Peleg Arnold

Peleg Arnold (painting from 1815)

Peleg Arnold (born June 10, 1751 in Smithfield , Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations , †  February 13, 1820 ibid) was an American lawyer and politician . In 1787 and 1788 he was a delegate for Rhode Island to the Continental Congress .

Career

Peleg Arnold attended public schools in his home country and then studied at Brown University . After studying law and becoming a lawyer, he began to work in this profession. He joined the revolutionary movement and was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1777 to 1778 and from 1782 to 1783 . During the Revolutionary War he was a colonel in the Providence County Militia. He also represented Rhode Island from 1787 to 1788 in the Continental Congress. In the 1790s he ran unsuccessfully for the US House of Representatives twice . He joined the Democratic Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson . Between 1795 and 1809 and again from 1810 to 1812 he was Chief Justice presiding judge at the Rhode Island Supreme Court . Between 1817 and 1819 he was again a member of the state parliament.

In addition to his political work and his legal practice, Arnold was also active in other areas. He ran the Peleg Arnold Tavern in Smithfield , which still stands today and is on the National Register of Historic Places . He also worked in the banking industry. In 1803 he became president of Smithfield Union Bank and in 1810 he became director of Smithfield Academy . As an opponent of slavery he was one of the founders of the Society for the Abolition of this Institution ( Providence Society for the Abolition of Slavery ). Peleg Arnold died on February 13, 1820 in his hometown of Smithfield.

Web links

• Peleg Arnold in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Peleg Arnold in the database of Find a Grave (English)