This Book and Balie Peyton xiii 



During the war, when the master himself had control, 

 he heard the Federals were headed his way, and he knew 

 what their coming would mean to four of his highly 

 prized colts. Removing the furniture and carpet from 

 the dining room, and putting in a thick layer of straw, 

 he had the colts led in, the doors locked and the window- 

 blinds barred. In this way he saved them from the ma- 

 rauders, but they got his favorite brood mare, Noty 

 Price, by Cost Johnson, son of Boston. One of these 

 colts, Blacklock, afterwards distinguished himself. 



Because of his opposition to secession and his neutral- 

 ity during the war, Peyton was able to render valuable 

 services to his Sumner County friends by standing as a 

 strong rock between them and the Federal General, 

 Payne. Among others, his neighbor, Rev. B. F. Ferrill, 

 of the M. E. Church, South, was released from jail through 

 his instrumentalities. One who was present when Peyton 

 called on Payne in behalf of an excellent woman who had 

 appealed to him for protection, is authority for the state- 

 ment that if Payne had not then yielded to Peyton's 

 demand for the woman's release, there would have been 

 no diplomatic postponement of affirmative action on his 

 part. 



In 1869-70 Sumner County sent Col. Peyton to the 

 State Senate, to use his influence in bringing order out of 

 chaos. Later he took an active part in promoting the 

 Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, confident that it would 

 tend to obliterate sectional animosities. Perhaps his 

 last public address was delivered by invitation before the 

 Tennessee legislature in furtherance of this patriotic 

 movement. 



Col. Peyton had now passed threescore years and ten 

 and the sand in his glass was running low. The passing 

 of the old order had brought new alignments in political, 



