Peter Folger or Foulger (died 1690) was a poet and an
interpreter of the
American Indian language for the first settlers of
Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
. He was instrumental in the colonization of Nantucket Island in the
colony. He was the maternal grandfather of
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
.
A Baptist missionary, teacher, and surveyor, his dealings with the native population promoted harmony between the Native Americans and European settlers.
Life
Peter Folger was born in England, the son of John Folger Jr. and Meribah Gibbs.
He left
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, England
for America in 1635, settling initially in
Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End.
Watertown ...
, and later moving to
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
,
where he worked as a teacher and surveyor.
His father, John, a widower, came to the colonies in 1636 and ultimately settled in Martha's Vineyard.
In 1644, he married
Mary Morrell, whom he met on the voyage from England.
Morrell was an
indentured servant
Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...
and Folger bought her freedom from
Hugh Peter
Hugh Peter (or Peters) (baptized 29 June 1598 – 16 October 1660) was an English preacher, political advisor and soldier who supported the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War, and became highly influential. He employed a flamboyant ...
s for £20.
They had nine children by 1669, the last of whom,
Abiah Folger
Abiah Folger Franklin (August 15, 1667 – May 18, 1752) was the mother of Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States.
Biography
Abiah Folger was born on Madaket Road in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on August 15, 1667, to Pet ...
, married
Josiah Franklin
Josiah Franklin Sr. (December 23, 1657 – January 16, 1745) was an English businessman and the father of Benjamin Franklin. Born in the village of Ecton, Northamptonshire, England, Josiah was the ninth child of blacksmith Thomas Franklin (b. 1 ...
, and was the mother of
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
.
At the Vineyard, Folger supported himself by teaching school and surveying land. He was hired by Governor
Thomas Mayhew
Governor Thomas Mayhew, the Elder (March 31, 1593 – March 25, 1682) established the first European settlement on Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and adjacent islands in 1642. He is one of the editors of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published ...
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 Experience Mayhew (1673–1758) was a New England missionary to the Wampanoag Indians on Martha's Vineyard and adjacent islands. He is the author of Massachusett Psalter (a rare book like the Bay Psalm Book and Eliot Indian Bible).
Experience was b ...
, 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.
He was an interpreter for
Tristram Coffin. 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
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
.
Folger died at
Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
, Massachusetts, in 1690 and is buried in the Founders Burial Ground.
His wife Mary Morrill Folger lived until 1704 and is also buried in the Founders Burial Ground.
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
atabase 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.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Folger, Peter
1690 deaths
People from Nantucket, Massachusetts
People from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
1617 births
Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Franklin family
People from Watertown, Massachusetts
People from Norwich
People of colonial Massachusetts
Burials in Massachusetts