Peter Alston was the late 18th Century and early 19th Century counterfeiter and river pirate

River pirate

A river pirate is a type of pirate who operates in a river. The term river pirate has been used to describe many different kinds of pirate groups responsible for attacks all over world.-History:...

, who is believed to be Little Harpe's associate and partner in the murder of notorious outlaw leader Samuel Mason

Samuel Mason

Samuel Mason or Meason was a Revolutionary War militia captain on the frontier, who following the war, became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries...

 in 1803. He was the son of the colonial-era counterfeiter Philip Alston

Philip Alston (counterfeiter)

Philip Alston was an 18th century counterfeiter both before and after the American Revolution in Virginia and the Carolinas before the war, and later in Kentucky and Illinois afterwards...

 associated with Cave-in-Rock and Natchez

Natchez, Mississippi

Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...

, Mississippi.

James May (alias)

T. Marshall Smith, in his Legends of the War of Independence published in 1855, gives the earliest account so far that lists Alston as the second killer of Mason in 1803, as opposed to the name James May which the killer used at the time. Alexander Finley, in his History of Russellville and Logan County Kentucky published two decades later, which included a more detailed account of the father's criminal activities, also named Peter as the second killer. If this is correct, then the younger Alston was simply using the alias "James May" just as Little Harpe was using the name John Setton at the time. Alston/May also used the names Samuel May and Isaac May.

The earliest recorded use of the alias dates to around 1797 or 1798 in Red Banks, Kentucky, now Henderson

Henderson, Kentucky

Henderson is a city in Henderson County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. The population was 27,952 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area often referred to as "Kentuckiana", although "Tri-State Area" or "Tri-State" are more...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, where he appeared along with a woman who claimed she was his lame sister. There he stole some horses, but was caught at Vincennes

Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, and brought back for trial. He was never tried as he broke out of the jail the first night incarcerated.

Alston later shifted operations down to Stack Island

Stack Island (Mississippi River)

Stack Island, also known as Crow's Nest and Island No. 94, is located in Issaquena County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi River, near Lake Providence, Louisiana and nearly 200 miles north of New Orleans.- History :...

 in the lower Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 along with Mason after regulators cleaned the outlaws out of western Kentucky and Cave-in-Rock in the summer of 1799. There he reunited with his father and counterfeited coins and paper money, as well as took part in Mason's river piracy operations.

Alston and Harpe killed Mason in 1803 in an effort to secure the reward for the outlaw's head. A day after turning in the head, Harpe's real identity was discovered and the two men were arrested. They escaped, but were captured again and tried for their crimes. Convicted and sentenced to death on February 4, 1804, the two were hanged four days later on February 8. Once dead, their heads were removed and placed on poles as a warning to future pirates.