Perrin Family

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PERRIN FAMILY

Being an abstract from the genealogy, with some information not contained therein

(Retyped with some grammatical corrections from the copy prepared by Frank C. Perin, which was a copy from the original written by Stanley E. Perin)

The compilation of a complete family history is a labor requiring a great deal of time and money, which are seldom found in combination and when they are so combined, the inclination to pursue genealogical matters is often lacking.  Moreover, the usual genealogy is mainly an unadorned table of biological statistics-- bare dates of births, marriages and deaths--about as lively as a market report.

It seems to me that in order to give the proper pride of race, a family history should be somewhat more than this; a name and a date, to my mind, constitute a very sorry sort of ancestor.  Some personal touch of anecdote or incident, the mention of an occupation or distinction can turn a vague ghost of an ancestor into a living entity.  Of course when a man is two hundred years or so dead, often little more than a date can be found for him unless he was a person of public importance; and it is true that, were this humanizing process to be extended throughout an entire family in all its ramifications, the record would be swelled to enormous size.  Nothing however need prevent a given family branch from following this course in direct line back to the founder.

 It has occurred to me therefore to perform this service for my own immediate family and to urge a system (which might as well be called the “Perrin Family System”), whereby the process may be carried on with the least amount of confusion or inconvenience.  I have set down the family fathers in my own line, together with such other information about each one as I could gather by reading, conversation, and I am free to confess, by guess-work, but in no case has an assumption been made without a reasonable basis in probability, nor has any speculation been stated as a known fact.  Very often the reason for the assumption is given.

It is my plan that each head of a family be given a copy of this abstract; and, on each of his sons coming age and marrying, let a copy be given to him also, to acquaint him with the past and enable him to consolidate his own data with that of his forebears.  In this way a continuous, current record will be had, and should any member at a future time undertake to gather the information under one cover, it will be readily available in as much detail as may be desired.

Pride of family can be a strong agent for good in the molding of character, but a youth must know his family, who they were and what they did, before he can be proud of them.  This record is his introduction to his people; and once he becomes well acquainted with them he will perhaps be readier to do what will honor, and slower to do what will dishonor their name.

                                                                        STANLEY E. PERIN

                                                                        June – 1933

                                                            /s/            Stanley E. Perin

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PERRIN FAMILY:

-: Origins :-

The Perrin or Perin Family is a very ancient one in America, its history going back to the early years of the Massachusetts Colony.  The Perrins, however, should not b e confused with the Perrines, descendants of Daniel Perrins, called “The  Huguenot,” who at a later date came to New Jersey from the channel island of Guernsey.  Both families are very probably of Huguenot ancestry; both were driven out of France by the persecutions of the Roman Catholic Church; but while some fled to the more congenial atmosphere of the Anglo-French Channel Islands and retained the French spelling and pronunciation of the name, others found sanctuary in England.  From these latter refugees our family originates.

In “The History of Antiquities of the County of Leicester, England,” (John Nichols, R.R.S., Vol. III, Part 3) the name Perrin of Ashby de la Touché, its pedigree and coal of arms is found.  The coat of arms as given by a certain Perrin made baron in 1805, is: Field, argent; chevron, sable; pineapples, vert; leopard faces, argent.  Crest, a pineapple, vert.  Motto:  “Impavidum feriunt dirae.”  The names Gilbert Perrin, Thomas Perrin, Katherine, Elisabeth, Sarah and Mary Perrin appear about the beginning of the seventeenth century.  Definite links between this family and the first American scion have not been obtained, but it seems likely that the American family springs from a collateral branch.  In any case the American descendents have no right to the coat of arms.

The name of the American founder was John Perryn.  He was born in 1614, two years before the death of Shakespeare.  Whether he was a native of London or of some other place is unknown, but it was from London that he sailed in 1635, in the ship “SAFETY”. John Grant, Master.  One hundred and forty four passengers sailed on this voyage, which, on August 10, 1635, ended at Braintree, a small town on the south shore of Boston harbor.  The names and ages of those passengers may be found in MSS, preserved in the State Department of H. M. Public Record Office, page 21, a copy of which is held in the Boston Genealogical Rooms.  In the list are several young women named “Ann” one of whom is thought to have become the wife of John Perryn.

