Grant, Peter

Published: 02 Jul 2014, Updated: 7 Mar 2019
Page contributors: Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust, B. Craig Stinson, Justin Swanstrom, Rosann Beauvais
Editor: Teresa Rust

First Generation in the New World

1. PETER¹ GRANT, was born in Scotland about 1631 and died at Berwick, York County, Maine about 1712. He married, first, in Scotland, before Sep 1650 [see Sources below], UNKNOWN (_____). He married, second, at Kittery, on 28 Nov 1664, JOHANNA/JOAN (_____) GRANT, widow of, JAMES (2) GRANT, a SPOW. She was born at Salem, Essex Co., Mass. about 1644 and died in Maine about 1710.

Biographical Notes:
1. According to, Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, in, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018),² on page 247, Peter is categorized as: Definite [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity] Grant, Peter. Residences: Oyster River NH, Kittery ME. Appears: 1653. B.c.1631. D.1712. A founder of the SCS. Indicted for not returning home to his wife in Scotland. Married the widow of James (2) Grant. [Exiles; Banks; DR; BCS; SPOWS; Ch.7 & 8; App.B]^3456178 For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost Lives, New Voices.
2. “James Grant signed a petition from York in 1660. He and Peter Grant were presented at court in 1661 for not going home to their wives.”⁹
3. “In July 1661 Peter was indicted together with James Grant, almost certainly a relative and perhaps his brother, for ‘not returning home to his wife’; that is the wife he had left behind in Scotland a decade earlier. Dunbar wives back in Scotland were being advised that they should not marry unless they had clear evidence of their husband’s deaths or the sentence of a civil judge. However, in July 1664 Peter was back in court again for living with a young widow named Joane, ‘hee owneing of her as his wife and they being not married’. This was probably his sister-in-law, his brother’s ‘widow’ – James having being declared deceased.”¹⁰
4. He was mentioned again later in connection to the mill at Great Works, “About 1665 [Eliakim] Hutchinson rented the mill to Thomas Doughty, and James Grant of York, Peter Grant and John Taylor became Doughty’s bondsmen. The bond was dated 1 June, 1665.”¹¹
5. “The name, Peter Grant, was found in the Bartlett Collection documents on a list compiled by George S. Stewart. The list was labeled “35 Scots at Lynn 1653. Iron Works Invt.” He is also mentioned on the Old Berwick Historical Society website along with other Scottish prisoners of war, see: “The Scottish Prisoners of 1650” at the Old Berwick Historical Society. List of names given as also being Scottish prisoners of war: Niven Agnew, James Barry, Alexander Cooper, Daniel Ferguson, William Furbush, William Gowen, Peter Grant, George Gray, David Hamilton, Thomas Holme, John Key, Alexander Maxwell, John Neal, John Reed, John Ross, John Taylor, William Thomson, and James Warren. Peter’s name also pops up at the Geni.com site “Scots Prisoners and their Relocation to the Colonies, 1650-1654,” where the list of the Iron Works shows up again as well as a mention of a Unity parish in Kittery, Maine, presumably founded by some or all of the 15 Scottish prisoners of war that worked in the sawmills there. On 6 Jan 1657, Peter Grant went on the record books for making a donation to Scots Charitable Society.”
6. DNA Studies:
Scottish POW DNA Study: Group 1-A, Haplogroup R-BY2668
Grant DNA Project: Kit #21340

Children of Peter and Johanna/Joan (_____) Grant:
2. i. JAMES² GRANT+, (Peter¹), b. at Kittery on 23 Mar 1669/70; d. at Berwick before 16 Apr 1742; m. (1) MARY NASON; m. (2) RACHEL STONE.
2. ii. WILLIAM² GRANT, b. at Kittery about 1671; d. at Berwick about 1722; M., 1st, JANE WARREN, daughter of JAMES WARREN (Probable Dunbar Prisoner), m. 2nd, MARTHA NELSON.
2. iii. GRIZELL² GRANT, b. between 1670-1680; m., JOHN KEY.
2. iv. MARY² GRANT, b. at Berwick about 1676; m., JOSEPH PRAY.
2. v. HANNAH² GRANT, b. Bet. 1670 – 1680.
2. vi. PETER² GRANT, b. Bet. 1670 – 1680; m., MARY THOMAS; b. 4.
2. vii. ALEXANDER² GRANT, b. Abt. 1674; d. Aft. 17375.

Second and Third Generations

2. i. JAMES² GRANT (Peter¹), was born at Kittery on 23 March 1669/70 and died at Berwick before 16 April 1742. He married, first, at Kittery on 9 Oct. 1693, MARY NASON, daughter of JONATHAN and SARAH (JENKINS) NASON. He married, second, before 1709, RACHEL STONE, daughter of DANIEL and PATIENCE (GOODWIN) STONE.

