was before any dam or mills had been erected over or across it, was a
beautiful swell of land, with sloping surfaces, intersected by a creek
from near the foot of Chestnut Street to its junction with the South
River under the present grade of Mill Street. To the south of the
corner, occupied successively by Roger Williams and Hugh Peters, Ralph
Fogg, the Lady Deborah Moody, George Corwin, Dr. George Emory, Thomas
Ruck, Samuel Skelton, Endicott, Pickering, Downing, and Hathorne, each
had lots, extending in order to the foot of what is now Phelps Street.
Most, if not all of them, had houses on their lots. Elder Sharp had
what was called "Sharp's Field," bordering on the north side of Essex
Street, extending from Washington to North Streets. His house was at
the north corner of Lynde and Washington Streets. Edmund Batter, Henry
Cook, Dr. Daniel Weld, Stephen Sewall, and Edward Norris, were
afterwards on his land. Hugh Peters also owned the lot, consisting of
a quarter of an acre, on the north-eastern corner of Essex and
Washington Streets, now occupied by what is known as Stearns's
Building, and was preparing to erect a house upon it when he was sent
to England. His attorney sold it, in 1652, to John Orne, the founder
of the family of that name.

The daughter of Mr. Peters came over to America shortly after his
death, bringing with her her mother, who, for many years, had been
subject to derangement. They were kindly received; and some of his
property, particularly a valuable farm in the vicinity of Marblehead,
which the daughter sold to the American ancestor of the Devereux
family, was recovered from the effect of his attainder. She probably
soon went back to England, where she spent her days. Papers on file in
the county court show that Elizabeth Barker, widow, "daughter of Mr.
Hugh Peters," was living, in March, 1702, in good health, at Deptford,
Kent, in the immediate vicinity of London, and had been living there