Early Monroe Co.,
Michigan
1820 -
1912
Information
compiled by P. Davidson-Peters © 2003
|
1820
|
Summerfield Township
is settled about this time. Among its
first settlers are: Seth and Polly Wells;
Lewis, Morris, and Russell Well; and
Richard Peters. |
| 1824 |
Richard Peters with
wife Polly (Wilcox) migrates to Michigan
from Harpersfield, NY with their three
eldest children and purchase from the
U.S. government about 600 acres in
Section 4, Summerfield Township, Monroe
County, Michigan. Their children play
with the Indian children and are
constantly in their father's store often
watching their father's ferry as it
crosses the River Raisin. The family's
relations with the Indians are friendly
and Richard is known to them as
"White Chief Peters." |
| 1824 |
Charles Peters, son
of Richard and Polly, is born on March 14
and some sources indicate he was the
first white child born in Summerfield
Township. |
1826
|
The post office at
Petersburg opens and is named Petersburg,
after Richard Peters, the first
postmaster who holds this office unti
1845. |
| 1826 |
On the 14th of March,
Charles F. Peters, son of Richard and
Polly (Wilcox) is born. He is said to be
the first child born in Summerfield
Township. He later marries Julia Ann
Burnham, daughter of Calvin & Mary
Ann (Bruce). |
| 1827 |
Julia Ann Burnham,
daughter of Calvin and Mary Ann (Bruce)
is born in Summerfield Township on the
12th of October. She later marries
Charles F. Peters, and her sister Ellen
marries Charles' brother John. |
| 1828 |
A daughter Susan is
born to Richard and Polly (Wilcox) on the
17th of February, but dies at one year
and one month on March 17th 1829. |
| 1829 |
Richard Peters, son
of Richard and Polly (Wilcox) is born in
Petersburg on the 21st of December. |
| 1832 |
On February 15th,
Mary Peters, daughter of Richard and
Polly (Wilcox) is born in Petersburg. |
| 1834 |
Mary
"Polly" (Wilcox) Peters, the
wife of Richard Peters, dies on the 26th
of January and is laid to rest in Wing
Cemetery, also known as the Old
Petersburg Cemetery. She was 36 years
old, having been born in 1798. [View headstone] |
| 1834 |
Richard Peters, who
had purchased 600 acres in Summerfield
Township, deeds some of his property to
the railroad investors this year. They
plat a village of 41 blocks and named it
Petersburg after him. |
| 1836 |
The village of
Petersburg, originally the farm of
Richard Peters, for whom it is named, is
deeded to Thomas T. Cole and Austin E.
Wing, who platt the village, laying it
out nicely with broad streets, thick
shaded evergreens and crossing at right
angles east and west. |
| 1837 |
Richard Peters,
widower of Polly (Wilcox) and son of
Richard and Susannah (Halstead), marries
his second wife, Orissa Baker on the 6th
of January, they have a daughter Emeline
who is born the following year. |
| 1840 |
Richard Peters, son
of Richard and Polly (Wilcox) dies at the
age of ten years two months and 17 days
on the the 7th of March. (Headstone
states he was born 1830) |
| 1842 |
On the 27th of
December, Ellen Burnham, daughter of
Calvin and Mary Ann (Bruce) is born in
Summerfield Township. She later marries
John Peters. |
| 1844 |
On August 24th,
Frances Peters, daughter of Richard and
Polly (Wilcox) marries William Russell
who had been born in Jarva, New York. |
| 1845 |
George Peters, son of
Richard & Polly (Wilcox) is married
to seventeen year-old Mary Jane Holmes on
the 10th of June. Mary is the daughter of
Benjamin & Minerva (Howe) and had
been born in Batavia, Genesee Co., New
York. |
| 1846 |
On August 26th,
George Isom Russell, son of Frances
(Peters) and William Russell is born in
Petersburg. He later marries Cornelia
Beach and lives in California. |
| 1847 |
Ellen Russell,
daughter of Frances (Peters) and William
Russell, is born on the 29th of March.
