Figure of the Week

John Peden (1820-1892) was the son of David Peden of Baltimore County, Maryland.  He was a millwright by profession and lived on Warrenton Road (U. S. Route 17) north of Falmouth.  He married Louisa E. Curtis (1829-1915), the daughter of Fielding Curtis (1793-1844) and Anne C. Leach (c.1798-after 1860).  Following the War Between the States, John Peden submitted a claim to the Southern Claims Commission asking to be reimbursed for $1,970.87 worth of fuel taken from him by the Union army.  He was granted $987.50.  John was one of the original commissioners appointed to oversee the building of a free bridge across the Rappahannock River at Falmouth.  He served as a bridge commissioner from at least 1872 to 1891, much of that time as president.  He was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  John Peden’s son, William H. Peden (1858-1926), was involved in the lumber business and the pickle factory in Fredericksburg.