34 Facts About Peter Force

Peter Force served in the Washington militia as a lieutenant during the War of 1812.

Peter Force is mostly noted for editing and publishing a massive collection of historical documents, books and maps in several volumes involving the American colonies and the American Revolution which was ultimately purchased by the Library of Congress for a large sum.

Peter Force founded a political journal and other publications and was president of a premier national science society, and the Typographical Society which was largely charged with the task of communicating political affairs to the general public.

Peter Force served on the committee that approved the Geographical Department for the Library of Congress.

Peter Force was born near the Passaic Falls in New Jersey, the son of William Force and Sarah Ferguson.

Peter Force grew up in New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, and afterward moved to New York City, where he was schooled in the printing trade.

Peter Force was not considered a jovial man, but rather quiet and reserved, yet had an amiable personality that attracted people to him.

In 1812 Peter Force became a member of the New York Typographical Society, which was the city's printer trade union at the time.

Peter Force was initiated at its general meeting on February 1,1812.

Peter Force was elected a director on December 5,1812, and at age twenty-two was chosen president on July 3,1813, with his re-election following in 1814 and 1815.

When Davis withdrew from the partnership Peter Force formed other partnerships, of which he was the master mind.

Early in his career in Washington Peter Force attracted the attention of distinguished statesmen, and he was a leading character in the city throughout his life.

From November 12,1823, to February 2,1830, Peter Force published the National Journal, with moderate-conservative views about public concerns and issues, which became the official newspaper during the presidency of John Quincy Adams, and which drew to its columns from some widely known contributors, including John Quincy Adams himself.

In 1830 Peter Force gave up his position as the newspaper's editor.

From 1820 until 1828 Peter Force compiled, printed and published the Biennial Register, the official directory of the US government.

In 1827 Peter Force was given the job of printing a 109-page supplement to the Catalogue of the Library of Congress at his printing shop in Washington on the corner of Eleventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Peter Force founded, published, and wrote in the National Journal and would later donate a stone to the Washington Monument.

Peter Force was elected mayor of Washington in 1836 and again 1838 without opposition, but when he ran again in 1848 he was defeated by a wide margin, all as a member of the Whig Party.

Peter Force was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1851.

Peter Force was on the committee that passed that resolution in 1856.

In November 1861, Peter Force was sent to Europe at the recommendation of influential friends in President Lincoln's administration in a diplomatic effort to appeal to the political circles in Paris and London concerning their precarious relations with the Union and the Confederacy.

Peter Force was accompanied by Archbishop Hughes and Bishop McIlvaine with the hopes of inducing the respective governments to refrain from giving aid to the Confederacy.

Peter Force established healthy permanent relations with the various British and French statesmen.

Unlike Sparks, Peter Force rarely added editorial notes and was content to let the raw documents speak for themselves.

Peter Force methodologically followed his primary rule that no manuscript should be altered, which is what set him apart from some of the editors of his day.

Peter Force was the first historical scholar to discover that the so-called Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of 1775 was not what it was claimed to be.

Peter Force published Tracts and Other Papers, Relating Principally to the Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies in North America, which comprised rare pamphlets.

Futilely Peter Force continued his efforts to prevail upon complacent and uninterested officers to reverse the action of their predecessors, and finally, and reluctantly, relinquished his cherished project, which he had earnestly pursued for more than 30 years.

Matthew St Clair Clarke and Peter Force were co-publishers of Peter Force's American Archives.

Peter Force traveled about the eastern seaboard of the United States "ransacking" the book-shops and attending book auctions from Boston to Charleston in his tireless search for rare volumes.

Peter Force was reproached by some visitors from New England and admonished for depriving New England of its archival treasure.

Into his elder years Peter Force often visited the War Department, approaching various Army officers he knew in his quest for archival material.

Peter Force maintained his ardent pursuit of collecting books, newspapers, manuscripts and other documents up until the week before he died, on January 23,1868, at the age of 77.

Peter Force is buried alongside his wife in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington DC Force's grave marker was designed by German sculptor Jacques Jouvenal.