~1644 - 1724
England - Virginia - Massachusetts
We're pretty sure that Peter was born in England, but when, where, and to whom have never been satisfactorily determined. There are a few myths about his origins which tend to be recycled as new researchers discover them, but they are almost certainly incorrect. He was most likely NOT a descendant of Hugenots, and he was definitely NOT the son of Sir William Petty. [Note: private email, received 31 Dec 2010 from Van Pattee, who has been researching the family for 50 years: "Contrary to Steve and Marie/David's thinking, I know that Sir William had a least one illegitimate child, and very likely more than one, but have not yet found conclusive proof." So I guess we should remove the "definitely NOT" from the sentence before this bracketed bit.] Steve Pattee, making an educated guess, suggests he might have been "the Peter Patee baptised at East Shefford, Berkshire, England 15 January 1646 to Humfrey and Mary" ("Early Pattee History" by Steve Pattee, manuscript - copy received 17 June 2003). I am not educated enough to make a guess, so I'll leave it at that.
His early years in America are also murky. He supposedly emigrated to Virginia in 1669 and 6 years later moved on to the Bay Colony - leaving a wife and child back in Virginia. (For sources, please see the Scalisi-Ryan article “Peter Pattee of Haverhill, Massachusetts: A ‘Journeyman Shoemaker’ and His Descendants” published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register in three parts appearing in October 1992, January and April1993.) The child was apparently our next ancestor, Richard.
It is not clear that he intended to abandon his Virginian wife and child - he may have just been looking for a new place to live. ??? He arrived in the middle of 1675, and was apparently living in Salem in 1677 when he was impressed into the Bay Colony militia. He was reported dead after a bloody battle at Blackpoint (Scarborough), Maine on 29 June 1677 - mistakenly as it turns out, although he was wounded. In November of that year he took the Oath of Allegiance at Haverhill, Massachusetts and at the next annual town meeting, he requested some land to settle on. The request was refused - "And the Moderator declared to him before the publique Assembly that the Towne doth not owne him, or allow of him for an inhabitant of Haverhill and that it was the duty of the Grandjurie men to looke after him." (quoted in Scalisi) These guys were tough. So it may have been sensible of him to wait before bringing a wife and child to the place.
However, the Deputy Governor reversed the ruling on 9 April 1678, and Peter was allowed to live in the place - and he was told to send for his wife. Which he tried to do, hiring one man to write letters and another to deliver them, but either she did not reply or she did not choose (or was not able) to come north - although apparently his Virginian-born son, Richard, did - at some undisclosed time.
After being legally admitted to live in the town, Peter bought some property - on 17 March 1680/1 a one acre lot from Edward and Dorcas Clarke, and on 18 March 1680/1, 6 or 7 acres (more or less) from John & Cornelius Page. In 1703, he got another 3 acres, from Joseph Greely. All this land was contiguous, and became known as the Patee Farm and Ferry. He also got a town lot (on 5 Novermber 1689, from Samuel & Judith Emerson), which he sold before 1711.
So, now a legal resident and property owner, he married. He was given permission by the court (I'm not sure what court this was, but) so his Virginian wife was apparently considered dead or divorced by the powers-that-be. The woman he married was Sarah Gill, daughter of John and Phebe (Buswell) Gill; they were married in Haverhill on 8 November 1682. Together, they had 8 children:
Moses - born 28 July 1683 - died 11 Nov 1683
Benjamin - born 4 Sept 1684 - died 30 Jan 1684/5
Jeremiah - born 3 Nov 1685
not mentioned in father's will -> probably died before 1722
Samuel - born 24 Aug 1687
m. Elizabeth Prince
Hannah - born 13 June 1689
m. George Roberts
Mercy - born 29 Oct 1691
m. Daniel Rolfe
Jemima - born 27 Nov 1693 - died 28 March 1694
Benjamin - born 15 May 1696
m. Patience Collins
About a year after his marriage, on 2 March 1693/4, Peter was elected town constable. This was not a particularly wonderful job to have - in 1687, a certain John Peaslee, newly elected, pleaded (unsuccessfully) to be relieved of the privilege. Not so Peter. Having been refused permission to live in the town only 17 years earlier, he may very well felt a certain gratification, no matter how onerous the duties were.
He appears to have been a lively and energetic man, and one with an eye to the main chance. He was by profession a cordwainer (shoemaker), and was still working at it at age 70. He applied for permission to operate a grist mill on 16 Feb 1694/5 - permission denied (apparently the town had already contracted with Joseph Greely and Samuel Currier for a mill - Greely, a miller, was the one who sold Peter his third bit of land). He was licensed to operate a ferry across the Merrimack (licensed to do so by the county court on 31 Dec 1695 - fares were fixed at a penny apiece for man or woman, 5 pence for a horse, "and so proportionable for other creatures"). Then he applied for permission to run a a tavern (on 2 March 1696/7) - permission most heartily denied! Nathaniel Saltonstall wrote to the Justices in Quarter Session, sitting at Salem "I fear knowing the man . . . wickedness will be practiced and without control." (quotations quoted in Scalisi). But really, where better to have a tavern than at a crossroads (or cross-river, as it were)?
There are a few more land records noted in the Scalisi-Ryan article:
In 1702, he bought 40 acres on the Northmeadow River from John Hartshorne. He sold this to daughter and son-in-law (Mercy and Daniel Rolfe) in 1718/9, who mortgaged it back to him in 1720 - which debt was released in 1721 - which probably accounts for the small bequest to them in his will.
In 1716, he sold the bulk of his property "Patee's Farm & Ferry" to his oldest son Richard. In 1720, he released Richard from the debt remaining, in return for Richard paying out the bequests in Peter's will.
His wife Sarah died sometime between March and July 1719. Pastor Joseph Gardner called her "an old woman who died before she received the sacrament" - does that mean she was not a member of the church? Peter was not a member of the established church, but Sarah's parents were members at the First Church of Salisbury, MA.
Peter married again - a widow, Mrs. Susanna Hadley; they were married by Rev John White at Gloucester, MA on 18 Nov 1720. (Susanna died in 1736, in her 84th year - so she was 68 when she married Peter. He was ~76.)
On 1 Jan 1721/1, Peter petitioned the proprietors to purchase about 1/2 acre of land on the opposite bank from his ferry, which he had improved and built on - permission denied. He petitioned again in 1724, this time for 1/4 acre, and this time his petition was granted. He died two months later.
He signed his will 11 Sep 1722; it was proved at Ipswich 2 Nov 1724. The main provisions were:
To son Samuel £20
to my daughter Hannah Roberts £5
daughter [Mercy] Rolf 5shillings
grandson Peter £20 (Richard's son)
Seth £5 (Richard's son)
John £5 (Richard's son)
Humphry £20 (Samuel's son)
my son Richard’s (other) children £30
son Benjamin £50
to wife 2 cows
executor - son Richard
He was buried in the Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill.
Photo courtesy of Van Pattee - 31 Dec 2010 - who included this interesting bit: The stone was stolen circa 1960, and twenty years later, in 1980, I was in the cemetary and it had reappeared. No one seems to know why or how or who did it!
Here lyes buried
ye body of Mr
Peter Patee
who died Octob
er the 19 1724
aged 80 years
That's it.
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Page last updated 3 Jan 2011