This marriage undoubtedly took place in Braintree.  The date is uncertain, but the first child, Mary, was born on December 22, 1640, and I think it likely that the marriage occurred within a year prior to that date.

Some time before 1645, John Perryn, with the Reverend Samuel Newman and his church founded Rehoboth, Massachusetts just north of Rhode Island.  His name, variously spelled, subsequently appears in the Rehoboth town records.

Here he lived and begot his other children, John, Hanna, Abraham, and another Mary, the first having died in childhood.  Here on September 13, 1674, he died and was buried.  His tombstone may be seen in Rehoboth cemetery to this day, as may that of his wife, Ann.

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Of John Perrin the second, little is known.  Even the dates of his birth and death are not available.  He was no doubt in Rehoboth before 1645, and he died at Roxbury, Massachusetts, prior to May 28, 1694, while temporarily residing there, probably with his son, Noah.  (See probate records at Rehoboth).  His wife’s name was Mary and they had ten children, the names of his married sons were:  John, Samuel, Noah, and Daniel.

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Of John Perrin, third, little more is known.  He was born at Rehoboth on October 12, 1668, and died there, May 6, 1694.  His wife’s name was Sarah, surname unknown.  He had one child, a son, John.

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John Perrin, the fourth, was born at Rehoboth on March 8, 1692, married in 1716, and died on February 28, 1731.  His wife’s name was Rachel Ide.  She outlived him by many years, (after marrying Deacon Edward Glover) but was  buried beside him in the cemetery at East Providence Rhode Island.  They had seven children of whom John, Timothy, and Jesse were the married sons: the last named is the next in line.

: ---------- :

Jesse Perrin was born at Rehoboth on January 24, 1726.  On May 11, 1749, he married Rachel Ide, probably his cousin, daughter of Daniel Ide, and had twelve children by her.  The names of his sons who married were Lemuel, Jesse, Daniel Ide, Edward, Calvin, Jacob, and Asa.  He was town clerk of Rehoboth from 1762 to 1787, and died on January 15, 1801.

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THE MIGRATION WESTWARD

Lemuel Perin, eldest son of Jesse, was born in Rehoboth on October 21, 1749.  On November 25, 1773, he married Martha Nash by whom he had six children.  His married sons were John, later to be mentioned, Samuel and Glover.  He served in the Revolutionary War under Captain John Perry.  Probably after the war, he moved to North Adams, Massachusetts.  As this locality was then sparsely settled, it is possible that the state gave him a land grant for his military service.  It is known that he was in North Adams by 1785, for in that year his son, Samuel, was born there.  In North Adams, his wife died, and on March 8, 1792, he married Amelia Dickinson by whom he had three more children, twin boys and a girl.

Early in the nineteenth century, probably about 1806 or earlier, he and his sons immigrated to Ohio near Cincinnati, where they founded Perin’s Mills, now Perintown, in Clermont County.

Lemuel Perin introduced the shortened spelling of the name and several of his brothers followed his example.  It seems regrettable, for the name as traditionally pronounced requires two “R’s” but the fact may be taken as indicative of the courage, which made him seek new things and places to the end of his days.

He died on July 9, 1822, near Connersville, Indiana, probably at the home of his son, John.  I have an idea that he is buried somewhere in that l9ocality, but whether at Connersville, or in some small neighborhood graveyard, I do not know.

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JOHN PERIN

John Perin, eldest son of Lemuel, was born probably at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, on December 18, 1774, about a year and a half before the Declaration of Independence.  Thus he was born a subject of King George the Third, of England.  At an early age he went with his parents to North Adams to live.

On August 31,1797 he married Hephzibah Williams by whom he had three children.  (The only son, Hiram, married and had one son, James.)  This wife however died, and on December 10, 1803, he married Rachel Rice, a woman who, if tradition is correct, was a half or quarter Indian, descended very likely from either the Mohawk or the Narragansett tribe, both members of the Iroquois Confederacy of Five Nations, an upright, proud and powerful people, and an ancestry of which no one of common sense need be ashamed.  She was a hardy woman, for she bore John Perin twelve children and I believe outlived him.

