Father: Jabez
Perkins
Mother: Nancy Ann Creekmore?
Spouse-1: Margaret Peggy McKee
d: ~1832 - bur: Jellico Creek
Cem., Whitley Co., KY
m: 15/Mar/1821 - Whitley Co., KY
Child-1: Mary Rebecca (Polly) - b: 30/May/1823 - Whitley
Co., KY
d: 30/May/1893 - Whitley Co., KY -
bur: Jellico Creek Cem.
m: Solomon Stephens - 5/Sep/1839 - Whitley Co., KY
2: Jabez
- b: 1824 - Whitley Co., KY
d: 1884
m: Elizabeth Wilson - 10/Jul/1845 - Whitley Co., KY
m: Elizabeth Davenport - 15/Aug/1865 - Whitley Co., KY
3: Anna
- b: ~1829 - Whitley Co., KY
m: Levi or Lee Shepard
4: Cyrenas
W. - b: 29/Oct/1831 - Whitley Co., KY
d: 23/Jan/1901 - Whitley Co., KY
m: Elizabeth Noe
Spouse-2: Rebecca Shepard - b: ~1810 - KY
d: 26/Jun/1866 - KY -
bur:
Jellico Creek Cem.
m: ~1832
Child-1: Solomon - b: 4/Apr/1835 - Whitley Co., KY
d: 24/Apr/1895 - Whitley Co., KY - bur: Lower Cal Hill Cem.,
McCreary Co., KY
m: Jane Jennie Stephens - 2/Aug/1867
2: Elijah
- b: ~1838 - KY
d: 28/Mar/1865 - Arlington, VA - bur: Arlington National Cem.
m: Jane Mills - 22/May/1863
3: Jesse
- b: 21/Apr/1840 - Whitley Co., KY
d: 4/Sep/1894 - Holly Hill, Whitley Co., KY -
bur: Jellico Creek
Cem.
m: Elizabeth Jane Creekmore - 30/Nov/1865 - Whitley Co., KY
4: Lewis
- b: ~1841 - KY
m: Rhoda Ann Coffey - 21/Mar/1861
5: James
- b: ~1841 - KY
m: Nancy Rue Coffey - 1/Aug/1859 - Wayne Co., KY
6: Jemimah
- b: ~1848 - Whitley Co., KY
7: Sallie
- b: ~1850 - Whitley Co., KY
m: Shelby Coffey - 26/Dec/1872
Biographical Details:
William Perkins was the youngest surviving son of Jabez Perkins and is believed to have been born in southwestern Virginia, probably Grayson County, about 1801. Therefore, he would have been about eleven or twelve years old when his parents and siblings moved to Knox County, Kentucky. Subsequently, Whitley County, Kentucky, was organized from the western part of Knox County in 1818 and apparently included the locality in which the Perkins family had settled. Accordingly, William Perkins married Margaret Peggy McKee in Whitley County on March 15, 1821, and their household appeared in the 1830 US Census for Whitley County. At the time of the census the family included in addition to William and Peggy themselves, a male and a female child of less than five years of age and one female of between five and ten. Obviously, these children can be readily identified as Mary Rebecca, Jabez, and Anna. Unfortunately, Margaret Peggy McKee Perkins died about 1831, perhaps, at the birth of her youngest child, Cyrenas. Within this context, William Perkins remarried sometime between 1831 and 1835, perhaps, about 1832, to Rebecca Shepard.Source Notes and Citations:In his excellent research, Mr. Steven C. Perkins, a direct descendant of William Perkins, asserts that William and his father moved to north central Illinois in the 1830's. Indeed, it is known that William's two older brothers, Timothy and Jesse Alvin, did migrate to this area of Illinois at about this same time or, perhaps, a few years earlier. In support of this presumption a land patent was issued on August 1, 1838, to William Perkins for eighty acres in Putnam, later Bureau, County, Illinois, that had been purchased for cash on July 13, 1835.1 Moreover, this parcel lies in the same section and shares a common corner with another eighty acre parcel purchased on precisely the same day in the name of Jabez Perkins, William's father. Both parcels are located about eight and a half miles south southeast of the present town of Princeton, Illinois, and two and a half miles west of the town of Hennepin. Furthermore, the two corresponding patents issued in the names of William and Jabez Perkins are numbered consecutively, viz., 1320 and 1321, and have the same date of issue. Thus, it seems obvious that these two transactions must have been closely linked. Even so, it is not clear that Jabez and William actually left Kentucky since, these were recorded as cash sales rather than preemptions and might have been handled by an agent or, as is more likely, by a relative. Indeed, in 1835 Jabez was quite elderly and it seems unlikely that he would have made the trip. However, it is possible that William came to Illinois for a short time, perhaps, after the death of his wife and before his remarriage but this is merely a plausible hypothesis. Within this context, it is possible that William entered both patents. In any case, the household of William Perkins was listed in the population schedule of the 1840 US Census for Whitley County. At this time, in addition to William and his second wife, Rebecca Shepard Perkins, the household included three young males of less than five years of age, one male of between five and ten years, a male and a female of between ten and fifteen, and an elderly female of between seventy and eighty years of age. Clearly, the three youngest boys can be identfied as sons, Solomon, Elijah, and Jesse; the two older boys as sons, Jabez and Cyrenas, and the older girl as daughter, Anna. William's oldest daughter, Polly, had married in 1839 and, therefore, would not likely have been living in her father's household at this time. The identity of the elderly woman is not known, however, a plausible presumption is that she was an aged relative of either William Perkins or his wife.
