This volume contains 18th- and 19th-century manuscripts, newspaper clippings, notes, and ephemera related to Reverend Samuel Peters and his descendants. The material concerns religion, the history of Connecticut, genealogy, and other topics.
The first 7 pages mainly contain newspaper clippings; most are dated 1887-1889 and relate to the history of religious legislation ("blue laws") in colonial Connecticut. Authors frequently referred to the work of Samuel Peters, especially his General History of Connecticut, and to the possibility that Peters fabricated his account. One article concerns the maintenance of Jonathan Trumbull's war office in the late 19th century. Samuel Peters's autograph and a page of notes are also pasted into the volume.
The clippings are followed by a 6-page manuscript account of the history, settlement, and early families of Hebron, Connecticut; and a 6-page manuscript biography of Samuel Peters, focusing on his education and religious duties. A page containing copies of documents pertaining to Samuel Peters is pasted into the volume, which is followed by three pages of manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and invitations.
The final section (approximately 140 pages) contains pasted-in manuscript letters to Samuel P. Bell of New York City (ca. 1880s-1890s), pasted-in manuscripts by Samuel Peters (late 1700s-early 1800s), and handwritten copies of correspondence by, to, and related to Bell, and to Peters and his descendants. Many of the early manuscripts concern religious subjects, such as baptism and the Episcopal Church. This section also includes a letter of sympathy that Samuel Peters wrote to Clara Meigs, widow of Josiah Meigs, after her husband's death (September 16, 1822).
Copied letters from the late 18th century and early 19th century include correspondence to Samuel Peters and letters from several members of the Jarvis family. Some are "signed" with autographs cut from contemporary manuscripts (not present) and pasted into the volume. Letters from the 1880s are addressed to and written by Samuel P. Bell, who corresponded with members of the Peters family about family history and genealogy. Newspaper clippings pasted into this section concern colonial Connecticut and biographies of members of the Peters family. The volume also includes an undated clipping outlining a proposal to make Great Britain a federation, an engraved portrait of John A. Graham, and an illustrated advertisement of the clipper Syren.
Samuel Andrew Peters was born in Hebron, Connecticut, in late 1735, the son of John Peters and Mary Marks. After graduating from Yale College in 1757, he traveled to England, where he was ordained in the Church of England. He returned to Hebron as a commissioned missionary in 1760 and became rector of St. Peter's Church. During the early 1770s, Peters publicly supported British rule; increasing tension led him to leave for England in October 1774. He then lived in London, where he wrote his controversial General History of Connecticut (1781). He was elected bishop of Vermont in 1794, though he was never consecrated. Peters and his family returned to the United States in 1805, where he attempted to obtain a land grant that he had been promised by American explorer Jonathan Carver. He briefly lived in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, before moving to New York City, where he died on April 19, 1826. Peters and his first wife, Hannah Owen (d. 1765), married on February 13 or 14, 1760; they had one daughter, Hannah (d. 1845). After her death, Peters married Abigail Gilbert on June 25, 1769, who died soon thereafter. He married his third wife, Mary Birdseye, in April 1773, and they had one son, William Birdseye Peters (1774-1822), before her death in 1774. Samuel Andrew Peters died in 1826.
Samuel P. Bell, a lawyer, lived at 234 West 23rd Street in New York, New York, in the late 19th century. He corresponded with various persons about the genealogy of the Peters family.
