Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/776

730 himself as a missionary, he studied in his native town and at Amherst, where he was graduated in 1829. He spent two years in Andover theological seminary, was a tutor for nearly a year in Amherst, and in 1833 the American board sent him to begin a mission to the Nes- torians of Persia. He was ordained a minister of the Con- gregational church on 8 Sept., and soon afterward sailed with his wife, reach- ing Oroomiah in November, 1834. Here, almost un- aided, he laid the mission, the history of which is identi- fied with his life. Aided by a priest, he reduced the language of the Nestorians to writing, and translated the whole Bible into modern Syriac. He also translated other books, prepared and published a commentary on Genesis and Daniel, and also aided in general missionary work, and in establishing and directing various mission-schools. In 1842 he visited the United States, and was accompanied by Mar Yohannan, bishop of the Nestorian church, who was one of his first converts. In 1843 he returned to Persia, and soon afterward, in company with another mis- sionary, visited Teheran, the capital, with the object of defending the Protestants against misrepresenta- tion and persecution, in which he was entirely suc- cessful. He revisited his native country in 1858, and in August, 1869, wearied by his labors, he came home to die. His connection with the mission, of which he was the chief support, lasted about thirty- six years. He published "A Residence of Eight Years in Persia " (Andover, 1843) and "Missioiuiry Life in Persia" (1861).

PERKINS, Maurice, chemist, b. in New Lon- don, Conn., 14 IMarch, 1836. He studied ciiemistry abroad, spending the year 1860-'l at the universi- ties of Gottingen, Heidelberg, and Tiibingen. In 1862 he was appointed assistant professor of chem- istry at the College of physicians and surgeons in New York city, and in 1863-"5 he was assistant at the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard. He was called to the charge of chemistry in Union college in 1865, and still holds that place. In 1886 he was appointed a member of the state board of health. He received the degree of A. M. from Harvard in 1865, and that of M. D. from the Al- bany medical college in 1870. Prof. Perkins has been largely occupied with professional investiga- tions for private concerns, and has, therefore, pub- lished but little. He is the author of " Manual of Qualitative Analysis " (New York, 1867).

PERKINS, Nathan, clergyman, b. in Lisbon, Conn., 14 May, 1749 ; d. in West Hartford, 18 Jan., 1838. He was graduated at Princeton in 1770. In 1771 he was licensed by the New London associa- tion, and after preaching for a short time at Wrentham, Mass., he became minister of West Hartford Congregational church in 1772. where he remained till his death. He published " Four Let- ters on the Anabaptists " (1793), a volume of ser- mons (1795). and thirteen occasional sermons and discourses (1791-1822).

'''PERKINS. Samuel''', author, b. in Lisbon, Conn., in 1767 ; d. in Windham. Conn., in September, 1850, He was graduated at Yale in 1785, studied the- ology, was licensed, and preached, but afterward practised law at Windham. He was the author of " History of the Political and Military Events of the Late War between the United States and Great Britain " (New Haven, 1825) ; " General Jackson's Conduct in the Seminole W^ar" (Brooklyn, Conn., 1828); and "Historical Sketches of the United States, 1815-30" (New York, 1830).

PERKINS, Samuel Elliott, jurist, b. in Brattleborough, Vt., 6 Dec, 1811 ; d. in Indianapolis, Ind., 17"Dec., 1879. He passed his youth on a farm, and had few educational advantages. After attaining his majority he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in Richmond, Ind.. in 1837. He was appointed prosecuting attorney for the Wayne circuit in 1843. was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1844, and from that year till 1864 was a judge of the supreme court of the state. He was judge of the superior court of Marion county in 1873-6, and in the latter year was again placed on the supreme bench, of which he was chief justice at his death. He was professor of law in the Northwestern Christian university, and editor and proprietor of " The Jefl'ersonian," a Democratic paper, and published " Digest of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of Indiana " (In- dianapolis, 1858) and "Pleadings and Practice under the Code in the Courts of Indiana" (1859).

PERKINS, Simon, pioneer, b. in Norwich, Conn., 17 Sept., 1771 ; d. in Warren. Ohio, 19 Nov., 1844. His father was a captain in the Revolution- ary army, and died in camp. The son removed to Oswego, N. Y., in 1795, where he spent three years in extensive land operations. In 1804 he settled on the " Reserve " at Warren, Ohio, where he held extensive land agencies, and in 1815 paid into the public treasury land-taxes that amounted to one seventh the entire revenue of the state. He was the first postmaster in the " Western Reserve," and was intrusted with the arrangement of other post- offices in that region. In 1807, at the request of the government, he established expresses through the Indian country to Detroit. In the autumn of 1808 he was instrumental in securing the treaty of Brownsville, whereby the Indians ceded lands for a road from the Reserve to Miami of the Lakes. In May, 1808. he was commissioned a brigadier-gen- eral of militia, and after the disaster of Gen. Hull's army at Detroit he was assigned the duty of pro- tecting a large part of the northwestern frontier. He retired from the army, 28 Feb.. 1813, and after- ward declined a commission of colonel in the regu- lar army, which was offered to him by President Harrison. Gen. Perkins was at the head of a com- mission that was intrusted with the arrangement and execution of the canal system of Ohio, and from 1826 till 1838 was an active member of the board of canal-fund commissioners.

PERKINS, Thomas Handasyd, philanthropist, b. in Boston. Mass., 15 Dec, 1764; d. in Brookline, Mass.. 11 Jan., 1854. His father was a merchant in Boston, and his mother, Elizabeth Peck, was a founder and friend of the Boston female asylum. Thomas was educated in the public schools and privately, and, after passing several years in a Boston counting-house, visited his brother James in Santo Domingo in 1785. and soon became associated with him there in a mercantile house. The climate injuring his health, he returned to Boston, and for some time attended to the business of the firm in the United States. In 1789 he went as a supercargo to Batavia and Can-