Peter, Robert, 1805-1894

Chemist, physician, teacher.

Robert Peter was born in England but emigrated to America in 1817. He lived for a time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After attending the Rensselaer School, in Troy, New York and lecturing on chemistry at Western University of Pennsylvania, Peter moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he became a professor of chemistry at Transylvania University. He also studied medicine at Transylvania, and received his medical degree in 1834. He only practiced medicine for a short while, but served on the medical faculties of Transylvania and of the Kentucky School of Medicine in Louisville. Peter supervised military hospitals in Lexington during the Civil War and later served as a professor of chemistry at what is now the University of Kentucky. He also served as chemist for two geological surveys of Kentucky and one each of Arkansas and Indiana.

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