DANIEL, PETER V(IVIAN)

born April 24, 1784, Crows Nest, Stafford County, Va., U.S. died May 31, 1860, Richmond, Va. associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (184160). Daniel studied law under Edmund Jennings Randolph and quickly rose in politics after his admission to the bar in 1808. He entered the Virginia legislature in 1809 and was elected to the Privy Council in 1812. In 1834 he was offered the post of U.S. attorney general by Pres. Andrew Jackson but declined, and in 1836 was appointed a federal district judge. Following the death of Justice Philip P. Barbour, Daniel was named to the U.S. Supreme Court by Pres. Martin Van Buren in 1841. He remained a Jeffersonian and an upholder of the principle of states' rights.