Peter Carleton (September 19, 1755 – April 29, 1828) was an American politician, a farmer, and a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Early life

Born in Haverhill in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

, Carleton attended the public schools and engaged in agricultural pursuits. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, he enlisted in January 1777 in Massachusetts, and served under Capt. John Blanchard and Col. James Wesson. He held the rank of Sergeant Major and served until December 31, 1779, when he was discharged at

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

. During his service, he was in the battles of Bemis Heights and Stillwater.

Career

Carleton moved to Landaff, Grafton County,

, about 1789. He was a member of the New Hampshire constitutional convention in 1790. In 1803 the Coos Bank of Haverhill was chartered. One of the incorporators, he was also a director of the bank. A member of the

New Hampshire House of Representatives The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral State legislature (United States), legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members com ...

in 1803 and 1804, he then served in the

New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire State Senate is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. The Senate has been meeting since 1784. The Senate consists of 24 members representing Senate distri ...

in 1806 and 1807. Elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

to the Tenth Congress, Carleton served as

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for New Hampshire from (March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1809).

Death

Carleton died in Landaff, New Hampshire on April 29, 1828 (age 72 years, 223 days); and is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

at Landaff Center Cemetery, Landaff, Grafton County, New Hampshire.

Family life

Son of Peter and Hanna Gage, Carleton married Abigail Haseltine on January 6, 1782, and they had seven children, Prisilla, Frederick, Edward, Zalinda, George, John, and Louise. He married Azubah Taylor on March 8, 1801, in Bath, Grafton County, New Hampshire; and they had five children, George, Mary, James, Hannah, and Carleton. He applied for a pension on April 9, 1818, for his service during the Revolutionary war and the pension was allowed.

Slave ownership

According to research conducted by

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

, Carleton owned a young female slave named Gin and had her

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

in 1764.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carleton, Peter 1755 births 1828 deaths Politicians from Haverhill, Massachusetts People from colonial Massachusetts American people of English descent Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire People from Landaff, New Hampshire Continental Army soldiers Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the New Hampshire General Court