Peter Tufts the Surveyor (1774–1825)

Biography

Among the many Peters of the Winter Hill family, this one was known as “Peter, the surveyor.” A son of Peter Tufts Jr. (1753–1832) and Hannah Adams, and a grandson of Anne Adams Tufts, he was born in 1774, probably on the Royal farm in Medford where his father had settled and where, Booth says, all his father’s children were born.

“Peter Tufts, Jr., lived a life of great activity. He was keeper of the Powder House, and when in 1815 the powder was transferred to the new storehouse at the end of Magazine street, Cambridgeport, he continued as keeper, took up his residence near the magazine and died there in 1825. Mr. Tufts was a civil engineer by profession, and among the many Peters is designated as ‘Peter, the surveyor.’ He drew a plan of Charlestown in 1818, and the mass of plans that he left behind him shows how laboriously he was engaged in the surveys of public and private property.”

Edward C. Booth, “The Tufts Family in Somerville,” Historic Leaves (Somerville Historical Society), vol. 1 (1902–03), p. 22–23. Text (Perseus)

“In public life he was prominent, having been trustee of schools, selectman for most of the years between 1806 and 1817, assessor for several terms and representative to the General Court for six terms, between the years 1809 and 1819.”

Edward C. Booth, “The Tufts Family in Somerville,” Historic Leaves (Somerville Historical Society), vol. 1 (1902–03), p. 23. Text (Perseus)

His surveys

At twenty-three he drew a manuscript road survey, signed “By Peter Tufts junior June 14th 1797,” of the roughly eighteen-mile road from Concord meeting house through Lexington and Menotomy to Cambridge and the new West Boston Bridge, the route the British marched on April 19, 1775. It is drawn in ink and watercolor at half a mile to the inch, with a compass rose (on which, the dealer notes, East and West are reversed) and the older road via Waltham copied “from a old Plan Drawn by Mr Osburn.” The dealer reports that library catalogs list some twenty-one manuscript maps and plans by Tufts dated 1793 to 1823 (“18th-century Peter Tufts, Jr. survey of a road from Concord to Cambridge, Mass.,” Boston Rare Maps, inventory BRM3348. Dealer description). The sheet has been sold and is not reproduced here.

His best-known work is the engraved Plan of Charlestown Peninsula (1818), “from accurate survey by Peter Tufts Jun^r. Esq^r.” A 1794 manuscript plan of Medford signed “Peter Tufts jun^r” may be his or his father’s. Both are shown on Places: Maps.

Service Record

Town: Medford, Charlestown (Somerville) and Cambridgeport, Mass. · Dates: 1774–1825

Civil: selectman (most years 1806–1817), assessor, school trustee, and representative to the General Court for six terms between 1809 and 1819; keeper of the Powder House and, from 1815, of the Cambridgeport magazine (Booth, p. 23). Too young for Revolutionary service.

Family Connection

Father: Peter Tufts Jr. (1753–1832). Mother: Hannah Adams, niece of Anne Adams (Booth, p. 22). Grandparents: Peter Tufts of Winter Hill and Anne Adams Tufts. He had twelve children (Booth, p. 23).

Relatives with profiles on this site: father Peter Tufts Jr.; grandmother Anne Adams Tufts; great-uncle John Tufts; great-great-grandfather Peter Tufts (1697–1776); uncle Thomas Tufts of Lexington; aunt Rebecca Tufts Adams; aunt Sarah Tufts Adams.

Spouse(s)

• Martha Locke, daughter of Lieut. Samuel and Margaret (Adams) Locke of West Cambridge.
• Anne Benjamin (Cutter), daughter of Deacon Ephraim Cutter (Booth, pp. 22–23). Marriage dates: Note: Pending further work.

Authoritative IDs / Index Numbers

Only IDs confirmed against dates and family are given as matches. “Not yet checked” means the source has not been searched; “Checked, not found” means it was searched without a match.