"Sir, you were not long since the son of two noble fathers, Mr. John
Winthrop and Mr. Hugh Peters." How John Winthrop, Jr., could be a son
of Hugh Peters was the puzzle. Peters was not the father of either of
Winthrop's two wives; and there was nothing in any family records or
memorials to justify the notion. On the contrary, they absolutely
precluded it. By the labors and acumen of the Hon. James Savage and
Mr. Charles Deane, of Cambridge, who have no superiors in grappling
with such a difficulty, its solution seems, at last, to be reached.
"After long fruitless search," Mr. Savage has expressed a conviction
that Mr. Deane has "acquired the probable explication." The clue was
thus obtained: Mr. Savage says, "This approach to explanation is
gained from 'the Life and Death of Hugh Peters, by William Yonge, Dr.
Med. London. 1663,' a very curious and more scarce tract." The facts
discovered are that Peters taught a free school at Maldon, in Essex;
and that a widow lady with children and an estate of two or three
hundred pounds a year befriended him. She was known as "Mistress
Read." Peters married her. The second wife of John Winthrop, Jr., was
Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Read, of Essex. By marrying Mrs. Read,
Peters became the step-father of the younger Winthrop's wife; and, by
the usage of that day, he would be called Winthrop's father.

A few additional particulars, in reference to Peters and our Salem
Read, may shed further light on the subject. While a prisoner in the
Tower of London, awaiting the trial which, in a few short days,
consigned him to his fate, Peters wrote "A Dying Father's Last Legacy
to an only Child," and delivered it to his daughter just before his
execution. This is one of the most admirable productions of genius,
wisdom, and affection, anywhere to be found. In it he gives a
condensed history of his life, which enables us to settle some
questions, which have given rise to conflicting statements, and kept