About 1806, John Perin came to Ohio with his father and brothers, but before long he moved on up- the White Water Valley and bought land from the government agent in what is now Fayette County, Indiana.  Tradition has it that having built a cabin and settled his family, he returned to Massachusetts where he stayed for two years, while his wife and children cleared the land.  Irresponsible as this action seems to us, I believe it was a common thing in those days.  The wife would stay on the land and till it the best she could while the husband went back to civilization, worked at a trade, and get his hands on enough hard money to care for taxes and other necessaries for several years; and as John Perin was a skilful carpenter as well as a brick maker and mason, I think that that is what he did.  However the trip occurred between the years of 1811 and 1813, and it is just possible that the Ware of 1812 had some part in delaying his return, although tradition does not credit him with having served in this war.

Upon his return to Indiana, he burned a quantity of brick and built a house, which still stands, about two miles south southwest of Connersville.  He was a Master Mason and arranged that a part of the second story should be used as a lodge room; and it was the first Masonic lodge in the county.

The house is a huge, square-shouldered building, the main section of which has a low-pitch roof with a great-throated chimney rising flush with the walls at either end.  Across the second story front are three large multi-paned windows, and on the ground floor, two windows and the front door; but as I remember it, the end walls are an unbroken expanse of brick, as they held the great fireplaces.  At the rear a kitchen wing, centrally located, extends out about equal to the width of the main part and its roof comb is at right angles to that of the main body of the house.  With good care the house should be good for another century.

It faces west toward Williams Creek, but eastward, the hill on which it stands rolls gently down to the White Water River, and the abrupt hills east of that river may be seen in excellent perspective.

It was on this farm that an incident occurred which illustrates John Perin’s hardihood.  While in the woods one day, he heard the howls of his favorite dog who had strayed some distance off.  On running to the spot, he found his pet being mauled by a bear.  Although he was armed only with a club, he rushed upon the animal and fortunately dispatched it with a blow.

John Perin lived in Indiana until in the1850’s when, following after several of his children, he removed to Iowa where on January 21, 1866, he died at Council Bluffs.

His second marriage resulted in the following married sons: Moses and Aaron, twins, who went to California in 1849 or 1850; Noble, who was killed in a steamboat explosion at Quincy, Illinois; Franklin, who went to New Orleans and, after practicing law for many years, died there; Ezra, to be mentioned later; and Samuel, who in company with Geo B. Sargent, founded Sargent, Kansas, where his descendants still live.  Another son, Isaac, unmarried, was a river pilot and died in the explosion of the steamboat Moselle at Covington, Kentucky. Some of his effects are now in the possession of his grandnephew, Roscoe C. Perin, of Elwood, Indiana.

It is interesting to relate that in (Hobarth) Massachusetts, in 1793, John Perin purchased among other things a backsaw and a tri-square made in Sheffield, England, which he kept by him most of his life.  His son Ezra inherited them and passed them on to his son, Charles R., who used them and passed them on to his son, Arthur M. Perrin of Portland, Oregon.  In one hundred and forty years, these tools have been owned and used by four generations and have e crossed an ocean and a continent; and the square is almost as true today as on the day it was bought.

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EZRA PERIN

Thus through John Perrin, the first, second, third, and fourth, Jesse Perrin, Lemuel and John Perin, we come to Ezra Perin, of the eighth generation of the family since its founding in the year 1635.

Ezra Perin, the twelfth child and seventh son of John Perin, was born on April 30, 1818 on the old Perin Homestead near Connersville.  Not much is known about his boyhood.  Tradition has preserved but one incident, and that dates to his infancy.  His mother took him on horseback one day on a visit to a neighbor’s.  In the course of the trip, a panther leaped at them from a limb, but the leap being short, both escaped with injury and the horse soon carried them out of danger.

No doubt he worked on the farm, helped his father at the carpenter’s trade, hunted, trapped and fished, and engaged in such other activities as interested pioneer lads.

His formal schooling probably embraced little more than the three “R’s”.  In later life he gave evidence of a broad knowledge of men and affairs, and a thorough comprehension of mechanics, but this knowledge was probably the result of his extensive reading and the training his father gave him.  He always enjoyed reading history, science and political writings, and at his death had accumulated a considerable library of such subjects, which unfortunately was broken up.  A few of his books are now in the Possession of his grandson, Kenneth A. Perin of Connersville.

