Peter Slater

---

"He was one of the number who

threw the Tea overboard in Boston

Harbour in 1773, and afterwards

served in the Revolutionary War -

He was a brave soldier, valuable citizen, and an honest man."

Peter Slater was born in England on May 2, 1760 to Peter and Abigail "Nabby" Slater.  When he was a young child his family moved to Boston.  His father was a ship captain and died at sea when Peter was six.  After his father’s death he attended school for a few years before becoming an apprentice to rope maker John Gray.

Peter was one of the youngest participants in the Boston Tea Party, which took place on the night of December 16, 1773. Though his master attempted to keep him locked in his room and out of the event, he broke out and met up with friends at a blacksmith's shop and marched with them to destroy the tea at Griffin's Wharf. It is thought that the majority of the participants in the Boston Tea Party were apprentices and young men who worked at the docks.

Shortly after the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 Peter and his mother were given a pass to move to Worcester.  He went back and forth between Boston and Worcester looking for work. During the Revolutionary War he served as a Private in Captain Gates’ Company from Worcester in 1776, and later as a Matross in Colonel Crane’s and Colonel Holman’s Artillery Companies out of Suffolk County (basically Boston and the surrounding towns).  He was captured after the battle of Stony Point and imprisoned for six months in one of the sugar house prisons with what was left of his unit. 

After the War he permanently moved to Worcester where he owned and operated a rope factory. Peter was a Captain in the local Artillery Militia Company and served as a Selectman from 1818 until 1822. He was also a Mason, joining the Morning Star Lodge in 1815.

He married Zilpah Chapin on April 24, 1785 ten months after filing their intentions. They had fourteen children together: James, Peter, Samuel, Andrew, John, Luther, Sarah Rainsford, William, Elizabeth, Eunice, Leonard, Maria, Israel, and Benjamin. Many of their children died very young. Zilpah died in 1818. In 1820 Peter married the widow Mary Bigelow of Charlton, MA. They had a son named Seth Sullivan Slater. After the death of Peter and Mary, young Seth Sullivan was placed under the guardianship of Isaac Davis.

Peter died in Worcester on October 13, 1831.  His grave was originally located in the Pine Street Burial Ground in Worcester, and was moved to Hope Cemetery when Pine Street closed in 1854. His granddaughter had an obelisk placed in the Slater lot that listed the names of all of the men her grandfather said had participated in the Boston Tea Party with him.

The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum has additional information about Peter Slater here: https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/participants/peter-slater-jr