| Notes |
- from "Vital records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849", 1910 (archive.org)
Thomas Perkins, s. John and Lydia, at Chebacco, born Nov. 24, 1801.
- from "The family of John Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts"
Thomas (John, Joseph, Joseph, Abraham, Isaac, John, John) was born in Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, Mass., Nov. 29, 1801. He married Elizabeth Proctor, Apr. 22, 1829. She died July 21, 1881. He died about 1875.
- Except of Francis B Perkins Biography in " The Biographical Record of Kane County, Illinois", 1898 (archive.org)
FRANCIS B. PERKINS, secretary of the school board of the city of Elgin, Ill, is a native of Illinois, born in Barrington, Cook Co., Illinois, July 8, 1841, and is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of the state, his parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Proctor) Perkins, both of sturdy Puritan ancestry, having left their home in Essex, Massachusetts, and locating in Barrington, IL in 1838, then an almost unbroken wilderness. They at once identified themselves with the religious and educational interests of the community, and helped to shape the early influences in the right direction. In their pioneer log house was taught one of the first schools of the township, and often religious meetings were held in the same place. The colporteur and itinerant preacher of whatever creed always found a welcome, and in consequence of their open door for such guests it gained the name of Deacon's Tavern. Their first church home was with the Congregational church at Elgin, IL, six miles away, whence they made their way on the Sabbath over prairie and through woodland on foot or by the slow-going ox wagon. Later they were charter members of the Dundee Congregational church, and still later of the church at Barrington, IL, near their own farm home. They were pronounced in their views on temperance and slavery and gave all possible aid to all reforms. Their home was often the haven of rest to the black man on his way to Canada and freedom, and it was one of the many where was fostered that spirit of loyalty to the government and right that a generation later bore fruitage in an army of a million men who sprang to arms to maintain our free institutions. The father died in 1857 aged fifty-six years, his life no doubt shortened by the hardships incident to making a home under the adverse circumstances of a new country. He held honorably the office of deacon of the church for many years and though never prominent in politics was ever ready to bear his share of the responsibilities of citizenship. He had acquired a comfortable competence when he was called to lay down his life work, but the most precious legacy left his family was an unsullied name. His wife Elizabeth survived him some years, during which time she lived in Elgin, passing away in 1881 at the age of seventy-five years. She was a woman of heroic mold and the privation incident to the rough life of a new country served to bring into action the best and bravest of her nature. As in most homes transplanted from the refinements of the east, the mother felt most keenly the limited advantages for schooling that the future seemed to promise, and no toil or effort was too great so that educational advantages might be provided for the family growing up about her. A like spirit was in other homes of this region and no wonder that our present splendid school system came into existence. The subject of this sketch is one of a family of seven children of whom four reached adult age.
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1801 - 1857 (55 years)
John Perkins, b. 7 Jun 1774, Ipswich, Essex, MA 