Peter Oliver, was characterized by contemporaries
as a "Loyalist by birth, education and instinct, a man of
courage, firmness, learning and character." He was the brother
of Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver, and was related
by marriage to the Tory Governor Thomas Hutchinson;
all three were considered hopeless and despicable Loyalists
by the patriots. He and his family were also considered bitter
business and politcal rivals of James Otis and Samuel Adams.
He graduated from Harvard University and in 1747 was
appointed to the Inferior Court of Common Pleas of Plymouth County.
The Plymouth County Court House of 1749 is said to have been
designed by him. .He rose to the Superior Court in 1756, and
served as Chief Justice of the Colony of Massachusetts from 1772
until deposed by Revolutionists in 1775.
Originally from Boston, Oliver bought most of the
land around the Muttock neighborhood of Middleborough, MA including
dam and the water privileges, and created an entire self-contained
iron mill complex. His estate, Oliver Hall, was one of the finest
country residences outside Boston. The style was of "an
old English mansion with steep roof and deep jutting eaves, with
walls of white plaster and portico oak."
He was one of the justices serving at the famous trial of those
accused in the Boston Massacre. He was
appointed to the King's comnmission to investigate the burning
of the Gaspee in 1772. Later in 1772,
when the British proposed to take over the Colony's responsibility
of payment of the justices, all members of the court except Oliver
declined. The hostility against his loyalist stance was inflamed,
and his home in Middleborough was burned to the ground by Sons of Liberty. The Massachusetts
legislature impeached him, prompting grand jurors at more than
two courts to refuse to take their oaths. After physical threats,
he took to hiring an armed guard for his protection when serving
on the bench.
When the British forces evacuated Boston in March
of 1776, Oliver joined them and left for Nova Scotia. Not finding
Nova Scotia to his liking, Oliver and his family moved to England.
"Thanks be to heaven," he wrote, "I am now in
a Place where I can be protected from the Harpy Claws of that
Rebellion which is now tearing out its own Bowels in America."
While in exile, he is known for his bitter writings against the
Revolutionary thought.* The
Olivers never returned to America.
After the Revolution , Peter Oliver in 1790 presented
his grandaughter, wife of the famous Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse,
a grandfather clock that is still the subject of ceremonial winding
at Harvard Medical School.
*(See Adair, Douglass
and John A. Schutz, editors. Peter Oliver's Origin and Progress
of the American Rebellion: A Tory View. San Marino, Cal.:
Huntington Library, 1961.) |
Peter Oliver