Biographical Notes:
Berwick, Me. HR 1718, 25, 27M, 27N, 32; selectman 1713-17, 19, 22-24, 28-35; moderator 1729-34; capt. 1727; M Mary Nason (1672-b1709) in 1693 and Rachel Stone (1680-a1722) in c1709, 6/6 ch; farmer; will. In the 1718 HR, he was primarily interested in pressing a town petition setting its boundaries, probably because of his lumber lands. In later legislatures, he was less active, but he did have four committees in 1727N.¹²)

Children of James and Mary (Nason) Grant:
3. i. JAMES GRANT, (James², Peter¹), was born on 8 Oct 1694 and died on 15 Feb 1701. Died Young.
3. ii. PETER GRANT, (James², Peter¹), was born on 14 Dec 1696. He married, LYDIA FOST. (FROST?)
3. iii. MARY GRANT, (James², Peter¹), was born on 12 Feb 1699. She married, ANDREW WALKER.
3. iv. SARAH GRANT, (James², Peter¹), was born on 12 Sep 1701. She married, JOSEPH AUSTIN.
3. v. JAMES GRANT, (James², Peter¹), was born on 8 Dec 1703. He married, SARAH JOY.

Children of James and Rachel (Stone) Grant:
3. vi. DANIEL GRANT, (James², Peter¹).
3. vii. ELIAS GRANT, (James², Peter¹), was baptized on 8 Jun 1713. He married, MARGARET GOODWIN, a descendant of John/James Taylor (Definite Dunbar Prisoner, #32 on the Lynn Iron Works Inventory)
3. viii. JOSHUA GRANT, (James², Peter¹), was baptized on 10 Apr 1715.
3. ix. RACHEL GRANT, (James², Peter¹), baptized on 13 Jun 1717.
3. x. ELISHA GRANT, (James², Peter¹), bap. 25 Oct 1719.
3. xi. ELIJAH GRANT, (James², Peter¹), bap. 15 Jul 1722.

2. ii. WILLIAM² GRANT, (Peter¹), was born at Kittery about 1671 and died at Berwick about 1722. He married* (1) at Kittery* on 4 Aug. 1690*, JANE WARREN*, daughter of JAMES WARREN (Probable Dunbar Prisoner) and Margaret (_____). He married* (2) at Kittery* on 26 Dec 1695*, MARTHA NELSON*, the daughter of CHARLES NELSON.

Children of William and Jane (Warren) Grant:
3. i. JANE GRANT, was born at Kittery in 1692.

Children of William and Martha (Nelson) Grant:
3. ii. WILLIAM GRANT, (William², Peter¹), was born at Kittery in 1696. He married ABIGAIL KENNARD.
3. iii. ALEXANDER GRANT, (William², Peter¹), was born at Kittery in 1699.
3. iv. MARY GRANT, (William², Peter¹), was born at Kittery in 1701.
3. v. MARTHA GRANT, (William², Peter¹), was born at Kittery in 1704. She married, EPHRAIM WENTWORTH?.
3. vi. CHARLES GRANT, (William², Peter¹), was born at Kittery in 1719. He married KEZIAH (_____).

2. iii. GRIZELL² GRANT, (Peter¹), was born probably at Kittery, between 1670-1680. She married, JOHN KEY, a descendant of SPOW, JOHN MACKEY/KEY.

2. iv. MARY² GRANT, (Peter¹), was born at Berwick about 1676. She married, JOSEPH PRAY. (Joseph’s sister DOROTHY PRAY married DANIEL FURBUSH, also a SPOW)

Children of Joseph and Mary (Grant) Pray:
3. i. JOHN PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),
3. ii. SAMUEL PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),
3. iii. PETER PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),
3. iv. JOANNA PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),
3. v. MARY PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),
3. vi. MARTHA PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),
3. vii. MIRIAM PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),
3. viii. ELIZABETH PRAY, (Mary², Peter¹),

2. v. HANNAH² GRANT, (Peter¹), was born between 1670 – 1680.

2. vi. PETER² GRANT+, (Peter¹), was born between 1670 – 1680. He married, at Newcastle, New Hampshire, by 1701, MARY THOMAS.

2. vii. ALEXANDER² GRANT, (Peter¹), was born about 1674 and died after 1737.
– END OF GENERATION LIST

Scots at Oyster River, Peter Grant (abt 1631-1712) By B. Craig Stinson
5 August 2016

Peter Grant, was born about 1631. His original indenture was at the Lynn Iron Works, so he was not one of Valentine Hill’s Scots. As a free man in 1661, he was indicted “for not returning home to his wife.” In 1664 he was in court for living as husband and wife with a young widow named Joan Grant. Her husband James Grant had apparently died, and she was “bigg with Child”. Peter, whose first wife was supposed to still be alive (presumably in Scotland), was sentenced to £10 or 10 lashes on the bare skin, and ordered to “mantayne the Child of the sd Joane Grant soe soone as shee is delivered.” After a prescribed period of separation, the couple was allowed to marry. Peter and Joan Grant eventually raised eight children together on their farm along the Newichawannock about two miles upriver from our William Furbish. But although the oldest child, Elizabeth, was probably raised in the household, Peter Grant always insisted that he was not her father, and explicitly did not name Elizabeth in his will. However, Elizabeth was named in the will of childless Niven Agnew, and also in the will of a man named James Grant, who died at Kittery in 1683.

