Peter Church

Peter Church (1737-1821) was the third child of Constant Church and Mary Reynolds. He was referred to in official documents as a gentleman. In 1764, he married Sarah Fales at the Congregational Church in Bristol. Peter and Sarah had four children: Nathaniel, Charlotte, George, and William. In 1765, Peter was commissioned as an ensign in the Bristol Militia Company, which was then commanded by Billings Throope. In 1774, as part of a town-wide effort, he sent a sum of 18 shillings to support the people of Boston (that city’s port having been recently closed by the British). As of the 1774 Rhode Island Census, there was one black person (likely enslaved) living in the Church household. In 1775, a man named Abraham, described as “negro servant of Peter”, married a woman whose name is unclear (described as “negro servant of Mrs. Mowry”). In 1776, Peter commanded a company in William Richmond’s Regiment. In 1777, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Newport and Bristol County Regiment of Militia. By 1780, he commanded that regiment. Mary seems to have died, and Peter remarried to Hannah Gay in 1787. Peter and Hannah had two children: Peter and Hannah. As of the 1790 United States Census, there were two enslaved people living in the Church household. In 1791, Peter was a justice of the peace. A man named John Mingo, described as “negro servant of Col. Peter”, died in 1803.