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Indenture of Peter
Pease to Noah Ashley
[click image to
enlarge]
“…if he
should be living…”
Sometimes, research
leads you to more questions than
answers, and this has been the situation
with recent research on Peter Pease.
Among the documents
in the archives of the Longmeadow
Historical Society is the indenture
dated May 6, 1805 for “…a poor child
named Peter Pease son of Sally Kibbe of
said Longmeadow a miner under the age of
three years as a servant to Noah Ashley
of said Longmeadow...to dwell with and
serve the said Noah Ashley from the day
of the date hereof until the day when
the said Peter if he should be living
will be twenty one years of age…” The
indenture does not name a father, but it
is clear from documents in our archives
that Sally Kibbe identified Peter Pease.
Peter Pease was a
married man. In 1794, Peter Pease
married Anne Bliss of Longmeadow and the
couple had two daughters, Sally Pease
and Polly Pease, within the next few
years. The 1800 census shows that Anne
and two daughters were living in the
Peter Pease household.
In early 1802, Sally
Kibbe found herself to be “in the family
way.” We do not know much about Sally,
but she was possibly the daughter of
Gideon Kibbe or Samuel Kibbe, both of
whose households included young women in
the 1800 U.S. Census. A Sally Kibbe was
assigned a pew at First Church in 1796
and perhaps this was our Sally Kibbe.
What we do know is that by September,
1802, Sally Kibbe was in unenviable
situation – heavily pregnant, unmarried,
and destitute enough to be considered a
town pauper.
As a town pauper, the
Town of Longmeadow financially supported
her through her travails. Selectman’s
Orders in the Longmeadow Historical
Society archives show that the town
reimbursed many members of the community
who actively cared for Sally and her
unborn child. Truly, it took a village
to do so.
The town housed and
fed her: “To Capt. Ethan Ely for the
keeping & nursing Sally Kibbe from
August 20 1802 to the 3 day of December
1802 its being services done by Zadock
Stebbins”
Selectman’s Order April 2, 1803
The town tried to
secure paternal acknowledgement and
financial support for her baby by
obtaining the name of the father,
tracking him down, and serving him with
a warrant:
Selectman’s Order August 25, 1806
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enlarge]
Selectman’s Order April 2, 1803
Selectman’s Order April 6, 1804
The town provided
obstetric care for Sally during what
appears to have been a long and
difficult delivery: “To Doct. Joshua
Frost attending Sally Kibby 1802 Sept.
28th to 9 hours attendance the 30th to
opperatic obstetrics”
Selectman’s Order April 2, 1803
The town housed and
fed Sally and her child after the
birth: “To John Comes for his keeping
Sally Kibbe child from Nov. 9th 1803 to
28th of March 1804 being twenty weeks…”
/ “Also To John Comes for his taking
care Sally Kibbe last fall in her
sickness three weeks…” / “Also to John
Comes for Trouble in Weaning & Taking
Care of Sarah Kibbe’s child.”
Selectman’s Order April 6, 1804
Finally, the town
arranged for a permanent home for Peter
Pease. On December 18, 1804, the
Selectmen paid Noah Ashley $46 to assume
care of Peter Pease until he turned 21
years of age. The indenture is dated May
5, 1805.
Selectman’s Order December 18, 1804
And, then the
definitive records for Peter Pease
cease. We do not know what happened to
Peter; the best that we can do is
conjecture.
Noah Ashley and his
family went through difficult times
after they accepted Peter into their
home. Noah’s wife, Naomi Field Ashley,
died suddenly in 1807 after falling from
a wagon. Noah married Sarah Douglas in
1810 and it appears that he and his
family left Longmeadow shortly
afterwards, perhaps taking young Peter
with them.
Perhaps Peter never
had the opportunity to grow up but,
instead, succumbed to a childhood
disease like so many children in the
1800’s. We do not have a record of such
a death, but his death might not have
been recorded.
I like to think that
infant Peter Pease became the Peter
Pease who died March 30, 1872 and is
buried in West Street Cemetery in
Granby, Mass. That Peter Pease married,
had children, and farmed for a living.
His death documentation says that he was
born in Longmeadow around 1803 and it
lists John Pease and Nancy Combs as his
parents. But this genealogical
information is not reflected in
Longmeadow's vital records. Longmeadow
has no record of John Pease or Nancy
Combs ever living in our town, and the
only Peter Pease born in Longmeadow in
the 1800s was the infant born to Sally
Kibbe. While I cannot definitively
connect the two Peters, it is possible
that John and Nancy took young Peter
from the unsettled Ashley home and
raised him as their son. It is unlikely
that we will ever know the answer.
Sources
Longmeadow Historical
Society Archives
Marriage-Church Records 1716-1844
Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital
Records, 1620-1988
1800 U.S. Census
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