An excellent summary with citations can be found at http://petergrantthescot.com/peter-grant-generation-report/
born about 1631 [GDMNH 282]Originally at Lynn Iron Works [#11 Iron Works Inventory] [HTDNH 79]21 Oct 1659 – bought land from James Emery
1659 – taxed at Dover, New Hampshire
2 July 1661 – indicted by a York County (Maine) grand jury “for not returneing home to his wife.”
[2:156] Inquest July 2: 1661 “Wee present Peter Grant a Scotchman for not returneing home to his wife. Wee present James Grant a Scotchman for not returneing home to his wife.”
5 July 1664 – indicted a second time, this time for living with Joan Grant unlawfully as husband and wife:
[2:2-2] Wee present Peter Grant & Joane Grant the wife of James Grant deseased for liveing In one house togeather, hee owneing of her as his wife & they being not married. Witness Richard Abbutt

Whereas Itt appears by Peter Grants acknowledgement of his keepeing Company with Joane Grant In soe familiar manner as If they had been lawfully married which they never were nor Could bee, because the Grants wife is yett alive for any thing that is known to the Contrary, & the sd Joane Grant being now bigg with Child, It is ordered by the Court as followeth:
In reference to Peter Grants presentment for his offence herein shall either pay tenn pounds In to the Treasury or to have tenn lashes given him on the bare skine.

Peter Grant appeales from this sentence to the next Court houlden for this County. Peter Grant & Tho. Doughty do Ingage them salves In a bond of 201i that the sd Grant shall prosecute his appeale to the next County Court & the sd Grant & Doughty do Ingege In a bond of 201i that further Peter Grant shall take meete care to mantayne the Child of the sd Joane Grant soe soone as shee is delivered.

13 Sep 1664 – a remedy is offered:
Att a Court of Assotiats September 13: 1664: Itt is further ordered by this Court, for preventing any further evill betweene the sd Peter and Joane Grant by there frequent unlawfull Comeing together, that hereby theere shall bee and is an Act of seperation made betweene them, after publication whereof it they shall bee at any tyme found frequently or unseasonably togeather, &* that It do Legally appeare, each person shall either forfitt tenn pounds to the County Treasury or bee lyable to such other Censure as the Law in such Cases doth provide.

28 Nov 1664 – Peter Grant and Joan, the widow of James Grant, were married at Kittery. [GDMNH 282] The child the bride was ‘big with’ became Elizabeth. This Elizabeth was made chief heir as “Elizabeth Grant, daughter of Joane wife of Peter Grant” in the 1679 will of James Grant [#2]. Peter Grant’s will named his seven children, “them seven’ – Elizabeth was not listed.

1674 – grant of 120 acres near York Pond [OKAHF 472]1680 – Peter Grant was fined “for lying drunke in the high way,”
1683 – Peter Grant was trustee Alexander Cooper’s will
1686 – Niven Agnew’s will mentions his sword that Peter Grant had said he would pay 10 shillings for.
1691 – Peter Grant was fined in for profaning the Sabbath, when he and some other Scots killed a deer and frightened their neighbors, who feared that the gunshots signaled an Indian attack. [source: “Scottish Prisoners in Seventeenth-Century Maine and New Hampshire” by Diane Rapaport]1693 – was a surveyor of highways and fences
19 Oct 1709 – will made; “being aged & Creasey in body but of good Memory Praise be to God for it” [MW 212-213]abt February 1712-13 – Peter Grant died
2 March 1712-13 – inventory; valued £216: 10: 0.
His land is marked on the map of OKAHF 133.
In the will, wife Johanah receives all movables
Son William receives the 50 acres granted by Town of Kittery
Son James granted 10 acres for his young orchard
Son Alexander to receive ½ of homestead and house after death of their mother
Son Daniel to receive the other ½
“My children William James Alexander Daniel Grizzell mary and Hannah to them Seven” each receives 1/7 of meadows and outlands.

