Peet family papers, 1789-1831 (majority within 1807-1813)
33 items
The Peet family papers contain 27 letters, 3 legal documents, and 3 financial records, dating from 1789-1831, though the correspondence covers only 1807-1813. Don Carlos ("Carle") Peet, Luna Peet Sperry, and Anson J. Sperry wrote the bulk of the correspondence from Manchester, Vermont, to their father, Samuel Peet, and brother, Roily Peet, in New Milford, Connecticut. The letters primarily concern family news, including accounts of Luna's declining health prior to her death in 1810, purchase of land, and the birth of children. In a letter of February 12, 1812, Carle Peet noted Anson Sperry's remarriage and described his new wife. In other letters, he described everyday activities, such as farming and clothes-making.
Two of the letters concern politics and the War of 1812. In the first, August 16, 1812, Carle noted the organization of a volunteer company in Manchester, and criticized it as "nothing more than an out side show of pretended patriotism," and its captain as elderly and overweight. In the second letter, he described elections for Congress and expressed disillusionment with the outcomes (December 20, 1812). Anson Sperry wrote the final letter in the collection (September 20, 1813), in which he pleaded to Samuel W. Peet to assist his sick son, Carle.
The Documents and Financial Records series contains six items. The first two documents, dated December 10, 1789, and June 26, 1791, assured payment by Joseph Peet to Samuel W. and Elnathan Peet for support of their widowed mother, Sarah, and allowed her use of specific areas of Joseph Peet's home. Also included are receipts for the sale of a parcel of land in 1799 and for state taxes paid by Samuel W. Peet in 1809, as well as a record of the distribution of Sarah Averill's estate. The link between the latter item and the Peet family is unclear.