Peet, Harvey Prindle [II]

Deaf. Named by missionaries after the superintendent of the New York School for the Deaf. Captured in Liberia as a young boy and sold into slavery in England. How he escaped slavery and came to America is unclear. Attended the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb for a few years. Lost one arm in a railroad accident during the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889, and married Elizabeth Cooper in 1890. In 1892, he was employed in a New York City store. His older brother, also deaf, was "Little Wia" (q.v.). This H.P. Peet was often nicknamed "Black Harvey" to distinguish him from his white namesake.