Peddy, George E. B.

George Edwin Bailey Peddy (1892-1951), attorney, soldier, and politician, was born near Tenaha, Texas, to William Henry and Laura Gertrude (Chambers) Peddy.

His father died shortly after his birth and Peddy spent much of his young adulthood supporting his mother. He then attended the University of Texas law school, where he served as student body president and led a protest against Governor James Edward Ferguson's quarrels with the University. Though he was still a student, in 1917 he was elected to the Thirty-fifth Texas Legislature, but resigned to serve as a captain in the army during World War I. Upon Peddy's graduation from law school in 1920, he practiced law in a private firm, served as assistant district attorney of Harris County, and became assistant U.S. attorney in charge of mail-fraud prosecutions. He later joined the Houston law practice firm of Vinson, Elkins, Weems, and Francis, with whom he worked from 1925 to 1942.

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