His father trained him in carpentry at an early age, and by that art he mad a fairly comfortable living until old age began to tell on him; even after he was no longer able to do heavy work, he still constructed violins of good appearance, although their tonal quality was somewhat lacking.  One of these violins is now owned by Arthur M. Perrin of Oregon.

Ezra was married on May 2, 1839 to Phebe Jane Utter, a girl of New York Dutch ancestry, who lived near Columbia.  He was married when he was 21 years and one day old.  He used to say that he “was his own man for just a day.”  His wife had to walk to school through some four miles of heavy weeds.  One evening a wolf followed her nearly all the way home but did not offer to molest her.  They had ten children of whom seven reached maturity.  The names of his married sons are:  John Zimri, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Ezra, and Charles R. All lived in Fayette County.

Sometime in the 1850’s his father, John Perin, determined to move to Iowa where several of Ezra’s brothers and sisters had preceded him.  The old man, however, was well on in years and wanted some one to look after him.  Accordingly he proposed to Ezra that they go west together; he would buy land, he said, and at his death Ezra could have whatever property he died possessed of, in consideration of caring for the old man and the farm.  Ezra agreed and they sold the Indiana homestead and migrated to a spot near Council Bluffs, Iowa.  There is some reason to believe that this trip took place between 1852 and 1854.

Here Ezra lived until 1864, when his wife who had never before been so far or so long from her home place, began to long for familiar scenes and faces.

Domestic friction may have played a part.  Once when she was about to punish her young son, Charles, his grandmother cried out, “You come to Granny, Charlie, She won’t let mama whip you!”  Incidents such as this would not have contributed to make a person as self willed as Phebe Jane Perin relish her situation the better.

If she could not go home again she declared, from this flat, empty country, and see her people and the Indiana hills, she would die.  A visit might have solved the difficulty, but Ezra could not afford that, and moreover there was no means of travel but the overland wagon.  Under the circumstances he sold out his right to his younger brother for a few hundred dollars, and returned to Indiana where he took up residence near Williamstown in Decatur County.  Within two years his father died.

The old people were very feeble even before Ezra returned to Indiana.  Charles Perin, who was then about three years old, used to tell the following:  It was his custom at mealtime to lead the old folks to the table.  So unsteady were their steps that there was constant apprehension lest one or both of them fall on him and crush him.

The sentimental weakness of his father took Ezra west; the sentimental weakness of his wife brought him back; and he lost by both moves.

About 1870 an epidemic of typhoid fever swept the locality of Williamstown, and he and many of his family were severely stricken although none died.

Ezra was studying medicine at the time of his marriage.  He was forced to abandon it then, because his wife would not hear of his going away to school for the time necessary to get a diploma.  However, during this epidemic, he treated the family under only slight supervision from the local physician, Dr. Scudder.

A daguerreotype of him, taken just after this illness shows the ravages of the disease pretty plainly.  They say he looked ten years older after the sickness than he did before it.

He built and operated a gristmill near Williamstown for about ten years.  A spring near there is still known as Perin’s Spring.  About 1874 he moved to Andersonville in search of more business, and built another gristmill there.  He also practiced carpentry there.

On July 14, 1879, his wife died.  She appears to have been a good woman and a good mother, but one who would have her own way at any cost.  She was a great hand to quilt but did not like to be helped at it.  Sometimes when neighbor women insisted on helping her, she would give in, but when they had gone, she would take out every stitch they had put in.

His daughter, Susan, lately widowed by the death of her husband, Caleb  Nelson, came to keep house for him and this arrangement continued until Ezra was no longer able to secure steady work by reason of this advancing age.

He then went to Anderson, Indiana, where he lived with his eldest daughter, Emily Tucker, and secured comparatively light work under various contractors who invariably paid him less than his skill was worth.  At length even this work became too much for him, and he went to live sometimes with his son, Charles, of Richmond and Connersville and sometimes with his son Franklin of Connersville.

