Letters Received of Peleg W. Chandler

Reference Department, Boston Athenæum

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Reference Department

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Lisa Starzyk-Weldon October 2001.

© 2001 Boston Athenæum.

Descriptive Summary

	Letters Received of Peleg W. Chandler, 1866-1874.
	Chandler, Peleg W. (Peleg Whitman), 1816-1889.
	1 box (ca. 185 items); 27 cm.
	Boston Athenæum. Reference Department.
	These letters were received by Chandler after he retired from the bench and consideration of public office due to deafness.

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 1993.

Arrangement

The letters are arranged chronologically.

Biographical Information

Peleg Whitman Chandler (April 12, 1816-May 28, 1889) was born in New Gloucester, Maine, to Peleg and Esther (Parsons) Chandler. He received his early education at Bangor Theological College and graduated from Bowdoin in 1834. He studied law in his father's office at Bangor for a short time, later entering the Dane Law School at Harvard and reading with a relative, Professor Theophilus Parsons. At the same time he reported legal cases for the Boston Daily Advertiser. On November 30, 1837, he was married to Martha Ann Bush, daughter of Professor Parker Cleaveland of Brunswick, Maine. In the same year he was admitted to the Suffolk County bar and commenced practice in Boston, continuing to maintain association with the press. In 1838 he established a monthly law journal, the Law Reporter, remaining its editor for a number of years. He also commenced work on a series of twelve volumes of American Criminal Trials, the first of which was published in 1841, followed by a second in 1844, but the subsequent growth of his law practice prevented the completion of his design.

In addition to his legal and literary work he began to participate in civic life, being elected a member of the common council in 1843, and president of that body in 1844 and 1845. He had been elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1844 and served one term. In 1846 he became city solicitor. He held the position of United States commissioner in bankruptcy for a time, during which he published Bankruptcy Laws of the United States, and the Outline of the System with Rules and Forms in Massachusetts, (1842). He was also engaged in collecting and revising the civic ordinances, and these, in their revised form, were published in 1850, together with a digest of the law pertaining to them, under the title Revised Ordinances, Boston. He resigned the city solicitorship in November 1853, but always remained closely associated with the legal interests of Boston, advising on legislative projects and preparing the revised charter.

He took a prominent part in the "Back Bay Improvement" scheme and devoted a large amount of his time and ability to the advancement of projects for the beautifying and adornment of the city. In 1854, he became a member of the executive council of the Commonwealth and in 1862-1863 was again a member of the State House of Representatives. Endowed with a strong constitution and always at work, he enjoyed one of the largest practices in the state. An expert in municipal and commercial law, he confined himself to civil cases. Unfortunately, at the height of his career Chandler became entirely deaf and was compelled to retire form jury work, gradually withdrawing from active business and during his last years being more or less an invalid. He was the author of Observations on the Authority of the Gospels, By a Layman (2nd, ed., 1867); Memoir of Governor Andrew, with Personal Reminiscences, (1880) and a number of legal, political, and historical articles. [Biographical Material taken from "Dictionary of American Biography."]

Related Materials:

Correspondence, 1845-1880, in Rutherford B. Hayes Library, Fremont, Ohio. The Cleaveland-Chandler papers, 1803-1931, in Special Collections, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine. Papers, 1812-1864, in Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.

Scope and Content Note

These letters were received by Chandler after he retired from the bench due to deafness. Although retired, he continued to advise on the law and was consulted on legal and political matters by many including Governor Bullock and Congressman Hooper. In retirement, Chandler pursued other interests. A number of letters comment on his observations on the Authority of the Gospels, by a Layman (Chicago, 1867), a work notably influenced by Swedenborgian doctrines. Correspondents include E.R. Hoar, John H. Clifford, George W. Blagden, George Otis Shattuck, John Codman Ropes, Rufus Ellis, Samuel Hurd Walley, Charles Wentworth Upham, George Tyler Bigelow, Cyrus Woodman, Alexander H. Bullock, Samuel Hooper, Charles Beecher, Edward Kent, Samuel Bowles, John Gorham Palfrey, George Frisbie Hoar, A.S. Packard, John Appleton, John Ross Key, Issac F. Redfield, Charles G. Greene and Charles Franklin Dunbar.

Local Subject Headings

Hoar, E. R. (Ebenezer Rockwood), 1816-1895.

Clifford, John H. (John Henry), 1809-1876.

Blagden, George W. (George Washington), 1802-1884.

Shattuck, George Otis, 1829-1897.

Ropes, John Codman, 1836-1899.

Ellis, Rufus, 1819-1885.

Walley, Samuel Hurd, 1805-1877.

Upham, Charles Wentworth, 1802-1875.

Bigelow, George Tyler, 1810-1878.

Woodman, Cyrus, 1814-1889.

Bullock, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), 1816-1882.

Hooper, Samuel, 1808-1875.

Beecher, Charles, 1815-1900.

Kent, Edward, 1802-1877.

Bowles, Samuel, 1826-1878.

Palfrey, John Gorham, 1796-1886.

Hoar, George Frisbie, 1826-1904.

Packard, A.S. (Alpheus Spring), 1839-1905.

Appleton, John, 1804-1891.

Key, John Ross, 1832-1920.

Redfield, Issac F. (Issac Fletcher), 1804-1876.

Greene, Charles G. (Charles Gordeon), 1804-1886.

Dunbar, Charles Franklin, 1830-1900.

Bowdoin College.

Lawyers--Massachusetts.

Real estate development--Masschusetts--Boston.

South End (Boston, Mass.)

Series and Contents Description