Ebenezer Peck was a lawyer and political figure in Lower Canada

Lower Canada

The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He represented Stanstead in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791...

 from 1829 to 1834.

He was born in Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

, the son of Thomas Peck and Sarah Pierce, and came to Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 with his parents at a young age. Peck was educated at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal, studied law with William Walker

William Walker (Quebec politician)

William Walker was a Quebec lawyer and political figure.He articled in law with Michael O'Sullivan and Charles Richard Ogden, was admitted to the bar in 1819 and set up practice in Montreal. Although loyal to the British authorities, following the Lower Canada Rebellion, he served as lawyer for...

, was admitted to the Lower Canada bar in 1827 and set up practice in Stanstead

Stanstead, Quebec

Stanstead is a town of about 3,000 people, part of the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Québec. Stanstead is located on the Canada-United States border across from Derby Line, Vermont....

 and later Sherbrooke, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. In 1833, he was named King's Counsel. Peck served as administrator for Charleston Academy in East Hatley; he was also inspector of schools for Drummond, Sherbrooke, and Stanstead counties. He did not take part in the vote on the Ninety-Two Resolutions

Ninety-Two Resolutions

The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the Parti patriote of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony....

. Peck subsequently left the province and moved to Chicago, Illinois.

He was a delegate to the first Democratic

Democratic Party of Illinois

The Democratic Party of Illinois is a political party and affiliate of the United States Democratic Party in Illinois. It is the oldest still-existing state party in Illinois and, along with the Green and Republican Parties, one of just three legally established parties in the state.-History:The...

 State convention in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in 1835 and was chief advocate for the adoption of the convention system

Political convention

In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...

 in the state. Peck was elected to the Illinois Senate

Illinois Senate

The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the state of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. The Illinois Senate is made up of 59 senators elected from...

 in 1838 and to the Illinois House of Representatives

Illinois House of Representatives

The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...

 in 1840. He left the Democratic party in 1853 and helped establish the state Republican

Illinois Republican Party

The Illinois Republican Party is the state-level affiliate of the Republican Party in Illinois. Since August 20, 2009, it has been chaired by Pat Brady...

 Party in 1856. In 1858, he was elected to the state House of Representatives again as a Republican. He was named a judge in the United States Court of Claims

United States Court of Claims

The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855 as the Court of Claims, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims , and abolished in 1982....

 in 1863 by President Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

and served until 1875. He died in Chicago at the age of 76.