John Peters

As printed in 1906

OHN PETERS, a prominent citizen and prosperous farmer of Scioto township, resides in a beautiful home of brick construction, which is situated on a magnificent farm of 600 acres, all of which is in one tody. He belongs to one of the oldest and most substantial families of the county. He was torn in Royalton township, Fairfield County, Ohio, October 27. 1847, an(l ls a son Andrew and Ann H. (Reher) Peters.

Andrew Peters, the father of our subject, was born August 15, 1809, in Maryland, and accompanied his parents to Ohio, when he was just old enough to cause his mother anxiety by persisting in looking over the old-fashioned wagon-bed, as the family was being conveyed over the mountains, across unbridged streams and through unbroken forests. Samuel Peters, the grandfather of John Peters, located in Fairfield County, where he became a man of substance and finally passed away. His son Andrew died in Fairfield County on July 8, 1894. He had been a farmer and trade all his life. He married Ann H. Reber, who was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, January 31, 1821, and died May 21, 1897. They had five children, as follows: Alice, deceased in October, 1894, who was the wife of George Creed, of Fairfield County; Emma, deceased at the age of six years; Frank, who is a large farmer and wealthy resident of Harrison township; John, the subject of this sketch; and Milton, who is also engaged in farming in Fairfield County.

The old Peters family ancestry can be definitely given from the birth of the grandfather, Samuel Peters, who was a son of Jacob Peters, of Philadelphia, and was born November 27, 1772. On November 28, 1795, he married Mary Stevenson, who was born September 28, 1773, and was a daughter of Daniel Stevenson, of Baltimore, Maryland.

The children of Samuel and Mary (Stevenson) Peters were: Henry, born October 1, 1796; Robinson Jones, born December 18, 1799; Nathan, born June 20, 1800; Wesley, born October 10, 1801; Rachel, born August 25, 1803; Stevenson, bom June 23, 1805; Leah, born November 19, 1806; Andrews born August 15, 1809; Gideon, born August 29, 1811; Lewis L., bom March 23. 1816: Elizabeth, born November 17, 1814; and Ebenezer.

John Peters attended the district schools in his boyhood and then became a student under Dr. John Williams, who conducted a noted private school at that time, at Lancaster, and subsequently founded the Greenfield Academy, which Mr. Peters attended-for three months. In the fall of i86t he entered Ohio University at Athens, where he completed his education in 1867. Mr. Peters then engaged in farming and remained in Fairfield County until the spring of 1871, when he came to Pickaway County and located on the farm on which lie now resides. At that time this property was all covered with hazel brush and wild briefs, but under Mr. Peters’ management the land has been converted into its present fine condition, probably being one of the very finest farms in this section of the State, as his residence is one of the most attractive, substantial and comfortable, an ideal rural home.

On January 21, 1875, Mr. Peters was united in marriage with Clara Rebecca Beckett, who is a daughter of James A. and Margaret Beckett, of Commercial Point, both of whom are deceased. Her ancestors were among the first settlers of Virginia birth, to come to this section of the State and her grandfather was the first merchant at Commercial Point. Mr. and Mrs. Peters have these children: Laura May, Alice B., Emma. Homer

Hoyt and Margaret Anne. The eldest daughter was born November 15, 1875. and was married on December 27, 1894, to Alva B. Courtright, a prosperous farmer, and they have one son, John Peters. Alice B., who was born August 26, 1877, married Owen P. Lamb, and they reside at Columbus, where Mr. Lamb is interested in the Columbus Packing Company. Emma, born September 13, 1879, was married in June, 1903, to Seymour M. Millar, a son of Michael Millar, a substantial farmer of this section; they reside 011 a farm near South Bloomfield, Harrison township, and have a little daughter — Louise. Homer Hoyt, born August 14, 1882, is at home with his parents. He first attended school at Granville, then was a student at the Randolph-Macon Academy, in Virginia, and then took a two-years' university course at Athens, Ohio. He supplemented his literary training with a commercial course at a Columbus business college. Margaret Anne completed her education, as did her older sisters, at Mrs. Phelps’ Private School, an aristocratic institution at Columbus. All the ladies are highly educated and variously accomplished.

Both Mr. Peters and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Commercial Point. For more than 35 years Mr. Peters lias been a member of this religious tody, uniting with it at Royalton. He is considered one of the largest capitalists in Scioto township, having, beside a large amount of real estate, a number of safe investments, including stock in the First National Bank, now known as the New First National Bank, which is one of the strongest institutions in Columbus. He was one of the original stockholders of the Market Exchange Bank. For the past 20 years he has systematically invested in stocks and bonds but has also expended some $10,000 in educating his children. He is the largest tax-paper in his part of the county. Personally, Mr. Peters is a courteous gentleman, whose pleasant address and friendly interest place a visitor at ease and instinctively inspire admiration and confidence.

As printed in History of Pickaway County, Ohio and Representative Citizens (1906). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.