Lt Col. John Peters served with Queen's Loyal Rangers during the American Revolution.
John Peters was a United Empire Loyalist. UEL Status: Date:
Birth and Marriage
John Peters, first child of Col. John Peters and Lydia (Phelps) Peters, was born June 30, 1740 at Hebron Connecticut, and died Jan 11, 1788 at London, England. [1][2] He is buried in St. George's churchyard, Hanover Square, London, England (with inscribed stone). [1] He married on 25 Nov 1761 at Hebron, Connecticut Ann Barnett, [1] born April 30, 1740, [1] and they had nine children.
Education
John graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1759.[1]
Militia and Other Appointments
Around 1765 he was appointed Captain Commandant of the Militia and Deputy Surveyor of the King's woods in Piedmont, New Hampshire, British America by Governor Wentworth, and Captain Commandant of the Militia, Justice of the Peace, Judge of Probates, Registrar of the County, Clerk of the Court, and Judge of the Court of common pleas. in Mooretown, New York, British America about 1771, by Governor Tyron.[1]
John accepted appointment as representative of Vermont to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British America in 1774. He was attacked by a mob while on his way to Philadelphia to attend the congress. Lt Col Peters wrote that:
"while passing through Hebron on my way to Philadelphia I was mobbed with my Uncles the Rev Samuel Peters Mr Jonathan and Mr Bemslee Peters by Governor Trumbull's Liberty Boys because we were accused of Loyalty...
My Uncle advised me to meet the congress to find out what their aim was. I did so and being certainly convinced that nothing short of independence would satisfy them I refused to take the oath of secrecy in Congress and wrote to my uncle who had been forced to fly to England telling him what to expect and I returned to family at Verdmont......
...The mob again and again visited me and ate and drank and finally plundered me of most of my movable effects. Added to this my Father Col Peters of Hebron wrote against me and urged on the mob assigning for reason 'that his Uncle Peters the clergyman who had taught him principles was driven out of the country and that he would soon become a friend to America if severity was used.' " [1]
Flight to Montreal and Formation of the Queen's Loyal Rangers
About Jan 1776 Lt Col Peters fled to Montreal where British Gen Carleton gave him the rank of Lt Col and ordered him to raise a British Military unit which he named the Queen's Loyal Rangers.[1]
American Revolution
On 16 Aug 1777 he commanded the Queen's Loyal Rangers at the Battle of Bennington.[3]
Death
Lt Col Peters died on 11 Jan 1788 in London, England.
Sources
↑ 1.01.11.21.31.41.51.61.7 Edmond Frank Peters and Eleanor Bradley Peters, Peters of New England: A Genealogy, and Family History (New York, NY, USA: The Knickerbocker Press, 1903), page 186-188, 367-373
↑ Connecticut Marriages, 1640-1939," database with images, FamilySearch [1]: 12 May 2016; Connecticut State Library, Hartford
Ancestry.com, Peters of New England : a genealogy, and family history [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005, Peters, Edmond Frank,. Peters of New England : a genealogy, and family history. New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1903. Also found at Internet Archives
"Directory of Loyalists," database, United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, The United Empire Loyalists (http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/Loyalist-Info.php: viewed 10 April 2017), Lt Col John Peters; citing UELAC
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John: