| Notes |
- from "Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915" (ancestry.com)
David Perkins, age 88y 6m, a widowed blacksmith born Ipswich MA to Francis & Martha, died 22 Apr 1859 in Salem MA of gravel.
- from "Perkins Family Papers, 1784-1861" (Clements Library, University of Michigan)
BIOGRAPHY
Benjamin Perkins was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on June 8, 1797, the son of David Perkins (1770-1859), a merchant, and Hannah Fabens (1771-1851). In 1823 [27 Oct 1823 Salem, Essex, MA], he married Jane Lawrence (1799-1890), daughter of Abel Lawrence and Abigail Page, and they moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, and then to Boston, where Benjamin established the publishing firm of Perkins & Marvin. They had several children: Charles (1824-1887), who became a clerk in Plymouth, New Hampshire; Mary (1826-1891); Jane (b. 1829); Benjamin (b. 1831); and Francis (b. 1833). The family was affiliated with the Congregational church and Benjamin Perkins served for 40 years as Treasurer of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society.
SCOPE
The Perkins family papers comprise 177 letters and 2 compositions, which date 1807-1861, as well as a memorial book, published in 1891, containing biographical information on Benjamin and Jane Perkins. The majority of the collection is composed of correspondence between Benjamin Perkins, his wife Jane, and their family members, particularly Jane's parents and the couple's children. Between 1835 and 1850, the family exchanged approximately 120 letters on a number of topics. In addition to sharing a great deal of detailed family news, many letters discuss education and reading; in his letter of December 28, 1840, Benjamin wrote to his son, Charles, "I feel very desirous that you should be in the habit of having some useful book in hand always, altho' you are not able to read much at a time." Mary described her boarding school, on June 14, 1841. Additional items mention lectures by geologist Charles Lyell at the Lowell Institute (October 19, 1841), the publishing business (January 27, 1842), and travel to New York City and Philadelphia. Religion is also a frequent subject of the collection's correspondence, and many letters mention church attendance, charitable societies, and missionaries. On April 12, 1842, Mary Perkins wrote a letter concerning minister Edward Norris Kirk's visit to Roxbury and the crowds that he attracted, and stated "I like him a great deal better than any minister I ever heard before, and should be as happy as could be if he would settle here." Also included in the collection are several letters written by Thomas S. Childs, prominent clergyman and future husband of Jane Perkins. In a letter of August 1, 1845, he discussed the situation of a minister whose congregation was "equally divided in regard to his remaining" because of his abolitionist tendencies. This collection was originally thought to be related to the William and Isaac Perkins papers, but no connection between the two families has been found.
- from "The family of John Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts"
David (Francis, Jacob, Isaac, John, John) was born in Chebacco, Ipswich, ]Mass., Sept. 24, 1770. He married Hannah Fabens, of Salem, Mass., Oct. 13, 1793. She was the daughter of Peard and Hannah (Lang) Fabens. She was born in Salem Aug. 31, 1771, and died June 12, 1851. He was a blacksmith by trade. He left his home in Ipswich, in November, 1786, to learn his trade of Joseph Eveleth, in Salem. During his active years he was largely engaged in the manufacture of stage coaches and other carriage work, and continued his business until 1838, when age obliged him to relinquish it. He was a member of the Salem Mechanic Association, and took an active interest in its affairs. He was a director for many years in the Salem Laboratory Company, and also in the Salem and Danvers Aqueduct Company, and was for some years one of the overseers of the poor of the town of Salem. He retained his interest in these and other public matters to the last of his life. He died in Salem, April 22, 1859. We copy the following notice of his death from the Salem Register of April 25, 1859.
"Mr. David Perkins, 88 yrs. 6 mos. 28 days. Funeral this afternoon at 2 1/2 o'clock, at No. 18 Lynde street. Mr. Perkins was born at Chebacco Parish in Ipswich (now Essex), Sept. 24, 1770. He came to Salem when a boy, and learned the trade of a blacksmith, as an apprentice to the late Mr. Joseph Eveleth. Since then, he has always resided in Salem, one of the most worthy and estimable of that best and useful class of citizens whose "post of honor is a private station." Never ambitious of any other distinction than that of doing his whole duty, industrious, and even laborious, in his calling, honest and high-minded in all his dealings, conscientious in all the relations of life, without reproach, and at peace with all the world, he has pursued the even tenor of his way, with the sincerest respect of all who knew him, and has gone from among us, full of years and of honor. Until within a very short period, he has enjoyed a remarkable degree of bodily health, while his mental faculties were preserved in their full vigor to the last. Not even the distress and sufferings of an exceedingly painful disease could extort from his lips a single murmur of complaint, but everything was endured with the most gentle and unyielding patience. The father of a numerous family, upon whom be had bestowed the inestimable blessings of an admirable training, and the example of a blameless life, he peacefully breathed his last among his children, sustained by the consolations of his religion, and leaving to them the priceless inheritance of an honored and honorable name."
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1770 - 1859 (88 years)
Francis Perkins, b. 7 May 1732, Ipswich, Essex, MA 
