Barker, Peter

Peter Barker (1770s-1810)

Sullivan, NH

Peter Barker, born to Phillis Barker, was a private during the American Revolution in the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment. Historical records place Barker in the seacoast region of the state at the time. In 1777, he first enlisted in Star Island, Rye, New Hampshire at Gosport Harbour at 19 years old. 

Between 1780 and 1790 Peter Barker moved to Sullivan, NH where he resided at the “Peter Hill” property. On November 10, 1798, he was one of many residents of Sullivan to sign a petition to the New Hampshire legislature requesting that the state incorporate another township on the ‘untouched land’ near them. 

In 1805, Barker married Elothina Dorchester, a woman of color whose family also lived in Sullivan.  The couple was only married for five years.  In 1810, Peter Barker died in Sullivan, NH, reportedly after eating too many chestnuts. An inventory of his estate was included in the NH probate records. After Peter Barker's death, Elothina left Sullivan and moved to Sterling, MA, where her family was originally from.  She died there in 1823.   

~Written by Keene State College student, Amanda Rotigliano, 2024.

SOURCE MATERIALS

American Revolution War Rolls, 1777- Ancestry.com

New Hampshire Probate Records- 1810- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Town Vital Records, Deaths- 1814, 1820, 1823, 1829- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Town Vital Records, Marriages- 1805- Ancestry.com

Seward, Josiah Lafayette. A History of the town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917 (1921), pages I-125,456,713  II-831-832.

U.S. Federal Census, 1810- Ancestry.com