My Genealogy Hound

William Peters. Among the colored residents of Little Rock, whose honorable career has won the admiration of all good citizens, is Mr. Peters, now engaged in blacksmithing. He was born in Maury County, Tenn., in 1833, the slave of Capt. James Peterson, and remained a servant in the family until the emancipation, during which time he learned the trade of blacksmith, engaging in this business after the war, and settling in Little Rock. Mr. Peters was married in 1863, to Phebe Peters, a free woman, and half white. They never had any children of their own, but have raised fourteen orphan children, five of whom they have taken and educated since the war: Mitchell Jones, Fannie Jones, John Morgan, Will Peter and Collie Luck, a white boy, who was left with them by his father, and who is now between eight and nine years old. Mrs. Peters was born in Alabama, and was a daughter of a white man, who set her free when a child. Upon her father's death, however, she was again forced into slavery, and did not afterward obtain her freedom until about the close of hostilities. Mr. Peters is a strong Republican, and a highly respected citizen.