In July 1903, at the age of eight-five, he paid a visit to his granddaughter, Laura, at Owensboro, Kentucky.  While inspecting a mill in that place he fell from a loading platform and broke his hip.  At his age, the shock was too much for him and within a short time he was dead.  He was buried at Columbia, a hamlet about five miles southwest of Connersville.

One of his sons used to say of Ezra Perin, “There were two things in which he had a unshakable faith—the Bible, and the Republican Party.”  Undoubtedly he was a staunch Republican; and I know from various sources that he was a devout churchgoer, not the kind who everyone but himself a sinner and burns to reform them, but one who faced life with a sure faith that ills suffered in this world would be well repaid by abiding peace in, (as he once wrote) “the everlasting kingdom and patience of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”  Patient under adversity, his greatest oath was a mild, “Good Lord.”  I have never heard of another man who so well deserved the description, “A Christian gentleman.”

Let those, who think modern laborers are overworked, remember this:  Ezra Perin used to walk sometimes as much as ten miles to and from his day’s work of ten hours.

He was possessed of a mechanical genius, which unhappily was baffled by his humility.  In a letter now before me, he laments the fact that, when in 1856 he devised an electric motor, he became discouraged because Munn and Company, to whom he sent the plans for approval, told him that although the machine would run, electricity could never be used as a motive power.  “I gave up at once,” he says, “because I thought they knew.  But God only knows what the result might have been, had I pursued that idea as persistently and energetically as Edison did his.”

But it was so with all his schemes.  He designed an airplane, a self-propelling sled, and various other unheard of devices, but he could not trust his own wit; he never had the faith in himself necessary to override the discouraging advice which others of less vision were always quick to give him.

During the first term of President Grover Cleveland, he conceived and outlined a plan for Civil Service Reform, which he sent to the President.  No official recognition was ever given his letter but it is significant that under Cleveland’s first administration, Civil Service Reforms were made which closely paralleled those suggested.  Some years ago I had the privilege of reading a copy of this letter, but I cannot now say what has become of it.

It seems a pity that the life of a man so honest, gentle, courageous and intelligent should be spent without bearing some material fruit worthy of its promise.  Yes, although his many inventions were mostly stillborn, I cannot feel that his was entirely wasted.  Numerous farm buildings in his part of the state bear witness to the skill of his hands.  His character must have been a splendid example to many.  He fathered seven promising children; and even in the third generation after him, I have seen evidence of mechanical insight, which must trace to no other source than his hereditary influence.

In short, I can find no more fitting reason for pride than that one has had such a man as this for an ancestor.

TRADITIONAL FAMILY NAMES

Masculine:

Aaron	Abraham	Asa	Benjamin
Caleb	Calvin	Charles	Daniel
David	Edward	Elijah	Ezra
Franklin	Frank	Benjamin Franklin
George	Gilbert	Glover	Hiram
Isaac	Isaiah	Jacob	Jesse
John	Joseph	Lemuel	Levi
Moses	Nathaniel	Noah	Noble
Oliver	Peter	Samuel	Thomas
	Timothy	Timri

TRADITIONAL FAMILY NAMES

Feminine

Abigail	Amelia	Ann	Anne
Anna	Deborah	Dosha	Elizabeth
Emily	Faithful	Hannah	Huldah
Jane	Julia	Katherine	Laura
Lucy	Martha	Mary	Mehitable
Nelly	Nancy	Patience	Patty
Phebe	Phila	Polly	Prudence
Rachael	Rachel	Rebecca	Sarah
Susan	Susanna	Thankful	Vashti

FROM EZRA PERIN TO CHARLES PERIN, HIS SON

                                                                                                Andersonville, Ind.

                                                                                       Jan. 1^st, 1885

Dear Charlie and Gerlie:

After so long a time, I have really worked up enough energy to try to indite a few lines to you, not altogether to answer your excellent letter of the 25^th Nov. last, but to write of some other things, as well.

I was much pleased indeed, to get a letter from you and enjoyed the perusal thereof exceedingly, not only on account of the very interesting contents, but also in noting the very great improvement, within the last two years, in you epistolary productions, both in quantity and quality.  Two years ago, about one page of common notepaper was all that you could indite, and even that was only ordinary.  But your letter before me is full of very sensible reading.

