Hairston, Peter, 1752-1832

Major Peter Hairston (1752-1832) was the second son of Robert Hairston ( -1783) and Ruth Stoval ( -1808). He married Alcey Perkins (1766-1814), daughter of Peter Perkins (1739-1813) and Agnes Wilson (d. 1812); they had one child, Ruth Stoval Hairston (1783-1869), who married Peter Wilson (1770-1813), the son of John Wilson (1740-1820). Peter Hairston (1752-1832) lived his early life in that part of Pittsylvania County, Va., that became Henry County, Va., in 1777. In Henry County, he served as deputy sheriff intermittently between 1781 and 1784 and as a captain of an infantry company under General Nathaniel Greene. During the Revolutionary War, Peter Hairston served in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina in such notable battles as Guilford Court House (15 March 1781) and Yorktown (October 1781). While still a resident of Henry County, Va., he began operating a general merchandise store and a blacksmithing shop at Sauratown in Stokes County, N.C. After moving permanently to Stokes County around 1786, he continued to operate his store as well as own numerous plantations in North Carolina and Virginia including Royal Oak, Sauratown, and Cooleemee. Peter Hairston (1752-1832) also represented Stokes County in the North Carolina Assembly for four terms.