Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== A Standard History of Starke County, Indiana McCormick, Joseph N. - 1915 [248-251] CHARLES HAMILTON PETERS takes due pride in reverting to the historic Old Dominion as the place of his nativity aud he is a scion of the patrician old families of that commonwealth. He was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, on the 8th of October, 1861, and thus appeared on the stage of life at the time when the nation had entered into the great civil conflict which brought so great a burden of disaster and sorrow to the fair Southland. At his native Town of Harrisonburg, judicial center of Rockingham County, the opposing military forces came into conflict in the spring after his birth, and there also engagements occurred in June, 1864, and March, 1865, so that in more senses than one this able Indiana lawyer was born on historic ground. MR. PETERS is a son of ROBERT J. D. and MARY J. (KETTELL) PETERS, both of whom were born in Virginia in the early '30s, five brothers of MRS. PETERS having been gallant soldiers of the Confederacy in the Civil war, in which one or more became commissioned officers and in which certain of them sacrificed their lives. DR. ROBERT J. D. PETERS was a son of JOHN PETERS, and the maiden name of his mother was DRURY, she having been a representative of the prominent Virginia family in whose honor DRURY'S Bluff was named, both she and her husband having passed their entire lives in the Old Dominion State. JOHN PETERS was a substantial planter and slaveholder in the ante-bellum days and served with distinction in the War of 1812, in the command of GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT. He participated in the historic battle of Lundy's Lane and carried to the end of his life the minie ball which wounded him at the time of that engagement. Representatives of the PETERS family were also found enrolled as patriot soldiers of the Continental Line in the war of the Revolution. The ravages of the Civil war in its earlier period brought great financial and property loss to DR. ROBERT J. D. PETERS, and in 1863 he left his native state and came with his family to the North, his sym- pathies having been with the cause of the Union and this having re- sulted in his becoming to a large extent persona non grata in the ancestral commonwealth. He established his residence in Pickaway County, Ohio, whence he later removed to Fairfield County. Finally he came with his family to Indiana and established his home in Pulaski County. In his home state he had thoroughly fortified himself for the work of his chosen profession, and virtually his entire active career was devoted to the successful practice of medicine and surgery. He passed the closing period of his life in Miami County, Indiana, where he died in 1894, at the age of sixty-seven years — a man of fine intellectual and professional attainments and one whose gentle and noble personality, exponent of the best of the old Southern regime, gained to him the high regard of all with whom he came in contact. His devoted wife, a woman of gracious refinement, passed to the life eter- nal on the 13th of January, 1883, having been a devout member of the United Brethren Church and her husband having been a staunch republi- can after removing to the North. They are survived by sons and daugh- ters, some older and some younger than he to whom this sketch is dedicated. CHARLES H. PETERS passed the days of his boyhood and youth partly in Ohio and Indiana but was reared to maturity in Indiana, within whose gracious borders he has since continued to maintain his home. He was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Pulaski County and prior to following along the line of his ambitious ***ose to be- come a lawyer, he had served seven years as deputy county clerk of that county. His financial resources were *** nominal and he realized that upon his own efforts must he depend in acquiring his professional education. He showed his mastery of expedients under these conditions by going to the City of Chicago, where he took a special course of study in one of the leading law schools, in which he attended the night classes, his days being devoted to such occupation as would pro- vide for his maintenance and incidental expenses. Though he was not able to complete a regular law course in a college, his ambition and close application overcame this seeming handicap, and he has become known for his broad and accurate knowledge of the science of juris- prudence, as well as for his facility in applying the same in his active practice as an attorney and counselor. In 1896 MR. PETERS was admitted to practice in the lower courts of Indiana and he forthwith opened an office at Knox, which thriving little city has since been his professional headquarters and place of residence, though his law business has extended beyond the limitations of Starke County and has included since 1901 his appearance as a practitioner before the Supreme Court of the state, besides being eligible also for practice in the various Federal courts in Indiana. He is a strong and versatile trial lawyer and has appeared in many important cases in the courts of Starke and adjoining counties. As attorney for the defense he won, in the Supreme Court of Indiana, a decisive victory in the case of the First National Bank of Peoria, Illinois, versus the First National Bank of Wabash, Indiana, this having to do with an attachment interest of $160,000 and involving property consisting of 3,500 acres of land. MR. PETERS appeared for the plaintiff in the case of Hayes versus Martz, in Noble County, and after protracted litigation, carried through the various courts and finally to the Supreme Court, won a victory for his client, the case having attracted much attention in Northern Indiana. These are but two of the many important causes in which MR. PETERS has appeared, and he has achieved success that is consonant with his earnest application and well recognized professional ability. MR. PETERS is found aligned as a staunch supporter and effective advocate of the cause of the democratic party, and he served one term as county attorney of Starke County, with an admirable record. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is affiliated with the chapter and council thereof at North Judson, Indiana, also a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Scottish Rite body of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and with the Blue Lodge of Masons, known as Lodge No. 629, at Knox, Indiana. He is a member of the commandery of Knights Templars at Plymouth, Marshall County, and in the City of Hammond he is affiliated with Orak Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. At Knox he holds membership in Yellow River Lodge, No. 631, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in this fraternity he is serving as deputy grand master of the grand lodge of the state. On the 9th day of April, in 1882, at Winamac, Pulaski County, was solemnized the marriage of MR. PETERS to Miss ADDIE DUKES, daughter of the late JAMES R. DUKES, who was a prominent banker and influential citizen of that county, a native of the State of Pennsylvania, and a non-commissioned officer in the Civil war, his death having occurred at Winamac in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. PETERS have one son, GLENN DUKES PETERS, who was graduated in the University of Indiana and later in the law school of the great University of Chicago. He was for a time associated in practice with his father and he is now one of the prominent young attorneys in the City of Hammond, this state, where he is retained by a number of important corporations. He wedded Miss GRACE BAERD, of New Albany, Indiana, January 25, 1913. ===========================================================================