OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (PERKINS Pico.) 



Perkins, Bishop W., lawyer, born in Rochester, Lorain 

 County, Ohio, Oct. 18, 1841; died in Washington, 

 D. ., June 20, 1894. He was educated in the public 

 schools and at Knox College, Galesburg, 111. ; enlisted 

 as a private in the 83d Illinois Infantry and became 

 judge advocate on the staffs of Gens. Gillem and 

 Steadman. He was admitted to the bar in Ottawa, 

 111., in 1867. In 1869 he removed to Oswego, Kan. ; 

 the same year was appointed attorney of Labette 

 County ; in 1870 and 1872 was elected probate judge ; 

 in 1873, 1874, and 1878 was elected judge of the llth 

 Judicial District of Kansas; in 1882, 1884, 1886, and 

 HSS was elected to Congress; and in 1890 was de- 

 feated for re-election. On the death of Preston B. 

 Plumb, United States Senator, in 1891, Mr. Perkins 

 was appointed to lill the vacancy, and he held the 

 office till January, 1893. After retiring from the 

 Senate Mr. Perkins practiced law in Washington. 



Peterson, Robert Evans, lawyer and physician, born 

 in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 12, 1812; died in Asbury 

 Park, X. J., Oct. 30, 1894. He was a brother of Henry 

 Peterson, the publisher, and was for some time a mem- 

 ber of the publishing firm of Childs & Peterson. He 

 practiced law but a short time, and in middle life 

 adopted the profession of medicine. His first wife, 

 Hannah Bouvier, who was the author of a text-book 

 on astronomy, died in 1870, and two years later he 

 married a sister of the noted pianist Gottschalk, and 

 not long after her death he married another sister. 

 He published a new edition of Judge Bouvier's edi- 

 tion of Bacon's " Abridgment of the Law " ; edited 

 Brewer's u Familiar Science " ; and was the author of 

 " The Roman Catholic Church not the Only True Re- 

 ligion ; not an Infallible Church" (1869). 



Phelps, "William Walter, diplomatist, born in New 

 York city, Aug. 24. 1839; died in Teaneck, Bergen 

 County, N. J., June 17, 1894. He was a great grand- 

 son of' William Phelps, a brother of Oliver Cromwell's 

 private secretary. His father was John Jay Phelps, a 

 successful importer of New York city, organizer of 

 the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 

 Company. The son was graduated at Yale College, 

 second in his class, in 1860, and at Columbia College 

 Law School, where he was valedictorian in 1863. For 

 .six years he was actively engaged in law practice, 

 chiefly as counsel for several large corporations, and 

 then, in consequence of the death of his father, he re- 

 tired from professional work to manage his father's 

 estate and various trusts connected with it. In 1872 

 he was elected to Congress from the 5th New Jersey 

 District as a Republican. He took his seat on Dec. 1 

 1873, and almost immediately engaged in discussion. 

 His first noted speech was an attack on the franking 

 privilege, in which he displayed remarkable abilities 

 as a debater and orator. Other notable ones were 

 those made as a member of the standing Committee 

 on Banking and Currency and of the select commit- 

 tee to inquire into the condition of affairs in t'he 

 Southern States. On his entrance into Congress he 

 assumed a position of marked independence, and all 

 his speeches were in the line of his convictions. This 

 independence led him to oppose and vote against the 

 civil rights bill, which he considered unconstitu- 

 tional and likely to injure rather than benefit the 

 colored people. In consequence of his action on this 

 bill he was defeated for re-election by 7 votes. 

 Subsequently the United States Supreme Court de- 

 clared the act unconstitutional. In 1880 he was 

 elected a delegate at large to the National Republican 

 Convention, in which he gave hearty support to his 

 friend James G. Blaine. After the nomination of 

 Gen. Garfield Mr. Phelps entered the canvass and 

 worked zealously till his health again broke down. 

