Samuel T. Peters
Samuel Peters was born in England and came to Long Island as a young man with his family about 1835. His father was a dry goods merchant. On July 30th, 1847 he was married to Josephine Gemmel, the daughter of James Gemmel a New York City jeweler. Within a couple years he became a partner with Lemuel Smith when he relocated to 100 John Street. They both attended Friends of the Final Restitution Church and Samuel may have had a brother working with Lemuel already.
They shared their building with the Corsan Denton & Company of Sheffield, England. They would soon become famous for making Bowie knives and are very collectible even today.
In 1854 Peters felt it was time to become a citizen of the United States and filed his papers. He had been here about 20 years, but the legal requirement, then was only 2 years.
Peters and Smith were greatly successful and in 1872 they decided to end their partnership and retire. I think the 1870 census reflects his success. At the time Samuel, age 50, had just moved into a very influential neighborhood on East 49th Street. Pictured below were his next door neighbors. From left to right, they are James Grant Wilson, John Quincy Adams Ward, Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard and Charles Arad Joy.
James Grant Wilson (April 28, 1832 – February 1, 1914) was an American editor, author, bookseller and publisher, who founded the Chicago Record in 1857, the first literary paper in that region. During the American Civil War, he served as a colonel in the Union Army. In recognition of his service, in 1867, he was nominated and confirmed for appointment as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from March 13, 1865. He settled in New York, where he edited biographies and histories, was a public speaker, and served as president of the Society of American Authors and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.
John Quincy Adams Ward (June 29, 1830 – May 1, 1910) was an American sculptor, whose most familiar work is his larger than life-size standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.
Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard (May 5, 1809 – April 27, 1889) was an American academic and educator who served as the 10th President of Columbia University. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Yale University in 1828 and served in a succession of academic appointments, including as Chancellor of the University of Mississippi from 1856 to 1861. He assumed office as President of Columbia University in 1864, where he presided over a series of improvements to the university until his death in 1889. He was also known as an author of academic texts.
Charles Arad Joy (8 October 1823 – 29 May 1891) was a United States chemist. He was born in Ludlowville, New York. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1847. During the same year, he was appointed to the U.S. Geological Survey of the Lake Superior region, under Josiah D. Whitney and Charles T. Jackson. Subsequently, he went to Europe and studied chemistry at Berlin, at Göttingen, where in 1852 he received the degree of doctor of philosophy, and at the Sorbonne in Paris. After his return to the United States, he was soon called to the chair of chemistry in Union College, and held it until 1857, when he was elected to a similar professorship at Columbia University, remaining there until 1877. Failing health, the result of a sunstroke that he received at the World's fair in Philadelphia during 1876, compelled his retirement, and for several years he resided in Germany. Joy was a member of the juries of the international world's fairs of London, Paris, Vienna, and Philadelphia, and also a member of scientific societies. In 1866 he was elected president of the Lyceum of Natural History (now New York Academy of Sciences). He was also president of the American Photographic Society, chairman of the Polytechnic Association of the American Institute, and foreign secretary of the American Geographical Society.
John Quincy Adams Ward (June 29, 1830 – May 1, 1910) was an American sculptor, whose most familiar work is his larger than life-size standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.
Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard (May 5, 1809 – April 27, 1889) was an American academic and educator who served as the 10th President of Columbia University. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Yale University in 1828 and served in a succession of academic appointments, including as Chancellor of the University of Mississippi from 1856 to 1861. He assumed office as President of Columbia University in 1864, where he presided over a series of improvements to the university until his death in 1889. He was also known as an author of academic texts.
Charles Arad Joy (8 October 1823 – 29 May 1891) was a United States chemist. He was born in Ludlowville, New York. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1847. During the same year, he was appointed to the U.S. Geological Survey of the Lake Superior region, under Josiah D. Whitney and Charles T. Jackson. Subsequently, he went to Europe and studied chemistry at Berlin, at Göttingen, where in 1852 he received the degree of doctor of philosophy, and at the Sorbonne in Paris. After his return to the United States, he was soon called to the chair of chemistry in Union College, and held it until 1857, when he was elected to a similar professorship at Columbia University, remaining there until 1877. Failing health, the result of a sunstroke that he received at the World's fair in Philadelphia during 1876, compelled his retirement, and for several years he resided in Germany. Joy was a member of the juries of the international world's fairs of London, Paris, Vienna, and Philadelphia, and also a member of scientific societies. In 1866 he was elected president of the Lyceum of Natural History (now New York Academy of Sciences). He was also president of the American Photographic Society, chairman of the Polytechnic Association of the American Institute, and foreign secretary of the American Geographical Society.
Unfortunately, Samuel didn't get the time to become well acquainted with his famous neighbors. He died in 1873 from cholera.
An Interesting Side Story
Samuel had a son named Samuel Twyford Peters who became a multi-millionaire. He was a director of several coal companies, of the Hanover Bank, President of the Riding Club, a Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a member of many clubs, including the University, Racquet and Tennis, Metropolitan and New York Yacht. Mr. Peters had for years been a devoted collector of jades. In 1912 and 1916 he presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art nearly four hundred specimens that form a collection probably unsurpassed anywhere. In his summer house in Islip he had many beautiful examples of Chinese porcelain.
The family's long time summer home was in Islip, Long Island, where they attended the St. Mark's Episcopal Church. Louis Comfort Tiffany designed eight stained glass windows for the church and one was the Peters Family Memorial window.
All the windows were lost when the church burned down in 1989.