The perusal of the description of your first speech was gratifying, and if your Trustee has not “lick’t” the “Blarny Stone,” it seems you did entire justice to the subject.

I sincerely hope you will continue to improve your time and talents, as opportunities present themselves.  And if you have made up your mind to excel, and rise to eminence in the estimation of your fellowmen, get your eye, (your mind’s eye) fixed upon something that is calculated to ameliorate the condition of mankind, either morally, socially, or politically; something new that will elicit encomiums of praise from the people, from communities, societies, and especially from the press.  Then keep an eye single to the accomplishment of that purpose, never for a moment, losing sight of it, only when discharging the domestic and social duties devolving upon you, until the full and final consummation of your benevolent purpose, and my word for it, your name will go down to posterity, enveloped in a halo of blessings and praise, brighter than the noon day sun, as one of the world’s great philanthropists.

When I look back and see the unimproved, and wasted opportunities, I have passed through, and to think how signally (see Mat. 25:14 to 29^th) I buried my talent, and so irrevocably too, I am constrained to cry out, Lord have mercy on me a sinner.  Yet as there is but one sin that hath never forgiveness, I can hope that this parable does not have reference to the final windup of all terrestrial things, but rather, to ones financial and physical condition in this life.

I have not the least doubt in my mind now, but that I might have been, or rather might be now, one of the great scientists of the world.  Some 29 years ago, I sent a sketch of an electrical machine, that would run as long as electricity was generated, to Munn and Co., asking their advice.  The answer came that the machine would run beyond a doubt, but that electricity could never be used as a motive power.  I gave up at once, as I thought they knew.

But God himself only knows what would have bee3n the result if I had pursued that idea as persistently and energetically as Edison did his.  But it is about bedtime.

Feb. 24.  Well, I thought I would try and finish my letter, so you could get it before you come over as you sent word some time since, that you intended to do when your school is out.  But I am fearful that I have lost the inspiration I had when I wrote the above.

I want to say something about the Scriptures, but I do not know how fairly to get started.  Inclosed I send you a couple of slips I cut from out Sunday School paper  that I think are worth preserving.

But by the way in the first place, that if you would get or rather make you a large scrap0book, to paste in all such pieces as are worth preserving.  You can undoubtedly see the advantage that would accrue to you, in the future, by the use of such a book.

Another thing, you should always have a blank book with you, so as to note down a paragraph or two, whenever any thing really worth remembering should come into your mind.  If I had pursued this last course through my life, I would have a book that would surprise you.  I have many and many a time thought of things, that I thought I would write down when I would get to the house but before I would get there, it would be entirely gone from my memory.  No doubt you have done the same thing.  I tell you that if you will try that plan a few times, you will be so strongly in favor of it you will be sure to continue it.

I have a few projects, still left in my mind that if I had the means to carry out, I would wake the world up yet.  Well take your laugh out, and then read on.  But I KNOW WHAT I KNOW, just as well as tho I had learned it from a book.

You had better let Gerlie read this letter to you, as it is nearer her natural hand than yours, and hence can read it more understandingly, than you possibly (sic) could.

But now as to the Scriptures, if read understandingly the whole thing can be summed up in a nutshell, and can, too, be extended into scores of volumes.  You see by one of the scraps inclosed (sic) why the Gospels were written.  But John says, “Many more things might be written, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and that believing you might have life thro’ his name, (John xx – 30 and 31 ver.  I see I did not quote it quite right).

When Adam by his sin, brot death, and sin into the world the Good God promised a Redeemer, who by the sacrifice of himself, would wipe out Adam’s sin, and then bring life and immortality to light through the gospel, as you will see in all of Paul’s letters.  But the point and center of the whole fabric is that Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification, and that repentance, and remission of sins should be preached in, and through his name, to all the nations of the earth, and then the end shall be.  In reading carefully, all of Paul’s writings you will notice how often he refers to that, for says he, I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified!  Nearly all his writings are about something else, as how we ought to live, in order to secure an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom and patience of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And as it was hard for him to give up the old Jewish Institution, a great deal of his talk was on something relating to the difference between Jews and Gentiles.  Notice when he uses “we” and “us” and see if it is not on that subject.

