Peter Hord I was a son of John Hord I (1665-1749) and Elizabeth Jane Redd Hord (Unk - c1747) who emigrated to the Virginia Colony from Ewell, England about 1702. Peter I was the fourth son born into this first American Hord family. About the time of his birth his parents moved the family to a plantation in Essex County that they named Shady Grove where Peter spent his childhood. Later, in 1727, Shady Grove became part of Caroline County.

Eventually, Peter Hord I married Antoinette Knowles. Sometime after 1750, they moved their family to King George County to live on the land that Peter inherited from his father. Here they raised their six children, viz.: William Hord, Kills Hord (1745-1815), Reuben Hord, Peter Hord II (1749-1817), Anthoret Hord, and Sarah Hord. Peter Hord I was a very successful plantation owner, eventually he doubled the size his plantation.

Thomas Hord I, Gentleman, the oldest brother of Peter Hord I, was also bequeathed land in King George County by his father.
The families of Peter Hord I and Thomas Hord I, Gentleman were “intimately” close suggesting that they may have been direct neighbors. Two of Thomas Hord I's sons, Rhodin and Jesse Hord I, married the two daughters of Peter Hord I, Sarah and Anthoret respectively. Moreover, Peter Hord I's oldest son Kellis married Thomas Hord I's daughter, Molly Hord. And it doesn't stop there; later, Peter Hord III married his cousin Eliza Hord who was the great granddaughter of Thomas Hord I. These marriages together produced more than forty more Hords. Peter Hord I's sons, Peter Hord II and William Hord, were the only ones to marry outside their family. It should be noted that the marriage between Jesse Hord I (son of Thomas Hord I) and Anthoret Hord (daughter of Peter Hord I) produced a line of very prestigious Hord Family members including Reverend Arnold Harris Hord.

Peter Hord I died on December 10, 1787. His wife Antoinette Knowles was not mentioned in his Will indicating that she predeceased him. Where they are buried is unknown. One possibility is that he and his wife were placed to rest in the Hord Family Cemetery at Shady Grove in Caroline County however, none of the forty graves there had any identifying markers or headstones.

Peter Hord I's Will, which turned out to be a legal disaster, was written just before he died in 1787. It is a good example of why one should never write their Will without proper legal advice and assistance. Its most significant problem is how the family plantation was bequeathed to his son's, Kellis and Peter Hord II. His other sons, Reuben and William, predeceased him. To Kellis he bequeathed “forever” half of his plantation that he was currently occupying. However, for reasons unknown, he only gave Peter Hord II the right to “use” the other half of the plantation specifying that upon his death it was to be divided among the children of his first marriage whom were named in the will. Little did he know that Peter Hord II would remarry a few years later after the death of first wife, Honora, and have six more children who were totally disinherited by this mistake. Research notes attached to the will of Peter Hord I state that after Peter Hord II died, the property that he was living on was, as specified, divided among the children of his first marriage. Some records indicate that Peter Hord II died in Rockingham County, Virginia. However, other records show that he lived on his father's plantation until he died in 1817. Regardless, the division of this property only among the children of Peter Hord II's first marriage was an incredibly unfair mistake by his father. It is no surprise that Peter Hord II died intestate as he had nothing much to leave his children especially those of his second marriage. All six of these children left Virginia when they reached adulthood; three emigrated to Ohio and the other three emigrated to Kentucky. Meanwhile, the children of the first marriage remained in Virginia.

Another problem with Peter Hord I's Will was the distribution of that part of Shady Grove that his brother, Ambrose, bequeathed to him. Without describing anything about this property Peter Hord I simply stated that it should be divided equally among his children, viz,: Kellis, Peter II, Anthoret and Sarah to own “forever” and left it for them to sort out how it was to be divided. It should be noted that the Will of Ambrose was still under litigation at the time. Whatever happened to these properties is unknown. Caroline County history reveals that when the Union Army began advancing on Virginia during the Civil War, county officials unwisely (hindsight) decided to load all of the valuable county records onto a wagon and head west in search of a safe haven. Several miles outside of Bowling Green the wagon ran into a Union Calvary unit which destroyed all the records including most of the records of the first Hord family and Shady Grove.

In his Will Peter Hord I named his two sons, Kellis and Peter Hord II, and his two son-in-laws, Rhodin Hord and Jesse Hord I, as joint-executors in his will. Naming joint executors was not uncommon in those days which must have created many nightmares and law suits especially when one or more of the executors were also legatees of the will. Peter Hord II out lived all of the other executors.

On a positive note, the Will of Peter Hord I is the only evidence that he had another son, William Hord, who predeceased him. He acknowledged that William had both male and female children to whom he bequeathed money which he entrusted to his son, Kellis, until they became of age. Reverend Arnold Harris Hord was aware of William Hord based on information he received from a descendant regarding him; he even suggested that William was probably the son of Peter Hord I but then he simply dropped the subject which implies that he never saw the Will of Peter Hord I verifying the existence of his son, William Hord. Likewise, Robert Hord never mentioned William Hord in his manuscript which is very difficult to understand since he accurately named more than forty children of the Peter Hord I, II, III lineage over four generations some of whom he undoubtedly knew personally.