Peter Atherton

Colonel Peter Atherton (April 12, 1704June 13, 1764), was a farmer, soldier and office holder with an extensive record of public service as a magistrate and as a representative for Harvard, Massachusetts, at the Great and General Court (17401747 and 1764). Early life Atherton was born in 1705 at Still River in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the youngest son of Joshua Atherton (16561721) and Mary Gulliver (16591754). His grandfather, James Atherton, arrived from England in the 1630s, and went to serve under Captain John Whiting's Company, and went on to become one of the founders of Lancaster, Massachusetts. His father was a soldier in King Philip's War, under Captain Daniel Henchman (16231685) of Boston, who returned to Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1687, settling at Still River, then part of Lancaster, where he became a farmer. where he built a large two-storied farm house painted red. Atherton attended local schools in Worcester County and was tutored by the clergy. He was brought up to be a farmer and followed his father's lucrative trade as a blacksmith.