But when we are face to face we can pursue the subject of rightly dividing the word of truth, if you wish.

Feb 25.  Now I wish to impress upon your mind the great importance of devoting a certain portion of your time every day, to the reading, and study of the Holy Scriptures, and in prayer.

Do this in full faith and seriousness of heart, and you would undoubtedly, yes, most assuredly, experience a joy, a blessed happiness, and hope, that would buoy you safely over the trials, temptations, and sorrows of this, yes, this unfriendly world, and clothe your with the happy assurance that an entrance would ultimately be ministered unto you abundantly into the Everlasting Kingdom and patience of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Read the story of good old Abraham, and note how completely he trusted in God, and how much he enjoyed holding communion with him.  And if you have not already, commit to memory the 91 Psalm.  But I will have to finish in my next.

Still your affectionate Father,   E. Perin.

All Well.  I am convalescent from a terrible coryza.

From Ezra Perin to Charles Perin, His son.  1890.

                                                                                               Anderson, Ind.,
      Apr. 2/ ‘90                                                                           

Dear Charlie:

I am now ready to answer your postal of the 25^th ult. And would have done so sooner but I wrote you the same day you wrote.

I have seen several contractors, and they all told me, that they could not hire workmen for future work.  One of them told me that if you were here now he could give you work for some time.  His name is Milspaugh, and he don’t hire any half workman at all, and pays two dollars or 20cts. An hour.  He has been here about 25 years and says if it were like it used to be he could engage to give you work any time thro the summer.  But now a man will come to him and say, Here I want you to build me a house and I want it cone right away.  Well if he can go right to work, all right; if not, some body else will get the job.  That is just the way it goes.  When a man takes a notion to build a house, he wants it done in two days if possible.

But it frequently happens that a man will have from two to 6 or 8 tenement house built right along, side by side, and when a contractor gets onto that kind of a job, he wants several hands.  John Maynard (my boss) is not very successful in his bids, as he is so often underbiden by some one that don’t know how to make out a bill, and of course puts it down to the lowest notch.

Again nearly half the people that build houses to rent don’t care how the work is done, so it will keep out the wind and rain.

The general opinion is that if you were here you would be almost sure to get work immediately.

Emily says you might come out and make a visit, even if you did not get work.  Well I will say this, that when you get ready to come, - come ahead, and if you do not get work, I will pay your expenses here and back.

There is a company forming in Chicago and Anderson to build a thousand house in this place and then sell them to renters who have to pay monthly, just what the rent amounts to, and when they have paid the price of the cost of the house and lot, they get a deed.  Thus: A man rents a house of o rooms, at say $10, sometimes $12 pr month.  Such a house can be built for $450 and the lot say 3 hundred, total $850, and at $12 pr month, it would take him nearly 71 months to pay for it, and get his deed.  A splendid chance I think.

Be sure to write as soon as the election is over.

            Yours Affect’ly

            E. Perin

Apr 3d.   It has been raining all day, and I am afraid I shall not be able to get to the P.O. today.  It is nearly a mile and a half, but is good walking nearly all the way.  Hiram (Tucker) took the umbrella this morning.  They are putting the clay through, and will know what it will do in a couple of weeks.  They liked the looks of it first rate, when they first saw it.  When you come up you would better bring your saw.

 3 o’clock.  Well it has quit raining and is clearing off.

I have just written out a plan to counteract cyclones and send it to the St. Louis Globe Democrat.

(Marginal Notes):  We have built but one house 12x28 since I came back.  Lena is going to have her pictures taken and will send you one.  I send you some papers.

Charles R. Perin

Andersonville, Ind. July 21, 1882.  We, the undersigned citizens of Andersonville, having been for several years intimately acquainted with Chas. R. Perin, bearer of this, and knowing him to be a young man of good moral character, exemplary conduct, and studious habits, would cheerfully recommend him to the confidence and consideration of all whom it may concern.

(Signed)  I. W. Rayburn, physician; Atwell Morgan, merchant; F. J. Spilman, physician; Samuel Barber, merchant; R. Shriner, innkeeper; Henry Young; Smith Scott, horse trader.

