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Asahel Peck

American politician (1803–1879)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ720416
Source-derived summary

Asahel Peck (September 1803 – May 18, 1879) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He is most notable for his service as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court (1859–1874) and the 35th governor of Vermont from 1874 to 1876.

A native of Royalston, Massachusetts, Peck was raised and educated in Montpelier, Vermont. He attended the University of Vermont, studied law, and attained admission to the bar in 1832. Peck practiced in Burlington, Montpelier, and Jericho, and gained a reputation as a skilled trial attorney.

Initially a Democrat, and later a Republican, Peck served as a Judge of the Vermont Circuit Court from 1851 to 1857. In 1860 he was elected to the Vermont Senate, where he served from October 1860 to January 1861. He resigned to accept appointment an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, and he served until 1874. In 1874, Peck was the successful Republican candidate for governor, and he served two years, 1874 to 1876.

After leaving the governorship, Peck retired to a home in Hinesburg, where he had moved to live closer to members of his family.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Asahel Peck” as american politician (1803–1879). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Asahel, Peck and American.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1803, 1879, 1859, 1874—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1803-02-06. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Asahel, Peck and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Asahel Peck”, the useful work is to connect “american politician (1803–1879)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q720416. VIAF identifies the subject as 169247685. The Library of Congress control number is no2011034898. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1803, 1879, 1859 and 1874.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

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  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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  2. Expand the search: follow Asahel Peck primary sources, Asahel Peck archive and Asahel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Asahel Peck” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.