Peter Folger or Foulger (1617 -1690) was a poet and an interpreter of the American Indian language for the first settlers of Nantucket. He was instrumental in the colonization of Nantucket Island in the Massachusetts colony. He was the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin.
A Baptist missionary, teacher, and surveyor, his dealings with the native population promoted harmony between the Native Americans and European settlers.
Video Peter Folger (Nantucket settler)
Life
Peter Folger was born in 1617 in England, the son of John Folger Jr. (b. c. 1594) and Meribah Gibbs. He came to America in 1635, settling initially in Watertown, Massachusetts, and later moving to Martha's Vineyard, where he worked as a teacher and surveyor. In 1644, he married Mary Morrell, whom he met on the voyage from England.
At the Vineyard, Folger supported himself by teaching school and surveying land. He was hired by Governor Thomas Mayhew and his son Thomas Mayhew Jr. to convert the Native American population to Christianity, during which time he learned to speak the native language. He was a Baptist in faith, and as such was told not to visit with the Puritans on the mainland. Rev. Experience Mayhew, in a letter to John Gardner, Esquire, dated 1694, states that when Thomas Mayhew, Jr. left for England in 1657, he left the care of his church and mission to Peter Folger.
From time to time between 1659 and 1662, Folger journeyed to Nantucket in order to survey it for the proprietors. In 1663 Folger moved to Nantucket full-time, having been granted a half a share of land by the proprietors, where he was a surveyor, an Indian interpreter, and clerk in the courts. Shortly thereafter, Folger's daughter, Abiah, was born, later to become the mother of Benjamin Franklin, who referred to him fondly in his autobiography.
Folger died at Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1690 and is buried in the Founders Burial Ground. His wife Mary Morrill Folger lived until 1704.
Maps Peter Folger (Nantucket settler)
Works
- A Looking Glass for the Times, or the Former Spirit of New England Revived in this Generation (1675)
- A Denunciation of War
References
Sources
- The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 16. By New England Historic Genealogical Society
- American Marriages Before 1699 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, US: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997. Original data: Clemens, William Montgomery. American Marriage Records Before 1699. Pompton Lakes, NJ, US: Biblio Co., 1926.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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