8 children are named in various lists, not counting Elizabeth:
Elizabeth, b. 1664
Peter (Jr) [OKAHF 472] (Note: did he die before father’s will, therefore before 1709?)
William born about 1670
James born 23 Mar 1671
Alexander born 1674
Grizzel (married John Key Jr),
Mary (Pray) born about 1676
Daniel born about 1680
Hannah

Notes about Elizabeth Grant (1664-1731) [see GDMNH 281]Born 1664
Was always repudiated by Peter Grant
James Grant [#2]’s 1679 will calls her the “daughter of Joane, the wife of Peter Grant”
Niven Agnew’s 1687 will calls Elizabeth Peter Grant’s daughter.
Peter Grant’s 1709 will does not claim her; only “them seven” children he had with Joan.
Married 1) James Landers, about 1685
James Landers born about 1653, leased Niven Agnew land 1688, died 23 June 1693
Married 2) John Turner, 28 Nov 1694 at Berwick, ME. 1 child, Mary
Married 3) William Hearl, 1709; His will 1718, probated 1730, names beloved wife Elizabeth [MW 311-313]Died 1731
Sources:
GDMNH Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, Noyes, Libby, and Davis, Portland, Maine: The Southworth-Anthoensen Press, 1928-1939, pp281, 282.
OKAHF Old Kittery and Her Families, Everett S. Stackpole, Lewiston, Maine: Press of the Lewiston Journal Company, 1903, pp133, 472.
HTDNH History of the Town of Durham, New Hampshire, vol. 1, Everett S. Stackpole and Lucien Thompson, 1913, pp79-80.
MW Maine Wills 1640-1760, William M. Sargent, Portland: Brown Thurston and Co., 1887, pp78-79, 104-105, 212-213, 311-313.
/petergrantthescot.com/peter-grant-generation-report/
New World Immigrants – Volume I, edited by Michael Tepper, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1979
Province and Court Records of Maine, Vol II, Robert E. Moody, ed., Portland: Maine Historical Society, 1947
“Scottish Prisoners in Seventeenth-Century Maine and New Hampshire” by Diane Rapaport
Suff. Court Files 137175

B. Craig Stinson
August 5, 2016
______________________________________________________________

Additional References:

1. Leola Grant Bushman, Peter Grant, Scotch exile : Kittery and Berwick, Maine (1971). Unfortunately out of print, although I have a photocopy. I corresponded with Leola in the 1970s and 1980s. She, perhaps more than anyone else, pioneered the research on the Grant family and on Peter Grant in particular. ~Justin Swanstrom
2. Here is the WorldCat entry for Leola’s book: https://www.worldcat.org/title/peter-grant-scotch-exile-kittery-and-berwick-maine/oclc/10026738
3. Peter Grant Generation Report at Grant Genealogy | Descendants of Peter Grant The Scot Exile at WordPress
4. Peter Grant by Justin Swanstrom at his Swan Knight WordPress Page
5. Peter Grant at Geni.com, managed by Justin Swanstrom

1. Stewart, George Sawin. The Bartlett Collection. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. /george-sawin-stewart-documents/ [↩] [↩]
2. Gerrard, Christopher M.., et al. Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650. Oxbow Books, 2018, p.247. [↩]
3. Stackpole, Everett Schermerhorn. Scotch Exiles in New England. 1922. Coll. 733 & 831, Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Portland ME. [↩]
4. Banks, C.E. 1927. ‘Scotch Prisoners deported to New England by Cromwell 1651-2’. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 61, 4-30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25080212 [↩]
5. Rapaport, Diane. Working List of Early New England Scots. 2015. [↩]
6. Stinson, B. Craig. “‘Oyster River Scots.’” The Scottish Prisoners of War Society, Teresa Rust, 3 June 2018, scottishprisonersofwar.com/oyster-river-scots-by-b-craig-stinson/. [↩]
7. “Dunbar Prisoners of War Profiles.” The Scottish Prisoners of War Society, Teresa Rust, 18 Feb. 2019, scottishprisonersofwar.com/battle_of_dunbar_pows_america/. [↩]
8. Gerrard, Christopher M.., et al. Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650. Oxbow Books, 2018. Ch. 7, 8, Appendix B, p. 257-284. [↩]
9. Stackpole, Everett Schermerhorn. Old Kittery and Her Families. Lewiston, Me. : Press of Lewiston Journal Company, 1903, Internet Archives, archive.org/details/oldkitteryherfam00staciala/ [↩]
10. Gerrard, Chris; Graves, Pam; Millard, Andrew; Annis, Richard. Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650 (Kindle Locations 4884-4889). Oxbow Books. Kindle Edition. [↩]
11. “The First Permanent Settlement in Maine, c. 1926 – Everett S. Stackpole.” Old Berwick Historical Society, May, 1968, www.oldberwick.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=375%3Athe-first-permanent-settlement-in-maine-c-1926-everett-s-stackpole&Itemid=126. [↩]
12. Legislators of Massachusetts General Court, 1691-1780 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002), (Orig. Pub. by Northeastern University Press , Boston, MA. John A. Schutz, Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1691–1780 A Biographical Dictionary, 1997. [↩]