@) Copyright by Wayne Normile Metz 1974 THE REVEREND SAMUEL PETERS (1735- 1826): CONNECTICUT ANGLICAN, LOYALIST, PRIEST By WAYNE NORMILE METZ \\ Bachelor of Science Eastern Oregon College La Orande, Oregon 1951 Master of Arts Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 1966 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December, 1974 -r~ /tJ;?'/D /1159~1" ~(~ Ol<LAHOM.A STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRA~Y M',Y 1 2 1976 THE REVEREND SAMUEL PETERS (1735- 1826): CONNECTICUT ANGLICAN, LOYALIST, PRIEST Thesis Approved: ~- J. f~rr.t..A, Dean~the Graduate College 938967 ii PREFACE The Reverend Samuel Peters was an ·Anglican clergyman in pre-revolutionary Connecticut. An ardent loyalist driv- en from his homeland to England, he eventually returned to the United States with a land claim to a vast area in the Old Northwest. Unsuccessful in that endeavor, Peters spent his last years in obscurity and poverty in New York City. Although he was not a major figure, his life touched many of the major events in Anglo-America during the late eight- eenth and early nineteenth centuries. Several articles have been published concerning his activities as Churchman and missionary for the Society for i the Propagagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,- as refu- gee, as friend and advisor to many New England loyalists in England and Canada, as candidate for the Episcopate in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Vermont, as propagandist and historian, as land agent and speculator. No one has attempted a book length study of Peters's life, thought, and influence on society and literature. An eminent American church histor~ ian has.called Peters "a major, secondary figure in the _Episcopal Church." Considerable manuscript material is available for every aspect of his life. His daughter accused him of writing iii letters as a hobby ana many of his epistles are scatterea along the north Atlantic from Halifax to Philadelphia. The major collection, formerly at the New York Historical Soci­ ety, is now located at the National Archives of the Episco­ pal Church, Austin, Texas. Other important collections are held by the Diocese of Connecticut, the Connecticut Histori­ cal Society, and the Public Archives of Canada. Peters's letters ana official reports to the S.P.G. are available on microfilm at major depositories in the·United States. I used those at the University of Texas, Austin. I have followed the expanded method from the Harvard Guide .:tQ American History as the model for transcribing manuscripts, using sic only when meaning would otherwise be unclear. I could not have completed this study without the James Mills Fellowship granted annually by an anonymous donor to a priest in thn Diocese of Oklahoma. Especially am I grate­ ful for the aid of the Right Reverend W.R. Chilton Powell, D.D., LL.D., S.T.D., Bishop of Oklahoma, ana Mr. Archibald Edwards, Chairman of the Selection Committee. I wish to express my thanks to Dr. Nelle Bellamy, Archivist of the Episcopal Church, her staff and Dr. Lawrence L. Brown, editor of the Historical Magazine; to the Seminary of the Southwest for facilities provided for my research; to Dr. Sheldon Cohen (Loyola; Chicago) and Dr. Judith Fingaard (Dalhousie), both of whom graciously shared the research they had completed on Peters; to iv Dr. Keith Cameron (Trinity, Connecticut), priest, Archivist, and Historiographer for that Diocese; to the staff of the Connecticut Historical Society Library and Archives, partic­ ularly Miss Doris Cook, who spent much time searching for letters; to Mrs. Louise R. Turo, Secretary to the Bishop of Vermont; to Dr. Richard Weiss, Chairman of the Language De­ partment, Kentucky Wesleyan College, who gave invaluable assistance with the foreign language editions of Peters's Connecticut history; to the staff of the library at Kentucky Wesleyan, the administration, who gave encouragement and the time to complete the manuscript, and particularly, Dr. Lee Dew, Chairman of the History Department; to Dr. James Mooney, American Antiquarian Society; and Dr. Paul Sifton, Library of Congress. All of these people and many other curators, archivists, and librarians, devoted servants to history, from whom I sought and received help, I gratefully remember. To my close friends, Stanley, Nita, and James C., I can only acknowledge that their support and encouragement en­ abled me to get through some very difficult times. My col­ league and friend, Dr. John Combs (Kentucky Wesleyan) saved me from many errors, stylistic and otherwise. Thank you seems inadequate for the many hours he spent editing the manuscript. He is not to be held responsible for those errors that remain. I can find no adequate way to acknowledge the help and support from the members of my dissertation committee. Dr. v Theodore L. Agnew, Dr. H. James Henderson, and Dr. Homer L. Knight provided help, friendship, and strength when I most needed it to complete this dissertation. To my wife Jane, to our sons and their families, I ex­ tend my deepest gratitude for their unstinting love and affection that made this biography a joy to do. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. EARLY YEARS AND MINISTRY 1 Introduction • . • • . 