Background
Peters was born in Hebron, Connecticut on September 21, 1772, son of Beneslie and Ann Shipman Peters.
Peters was born in Hebron, Connecticut on September 21, 1772, son of Beneslie and Ann Shipman Peters.
He worked on a farm, attended the district schools, taught school in Hebron in 1790, studied medicine under Doctor Benjamin Peters of Marbletown, New York, for six months and then under Doctor Abner Mosely of Glastonbury, Connecticut In 1796 attended lectures in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and practised in Hebron, from 1797 to 1837.
He received the votes of one branch of the state legislature in 1824, when Calvin Willey was elected. In 1810 he was elected to in the Connecticut House of Representatives and was re-elected in 1816 and 1817. Peters became the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut in 1827.
He became the Governor of Connecticut in March 1831, when Governor Tomlinson resigned from office.
He was nominated and elected the Governor of Connecticut later in March 1831, and was re-elected to a second term in 1832. During his term, Connecticut"s first railroads were authorized and private enterprise was promoted.
He also advocated internal and educational improvements, but he was unsuccessful in securing the appropriate funding. He left office in 1833, after an unsuccessful re-election bid.
He was a delegate to the Whig National Convention from Connecticut in 1839, and was the (Convention Vice-President).
Peters died on March 30, 1858 (age 85 years, 190 days). He is interred at Saint Peter"s Episcopal Cemetery, Hebron, Connecticut. His large stone monument includes a bust of the governor.
He was a fellow of the Tolland County Medical society.
Treasurer, vice-president and president of the State Medical society, and vice president of the Connecticut Historical Society. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Yale in 1818, and Doctor of Laws from Trinity in 1831.
Peters was town clerk for twenty years, judge of probate for the district of Hebron, and frequently a member of the state legislature. He was a member of Connecticut Council of Assistants in 1818. He served in the Connecticut Senate from 1818 to 1823, and was a member of Connecticut House of Representatives from Hebron from 1824 to 1825.