James Peters UEL (1746 - 1820)

Born 9 Feb 1746 in Hempstead, Queens, Province of New York

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Lester) Peters — married 18 Jun 1767 in Hempstead, Nasau, Province of New York

Descendants

Died 19 Jan 1820 at age 73 in Gagetown, Colony of New Brunswick

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Malcolm Bliss [send private message] and Amber Peters [send private message]

Biography

James Peters was a United Empire Loyalist.
UEL Status:Proven
Date: Undated

James Peters was born February 9, 1746, the son of Valentine Hewlett Peters and Ruth Smith of Hampstead, NY^{[1][2] [3] [4]}

On June 18, 1767, he married Margaret Lester, daughter of Benjamin Lester and Mary Bedell^[1]. They settled in New Brunswick in 1783 where James was one of the agents appointed to locate lands granted to the Loyalists. Like many Loyalists who landed in New Brunswick, he was first a grantee at Parrtown (Saint John). He later received a larger land grant at what would become Gagetown in Queens County. ^{[5] [6]}

By 1792, he was a magistrate for Queens County. He was also elected to the 2nd New Brunswick Legislature in the same year. He sat in the Legislature from 1793. He served in both roles until his death in 1820, likely participating in most of the founding conversations around the government of the young colony.^[7]

Their children included:

1. Sarah, born 27 Jun 1769 at Blooming Grove, NY, who married Thomas Wetmore on 17 Mar 1793 at Gagetown, NB^[1]
2. Valentine Hewlett, born 11 Oct 1771, Hempstead, Long Island, who married, settled in Queens County NB and died on 16 Apr 1837^[1]
3. Charles Jeffrey, born 8 Oct 1773 at Hempstead, NY, who married Elizabeth Baker on 23 Nov 1797 in Ontario, and then married Marianne Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of Dr. Anthony G. Forbes of St. Kitts, on 19 Nov 1823 in Saint John^[1]
4. Charles Peters born 23 Aug 1775, who died 10 Oct 1776^[1]
5. James Peters Jr. b. 16 Dec 1777, died 1 Apr 1778^[1]
6. James Peters Jr. born 11 Feb 1779, who married Susannah White and lived in Saint John^[1]
7. Thomas b. 1 Sep 1781, died 2 Oct 1781^[1]
8. Thomas Horsfield, born 15 Oct 1782 in NY State, who married Mary A.M. Sherman d/o Dr. Ambrose Sherman of Sunbury County on 10 Feb 1810 at Saint John, settled in Northumberland County, and died 3 Apr 1860^[1]
9. Harry Peters born 11 Nov 1785 at Grimross, NB, d. 1788^[1]
10. Harry Peters born 1789, who married Mary Anne Bedell in Sep 1809 and settled in Gagetown^[1]
11. Benjamin Lester, born 29 Jun 1790, who married Mary Ann Winnett on 26 Jun 1823 at Annapolis Royal, NS, and settled in Saint John^[1]
12. William Tyng, born 1793, who married Isabella (Lee) Cooke, d/o Joseph Lee of Fredericton on October 17, 1815^[1]

The Peters family also had at least one African American "domestic servant" named Eliza Fisher. The exact dates of her employ by the Peters family are unknown, however she worked for them nearly 15 years according to a second-hand account in her obituary. Eliza "ran away" to Saint John, got married, and lived to the age of 105.^[8]

James passed away on January 16, 1820 and was interred at Saint John's Anglican Church in Queens County.^{[2][9][1] [6]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14} New Brunswick Genealogical Society First Families listing for James Peters cites the following sources MC1/Peters #2#3, 30 pages: see also MC1156 Graves Papers: James Peters, 1 page: see MC1286 Volume VIII Dictionary of Canadian Biography pages 699 to 700: see also MC80/22 Isabel Louise Hill’s Some Loyalists and Others, pages 55 to 58: Isabella’s brother Charles Lee married a daughter of Jonathan Odell: see MC80/110 J.W Lawrence’s Foot-prints, or incidents in early history of NB, page 3: see MC80/1378 O.H. Warwick et. al. The Mount House on Mount Ararat Farm: see MC216 Kathleen Willis Williston fonds, MS 1B1 Collection of “local history” and “biographical” notes, 2 pages: see MC2657 NBGS Generations Vol. 23, No. 4, Winter 2001, Adadne Connolly’s Thomas Horsfield Peters, page 2.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Cemetery Transcription, Public Archives of New Brunswick
3. ↑ Will of Valentine H Peters November 29, 1783 found in New York: Abstracts of New York County Wills, 1662-1801 Volume 14, page 83 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) Originally published as: Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the Years 1902-1906. New York: Printed for the Society, 1903-1907.
4. ↑ Early Vital Records of Hempstead, Long Island NY published in Vol 54, page 43 of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York, NY: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1870-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) which states
   • Valentine Hewlett Peters was born on the 10th day of August, 1716
   • Ruth Peters was born the 18th day of November 1720
   • ...
   • James Peters, son of the abovesd, born on Sunday the 9th february, 1746
5. ↑ United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada Loyalist Directory: listing for James Peters
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} The Settlers of the Beekman Patent Volume 8, page 86 found in Dutchess County, NY: The Settlers of the Beekman Patent (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016), (Orig. Pub. by Frank J. Doherty, Pleasant Valley, NY. Frank J. Doherty, The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York: An Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent, ten volumes. 1990–2003), which states that Margaret Lester, daughter of Benjamin Lester and Mary Bedell, baptized March 1749, married James Peters with a NY Licence of 12 June 1767 [NY Marriage Bonds 247] James Peters was a Loyalist, and leader of the Spring Fleet of Loyalists to Saint John NB in May 1783. He and his wife both died at Gagetown. His will was proved January 28, 1820, and his wife died in 1825. His will was extensive and noted his children.
7. ↑ Death Announcement, City Gazette, January 19, 1820. Transcribed in Johnson, Daniel Vital Statistics From New Brunswick Newspapers, Vol 2 No 767
8. ↑ Obituary, Eliza (Fisher) Taylor, The Evening Gazette, July 2, 1889. Transcribed in Johnson, Daniel Vital Statistics From New Brunswick Newspapers, Vol 75 No 585
9. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #143251025, Hon. James Peters, Esq. (1747-1820)

See also:

• Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members
• Sabine, Lorenzo, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, p. 530.