George Nathaniel Henry Peters was born to Isaac Cyrus and Magdalene Miller Peters on November 30, 1825, in New Berlin, Pennsylvania. George moved to Springfield, Ohio with his family when he was ten years old. His eyes were injured sometime by an explosion of gunpowder. He remained in Springfield and enrolled in Wittenberg College in 1846. It was a fairly new school that had been established by the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio. Difficulty with his eyes required Peters to take a break from school during his Junior year, but he returned to study theology under Dr. Sprecher, and graduated in 1850.
During his life, George Peters pastored churches in several cities in Ohio. While ministering in a church in Mansfield, Ohio, he met and married his wife, Caroline Hersheiser, and they had two sons, Edgar Edwards and Charles Cyrus. Their first son was born in 1854. Peters' next church was in Plymouth, Ohio, where their second son, was born. Peters also served in Xenia and Plymouth. In Woodbury, Ohio, he was required to preach some of the time in German. Studying for these sermons strained his eyes, and physicians warned him to stop or risk total blindness. Peters also spent a year in Omaha, Nebraska, where he had a general store and preached at times. He generously extended credit, especially to Indians, but many customers never paid, and he returned to Ohio broke and disappointed in mankind. While in Nebraska, he helped organize the Nebraska Synod and maintained membership in it for several years. His last pastorate was at the First Lutheran Church in Springfield, Ohio. Peters was talented in many fields, including carpentry, farming, preaching, and writing.
From the description of George N. H. Peters papers, 1901-1908 and undated. (Dallas Theological Seminary). WorldCat record id: 319715085
