| Founded in 1833, Oberlin
College is a small, selective college located in
Oberlin, Lorain Co., Ohio. It was the first U.S.
college to regularly admit African-American
students and enroll women on an equal basis with
men. The addition of Peters
Hall was made possible by the gifts of two men:
$20,000 from steamship owner Captain Alva
Bradley, of Cleveland, and $50,000 from timber
merchant Hon. Richard G. Peters of Manistee,
Michigan. Construction on Peters Hall began in
the spring of 1885 and was designed by architects
Messers, Weary and Kramer. At its dedication on
26 Jan1887 it was described as "the most
perfect college building in the United
States."
Richard
Gould Peters, for whom the Hall was named, was
born in Delaware Co., New York on 02 Jul 1832 and
was the son of James S. Peters and Susan
(Squires). At the age of fifteen, his mother died
and he went to live with his father's family who
were early settlers of Petersburg, in Monroe Co.,
Michigan. There he became interested in lumbering
and salt industries and was an extremely
successful businessman. One of his holdings was
the East Lake Mining Co. (salt) in Manistee,
which later became Morton Salt Company.
On 06
Apr 1858, he married Evaline N. Tibbitts of
Oberlin, she the daughter of Benjamin and
Margaret (Wilcox). After her death in February of
1897, Richard married Janet Telford the following
June. Richard died in Manistee on 01 Apr 1927.
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