Stanton J. Peelle

Stanton Judkins Peelle was an American politician and judge who served as a United States representative from Indiana and as an associate judge and chief justice of the Court of Claims.

Education and career

Born on February 11, 1843, in Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana, Peelle attended the common schools and Winchester Seminary in Indiana, then attended Northern Indiana Normal School. He enlisted in Company G, Eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteers on August 5, 1861, and served until near the close of the American Civil War, as a corporal and second lieutenant. He read law with William A. Peelle in Centerville, Indiana, in 1866. He entered private practice in Winchester, Indiana, from 1866 to 1869. He continued private practice in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1869 to 1892. A notable partner at his Indianapolis firm was William L. Taylor, who would later become Indiana Attorney General. He was an assistant district attorney for Marion County, Indiana from 1872 to 1873. He was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives from 1878 to 1879.

Peelle was elected as a Republican from Indiana's 7th congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 47th United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1881, to March 3, 1883. He presented credentials as a member-elect to the 48th United States Congress and served from March 4, 1883, to May 22, 1884, when he was succeeded by United States Representative William E. English, who contested his election.
He was a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention.

Peelle was nominated by President Benjamin Harrison on March 24, 1892, to a judgeship on the Court of Claims vacated by Judge Glenni William Scofield. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 28, 1892, and received his commission the same day.
On December 19, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Peelle to succeed Charles C. Nott as the court's Chief Justice. Peelle was confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 1905, and received his commission the same day. On January 2, 1906, he became Chief Justice.
He ultimately resigned his post and stepped down on February 11, 1913.

While serving as a federal judge in Washington, D.C., Peelle served as a law professor at George Washington University Law School from 1901 to 1911. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Howard University from 1906 to 1925. He was president of the Board of Trustees of Washington College of Law from 1910 to 1925.

Peelle died on September 4, 1928, in Washington, D.C. He was interred in the city's Rock Creek Cemetery.