GENERAL SIMON PERKINS.
BY WALTER W. SPOONER. From advance proofs of the sixth volume of Randall and Ryan's History of Ohio. By permission of the publishers, the Century History Company, New York. Simon Perkins, of Warren, was one of the earliest and most influential promoters of settlement and progress in northeastern |
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frontier at a critical period in the War of 1812; held responsible civil positions, and was a trusted representative and adviser of the United States government in western affairs. (284) |
General Simon Perkins. 285
General Perkins was born in Lisbon,
Connecticut, Septem-
ber 17, 1771, son of Captain Simon and
Olive (Douglass) Per-
kins. Through both his parents he was
descended from early
and notable Puritan families of New
England. In the paternal
line his first American ancestor was
John Perkins, who came
over with Roger Williams; and on his
mother's side he traced
his descent from William Douglass, one
of the company from
Boston that founded New London,
Connecticut. His father was
a captain in the Revolutionary War, and
died in the service.
Several of his maternal uncles held
officers' commissions in that
conflict.
At an early age he assumed the
responsibility for the admin-
istration of his father's estate,
consisting partly of lands which
had been in possession of the family
since it first settled in Con-
necticut in the seventeenth century.
From the experience thus
obtained he became familiar with
business forms and methods,
particularly as related to landed
property. In 1795, when about
twenty-four years old, he removed to
Owego, New York, at that
time one of the outposts of settlement
on the western frontier.
There he was busily engaged for some
three years in connection
with land sales and other matters
incidental to the opening of a
new region.
After the acquisition by the Connecticut
Land Company of
the proprietary right to the Western
Reserve-with the exception
of the "Fire lands,"-by
purchase from the state of Connecticut
(1795), various projects for settlements
on the shores of Lake
Erie and in that general section began
to develop. In 1797 some
of the principal members of the
Connecticut Land Company, re-
siding in Windham and New London
Counties, Connecticut,
united their stock holdings and formed a
new organization under
the name of the Erie Land Company.
On the 14th of April, 1798, Moses
Cleaveland, Joseph Per-
kins, and Daniel L. Coit, as
"agents and trustees for the Erie
Company," entered into a formal
agreement with Simon Per-
kins, by which he was commissioned to
proceed to the com-
pany's lands, make surveys and
explorations, effect sales to the
best advantage, and generally discharge
the duties of a trusted
representative with large discretionary
powers. He was directed
286 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
to start from Owego by the 1st of July
following and continue on
the lands for three months at least, and
was authorized to em-
ploy all necessary assistants. While the
details of transactions
were left to his judgment, it was
stipulated that nothing should
be sold for less than a dollar an acre.
The agreement embodied
specific arrangements for the
acquisition by him, in his own
right, of one thousand acres of the
property. In a personal com-
munication to him of the same date he
was more particularly in-
structed and advised concerning the work
to be done.
Both these important documents-in a
perfect state of pres-
ervation,-bearing the signatures of all
the parties in interest,
are now in the custody of the Western
Reserve Historical So-
ciety in Cleveland. The same society
also has in its possession
a number of subsequent agreements
between the Erie Land
Company and Simon Perkins, various
autograph accounts of the
latter with the company, and a large and
most valuable collection
of the private papers of General
Perkins, covering most of his
active career.
In the month of June, 1798, Mr. Perkins
left Owego, ac-
companied by James Pumpelly, whom he had
selected as his
chief assistant. They went by the way of
Cayuga and Ontario
lakes to Buffalo, where they obtained a
batteau, and thence
coasted up Lake Erie. Arriving at the
Grand River on the 4th
of July-just two years after the
historic landing of the Cleave-
land party some miles farther west,-they
debarked and started
for the interior. A camp was established
four miles south of
what is now the city of Painesville, and
steps were at once taken
to survey a road-the first in northern
Ohio. It ran by the
camp, and at that point the original
name, "The Girdled Road,"
is still retained; farther west the road
becomes the far-famed
Euclid Avenue. On June 14, 1912, the New
Connecticut Chapter
of the Daughters of the American
Revolution placed tablets at
the sites of Perkins Camp and the
Girdled Road.
Mr. Perkins assigned the surveying part
of the work to
Pumpelly and others whom he had
employed, and himself under-
took the more important business of
examining the country, de-
termining as to the relative advantages,
values, and prospects of
the lands, and in general acquiring the
necessary information for
General Simon Perkins. 287
the financial results that he expected
to derive later. After three
months of diligent work he returned East
and made his report to
the company in Connecticut. This proved
so satisfactory that he
was again sent out the following year,
under an arrangement vest-
ing in him the entire agency for the
lands; and he continued
on the same basis for several years
afterward, spending the sum-
mers on the Reserve and the winters in
Connecticut.
Upon his marriage in 1804 he decided to
locate permanently
in Ohio, and with his bride journeyed to
Warren, then a place of
only sixteen log habitations. He
continued to reside there for
the rest of his life, and, as already
remarked, was a leading and
most influential citizen. Devoting his
energies principally to
the land business, his extensive
knowledge, discriminating judg-
ment, and high integrity secured for him
a larger share of pat-
ronage from non-resident proprietors
than any other man in
Ohio. In the year 1815 he paid, as agent
or owner, one-seventh
of the entire amount of land taxes
collected by the state govern-
ment. In his transaction it was his
invariable policy to encourage,
favor, and assist the pioneer and indeed
every purchaser acting
in good faith, by liberality of terms
and leniency of treatment.
Thus many acquired homes by his kindly
co-operation and even
more kindly forbearance. The early
development of the eastern
portion of the Western Reserve was due
to him far more than
to any other man. It may justly be said
that he contributed
something, and frequently much, toward
starting or stimulating
the development of every community in
that section which arose
during the period of his business
activity. He founded and laid
out the village of Akron in 1825, and six years later had a lead-
ing part in establishing North Akron. To
the latter locality he
donated ground for public buildings,
parks, schools, and churches.
