Peter G. Van Winkle

Peter G. Van Winkle

Peter Godwin Van Winkle (born September 7, 1808 in New York City , †  April 15, 1872 in Parkersburg , West Virginia ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ). He was one of the first two US Senators for the newly formed state of West Virginia.

Life

After studying law, Peter Van Winkle was inducted into the bar and began practicing in Parkersburg, which at the time was still part of Virginia . Between 1844 and 1850 he was a member of the Board of Trustees , the governing body of the city; In 1850 he also took part in the Constitutional Convention of Virginia. In 1852 he became president of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad Company .

After the secession of West Virginia during the civil war , Van Winkle took part in the meeting in 1863 that passed the constitution of the new state. In the same year he became a member of the State Chamber of Deputies . When the state was accepted into the Union, it was elected to the US Senate, where it remained from August 4, 1863 to March 3, 1869. During that time he was chairman of the pension committee. When US President Andrew Johnson was threatened with impeachment in 1868, Peter Van Winkle was one of the seven Republican Senators who voted against impeachment and thus sealed its rejection.

Peter Van Winkle retired into private life after leaving the Senate and died in Parkersburg in 1872. His great-nephew Marshall Van Winkle was a Republican MP in the US House of Representatives for the state of New Jersey from 1905 to 1907 .

Web links

• Peter G. Van Winkle in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Peter G. Van Winkle in the database of Find a Grave (English)