She later marries Henry Hamil Hall and
moves to California. |
| 1848 |
On the 15th of
November, Charles F. Peters, son of
Richard and Polly (Wilcox), marries Julia
Ann Burnham, daughter of Calvin and Mary
Ann (Bruce). |
| 1849 |
Mary Helen Peters,
daughter of George & Mary J. (Holmes)
is born in Petersburg on the first of
May. |
| 1849 |
Mary
"Polly" Peters, the daughter of
Richard and Polly (Wilcox) dies on the
29th of January at the age of sixteen
years, eleven months anf fourteen days. |
| 1849 |
Richard Russell, son
of William and Frances (Peters) is born
about this time. |
| 1850 |
Just barely nine
months old, Mary Helen, daughter of
George and Mary J. Peters, dies on the
6th of February. |
| 1850 |
On Christmas day,
another child of George and Mary J.
Peters is born, but only survives until
January of 1851. |
| 1851 |
James Russell, son of
William and Frances (Peters) is born
about this time. |
| 1851 |
Helen Frances Peters,
the first child of George & Mary J.
(Holmes) Peters to survive her infancy,
is born in Petersburg on the 14th of
November. She later married William
Cicero Rea. |
| 1854 |
Mary E. Russell,
daughter of William and Frances (Peters)
is born about this time. |
| 1857 |
William Russell, son
of William and Frances (Peters) is born
in Petersburg on the 24th of November. |
| 1859 |
On the 28th of March,
Charles Edward Russell, son of William
and Frances (Peters) is born in
Petersburg. He later marries Jessie
Locklin. |
| 1862 |
Richard Peters, who
had migrated to Monroe Co., Michigan from
Delaware Co., New York in 1824, dies on
the 5th of March. He was the son of
Richard & Susannah (Halstead) and
husband of Polly (Wilcox) and later
Orissa (Baker). |
| 1862 |
Richard Calvin
Peters, son of Charles & Julia
(Burnham) Peters is born in Summerfield
Township on the 29th of April. The family
had previously lived in Stueben Co.,
Indiana where their older children
Herbert (1850) and Edmund (1851) were
born. Two other children, Mary
(1857-1858) and John (1858-1860), died in
their infancy while living in Indiana. |
| 1864 |
On the 8th of March,
John Peters, son of Richard & Polly
(Wilcox) marries Ellen Burnham, daughter
of Calvin and Mary Ann (Bruce). |
| 1865 |
Frances Peters,
daughter of John and Ellen (Burnham) is
born on the 8th of January in Petersburg. |
| 1865 |
A son, Richard George
Peters, is born to George & Mary J.
(Holmes) Peters on the 19th of June in
Petersburg. He later marries Frances
Amelia Trombley. |
| 1866 |
Mary Peters, the
daughter of John & Ellen (Burnham)
Peters is born on the 23rd of March in
Petersburg. She later becomes the wife of
George Day Fairfield and lives in
Atlanta, Georgia. |
| 1868 |
Dora Peters, daughter
of Charles & Julia (Burnham), is born
about this time. |
| 1873 |
Charles B. Peters,
son of Charles & Julia (Burnham), is
born in Summerfield Township on the 22nd
of August. He dies in his infancy of
spinal disease the following year on the
29th of April |
| 1875 |
On the 17th of
December, Ellen Louise Peters, daughter
of John and Ellen (Burnham) Peters is
born in Petersburg. She later marries
Nelson Albert Buck and lives in Toledo,
Ohio. |
| 1876 |
Ellen (Burnham)
Peters, wife of John Peters and daughter
of Calvin & Mary Ann (Bruce) dies on
the 6th of August. She is laid to rest in
the Old Petersburg Cemetery. |
| 1880 |
Helen Frances Peters,
daughter of George & Mary Jane
(Holmes), marries William Cicero Rea in
Petersburg on the 18th of August. They
settle in Buffalo, New York where William
is a commission merchant on the Perry
Street market. |
| 1887 |
Thomas Allen Rea,
father of William Cicero Rea, dies in
Peterburg on the 19th of May. He was born
in Darmouth, Massachusetts in 1823. |
| 1893 |
On the 6th of May,
Charles F. Peters, son of Richard Peters
& Polly (Wilcox) dies in Petersburg. |
| 1893 |
Helen Fairfield,
daughter of George & Mary (Peters) is
born in Petersburg on the 17th of August.
She later marries Collett Woolman. |
| 1912 |
George Peters, son of
Richard Peters & Polly (Wilcox) dies
in Petersburg at the age of 89 on the
11th of January |