Before becoming a citizen of Ohio his
prominence and use-
fulness in promoting settlement and his
thorough acquaintance
with the country in process of
development had brought him to
the favorable notice of the government
officials in Washington.
In 1801 the first mail route northwest
of the Ohio River was
instituted, running from Pittsburg to
Warren via Beaver, Youngs-
town, and Canfield. Mr. Perkins was
appointed as the first post-
master at Warren on the 24th of October,
1800, and he retained
288 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
that position until October, 1829. After
Gideon Granger be-
came postmaster-general in 1802, Mr. Perkins
was frequently
consulted for information and advice
respecting the laying out
of new routes, the opening of other post
offices, and the se-
lection of appointees. His intimate
familiarity with local cir-
cumstances and knowledge of individuals
all over the Reserve
enabled him to be of great service to
the department and also to
secure the best results for the various
communities and the public.
In December, 1809, Postmaster-General
Granger wrote to
him in the following somewhat remarkable
terms: "You cannot
be ignorant of the unpleasant aspect of
public affairs between this
nation and Great Britain, nor of the
vigorous preparations mak-
ing for war in upper Canada. In this
state of things it has be-
come necessary to establish a line of
expresses through your
country to Detroit. We avail ourselves
of the energy of your
talents at this crisis. I have to
solicit you (and even more to
express my opinion that it is your duty)
to depart immediately
for Detroit. I know of no person whose
exertions would at this
time be as satisfactory to the
government, and however inconve-
nient the discharge of this duty may be
to yourself, it is what
you owe to your country and to the
southern shores of Lake
Erie in particular." Thus appealed
to, he set forth without delay
for Detroit, and the important work
confined to him was per-
formed with singular efficiency and
thoroughness. At that period
the country west and south of the
Reserve was Indian territory,
except tracts twelve miles square at
Fort Miami and two miles
square on the Sandusky River, which were
ceded by the treaty
of Greenville in 1795. Mr. Perkins, in
addition to laying out
the desired route from Cleveland to
Detroit, conceived and
brought to completion the project of
securing a cession of land
for a road from the Reserve to the
Maumee River. He proposed
the matter to several influential
Indians and obtained the ap-
proval of Governor Hull at Detroit. The
treaty of Brownsville
was the substantial result. It was on
the basis of this cession
that the turnpike road from Perrysburg
to Fremont was built.
He was commissioned brigadier-general in
the fourth divi-
sion of Ohio militia, under
Major-General Elijah Wadsworth, on
the 31st of May. 1808. In that capacity
he put into the field and
General Simon Perkins 289
commanded the third brigade of the
division after the breaking
out of hostilities in 1812. The surprising
and pusillanimous sur-
render of General Hull exposed the whole
northwest to imminent
danger, and in the emergency General
Perkins demonstrated
great promptness and signal military
ability. Being assigned to
command the troops detailed from the
Reserve to protect the
frontier, he marched to the Huron River
and thence sent scouting
expeditions to all quarters where it was
apprehended hostile In-
dians might be gathering. Although not
under the necessity of
leading any movement, either aggressive
or defensive, while he
remained in command, his thorough system
of information and
general exercise of his responsibilities
were most strongly com-
mended by his superior officers. When
the term of enlistment
of the militia expired, General William
H. Harrison having mean-
time been reinforced by troops
sufficient to maintain his position,
General Perkins retired from the
service. On that occasion Gen-
eral Harrison in an official
communication expressed high appre-
ciation of the zeal and ability with
which he had performed his
duty. General Perkins was tendered by
President Madison a
commission as colonel in the regular
army, but declined it on
account of the claims of his family and
his many private obli-
gations.
He was the principal organizer of the
Western Reserve Bank
of Warren, chartered November 24, 1813,
and served as its presi-
dent from the beginning until April 5,
1838. This was the first
bank established in the Western Reserve,
and it survived all other
banks in the state which entered the
field before or with it.
On the 7th of February, 1826, he was
appointed by the
legislature a member of the State Board
of Canal Fund Com-
missioners. By successive reappointments
he continued in that
honorable position until February 13,
1838, when he resigned.
As a citizen General Perkins was at all
times conspicuous
for public spirit, earnest support of
religious, educational and
moral interest and causes, and the
highest standards and soundest
integrity in both his business and
private relations. His death
occurred at Warren on the 6th of
November, 1844.
He married, in Connecticut, March 18,
1804, Nancy Bishop.
She was born in Lisbon, Connecticut,
January 24, 1780, and died
Vol. XXIII-19
290 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
in Warren, Ohio, April 24, 1862. A lady of most estimable char- acter and wide usefulness, she is held in honored memory in the community where she so long resided. General and Mrs. Per- kins were the parents of nine children-Simon, Anna Maria, Olive Douglas, Alfred, Martha, Charles, Joseph, Jacob, and Henry Bishop. Their present descendants in the Perkins line are comprised in the several families which sprang from their four sons who survived to manhood, Simon, of Akron; Joseph, of Cleveland; Jacob, of Warren and Cleveland, and Henry Bishop, of Warren-all of whom were men of prominence, forceful abil- ity, and high character. |
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GENERAL SIMON PERKINS.
BY WALTER W. SPOONER. From advance proofs of the sixth volume of Randall and Ryan's History of Ohio. By permission of the publishers, the Century History Company, New York. Simon Perkins, of Warren, was one of the earliest and most influential promoters of settlement and progress in northeastern |
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frontier at a critical period in the War of 1812; held responsible civil positions, and was a trusted representative and adviser of the United States government in western affairs. (284) |