The household of William and Rebecca Perkins has not been found in census records for the year 1850. Nevertheless, family tradition indicates that they remained resident in Whitley County. However, according to the mortality schedule of the 1860 US Census for Whitley County, William Perkins died in April of that year from a "pain in side" after being ill for six days. This is supported by a corresponding entry in the population schedule for the household of C. W. (Cyrenas W.) Perkins, in which his net worth was explicitly adjusted by addition of his father's estate. Presumably, the stated sums represent Cyrenas' expectation of inheritance, which strongly suggests that his father's death had been quite recent and that the estate was not yet settled. In passing, it should be stated that many researchers state February of 1864 as the month and year of death of William Perkins. However, it is clear that this is inconsistent with contemporary census records and, accordingly, should be considerd erroneous. Graves for William and Rebecca Perkins exist in the old part of the Jellico Creek Cemetery.
1. The United States of America; Certificate No. 1321; To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Whereas William Perkins, of Putnam County, Illinois has deposited in the General Land Office of the United States, a Certificate of the Register of the Land Office at Galena whereby it appears that full payment has been made by the said William Perkins according to the provisions of the Act of Congress of the 24th of April, 1820, entitled "An Act making further provision for the sale of Public Lands," for the West half of the South East quarter of Section thirty six, in Township fifteen North, of Range nine East, in the District of lands subject to sale at Galena, Illinois, containing eighty acres according to the official plat of the survey of the said Lands, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General, which said tract has been purchased by the said William Perkins.
Now Know Ye, That the United States of America, in consideration of the Premises, and in conformity with the several acts of Congress, in such case made and provided, Have Given and Granted, and by these presents Do Give And Grant, unto the said William Perkins and to his heirs, the said tract above described: To Have And To Hold the same, together with all the rights, privileges, immunities, and appurtenances, of whatsoever nature, thereunto belonging, unto the said William Perkins and to his heirs and assigns forever.
In Testimony Whereof, I, Martin Van Buren, President Of The United States of America, have caused these Letters to be made Patent, and the Seal of the General Land Office to be hereunto affixed. Given under my hand, at the City Of Washington, the first day of August in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty eight and of the Independence Of The United States the Sixty third. By The President: Martin Van Buren; By M. Van Buren, Jr. Secretary; Jos. S. Wilson, Acting Recorder of the General Land Office ad interim (US Land Patent Certificate No. 1321; Washington, DC, issued 1 Aug 1838.)Federal Land Sale: July 13, 1835. 80 Acres: West Half of Southeast Quarter of Section 36, Township 15 North, Range 9 East of Principal Meridian 4 (Arispie Township) in Bureau (formerly Putnam) County, Illinois. Purchaser: William Perkins; Rate: $1.25 per acre; Price: $100.00. (Field General Land Office Register, Vol. 708, pg. 119, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL, 1957. (Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database, http://www.ilsos.gov/isa/landsrch.jsp, 2015.))
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Additional Citations:
2. 1830 US Census Population Schedule for Whitley County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 287, (microfilm roll - M19_42; img. 564).3. 1840 US Census Population Schedule for Whitley County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 195, (microfilm roll - M704_126; imgs. 105-6).
4. 1860 US Census Population Schedule for Whitley County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 782, (microfilm roll - M653_400; img. 157).
5. 1860 US Census Mortality Schedule for Whitley County, Kentucky, National Archives, Washington DC: pg. 623, (microfilm roll - T655_14; img. 679).
6. Jellico Creek Cemetery, Whitley County, Kentucky (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=1967190&CScn=Jellico&CScntry=4&CSst=19&CScnty=1106&, continuously updated).
7. Steven Curtis Perkins, "Ancestry of Henry Franklin Perkins", freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~scperkins/hperkanc.html, 1989-2001.