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

MR. PEYTON'S RESIGNATION OF OFFICE OF ATTORNEY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH.

In our last paper, the appointment of Thomas J. Michie, Esq. to the office of Commonwealth's Attorney for Augusta county, in the place of John H. Peyton, Esq., resigned, was announced. We now learn from a friend (having been absent from town at the time,) that upon returning into the hands of the court the office which he had so long and so ably and faithfully filled, Mr. Peyton delivered a short but pertinent and touching valedictory. He said it was just thirty-two years since he had been honored by the court with the appointment, that in casting his eyes along the bench, he recognized but a single magistrate[25] who was present on that occasion. He saw the sons, however, the relatives and friends of his former friends; and that alike from the fathers and the sons, he had received tokens of confidence which had greatly gratified him in the discharge of his duties during this long lapse of years. His great purpose had always been to protect the rights of the Commonwealth, and perform faithfully the duties of an officer of the court; and he thanked the court for their forbearance when he had erred, and for their uniform courtesy and kindness and the confidence they had ever shown him.

When Mr. Peyton concluded his remarks so inadequately reported, Lyttleton Waddell, Esq., a member of the court, presented the following minute, which was adopted by a unanimous vote, and ordered to be spread upon the records:

"Augusta County Court, }
1st day of June term, 1844. }

"John H. Peyton, Esquire, who has acted as Commonwealth's Attorney in this county for thirty-two years, having on this day resigned the said office, the Justices of the county, in full session at their June term, do, with unanimous consent, express their high sense of Mr. Peyton's long and valuable services. They add a willing testimony to the distinguished ability, fidelity and zeal, with which he has guarded the interests of the Commonwealth within the limits of the county—to his impartiality, prudence, and firmness as a public prosecutor, and to the commendable courtesy which has marked his intercourse with the Court, as becoming a public officer and a representative of the Commonwealth. And it is the will of the Court that this testimonial, as an additional tribute of respect, be spread upon the records."

Spectator, July 4, 1844.

Immediately after his resignation, the County Court, as the only honor yet in their power to confer, elected him a member of their body, and on several occasions, before his death, he presided in the Court where he had so long practiced.

Mr. Peyton was a member of the committee, appointed in 1843, to prepare an address to the people of Virginia, and aided in the preparation of that able and interesting document, but as it covers over fifty pages and may be found in the newspapers of the day, it is not necessary to insert it here, in order to make clear what were his political opinions. The committee was composed of B. W. Leigh, Robert W. Carter, James R. Hubbard, Chas. J. Faulkner, Wyndham Robertson, Chapman Johnson, and John H. Peyton, and was said to have united more talent than any similar body ever raised in Virginia.