Hon. Darius Peck was born on the 5th of June, 1802, in Norwich, Chenango Co., N. Y.  He is the oldest of the six children of Rev. John Peck and Sarah (Ferris) Peck, his wife, and is a lineal descendant in the seventh generation of William Peck, who emigrated from England with Governor Eaton, Rev. John Davenport, and others, being one of the prominent founders, in 1638, of the colony of New Haven, Conn.  His father, in 1804, removed with his family from Norwich, and settled in Cazenovia, then one of the western frontier towns of the State of New York.  At that period schools of a higher grade being few and far distant, his advantages for an early education were limited to the common schools of the vicinity until he was about seventeen years of age.  Prior to this time, however, his eager desire for intellectual improvement and for a liberal education induced him to devote many of his evenings and much of his few intervals of leisure from farming occupations to the acquirement of general and classical knowledge, and thus, by the aid of appropriate books and the occasional assistance of a neighboring classical scholar, he became quite proficient in the Latin language, and commenced fitting for college in the autumn of 1819, under Rev. Daniel Hascall and Mr. Zenas Morse, principal of Hamilton Academy, New York.  Such preparation continued until the fall of 1822, interrupted by labor upon his father's farm during the summer, and by teaching school in the winter.

     In October, 1822, he entered the sophomore class of Hamilton College, New York, and graduated at that institution in August, 1825, ranking among the highest in a numerous class.  On leaving college he studied law in the cities of Hudson and New York, under the direction of Hon. Ambrose L. Jordan and William Slosson, and became well qualified for the practice and the discharge of the duties of the legal profession.  He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in August, 1828, and in the following year settled as a lawyer in the city of Hudson, N. Y, where he has since resided and continued his professional career. 

     He is distinguished as a sound lawyer, and an able, safe, and reliable counselor.  His high moral character, thorough knowledge of legal and equitable principles, and their application, together with his long experience, have inspired and secured the utmost confidence of a large clientage in his own and in the adjoining counties.  His career has been a busy one, and he has been for many years, and still is, much occupied with the discharge of the numerous and important trusts committed to his care.

     In February, 1833, he was appointed by the governor and Senate of the State of New York recorder of the city of Hudson, then a judicial officer, as well as a member of the common council of that city, which office he held until April, 1843.  He was for several years city superintendent of schools, and master and examiner in chancery, and in April, 1843, was appointed by the governor and Senate of the State of New York a judge of the court of common pleas of the county of Columbia, N. Y.  In November, 1855, he was elected, and in November, 1863 and 1867, re-elected, county judge of Columbia Co., N. Y.  He is now, and for several years has been, president of the Hudson City Savings Institution.

     Judge Peck has, for a few years past, devoted much of his leisure from professional and official occupations to researches relating to the history and genealogy of that branch of the Peck family to which he belongs, and has published a work on that subject exhibiting great thoroughness of research and accuracy of detail, as well as an improvement upon the usual plan of preparing such works.

     He was married, Sept. 12, 1836, to Harriet M. Hudson, of the city of Troy, N. Y., who died April 18, 1863, age forty-nine years, and by whom he had his seven children, all born in the city of Hudson, N. Y., whose records are briefly as follows:

     John Hudson, born Feb. 7, 1838; graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in 1859; was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 1862, and settled as a lawyer in the city of Troy, N. Y, where he is one of the law firm of Tracy & Peck, of that city.

     Horace Robison, born Dec. 9, 1839; graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in 1859; was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 1863; settled as a lawyer in the city of Hudson, N. Y., where he is pursuing the practice of his profession.  He was married to Anna Van Deusen, of Greenport, N. Y., Nov. 14, 1867, and has one son, an only child, Bayard Livingston, born Aug. 16, 1869.

      Sarah Lucretia, born March 19, 1842; was educated at the Female Seminary, Troy, N. Y.; married Martin Hoffman Philip, of the town of Claverack, N. Y., Oct. 19, 1859, and died there Oct. 25, 1876.  She had children,--Katherine Maud, born in Hudson, N. Y., Sept. 13, 1860; Harry Van Ness, born Aug. 9, 1862, and Laura Johnson, born Dec. 10, 1863; both born in Claverack, N. Y.

     Willard, born March 2, 1844; graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in 1864, and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York in 1867.  He is practicing his profession in the city of Hudson, N. Y.; was married to Mary Langford Curran, of Utica, N. Y., June 16, 1869, and has had children,--Harriet Hudson, born in Utica, N. Y., April 2, 1870, and died there April 5, 1870; Philip Curran, born Feb. 7, 1874, and Darius, born May 5, 1877; both born in the city of Hudson, N. Y.

     Nora, born Sept. 16, 1846; was educated at the Female Seminary, Troy, N. Y.; married Frederick Folger Thomas of San Francisco, Cal., June 18, 1873.  Her children, both [p. 213] born in Oakland, Cal., where she resides, are William Shepard, born March 23, 1874, and Maud Angeline, born Feb. 10, 1876.

     Theodosia, born Oct. 24, 1848, and died in the city of Hudson, N. Y., Aug. 23, 1849.

     Emma Willard, born May 9, 1852; was educated at the Female Seminary, Troy, N. Y., and resides in the city of Hudson, N. Y.