Memoir of John Howe Peyton / in sketches by his contemporaries, together with some of his public and private letters, etc., also a sketch of Ann M. Peyton

by Unknown

DECLINES AN APPOINTMENT.

On his return from his Western trip he was appointed deputy United States District Attorney for Western Virginia, and for a time discharged the duties of the office for his friend William Wirt. He had served in the Legislature in 1808-9, with Mr. Wirt and a strong mutual friendship was the result. On Mr. Wirt's resignation of the position and his removal to Baltimore, Mr. Peyton declined the office as conflicting with his other appointments, (which were more lucrative) and his extensive private practice.

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We owe the following letters to the filial piety of Mr. Peyton's eldest daughter, Mrs. Susan M. Baldwin, widow of the late Col. J. B. Baldwin, who has preserved them since the Montgomery Hall family was broken up at Mrs. J. H. Peyton's death in 1850.