Robert W. Peters

As printed in 1906

IOBERT W. PETERS, owner of a fine homestead of 210 acres in Walnut township and a well-known lay preacher in the Baptist Church, was born in Perry township, Franklin County, Ohio, February 7, 1846. He is a son of Gershom M. and Ann (Walcutt) Peters, the former a native of Walnut township. The Peters family originated in Virginia and at an early day became settled in Fairfield County, Ohio. Mahlon Peters, the grandfather of Robert W. Peters, settled in Walnut township, Pickaway County. Here Gershom Peters, the father, grew to manhood, and then moved1 to Franklin County, this State, where he married Ann Walcutt> daughter of Robert Walcutt.

Mr. and Mrs. Gershom Peters became the parents of six children, four of whom attained maturity, viz.: Mahlon, who died at the age of 54, leaving a widow, who is a resident of Columbus; Susanna H., wife of Edwin Newton, of Walnut township; Rachel L., wife of Robert A. Vandervort, of Pickaway township; and Robert W.

Robert W. Peters was raised in Franklin County, with the exception of the period between the ages of eight and 15 years, during which his parents lived in Iowa. In 1861 the family returned to Ohio, and in the spring of 1864, when Robert was 18 years old, he enlisted for service in Company E, First Reg., Ohio Vol. Cav., his term being for three years. The young patriot served under Sherman and Thomas, and participated in the siege of Atlanta, being discharged at Hilton Head Island, about 70 miles off the South Carolina coast, opposite Charleston. He received his final papers of honorable discharge from the service at Columbus.

One of the most signal services which Mr. Peters performed for the government was in connection with the capture of Jefferson Day is, President of the Confederacy. He is the only man in Pickaway County who is identified with that historic episode. He is one of 33 soldiers from Ohio who succeeded in entering the Rebel lines during the Civil War. Dressed as a Confederate soldier, he entered the lines of the enemy and spent 12 days getting information as a spy. Although he expected nothing for his services, beyond the valued thanks of his superior, in consideration of the dangerous character of his mission and its value in effecting the capture he received $293 as his share of the reward.

After the war, Mr. Peters returned to Walnut township and settled on the farm which his parents had bought while he was. at the front and which he still occupies. He was first married, October 28, 1868, to Emma Swope, of Fairfield County, by whom he had two children; Anna, who became the wife of Oliver Waddell and lives in Fayette County, this State; and Alice, who married George Barr, of Fairfield County, and has three children — Robert, Albert and Anna. Mrs. Emma (Swope) Peters died in March, 1871.

Our subject’s second marriage, April 2,

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

Aside from the faithful care of his household and the operations of his farm, which he has managed with such enviable results, Mr. Peters’ chief energies and abilities have been applied to matters religious. He is a member of the old-school Baptist Church, the pulpit of which he has repeatedly occupied within the past 20 years. A group picture of the Peters family accompanies this sketch.

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.