Horace Peters Biddle (March 24, 1811 – May 13, 1900) was a lawyer, judge, poet, musicologist, and famous hermit.

[1] He was the youngest of nine children and was largely raised by his oldest sister after the death of his mother when Biddle was five.

After working for seven years for his brother Daniel, a store owner, he caught the attention of lawyer and future Ohio Senator Thomas Ewing who advised him to study law and found a place for him in the office of Hocking H. Hunter.

In 1852 he resigned from the circuit court and ran for United States Representative on the Whig Party ticket but was unsuccessful.

[1] His will was not found until six months later; his estate, including a 9,000 volume library and the 17 acre island property, went largely to his niece Eva Peters Reynolds.