Alexandria gazette & advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1822-1824, 1823-04-10
ECCENTRIC BIOGRAPHY.

A Salem paper has given btlet no.
tics of me celebrated Bishop Peters,
who is said 70 have been the nrst MIN
;ster that ever preached to the Green
Mountain boys, and to have chrlstened
the state with bottle of rum, from
ths"Rock Etam on Mount Pissah."
This anecdote Is undoubtedly correct,
and % Bishop Peters belongs the credit
of having given to one of the poliucal
sisterhood, a name both classical and
appropriate. deriving its signiEcancy
from the most prominent natural fea-
tnce in the state, per mons, or the green
noun ain. The ceremony took place
in OCTOBER, l76S, in the presence OF
Col rapliu aud many others. who were
proprieI ors Of a large number OF town
ships IN lnst colony, on the top OF q
rock on the mountain called hount
P..gaa, because it afforded clear view
of Lake Chanplaiu, at the west, OF
Cenascticst river at the east, and over
looked all the trees and hills IN the
vast wilderness to the north and south.
THE baptism Was performed in the
following manner aud form, VIZ: Priest
Peters 81 o ID on the pinnacle of the rock,
WHARF, hs received o bottle Of spirits
from Col. rspliu; then givins short
history of the inIsnt settlement, and
tas prosp Of its becoming an Impreg-
nsoie barrier between the British colo
MES in the south, and the late colonies
of the French in the north, which
pniSnt he returned in the next century
20 their late owners, for the sake OF
governing America by the different
powers Of Europe, he continued I'VE
have met here on the rock Etam stand.
ing on Mount Pisgsh, which mskes
part of '.the everlasting hill" the spine
Of Africa, Asia, and America, holding
together the tsrrestrial ball, and diVi-
ding the Atlaatlc and the Pacific ocean,
TO dedicate aud consecrate this extern
sive wilderness, and to give it new
sne worthv Of the Athenians and An
oieut Sparrans which new name 10
Ysrd Mont, IN token that her modh-
tains aud hills shall ever be green, and
shall never die" He than poured the
spirits around him, and cast the bottle
an the rock Esam. The ceremony be-
;ns over, the Company descended Mount
Pisrah, and took refreshment in log
house kept by Capt Obey, where they
spent the night with great pleasure.
After this Priest Pc ers passed through
most of the settlements preaching and
baptizing for the space Of eight weeks,
and babtized nearly twelve hundred
childrea and sduits."
The paper which relates this curious
historical fact, adds one or two other in.
ciaents in the life of the Same eccen
trio man; but as we happen to be &C
uuainssd with his biography, It is be-
lieved a concise sketch may be anu.
sing to our readers.
In the winter of 1919. a friend invi
ted one of the editors of this paper to
accompany him to the upper part OF
this city, fer the purpose of paying an
evening visit to Bishop Peters. From
a strong curiosity to see a man, of
whom 90 much had previously been
heard, the invitation was readily &C.
cspted. On entering the room, we
were received in a polite and courtly
style. by tall, erect, and venerable
man, who had then reached the patri-
arehal age of nearly ninety gears, and
who yet possessed the activity and vi
vaeity of youth.
Wsfound him busy in writing out,
In plain and substantial hand, the &c
nealogy of his family, tracing back his
progeuitors to Hugh Peters, the oele.
DRAFTED English dissenter, lie had mi
nu;ely, and we presume accurately,
described all the linsal descendants of
that divine, With their various ranifi.
cations in Europe and Americn-Oaa