# Robert Peter > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Peter > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Peter.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peter > Source revision: 1351377369 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Mayor of Georgetown, United States}} {{Infobox officeholder | office = [Mayor of Georgetown, Maryland](/source/Mayor_of_Georgetown%2C_Montgomery_County%2C_Maryland) | predecessor = ''Office established'' | successor = [Thomas Beale](/source/Thomas_Beale_(politician)) | term_start = January 4, 1790 | term_end = January 3, 1791 | image = | caption = | birth_date = July 22, 1726 | death_date = November 15, 1806 (aged 80) | birth_place = [East Kilbride](/source/East_Kilbride), [Scotland](/source/Scotland) | death_place = [Georgetown](/source/Georgetown_(Washington%2C_D.C.)), [D.C.](/source/District_of_Columbia), U.S. | resting_place = [Oak Hill Cemetery](/source/Oak_Hill_Cemetery_(Washington%2C_D.C.)) | children = | spouse = }} '''Robert Peter''' (July 22, 1726 – November 15, 1806) was an American politician, merchant, and landowner who served as the first [mayor of Georgetown, Maryland](/source/Mayor_of_Georgetown%2C_Montgomery_County%2C_Maryland).{{Cite book |last=Benedetto |first=Robert |title=Historical dictionary of Washington, D.C. |date=2003 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |others=Jane Donovan, Kathleen Du Vall |isbn=0-8108-4094-4 |location=Lanham, Md. |oclc=49583180}}{{Cite book |last=Quertermous |first=Grant S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRn9DwAAQBAJ&dq=Robert+Peter+Georgetown&pg=PA18 |title=A Georgetown Life: The Reminiscences of Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon of Tudor Place |date=2020-10-01 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-1-64712-042-9 |language=en}} == Early life and family == 165px|thumb|left|Coat of Arms of Robert Peter Robert Peter was born on July 22, 1726, in [East Kilbride](/source/East_Kilbride), [South Lanarkshire](/source/South_Lanarkshire), [Scotland](/source/Scotland). His ancestral home was Crossbasket Castle in Scotland. He emigrated to [British America](/source/British_America) in 1746 at the age of 20.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TUp87JfLVkC&dq=Robert+Peter+Georgetown&pg=PA15 |title=Georgetown Architecture: The Waterfront, Northwest Washington, District of Columbia |date=1968 |publisher=National Park Service |pages=14–17 |language=en}} In December 1767, he married [Prince George's County](/source/Prince_George's_County%2C_Maryland) native Elizabeth Scott, the daughter of George Scott, High Sheriff of Prince George's County.{{Cite web |date=2019-12-12 |title=The Peter Family - Tudor Place |url=https://tudorplace.org/museum/history/the-peter-family/ |access-date=2022-12-22 |language=en-US}} They had ten children (one of whom died as an infant). Their names were Thomas, Alexander, Elizabeth, Walter, Robert, Jean, Margaret, David, [George](/source/George_Peter_(politician%2C_born_1779)), and James.{{Cite web |title=Collection: Peter family papers {{!}} Washington Library ArchivesSpace |url=https://archives.mountvernon.org/repositories/3/resources/40 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=archives.mountvernon.org}} Peter may have also fathered two [illegitimate](/source/Legitimacy_(family_law)) daughters with a widow, Cassandra Chew. Their names were Mary and Harriet.{{Cite web |title=Cassandra Chew (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/people/cassandra-chew.htm |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}} == Career == === Landowner === Shortly after arriving to British America, Peter opened a general store, working as a storekeeper and [tobacco](/source/tobacco) merchant. He established a successful import/export trade business and resided in the town of [Bladensburg, Maryland](/source/Bladensburg%2C_Maryland). In 1752, he moved to Georgetown where he opened a general store and served as the purchasing agent for [John Glassford](/source/John_Glassford)'s Scottish tobacco firm."To George Washington from James McCubbin Lingan, 13 May 1789," ''Founders Online,'' National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-02-02-0210 . [Original source: ''The Papers of George Washington'', Presidential Series, vol. 2, ''1 April 1789 – 15 June 1789'', ed. Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1987, pp. 294–295.]{{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nEsAAAAMAAJ&dq=Robert+Peter+Georgetown&pg=PA117 |title=The Family Life of George Washington |date=1926 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |language=en}} His general store provided supplies for troops during the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) and was recommended by General [George Washington](/source/George_Washington) as a reputable establishment.