The Peters Connection Research information compiled by John D. Baron

1. The Peters ConnectionResearch information compiled by John D. Baron

2. Today the Fate of the Peters House hangs by a thread The Town of Hebron owns the property The Town wishes to sell the house to save money Concerned citizens have offered �sweat equity� to preserve this important landmark. They need you help to convince local government to let them.

3. What is the significance of the Peters family in Hebron History? Connecticut hill towns went through several stages of development in the 18th century. Private ownership First Settlement (families and town government) Established settlement Influence of French wars and gentrification Revolutionary War period Readjustment of the status quo after the war

4. Is the House worth Preserving? Yes, even without firm documentation The house is an EXTRAORDINARY example of late Georgian (Neo Palladian) Architecture indicating the hand of a skilled architect / builder Whether owned by the Rev. Samuel Peters or not, the Peters clan is inseparably linked with the history of Hebron, the state of Connecticut, and with their loyalist connections to the history of the United States and Canada. This house is one of two buildings in town that can be firmly linked to the Peters family and the only one in public ownership.

5. The Peters family arrived after the town�s first establishment They purchased an established farm one of the proprietor lots. Although the farming operation had already existed for about a quarter of a century, the location on the western slope of Burnt Hill meant contact with Native Americans still using Burnt Hill for seasonal agriculture. The property at 150 East Street is located on land that has been used by Native Americans for almost 10 millennia. It is one of the few large tracts of land which still retains boundaries of private property established before the town was incorporated.

6. New Comers in a New Town John Peters from Andover, Massachusetts married Mary Marks of North Brookfield, Massachusetts in April of 1717. They had 10 children. Rather than establish themselves in a frontier settlement susceptible to Native American attack such as during King Phillip�s War in 1675, they chose land in an already established community. This led to inevitable friction

7. Hebron in the 1730�s Hebron was on its second stage of settlement in the 1730�s about 25 years after first settlement. Town services including roads, maintenance of the meetinghouse, taxes, town office, and obligations like serving in the militia were made increasing difficult by the large size of the town. Geographic discontent started to be heard in this decade of the town�s history as outlying residents felt the town did not equally apportion town benefits, particularly improved road to get goods to market. By 1747 the town would split into 5 parishes The Green or 1st Congregational Society Gilead Congregational Society Andover Congregational Society Marlborough Congregational Society St. Peters Anglican (Episcopal) Church

8. The Peters Side with the Church of England Acrimonious fighting characterized the period from 1730-1747. John Bliss who lived north of the town center was the established Congregational minister before the issue of parishes arose. Vilified by his former parishioners, he and a number of families north of the Green declared themselves in 1735 as members of the Church of England and established the forerunner of St. Peter�s Church on Godfrey Hill (Route 85). Hebron�s Anglican community is one of the earliest in Connecticut and predates the establishment of other Anglican churches founded during the Great Awakening in the 1740�s. The Peters family was one of the founding families of the fledgling Anglican Society

9. Benefits of Anglican Membership Membership in the newly formed Church of England congregation provided the Peters clan with a chance to assume a leadership role previously closed to them. It provided contact with other families to solidify business and marriage arrangements. John Peters� sixth son, Samuel would benefit from these advantages.

10. Early years of the Rev. Samuel Peters Hebron history and the Peters clan are inseparable in large measure due to the career of the Rev. Samuel Peters. Born in the same year (1735) St.Peters was founded. He was John and Mary Peters� sixth son At age 19, he inherited 1000 pounds from his father�s estate� a huge sum of money.

11. Rather than invest in farmland, Samuel Peters used the money to pursue a minister�s career Yale College � one of Hebron�s first graduates King�s College (now Columbia University) in New York City, already one of the colonies leading cities. In 1758, the same year Hebron fired off the �pump� to celebrate victory over the French, Samuel Peters left for England. Here he was ordained as an Anglican minister. He returned at age 25 in 1760 to become rector of the Anglican communities in Hebron and Hartford (Christ Church) With his travels, the Rev. Samuel Peters had contact with the changing styles of fashion and architecture current not only New York City, but in London, the capital of the British Empire. This may explain the elaborate detail of 150 East Street.

12. The three Wives of Samuel Peters Rev. Peters married on three separate occasions. Each time to women from prosperous backgrounds Hannah Owen in 1760. A daughter Hannah was born in 1762. Her mother died in 1765. Abigail Gilbert in 1769. She died 12 days later at age 18. Mary Birdseye of Stratford who gave birth to a son William Birdseye and died at age 24 in 1774. A wedding was a logical time to build a new house. It is known that Samuel Peters built a new house in 1774 valued costing 700 pounds-- a very large sum which may represent the work of an urban architect or design from New York or even London and be the Peters house at 150 East Street!

13. Events of 1774 in New England The Sons of Liberty had taken over the government of Connecticut as early as 1765 with the Stamp Act. The Boston Tea Party resulted from Parliament giving the East India Company a monopoly on tea enabling them to undersell Boston merchants like John Hancock. The Boston Tea Party destroyed the private property of the East India Company and eliminated the competition for Boston merchants. Parliament closed Boston with the Intolerable Acts until the tea was paid for. Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull urged Connecticut citizens to show their support for Boston by sending food supplies.

