Rev. George H. Peeke

George Hewson Peeke was born on March 18, 1833 in Rotterdam, New York. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1857, and from the Reformed Dutch Theologial Seminary in 1860. Rev. Peeke’s active years of ministry spanned fifty-five years. He served as the minister of churches in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio. From 1883 until 1890, he was the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Sandusky, Ohio. Rev. Peeke was the first clergyman in Sandusky to advocate prohibition of liquor. 

In 1884, Rev. Peeke was selected to be the speaker at Sandusky’s Memorial Day ceremony at Oakland Cemetery. The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has a small collection of documents from Rev. Peeke's life's work, including life memberships in the American Bible Society, American Tract Society, and the American Home Missionary Society. When Rev. Peeke left the Sandusky Congregational Church, he went on to serve as the minister of the Congregational Church in Brooklyn, Ohio. He often came back to Sandusky to officiate at funerals, and speak at local churches.

Rev. Peeke and his wife Margaret Bloodgood Peeke had six children; their eldest son, Hewson L. Peeke, was a well known attorney and local historian in Sandusky.  

On December 28, 1915, Rev. George H. Peeke died after suffering a stroke.  Funeral services were held at the home of his son, attorney Hewson L. Peeke. The three pastors who officiated at the funeral services were: Rev. Keller of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Ross Sanderson of the First Congregational Church, and Rev. Hilberry of Trinity Methodist Church. Burial was in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. A lengthy obituary appeared in the December 29, 1915 issue of the Sandusky Register.