According to Massachusetts death records for 1841-1915, Peter was born "in slave state" to parents who were in "Places at the South." He probably escaped from southern enslavers. He married a woman named Sarah and they had three children- Richard Henry, born about 1796; Catherine (Kafie), born about 1798; and Polly, born circa 1800.
Peter is listed as head of household in the 1800 Shutesbury, Massachusetts census, with 5 people in the "all other free persons" column. He next appears in the 1820 census for that town with three other people besides himself and Sarah. These might be Polly, her husband David Freeman, and their son Henry. The 1830 census lists the family in nearby Amherst with eight people in the household. It is possible that this includes Catherine, and Polly and her husband with three children. In 1840 the family was still in Amherst and numbered six. Catherine or Polly could have been living with Peter and Sarah, along with three young people under the age of 24. These might have been Polly's children.
Before 1832, Shutesbury records listed Peter as being a pauper and after that date, he and Sarah were paupers in Amherst. Peter was recognized as a pauper of the state in 1835, and received aid until his death in 1849.
Sources Consulted
History of the Black Population of Amherst, Massachusetts, James Avery Smith, 1999, p. 81