Peter Nevyus was born around 1825 in Steuben County, New York, to William and Jane Nevyus. His father was a farmer who owned $2,500 of real estate and $700 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Steuben County, and by 1855, he was working as a farmer. He married a woman named Martha around 1864, and they had at least three children: Nettie, born around 1866; Willard, born around 1870; and Lura, born around 1877. Nevyus worked as a farmer in Canisteo, New York, and by 1870, he owned $2,500 of real estate and $500 of personal property. He retired in the late 1800s, and he died in 1907.