14. 1774 in Hebron Hebron had the first town meeting. Samuel Peters spoke so eloquently about the need to respect private property that no aid was sent. Hartford held the next meeting. Again the Rev. Samuel peters convinced citizens no supplies should be sent to Boston

15. Gov. Trumbull�s Reaction Gov. Trumbull sent his son David on two occasions to �visit� Rev. Peters. A wide range of reports exist of what happened from a friendly meeting to a terrorist action that nearly destroyed Rev. Peters� household furnishing, large library, house and nearly ended with tarring and feathering.

16. Rev. Samuel Peters Flees for his Life At age 39, Samuel Peters abandoned Hebron recording in March 7, 1775 the following: �Account of property in Hebron 600 acres improved land Sufficiency woodland 5 dwelling houses, one cost 700 pounds, 4 not so valuable 7 barns, 2 cow houses Nigh 100 head � horned cattle 80-100 sheep, 10 horses Nigh 70 swine 1 double chaise, 1 sing chaise Many farming utensils, house furniture 6 negroes Nigh 4000 fruit trees, apple, pear, etc On said land is annually produced nigh 2000 bushels of grain Wheat, rye, barley, oats, Indian corn, etc Nigh 120 tons of hay, and grazing for above stock I add one daughter eleven years old (HannaH) One son about 2 months old (William Birdseye)� His wife Hannah had died just weeks before.

17. Peters Plantation Recent work by Central Connecticut University�s Archaeology Department has disclosed the fact that before the Revolutionary War much of Eastern Connecticut was divided up into northern plantations producing goods for the West Indian trade. The town of Salem, Connecticut was one such plantation with over 100 slaves. Samuel Peters account would indicate he, too, was running a plantation. Plantation buildings surviving from this time are EXTREMELY RARE.

18. Life in England Rev. Peters spent the balance of the Revolutionary War in England. In correspondence he refers several times to the property he left behind.

19. Feb. 14, 1785 �It seems to me, that he (his slave Pomp Mendo) and Cesar might be better tenants than Mr. Brown who used my house and land not as my tenant but as Tenant of the State of Connecticut who had seized it out of my hands and then demanded 30 pounds of me because the taxes were more than he expected�

20. October 28, 1786 Nathaniel Mann to Peters �The houses, fences, gardens, orchards, timber, and Buildings are all horribly destroyed and out of order, so that you have not a house that is fit to live in� The house next to the church has been burnt and the Church was threatened to be burnt, your new house has been broke to pieces and filled with the worst of people and is not so clean and neat or in so good order as you kept your pig houses.

21. State of Connecticut vs. Sam�l Peters With his property seized by the state of Connecticut, Peters was asked to pay back taxes. Unfortunately, with no fluid assets, Samuel Peters was in a bind and could not pay his bills.

22. Aug 13, 1787 Sam�l Peters to Nathaniel Mann �Cesar you say cannot support himself and family � and My Estates are not worth much at present � cannot you and your family put things in order and make them all usefull� how do you all live?� By law a slaves owner was responsible for the welfare of his slaves. Peters was in a real bind. He could not support himself or his slaves.

23. The only Solution to Supporting Caesar Peters Letter from Jedidiah P. Buckingham a student studying law with Sylvester Gilbert of Hebron � October 15, 1787 �a singular circumstance happened last week. Morris, John, and Nathaniel Mann sold ten negroes, said to be the property of the Rev. Doct. Peters, to a man who belonged to Carolina, who carried them as far as Norwich. They were stopped by a company of people belonging to Hebron and they brought all the negroes back�

24. Buckingham letter I am told 200 pounds was the price. Small indeed! In Carolina they are worth 1000 pounds. The people universally believe you (Samuel Peters) never would be the author of so much distress. Both Caesar and wife have cried for joy ever since to know they are released from slavery, nay snatched from the jaws of death�The negro trade is a miserable profession in this country.�� Unfortunately Connecticut did not abolish slavery until 12 years before the Civil War!

25. Rescue of Caesar Peters The rescue of Caesar Peters and his family is as important a story as that as the Amistad, and Prudance Crandall. It is relevant to the Town of Hebron, the State of Connecticut, and United States History. It is also a story that may be intricately connected with the property at 150 East Street.

26. January 5, 1789 Court Testimony of David Sutton concerning Caesar Peters �after S. Peters left hebron which was Sept. 1774, sd Cesar Lived in his House �untill sd. Peters Lands were taken & leased out by the State of Connecticut: at which time sd. Cesar and his family were turned off�After the National Peace sd. Cesar returned to one of his Masters Houses & and cultivated the Farm which was much damaged by Tenants.�

27. Cesar and 150 East Street The Colonial Dames title search and WPA documentation suggest that the house at 150 East Street was owned by Rev. Samuel Peters. If so, Caesar lived for part of his life here. The WPA documentation suggest the ell and main house date from two different times. The ell could have been one of Peters 4 other houses relocated later as a kitchen addition. Caesar did live at various Peters farms. This could have been one.

28. What should be done about 150 East Street This is one of Hebron most outstanding historical and architecturally significant properties. It is in the custody of public ownership through the Town of Hebron. IT MUST BE PRESERVED

29. What can you do to help Contact the Town Manager, Jared Clark <townmanager@hebronct.com> Contact the Chairperson of the Board of Selectmen, Karen Strid <bos@hebronct.com Voice your opinion that this important property not be sold off like Caesar Peters. Help Preserve Hebron History for the future.