Charles R. Perin, youngest child of Ezra, was born on July 18, 1860 at Council Bluffs, Iowa, but at about three and one half years of age returned to Indiana with his parents, where they settled near Williamstown.

In 1867, he started to school and continued until 1870, when, having suffered a serious attack of typhoid fever, he avoided school, his parents thus indulging him until about 1876.  In the meantime, he helped his father at the carpenter’s trade.

However in the fall of 1876, when he asked his father if he thought there would be enough work for them that winter, his father answered, “Yes, I think there’ll be enough for me but you’re going back to school.”  Charles did not like it, but back he went.  After school hours, he worked in the local smithy and learned enough of the blacksmith’s art that by 1879, he was making plans to go west to his Uncle Sam Perin’s and set up a shop there; but his mother’s fatal illness interrupted this plan and after her death on July 14 of that year, negotiations were not resumed.

In 1882, he finished school and during the summer attended Normal School at Brookville.  In the fall of that same year, he taught his first school at the Bulltown school house in Posey Township, Franklin County.

On March 2, 1884, he married Geraldine Allison, who was born on February 18, 1866.  That summer and for about two years afterward, they lived at Columbia, where he taught school in the winter and worked as a carpenter in the summer.

For several years he continued this arrangement at Columbia and Alpine, until in 1892, he moved to Connersville where he began to sell insurance.  Later he moved to Richmond in Wayne County and wrote insurance there, but in 1897, he returned to Connersville, and in 1898 to Alpine, where he engaged in carpentering, gardening, and teaching for some twenty years.

In 1912, he bought a house and two acres of land on Little Garrison Creek, three and one half miles west of Alpine, and this was the first bit of land he ever owned.  Here he built a carpenter shop and a small forge and engaged in miscellaneous repair work.

In 1923 he taught his last school at the Alpine school house, being forced by illness to abandon it before mid-term. On Christmas Day of that year he took to bed with pernicious anemia.  He sold his land on Garrison Creek in 1925, and moved to Connersville, where on October 10, 1926, his long illness overcame him and he died, at five o’clock of a Sunday morning.  He was buried at Laurel, in Franklin County.

It is not easy to determine the important characteristics or the decisive incidents of his life.  It is too remote for me to have much personal information, but still too recent to make good material for tradition.  However a few points may be of interest in the future.

He was a competent carpenter, and knew something of blacksmithing and cabinet making.  He was a good kitchen gardener and for much of his life took a good part of living from the soil.

He was a man of high ideals, and strict honesty, and always did his duty as he saw it.  Two of his favorite maxims were: “Can’t” never did a thing; and Spare the rod and spoil the child.

His marriage resulted in six sons and five daughters.

They are:

Roscoe C., merchant pharmacist, who was born on November 26, 1884, and married Nellie Garrison on December 12, 1915.

Kenneth Audrien, born 27 May 1886

Donald Bernard, born 22 October 1888

Gladys G., born on January 23, 1890.

Keith T., who worked for the Weather Bureau, was born on June 15, 1892, and died on March 29, 1928.

Edith R., who was born on June 17, 1896, and married Karl W. Oppermann on June 13, 1917,

Arthur M., Mechanic, who served in the U. S. Marine Corps during the World War (I), was born March 6, 1898, and married Esther Marsh of Kalispell, Montana on September 29, 1922.

Una C. who was born on June 28, 1900, and married on December 20, 1919.

Christine E., Who was born on February 8, 1903, and married John Marsh of Kalispell, Montana, on September 16, 1922.

Stanley E., accountant, who was born on November 14, 1905.

Mildred F., who was born on August 18, 1908.

NOTE REGARDING GRAMMAR:

This transcript, retyped by Daniel J. Perin, was minimally edited due to uncertainty about the original documents being copied.  My brother, Frank, originally typed a copy from an original typed by our uncle, Stanley Perin.  Stanley’s document appears to have been copied from handwritten or typed letters, notes and other documents.  It is unclear whether original documents contained grammatical errors or whether they occurred in the process of retyping.  Therefore, some editing was done in this latest copy, but the effort was to maintain the original text as much as possible.

-- Daniel J Perin, January 26, 2013