Peter Kinder was born to a Palatine German family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on September 30, 1739. In 1774 he married Margaret Daude. They settled in Montgomery County, Virginia, where the couple raised several children. In 1780 Peter Kinder was drafted as a private in the Montgomery County Regiment of the Virginia Militia. He saw combat at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in March 1781, where he was severely wounded in the leg. He was taken to a doctor in Salem, North Carolina, where his wife Margaret met him and helped him recover. After some time recuperating in North Carolina, Peter's wife Margaret and his brother Philip helped carry him back home to Virginia. He died in Wythe County, Virginia on September 22, 1809.