{{Cite web |title=Founders Online: Orders, 6–8 July 1756 |url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-03-02-0232 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=founders.archives.gov |language=en}} He owned an entire city block in the Congress Street and Wisconsin Avenue section of Georgetown which was known as "Peter's Square." Peter was a prominent landowner in [Maryland](/source/Maryland) and the [Mount Pleasant](/source/Mount_Pleasant_(Washington%2C_D.C.)) and [Pleasant Plains](/source/Pleasant_Plains_(Washington%2C_D.C.)) sections of what is now [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) He owned and built numerous residential properties and estates, and also owned numerous tobacco-producing farms.{{Cite web |title=Peter, Robert, 1726-1806 {{!}} Washington Library ArchivesSpace |url=https://archives.mountvernon.org/agents/people/476 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=archives.mountvernon.org}} In June 1791, he was the first of 19 landowners who sold land holdings to [President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [George Washington](/source/George_Washington) and the federal government for the formation of the District of Columbia. He and the other men were honored with the title: ''"Original Proprietors of the City of Washington."''{{Cite web |title=Founders Online: Agreement of the Proprietors of the Federal District |url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-08-02-0016 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=founders.archives.gov |language=en}} === Public service === His public service included serving as a [justice of the peace](/source/justice_of_the_peace) in [Frederick County, Maryland](/source/Frederick_County%2C_Maryland). In 1790, Georgetown's government was changed to include a Mayor, a Recorder, Aldermen and a Common Council.{{cite journal |last1=Tindall |first1=William |date=1922 |title=The Executives and Voters of Georgetown, District of Columbia |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. |volume=24 |pages=89–117 |jstor=40067161}} He was elected Georgetown's first mayor and took office in January 1790. He was also elected to the Board of Commissioners of Georgetown, serving thirty-two years in the office. == Death == Peter died on November 15, 1806, at the age of 80. At the time of his death, he owned over 20,000 acres of land and had a net worth of approximately US$480,000 ($11.7 million in 2022 figures). He was buried at the [Presbyterian Burying Ground](/source/Presbyterian_Burying_Ground). His remains were later exhumed in 1981 and reinterred in a family plot at [Oak Hill Cemetery](/source/Oak_Hill_Cemetery_(Washington%2C_D.C.)). == Legacy == His son Thomas Peter and his wife, [Martha Parke Custis Peter](/source/Martha_Parke_Custis_Peter) (a granddaughter of [Martha Washington](/source/Martha_Washington)) built Tudor Place, a [federal-style](/source/Federal_architecture) [mansion](/source/mansion) in Washington, D.C., that now serves as a museum and historic landmark.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-31 |title=Tudor Place In Georgetown Reopens To Share Its Rich History |url=https://patch.com/district-columbia/georgetown/tudor-place-georgetown-reopens-share-its-rich-history |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=Georgetown, DC Patch |language=en}} His son George was a major in the [War of 1812](/source/War_of_1812) and member of the [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/List_of_United_States_representatives_from_Maryland) from [Maryland's 3rd congressional district](/source/Maryland's_3rd_congressional_district). One of his grandsons, [George Jr.](/source/George_Peter_(politician%2C_died_1893)), was the [President of the Maryland State Senate](/source/President_of_the_Maryland_State_Senate).{{cite web |title=George Peter (1829-1893) |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc2600/sc2685/genassem/html/ga1888.html |website=Archives of Maryland}} == References == {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Peter, Robert}} Category:1726 births Category:1806 deaths Category:Tobacco merchants Category:Merchants from colonial Maryland Category:18th-century American merchants Category:18th-century American landowners Category:19th-century American landowners Category:18th-century mayors of places in Maryland Category:Mayors of Georgetown, Montgomery County, Maryland Category:American business executives in the tobacco industry Category:Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Peter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.