Peter G. Van Winkle

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"Senator Van Winkle" redirects here. For the New Jersey state senate member, see Winant Van Winkle.
Peter G. Van Winkle
United States Senator
from West Virginia
In office
August 4, 1863 – March 3, 1869
Preceded byoffice established
Succeeded byArthur I. Boreman
Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates
In office
1863
Personal details
Born(1808-09-07)September 7, 1808
New York City, US
DiedApril 15, 1872(1872-04-15) (aged 63)
Parkersburg, West Virginia, US
Political partyUnionist
Other political
affiliations		Republican
SpouseJulia Rathbone
Sketch of Van Winkle by Joseph Diss Debar

Peter Godwin Van Winkle (September 7, 1808 – April 15, 1872) was an American lawyer, businessman and politician. For many years a leading officer of the

United States senator.[1]

Early and family life

Born in New York City to an established family, Van Winkle completed preparatory studies, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He married Juliet Rathbone, the eldest daughter of William Palmer Rathbone (1784 - 1862) and his wife Martha Ming Valleau Rathbone (1793 - 1846), an influential family in western Virginia who were developing the oil field at Burning Springs. Four years later, the Van Winkles had moved to Parkersburg, Virginia (now West Virginia).[2] They had three children who survived to adulthood.

Career

After further studies locally with lawyer and General

Virginia State constitutional convention in 1850. He was treasurer and later president of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad Co. beginning in 1852 through the American Civil War as discussed below.[3]

After Virginia seceded from the Union, much to the distress of many in its northwestern corner, Wood County voters elected Van Winkle to the second

constitution of West Virginia. He was also elected to the first session of the West Virginia House of Delegates
in 1863. When West Virginia was admitted as a State into the Union, voters elected Van Winkle as a Unionist to the U.S. Senate, where he served from August 4, 1863, to March 3, 1869. While in the Senate, Van Winkle was chairman of the Committee on Pensions (Fortieth Congress).

During President

William Pitt Fessenden, Joseph S. Fowler, James W. Grimes, John B. Henderson, Lyman Trumbull, Daniel S. Norton, and Edmund G. Ross (the latter of whom provided the decisive vote).[5][6] After the trial, Congressman Benjamin Butler conducted hearings on the widespread reports that Republican senators had been bribed to vote for Johnson's acquittal. In Butler's hearings, and in subsequent inquiries, there was increasing evidence that some acquittal votes were acquired by promises of patronage jobs and cash cards.[4]

West Virginia Governor

Arthur Boreman
was elected to succeed Van Winkle.

Van Winkle also served as a delegate to the

Southern Loyalist Convention at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in 1866.

Former Home of Peter Van Winkle in Parkersburg, WV

Death and legacy

Van Winkle died in Parkersburg in 1872. He was buried beside his wife (whom he had survived by nearly three decades) in Riverview Cemetery.

Fifty-ninth Congress
.

His former home at Parkersburg, now known as the Peter G. Van Winkle House, is a contributing property in the Julia-Ann Square Historic District.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ Otis K. Rice, West Virginia: The State and its People (Parson, West Virginia: McClain Printing Co, 1972) pp.201-203
  2. ^ Rice, p. 201
  3. ISBN 978-1-886248-01-4
  4. ^ a b David O. Stewart, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy (2009), pp. 240-249, 284-299.
  5. ^ "The Trial of Andrew Johnson, 1868".
  6. ^ "Senate Journal. 40th Cong., 2nd sess., 16 / 26 May 1868, 943–51". A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  7. ^ James E. Harding (November 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Julia-Ann Square Historic District" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
  8. ^ Eliza Smith, Christina Mann (December 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Peter G. Van Winkle House" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-09-10.

External links

U.S. Senate
Preceded by
None
 U.S. senator (Class 1) from West Virginia
1863–1869
Served alongside: Waitman T. Willey 		Succeeded by
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