This is the family tree website of BJ Peters.

DISCLAIMER: Please know that the information listed on this site is constantly growing and changing. I strive to be up-front about any conflicts in information and to present the varying views fairly. I will of course, offer my own opinion. That too can change as new information is found.

Contributors to this site are cousins, no matter how distant the relationship, and it is through their kindness and sense of generosity that you find the many documents, photos, etc. on this site. I strive to give credit at the point where a contribution is viewed.

Some of the more interesting documents on the site are a series of letters written by one of my 2^nd great-grandfathers, Dr. George Brainard Todd (seen in the banner above), and some of my other ancestors. There is a letter penned by Dr. Todd to his brother, telling of his eye witness account to what occurred in Ford's Theater the night President Lincoln was shot. He had spent some time with Lincoln the afternoon of that fatal day, while the president and his wife took a tour of the ironclad ship "Montauk", on which Dr. Todd served as a surgeon. According to news accounts, Dr. Todd assisted in Booth's autopsy on board the ship. Look for it on the Swain Todd Treasures menu off of the Documents menu. The letters were kindly shared with me by my cousin, Sandy Goll of Baltimore, Md.

Another item I'd like to mention is a speech made by another of my 2^nd great-grandfathers, Baltis H. Kennard, Sr., who served as a delegate representing Baltimore City in Maryland's second Constitutional Convention. The issue of slavery had to be addressed due to the Emancipation Proclamation, and deciding where Maryland stood on state sovereignty.

It is sad to know that there are countless ancestors that we may never come to know through public record. Those who raised their families in a loving home, and who never achieved recognition in the world's eye, are sometimes invisible to our eyes as well. To those individuals who formed the backbone of this nation, I offer my gratitude. I must also offer my thanks to our ancestors who had the courage to come to this country while it was still a wilderness. What bravery and determination they had to muster just to make that long journey across the Atlantic Ocean.