Joseph Hopkins Peyton was born in Sumner County, Tennessee on May 20, 1808. A medical doctor, he represented Sumner in the Tennessee State Senate in 1840. He then served as a Whig in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845, during which time he advocated for one of his constituents, Lydia Ray, to receive a widow's pension. He died in Sumner County on November 11, 1845.