1 Beginnings. • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • 2 Life at Yale. • • • • • . • • • • • • 9 Ordination and Ministry ••••.•••• 11 II. POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT. 35 The Stamp Act • • • • . • 35 The Coercive Acts • • • . • • • • 40 Flight to England • . • • • • • . • • 48 Samuel Peters's Loyalism ••••..••• 55 · III. A LOYALIST REFUGEE IN ENGLAND •• 69 Early Years in London ••• 69 Peters's Property Claims 82 Samuel Peters's Slaves •••• 92 IV. LATER YEARS IN LONDON· • • 106 A Disillusioned Royalist • 106 Peters's Family .••. 112 Samuel Peters's Finances 125 A Fourth Wife? ••• 127 v. HISTORIAN AND THEOLOGIAN . 138 Peters as Author . • • • . • 138 A General History of Connecticut • . • • ·• 142 "Blue Laws" Controversy •••••.•• 155 Theology . • • . • • • • • . • . • 160 VI. THE SEARCH FOR A BISHOPRIC 181 A Bishop for North America. 181 The Bishopric of Nova Scotia 187 Another Bishop for Canada 193 The Bishopric of Vermont ••. 199 Peters's Last Years in England. 209 vii Chapter Page VII. SPECULATOR IN WESTERN LANDS. • 232 The Carver Grant • • • . • • • . • 232 The Final Years •••• 244 Epilogue •••.....•••• • . • 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY 258 APPENDIX A. PORTRAITS OF SAMUEL PETERS • 287 APPENDIX B. SCENES OF HEBRON, CONNECTICUT . 289 APPENDIX c. MISSIONARY JOURNEY TO THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS . 291 APPENDIX D. CHRONOLOGY OF RESIDENCES • . 293 APPENDIX E. CHRONOLOGY OF SAMUEL PETERS'S WRITINGS • . 295 APPENDIX F. CHRONOLOGY OF THE "BLUE LAWS 11 CONTROVERSY 299 APPENDIX G. THE HEBRON FROG . 302 APPENDIX H. FUNERAL SERMON . 305 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Peters I s Property Claims . • . 86 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. The Reverend Samuel Peters 3 2. Connecticut in 1765 Showing Hebron 5 3. Hebron showing Peterses residences 7 4. Headstones of Samuel Peters's Three Wives. 16 5. Old Cemetery of St. Peters 16 6. Hannah Delvena Peters Jarvis 113 7. William Birdseye Peters 115 8. Monument of Samuel Peters. 248 9. Cemetery, St. Peters, Hebron, Connecticut ••.. 249 10. Samuel Peters, c. 1778 . • . 287 11. Samuel Peters, Bishop-Elect of Vermont 288 12. Samuel Peters, Last Portrait, c. 1795 . 288 13. Field Where Samuel Peters 1 s House Stood. 289 14. South End of Hebron Pond 290 15. View from West of Hebron Pond . 290 ix ABBREVIATIONS USED A.O. 13/42 - Commission of Enquiry into the losses and ser­ vices of the American Loyalists. Public Re­ cord Office 13, American Loyalists Claims, Bundle 42. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Photostat copies. BTCHS - Benjamin Trumbull Papers, Connecticut Histori­ cal Society. DCT - Diocese of Connecticut Archives Transcripts. DVA - Diocese of Vermont Archives GHC - Samuel Peters. A General History of Connecti­ cut. HHP History of Hugh Peters. HJ - Hannah Peters Jarvis. "Hebron" - Samuel Peters. "History of Hebron." HMPEC - Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episco­ ~1. fh._urch. JBCNS - Jacob Bailey Collection. Public Archives of Nova Scotia. JPAC - Jarvis Family Papers. Public Archives of Can­ ada. JPNB - Jarvis Papers. New Brunswick Museum. "Memoirs" - "Memoirs of Bishop Inglis. 11 Public Archives of Canada - M. G. 23 c. 6, Reel C2227. PAC 42 - Colonial Office Records - Canada. Q Series, MGll. c.o. 42. Public Archives of Canada. Political Magazine - ~ Political Magazine and Parliamentary, Naval, Military,~ Literary Journal (London). x PP - Peters Papers. Archives of the Protestant Episcopal Church. PPMD - Samuel Parker Papers. Massachusetts Diocesan Library. RCAL - Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyal~sts, 1783-1785. SP - Samuel Peters SP CHS - Samuel Peters Papers. Connecticut Historical Society. SPG - Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. SPG Micro- film 664 - British Empire Church Records. SPG Collection • • VHS - Peters Papers. Vermont Historical Society Archives. WBPW - William H. Bell Papers. Wisconsin Historical Association. xi CHAPTER I EARLY YEARS AND MINISTRY Introduction From the letters, sermons and other writings of the Reverend Samuel Peters (1735~1826), Connecticut Anglican Loyalist Priest, and from those of his contemporaries, we gain a picture of a complicated eighteenth century man, an ardent Churchman and royalist, a devoted loyal friend, will­ ing to support and aid the helpless, an irascible, opinion­ ated, violent and iron-willed opponent to his enemies. In his writing we see a bitter, vindictive, partisan loyalist who believed himself betrayed by his country (Connecticut) and by his fellow Churchmen, and finally by King George and his adopted country (England). Historians since the eight­ eenth century have not dealt kindly with him. A contempora­ ry, Ezra Stiles, called him an "infamous parricide,'' Samuel Middlebrook labeled him "a Yankee Munchausen and "the Don Quixote of a land office business." "Connecticut's eccen­ tric historian" by Sheldon Cohen, "a bizarre character" by Milo Quaife, "a celebrated liar" by Clifford Shipton, 11 a nut" by Edmund Morgan, have been some of the epithets used to describe the subject of this dissertation.