Keyhole, Peter, - 1778

With likely historical roots in the Menunkatuck, Peter Keyhole was a Quinnipiac man most likely related to the tribe's leader James Keyhole.  In fact, Peter may have been his son.  With the dispersion of the Quinnipiac people to other Native communities, his name appears on a May 20, 1773 petition by the Schaghticoke to the Connecticut legislature.  However, Keyhole seems to have removed with many of his tribe to Farmington, Connecticut by 1777.  In that time, Keyhole's name was on a Tunxis petition to the Connecticut General Assembly, requesting a partition of common tribal land.  The following year, he enlisted on March 11, 1778, into Captain William Judd's Company of 3rd Regiment, serving with Daniel Mossuck and Abigail Way's husband, Abel Dego at White Plains.  There they joined Daniel Nimham's Indian corps and fought the Queen's Rangers at the Battle of Kingsbridge on August 31, 1778.  Keyhole died the following day on September 1, 1778.

 

Menta, The Quinnipiac, 57.  U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Ancestry.  Connecticut Men in the Revolution, Ancestry.  Additional sources for this biography come from the Related Digital Heritage Items listed below.