Peters, Benjamin Lester

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Carl M. Wallace, “PETERS, BENJAMIN LESTER,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/peters_benjamin_lester_8E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Merchant, militia officer, politician, and justice of the peace; b. 29 June 1790 in Grimross (Gagetown), N.B., son of James Peters and Margaret Lester; m. 26 June 1823 Mary Ann Winnett in Annapolis Royal, N.S., and they had six daughters and four sons; d. 12 May 1852 in Saint John, N.B.
    • In 1783 James Peters, a prominent loyalist from Long Island, N.Y., arrived in the future province of New Brunswick as an agent for the Associated Loyalists and personally acquired grant P11 in Parrtown (Saint John). He gained virtual control over what was to become the community of Grimross when he obtained a grant of 360 acres in that location the following year. Peters planned and colonized the Grimross region, and he represented it in the House of Assembly until 1816, four years before his death. 
    • A freeman of that city in 1813, he was an established merchant on the lower end of South Market Wharf by the early 1820s, selling china, glass, paint, homespun, tallow, and whatever else trade demanded.
    • After serving for several years on the Saint John Common Council “with highly commendable zeal and activity,” he was appointed mayor of the city in April 1834, an office in the gift of the Executive Council of the province. During his year as mayor, Peters strongly supported the building of the harbour bridge linking the east and the west sides of the city, and he was named first in the act incorporating the construction company in 1835.
  • Son of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=6550
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214664784/benjamin_lester-peters