General Notes

Sources:
Dr. Charles Banks, History of Martha's Vinyard, Vol. III, Published 1925
Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior To 1700, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1985 David W. Hoyt, The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts (in 3 volumes) Providence, RI: 1897 New England Historical and Genealogical Register (Boston, MA: New England Historical and Genealogical Society)Vol. 10, p. 269 and Vol. 12, p. 129
A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those who Came before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register / James Savage and O. P. Dexter
"It all began with a shipboard romance in the year 1635. The ship was the 'Abigail,' out of Plymouth, England, bound for the new world, and the lovers were Peter Folger and Mary Morrill. Peter, then 18 years old, was proficient in mathematics, writing and history and he hoped that his academic training at Norwich Grammer School would enable him to get a job as a clerk to Thomas Mayhew at Watertown, Massachusetts. His father, John Folger, had worked as a mason, carpenter, and cabinetmaker in Norfolkshire and now, with the death of his wife, Meriah Gibbs, earlier in the same year, had embarked on this voyage to the New England Colonies . Mary Morrill was an orphan girl "bound out" to Hugh Peters and his wife. Her indenture had been purchased by Hugh Peters for 20 pounds (roughly $100) and she must serve the Peters family for a given number of years until the indenture expired or was purchased by another. Hugh Peters was a well known independent preacher whose unorthodox teachings brought him into conflict with authorities in England and later, in Holland, where he had fled to escape persecution. The voyage in the 'Abigail' offered him the opportunity to voice his opinions in a new climate. He was headed for Salem, Massachusets where he was to assume the pastorate of th e church. Upon reaching the new world, the lovers found themselves widely seperated, Peter in Watertown and Mary in Salem. Hugh Peters and his wife were kind to Mary, treating her as one of the family. However, 20 pounds was not easily earned and Peter Folger knew that he would have to buy Mary's indenture before entertaining any hope of marriage. It took nine years of hard work and steady saving but at last Peter purchased Mary's indenture and the couple were married on June 23, 1644. Peter and Mary began their married life on Martha's Vineyard where Peter taught school and where he became deeply involved in Indian affairs. He learned the Algonquin Indian language and converted many of the Indians to Christianity. The Indians called him "Shite Chief's Young Old Man." In 1659 Peter was asked by a group of men to act as surveyor in a project for developing a settlement on Nantucket Island. He helped to lay out the house lots for the village of Nantucket and to establish boundary lines between land to be owned by the white settlers and that to be retained by the Indians. Later, he served the small community as a weaver, surveyor, blacksmith, keeper of Island records and interpreter of the Indian language. Peter was a man of principal. His stubborn refusal to give up documents that he feared would be altered to the detriment of the Indians' interests brought him several months in the Nantucket jail until he ws pardoned by the governor."