

 fessor of Sacred Literature in Harvard Uni- 

 versity. While filling this position he became 

 editor of the " North American Review," as a 

 means of adding to an income insufficient for 

 the wants of his family. Besides these duties 

 of professor and editor, he was one of three 

 preachers in the university chapel, and dean 

 of the theological faculty. He also undertook 

 a work on the Hebrew Scriptures, and engaged 

 to deliver and print courses of lectures for the 

 Lowell Institute. These he delivered during 

 the winters of 1839-'42. This stress of com- 

 bined labors so impaired his health that he was 

 compelled to resign the professorship. He 

 then became a resident of Boston, devoting 

 himself to his studies, the management of the 

 "Review," and the publication of his Lowell 

 lectures. In 1841 he was elected Representa- 

 tive to the Massachusetts Legislature, and was a 

 member during the sessions of 1842- '43, serv- 

 ing as chairman of the Committee on Educa- 

 tion. In 1843 he disposed of his interest in 

 the " North American Review," and became 

 a candidate for the position of Secretary of 

 the Commonwealth, to which office he was 

 elected by the Legislature in January, 1844; 

 his incumbency continued four years. Although 

 he was in 1842 a delegate to the Whig State 

 Convention, and had made several speeches in 

 the presidential campaign of 1844, Mr. Palfrey 

 did not enter the field of politics with great 

 activity until the autumn of 1845. He then 

 became interested in the anti-slavery question ; 

 and during the summer of 1846 contributed to 

 the Boston "Whig," of which Mr. Charles 

 Francis Adams had just assumed the editorship, 

 a series of twenty-six articles "Papers on the 

 Slave Power." These attracted much atten- 

 tion, and were afterward published in pamphlet 

 form. Early in life Mr. Palfrey had manifested 

 the very decided views which he entertained 

 in regard to slavery, by emancipating certain 

 slaves in Louisiana which he had inherited. 



In the autumn of 1846 he was solicited to be- 

 come a candidate for Congress as successor to 

 Benjamin Thompson. Mr. Palfrey was elected 

 on the second trial, and served from December 

 6, 1847, to March 3, 1849. In the election of 

 1848 he ran as a Free-Soil candidate, but was 

 defeated. This contest was a remarkable one, 

 and contributed to form the coalition by 

 which Charles Sumner was sent to the United 

 States Senate. Mr. Palfrey did not again enter 

 public life until 1861. Abraham Lincoln was 

 then President of the United States, and the 

 party in power was that which Mr. Palfrey, 

 with Charles Francis Adams, Horace Mann, 

 Charles Sumner, and others of their class had 

 assisted to form. Through Mr. Sumner's in- 

 fluence the position of Postmaster of Boston 

 was given to Mr. Palfrey, on March 29, 1861, 

 which he continued to hold until May, 1867. 

 After his retirement he went to Europe, where 

 he represented the United States at the Anti- 

 slavery Congress, held in Paris in the autumn 

 of 1867. Returning to America, he made his 

 residence in Cambridge. The literary career 

 of Mr. Palfrey has been, notwithstanding his 

 industry as a writer, signalized by only one 

 important work his " History of New Eng- 

 land." His publications consist chiefly of lect- 

 ures and discourses. His "History of New 

 England " was planned after his retirement 

 from Congress, and is still incomplete, the 

 period preceding the Revolution being merely 

 sketched. The large edition published (1858- 

 '64) is in three volumes, and ends with 1689. 

 The compendious history published (1866-'78) 

 is in four volumes, and ends with 1766. Mr. 

 Palfrey published also a " History of Brattle 

 Square Church," and a " Life of Colonel "Wil- 

 liam Palfrey." 



PECK, EBENEZER, died May 25, 1881, in Chi- 

 cago. He was at one time a member of the 

 Legislature of Lower Canada, and came to 

 the United States about the year 1840. The 

 most intimate relations of friendship subsist- 

 ed for many years between Judge Peck aud 

 Abraham Lincoln, by whom he was appointed 

 Judge of the Court of Claims, an office which 

 he held for some time. It is said that no other 

 man possessed the confidence of President 

 Lincoln to so full an extent. 



RACE, GEOROK W., born in Cleveland, Ohio, 

 in 1814; died June 17, 1881, in New Orleans. 

 Mr. Race arrived in Louisiana in 1840, and 

 settled in Jackson, where he followed the busi- 

 ness of carpenter and builder. While plying 

 this trade by day, he made the money to at- 

 tend the Centenary College at night. In tl.U 

 institute he studied with Judge E. T. Merrick 

 and William H. Foster. The former was then 

 learning the cabinet-maker'8 trade, while Mr. 

 Foster was a dry-goods clerk. In college the 

 three friends became intimate, and in 1845 

 Mr. Race and Mr. Foster passed an examina- 

 tion in law before the Supreme Conrt and 

 were admitted to practice. In 1847 Race and 

 Foster formed a partnership, and soon estab- 



