Elisha Peck (1788 - 1851)

 

 The Peck's are a well-establish Massachusetts family, having arrived from Essex, England to America. According to the 1868 book A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Joseph Peck by Ira B. Peck(1), in 1638 Joseph Peck and other Puritans that included his brother Robert, arrived on the ship Diligent of Ipswich. Somehow the family became Episcopalians. 

I won’t go into another further detail on the family as it’s all detailed in this book.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Genealogical_History_of_the_Descendant/u1_YBp_mnkMC?hl=en&gbpv=0

There were a few Elisha Pecks but this is about the one who married Chloe Pattison. He was born on February 25, 1753 in Lenox, MA to Elisha Peck and Lucretia Pattison. 

Peck left Lenox and moved to Berlin, CT. On a side note, there were many of his relatives in Berlin. In Berlin he worked for his mother’s brother, Shubael Pattison, a tinsmith and trader. In 1814 he married Shubael’s daughter Chloe, his first cousin, which wasn’t uncommon in those days. Shubael is credited with bringing the manufacturing of tinware to America.

I won’t go into detail into his business dealings, as they are already listed on a Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Peck

Elisha and Chloe had five children, Shubael, John, Harriet, Edward and Mary Ann. The first three children were born in Berlin, CT but the last two were born in Liverpool.

Elisha had formed a partnership with Anson Phelps (called Phelps & Peck in America, and in Liverpool, Peck & Phelps) that imported metal, furs, tobacco, and other things. Phelps ran the US office and Peck the Liverpool office. By 1830 Peck was the largest exporter of tin-plate from England. Phelps had purchased land at Haverstraw, Rockland County, NY, adjacent to the Minisceongo Creek and Hudson River, with the intention of starting an iron works. Peck obtained the machinery for the rolling mill in Britain and the mill opened in 1833. Peck named the works Sampsondale in reference to the ship that brought him and his family back to America in 1831.

The partnership dissolved in 1832 after seven employees were killed in a building collapse.

As part of the split was he received $175,000 in cash (almost $5 million today) and the Sampsondale iron works factory. He worked with his eldest son Shubael and called the company E. Peck & Son. Tragically, Shubael was killed in 1837 when a steam boiler on a pleasure craft he designed exploded. His cousin John J. Peck was seriously injured. The mill closed some years after that but was reopened in 1860 by Elisha's son John.

Elisha was also involved in railroads, and a steam boat connection between Haverstraw and NewYork. His brothers Elijah and Jebez were also owners of mills in Pittsfield MA called J & E Peck Manufacturing. His brother Oliver was involved with Lenox Iron Works and later produced glass windows. Elisha Peck's nephews, John J. and Henry M., moved to Haverstraw and were involved with the production of bricks.

In 1833 Elisha built a beautiful mansion in Havershaw also called Samsondale. The family lived in the house until 1959 but unfortunately it was demolished in 1962 and Sampsondale shopping center sits on the site. 

  

photo from Historical Society of Rockland  County 
https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/hsrc/id/84/rec/7

 

from the Historical Society of Rockland County

Newspaper articles about the mansion: 
The Journal News, White Plains NY, 18 Aug 1962 article .
The Record, Hackensack, NJ 05 Sept 1963 article.

Elisha died on November 26, 1851 and is buried in the New York Marble Cemetery in Manhattan, NY. The Find A Grave site erroniously lists his mother as Freelove Knight. That is another Elisha Peck. He died of paralysis at the age of 63. His wife died in 1844 of cancer of the brain. 

Of his 5 children Shubeal, Edward and Harriet all died young, only John (my friend's line) and Mary Ann grew into adults and had children.

Elisha, Chloe, Edward (age 17), Harriett (age 16), and Shubeal (age 22) are all buried in Vault 33 which just lists Elisha'a name.

(1)    Peck, I. B. (1868).  A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Joseph Peck: Who Emigrated with His Family to this Country in 1638; and Records of His Father's and Grandfather's Families in England; with the Pedigree Extending Back from Son to Father for Twenty Generations; with Their Coat of Arms, and Copies of Wills. Also, an Appendix, Giving an Account of the Boston and Hingham Pecks .... United States: A. Mudge & son.