Peter Hackett was born in approximately 1763 or 1764 in the English colony of Virginia. It is believed that Peter was the son of Thomas Hackett, likely of Montgomery County, Virginia. As a boy Peter was bonded out to Captain James Estill, in approximately 1771, and was a part of the broad Scotch-Irish migration along the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap from Virginia into what later became known as Kentucky in the late 18th century. In 1779 he was a resident of Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains, and lived there until 1780. Early residents of Boonesborough included Daniel Boone, James Estill, Joseph Proctor, Nicholas Proctor, Adam Caperton, David Lynch, John Colefoot, John Moore, George Robertson, Thomas Miller, Reuben Proctor, Thomas Warren, Peter Hackett, and Thomas Watson. In 1780 Hackett helped establish Estill's Station, Kentucky, and lived there until about 1788.