Peter Moore Speer (December 29, 1862 – August 3, 1933) was a Republican member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Peter M. Speer was born near

Oil City, Pennsylvania Oil City is the largest city in Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States. Known for its prominence in the initial exploration and development of the petroleum industry, it is located at a bend in the Allegheny River at the mouth of Oil Cre ...

. He attended

Allegheny College Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college in Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1815, Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is a member of the G ...

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 13,050 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania, Meadville is withi ...

, and the Westminster College in

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania New Wilmington is a borough in northern Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves ...

. He graduated from

Washington and Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian missionaries in the 1780s: John McMillan, Thaddeus Dod, and ...

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington, also known as Little Washington to distinguish it from the District of Columbia, is a city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 13,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, in 1887. He studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1889 and commenced practice in Oil City. He was district attorney of

Venango County Venango County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,454. Its county seat is Franklin. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1805. The county is part of the Northwest Pen ...

from 1891 to 1893. He worked as city solicitor of Oil City from 1895 to 1906. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in 1897 and 1898. Speer was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912. He resumed the practice of law in Oil City. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1918 and continued the practice of law. He was the assistant general counsel for the

Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company was a corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller. The ...

from 1918 to 1922, as general counsel and member of the board of directors from 1922 to 1928, and as vice president from 1928 to 1932. He retired from active business pursuits in 1932 and died in New York City in 1933. Interment in Kensico Cemetery, near

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

Sources

The Political Graveyard

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Speer, Peter Moore 1862 births 1933 deaths Allegheny College alumni Westminster College (Pennsylvania) alumni Pennsylvania lawyers Washington & Jefferson College alumni Politicians from New York City Politicians from Venango County, Pennsylvania Burials at Kensico Cemetery Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives