The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947 Page: 411
582 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
preference being theology. His first position in Pennsylvania
was that of assistant rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia.
His training in the law helped him materially in the exercise
of the civil positions to which Thomas Penn, the proprietor,
appointed him and in which he served for twenty-five years.
In these positions Peters knew the colony's land problems; he
worked with Colonel Conrad Weiser to understand the Indian
problem and the problem of defense in King George's War and
the French and Indian War; he helped to straighten out the
Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary dispute that culminated in the
Mason and Dixon line; and he understood Thomas Penn's
financial and other problems and supported Penn's efforts to
meet these problems.
Early in 1751 Richard Peters became a trustee of the Acad-
emy of Philadelphia; by November, 1753, he was chairman of
the Board of Trustees of the College, to which new station the
Academy had risen in short order. He was happy to have the
young educator William Smith in charge of the College and
retained an abiding interest in this great educational venture.
The chapter entitled "Recovery of Function" follows Peters
through his tenure of the rectorship of Christ Church and St.
Peter's in Philadelphia which began in May of 1762 and ended
with his resignation from it in September of 1775. During the
period of his rectorship-in 1770, to be exact--the University
of Oxford, where he had been a student in Wadham College,
conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity on him,
and he as "recipient took great joy not only in the distinction
but in the voices of approval which spoke in his parish. The
doctorate was both acme and index to happiness. .... The mood
of exaltation stayed on in the Reverend Dr. Richard Peters.
Toward all things he was disposed happily." This happy dis-
position was a good admixture to his other sterling traits
throughout his life.
The bibliographical note is short-only three pages-but it
is packed with much information on the sources used for writing
this biography. The format is pleasing; the type is clear; and
not a single typographical error mars the pages of this book.
All in all, this biography is well done.
RUDOLPH L. BIESELE
The University of Texas411
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 50, July 1946 - April, 1947, periodical, 1947; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/491/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.