Biography
Peter Dakin was a Quaker from Ferrisburgh, Vermont. Peter Dakin was one of three Vermont Quakers drafted into the Union Army on July 13, 1863, who refused both to bear arms and — as a compromise of principle — to pay the $300 commutation fee. Sent to the Army of the Potomac in Virginia, the men were pressured, threatened, and abused; at Culpeper on October 3, 1863, they were staked spread-eagle to the ground for hours. When Secretary of War Edwin Stanton learned of it he had "the three incorrigibles" brought to Washington, and on November 7, 1863 they were released at the personal wish of President Lincoln.
Biographical sources
Ferrisburgh's town history identifies the Quaker conscientious objector Peter Dakin as living from 1833 to 1916 and records his burial in North Ferrisburgh Cemetery.