 He then went with his family to Italy. On March 23, 

 1881, President Garfield nominated him for minister 

 to Austria, and on May 5 the Senate confirmed the 

 nomination. The appointment was a complete sur- 

 prise to Mr. Phelps, out he accepted it and discharged 

 its duties acceptably to both governments. On the 

 accession of President Arthur he tendered his resigna- 

 tion and retired from the office in August, 1882. In 



the following month he was renominated for Congress 

 on the first ballot despite his unwillingness to re-enter 

 public life. He was elected, and in 1884 and 188(5 was 

 re-elected. In the three last Congresses lie was u 

 member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and was 

 much occupied with international questions. He was 

 again a delegate to the National Republican Conven- 

 tion in 1888. In the following year he was appoint- 

 ed one of three commissioners on the part of the 

 United States to the International Conference on the 

 Samoan question, held in Berlin. The conference, 

 which was the first in international diplomacy that 

 was conducted in the English language, closed on 

 June 14. Mr. Phelps returned to the United Stales 

 to submit the agreement to the Government, and on 

 June 26 President Harrison appointed him minister 

 to Germany. He held this office till June 4, 1893, and 

 during its tenure did much toward securing the re- 

 moval of the embargo that Continental Europe had 

 maintained on American pork. While he was return- 

 ing from Berlin his old friend Judge Werts, then 

 Democratic Governor of New Jersey, appointed him a 

 judge of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals. 

 Although his health was far from good and he desired 

 rest, his life-long habit of assuming the responsibili- 

 ties that public duty imposed on him led him to ac- 

 cept. He sat on the bench long after his physicians 

 had ordered his retirement, and gave up only a few 

 weeks before his death. Judge Phelps was a regent 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, a fellow of the cor- 

 poration of Yale College, and a founder of the Union 

 League and University Clubs of New York city, and 

 received the decree of LL. D. from Rutgers College 

 in 1889. In life he gave Yale College about $100,000, 

 and he bequeathed it $50,000 more. 



Pico, Pio, last Mexican Governor of the two Califor- 

 nias, born in Los Angeles, Cal., May 5, 1801 ; died 

 there, Sept. 11, 1894. He was a son of Jos6 Maria 

 Pico, who in 1782 was in the employ of the Presidial 

 Company at San Diego, and was afterward stationed 

 at the San Gabriel Mission, where Pio was born. 

 Pio remained at the mission till he was nineteen 

 years old, studying with the priests and assisting 

 them for several years in their religious services. He 

 laid the foundation of a princely fortune in executing 

 a contract to supply, kill, and dress 5,000 head of cat- 

 tle for the mission, and was a member of the Legisla- 

 tive Assembly of California for several years. Among 

 his numerous possessions in his prosperous days was 

 the Santa Margarita ranch, at San Juan Capistrano, 

 comprising several thousand acres. He first became 

 Governor of the two Californias in 1832, and was suc- 

 ceeded by Jose Figueroa, who represented southern 

 California. Soon trie people of northern California 

 complained that too much power had been given to 

 the southern part, and a new governor was sent up 

 from Mexico. The dissatisfaction increased; three 

 was a succession of governors, and for several years 

 the capital was established at Monterey or at Los 

 Angeles, according to the strength of the northern 

 and southern factions. In 1846 Pio Pico was again 

 Governor, and Los Angeles the capital. Early in the 

 year a conference was held at Santa Barbara to discuss 

 the destiny of California and to endeavor to reconcile 

 the differences of the advocates of American and Brit- 

 ish annexation. Gen. Manuel G. Vallejo (see " Annual 

 Cyclopaedia" for 1890, page 669) urged the delegates 

 to join their fortunes with those of the people of the 

 United States, and Gov. Pico favored the British. On 

 the adjournment of the conference the Governor re- 

 turned to Los Angeles, and with his brothers, Jesus 

 and Andres, organized a revolution against the Mexi- 

 can Government, and placed Gen. Castro at the head 

 of the insurgent army. The American settlers then 

 sent a deputation to v John C. Fremont, then in camp 

 in the valley of the Sacramento, informing him of 

 the proposed transfer of the public domain to British 

 subjects (see sketch of Rodman M. Price, below), and 

 imploring him to place himself at their head and save 

 them and the territory. War was then in progress 

 between the United States and Mexico, but the fact 



