Nathaniel PEABODY, Congress, NH (1741-1823)

PEABODY, Nathaniel, a Delegate from New Hampshire; born in Topsfield, Essex County, Mass., March 1, 1741; tutored by his father; studied medicine; commenced practice in Plaistow, N.H., in 1761; moved to Atkinson, N.H., in 1770; resigned a royal commission to enter the Revolutionary Army; elected a member of the committee of safety January 10, 1776, and was its chairman; member of the state house of representatives 1776-1779, 1781-1785, 1787-1790, and 1793-1796, serving as speaker in 1793; adjutant general of the New Hampshire Militia July 19, 1777, and commanded a brigade in Rhode Island in 1779; Member of the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780; delegate to the state constitutional conventions of 1782 and 1783; again elected a Member of the Continental Congress in 1785 but did not take his seat; member of the state senate in 1785, 1786, and 1790-1793; chosen from the house in 1784 and from the senate in 1785 to serve as councilor; major general of militia 1793-1798; because of pecuniary embarrassment was confined within the limits of a debtor's prison for about twenty years; died in Exeter, Rockingham County, N.H., on June 27, 1823; interment probably in the Old Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present