Balie Peyton
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Balie Peyton (1803-1878) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Tennessee's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.
He was born near Gallatin, Tennessee on November 6, 1803. He completed preparatory studies, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Gallatin in 1824.
Peyton was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress and re-elected as a White supporter to the Twenty-fourth Congress. He served from March 4, 1833 to March 3, 1837.
He moved to New Orleans in 1841, having been appointed the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, a position he held for four years. He then served as an aide-de-camp on the staff of General W.J. Worth during the Mexican War. He was appointed as Minister to Chile by President Zachary Taylor, from August 9, 1849 to September 14, 1853, when he resigned. He moved to California, where he was the prosecuting attorney for San Francisco from 1853 to 1859.
He returned to Gallatin, Tennessee in 1859 and practiced law. He was a presidential elector on the Constitutional Union ticket of John Bell and Edward Everett in 1860. In 1866, he was an unsuccessful candidate to the Fortieth Congress. He was a member of the Tennessee Senate between 1869 and 1871. He again resumed the practice of law before dying on his farm near Gallatin, Tennessee on August 18, 1878. He was interred on the family burying ground on his estate.
He was the brother of U.S. Representative Joseph Hopkins Peyton.
This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
