Notes for: Peter Tostevin
Listed on the ship's passenger list as a 25-year-old mason, Peter Tostevin arrived at the port of New York on May 31 1852. There was no one else with that surname on that ship. The voyage, which was via Ireland, originated on the island of Jersey, a British Crown Dependency which is part of the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy, France. Nothing is known of his family or life in his native France, or whether he was instead from one of the Channel Islands which identified culturally with France.
The name Peter was a popular one with families of the surname Tostevin, the origin of which is not certain. There are two theories: (1) From old French "toster du vin" meaning "broiled in wine" (Larousse dictionary of French surnames); (2) An inhabitant of the town of Tostes in Normandy (in the same way that Poitevin is used to refer to someone from the French region of Poitou). The earliest reference to the surname Tostevin in Guernsey (Channel Islands) was a Nicolas Tostevin who emigrated from Brittany in around 1514. From information in a booklet found in the St Pierre du Bois church, two stone masons called Tostevin came over from Brittany to help build the church and stayed in St Pierre du Bois. One of those men was Nicolas Tostevin. The family had a long connection with the church in helping maintain it.
http://www.guernsey-society.org.uk/donkipedia/index.php5?title=Tostevin
Peter's skills as a mason must have been exceptional, as the 1870 Census listed his occupation as "Master Builder." The exact nature of his profession as a builder is not clear, whether he was a workman or contractor, whether he built houses or ships, etc. Oddly, there was another Peter Tostevin in Brooklyn at the time who was also a mason and builder, but he was born in England in about 1833 and did major architectural work in partnership with another builder.
What is more certain regarding our Peter Tostevin is that he was not only a fan of, but was quite involved with our national pastime of baseball when it was still in its infancy. In fact, Peter's death was reported on the sports page of Chicago's "Daily Inter Ocean" newspaper, Dec 20 1879, p. 3, cited here in its entirety: "Peter Tostevin, whose name was identified with the early history of the once famous Eckford Club of Brooklyn, N. Y., died in that city Dec 8, aged 52. He assisted in organizing that club, and played first base during the seasons of 1856-57, and third base during 1858, filling the office of President in the latter year."