Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/293

 PERCIVAL

PERKINS

and was appointed almoner to the Ursuline con- vent. During the schism in New Orleans, which was occasioned by Archbishop Blanc's refusal to appoint certain priests, he established and edited Le Propagateur Catholique in support of the archbishop, and finally restored peace. The pub- lication then became the chief organ of the French people in the south. He was elected coad- jutor to Archbishop Odin in 1870, and was con- secrated at New Orleans, La., May 1, 1870, by Bishop Rosecrans of Columbus, assisted by Bishop Feehan of Nashville and Bishop Foley of Chicago, receiving the title Bishop of " Abdera." He succeeded as Archbishop of New Orleans, May 25, 1870, and after many litigations over church property and cemeteries, was invested with the ownership by the wardens of the cathe- dral. He received the Pallium from the hands of Pius IX. in 1871 ; established a community of Carmelite nuns in his diocese, founded Thibo- deaux college, St. Mary's Commercial college, four academies for girls, thirteen parochial schools, and an asylum for aged colored women. He also built twenty new churches and chapels, and organized a Roman Catholic society. He died in Now Orleans, La., Dec. 27, 1883.

PERCIVAL, James Gates, geologist, was born in Berlin, Conn., Sept. 15, 1795. He was gradu- ated from Yale in 1815, and his tragedy "Za?uor " was presented at the commencement exercises. He taught school in Philadelphia, Pa., and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, M.D., in 1820. He established himself in practice in Charleston, S.C; was appointed assistant sur- geon in the U.S. army and professor of chemistiy, mineralogy and geology in the U.S. Military academy in 1824, resigning his professorship in a few months to become examining surgeon in the recruiting service in Boston, Mass. He re- moved to New Haven, Conn., in 1827, engaged in literary work and continued the study of geology. He explored the ranges of trap rock in Connec- ticut in 1834, and with Prof. Charles M. Shepard made a geological and mineralogical survey of the state in 1835. He was state geologist of Con- necticut, 1835-42, and state geologist of Wiscon- sin, 1853-56. He edited Knox's Elegant Extracts (1826) ; assisted in compiling Noah Webster's Dictionary, and is the author of : Prometheus; Clio (1834) ; Report of the Geological Siwvey of Connecticut (18i2); Dream of a Do?/ (1843); Re- port of the Geological Survey of Wisconsin (1855), and many minor poems including : Tlie Coral Grove ; Hie Graves of the Patriots, and Setting Sail. He contributed largely to journals and mag- azines. He was never married. He died in Hazel Green, Wis., May 2, 1856.

PERHAM, Sidney, governor of Maine, was born in Woodstock, Maine, March 27, 1817 ; son of

Joel and Saphronia (Bisbee) Perham ; grandson of Lemuel and Betsey (Gurney) Perham, and of Rowse and Hannah (Carroll) Bisbee, and a de- scendant of John Perham, who settled in Chelms- ford, Mass., in 1664. Heat- ..= :_ tended the public schools and Goulds academy, Bethel, Maine, in 1838 ; engaged in teaching school during the winter months, and in 1840 in farming and sheep raising on his family homestead. He was married Jan. 1, 1843, to Almena Jane, daughter of Lazeras Hathaway of Paris, Maine. He was a Republican representative in the state legislature, and speaker in 1855 ; was presidential elector on the Fi-emont and Dayton ticket in 1856, and on the Harrison and Morton ticket in 1888 ; clerk of the supreme judicial court for Oxford county, 1858-62, and a Republican representative from the second Maine district in the 38th, 39th and 40th congresses, 1863-69, being a member of the committee on pensions, 1863-69, and chairman of the committee, 1865-69. He served three terms as governor of Maine, 1871-74 ; was appraiser for the port of Portland, Maine, 1877-85, and a mem- ber of the commission appointed by President Harrison to select a site for a dry dock on the Gulf of Mexico in 1891. He took an active part in teachers' institutes and educational conven- tions, served as president of the board of trustees of Westbrook seminary and female college and of the Maine Industrial school ; lectured on tem- perance, and was a member of the Maine board of agriculture, 1853-54. After 1886 he made his home in Washington, D.C., spending the sum- mers at Paris Hill, Maine.

PERKINS, Bishop Walden, senator, was born in Rochester, Ohio, Oct. 18, 1841 ; son of Ben- jamin Chaplin and Hannah M. (Cole) Perkins ; grandson of Benjamin Chaplin and Elizabeth Ann (Walden) Perkins and a descendant of Jolin Perkins, Boston, 1636. He was educated at Knox academy, Galesburg, 111. ; studied law at Ottawa, was a soldier in the 83d Illinois infantry. 1861-62, and captain in the 16th U.S. colored infantry, 1862- 65. He was admitted to the bar at Ottawa in 1867; removed to Oswego, Kan., in 1869; was attorney for Labette county in 1869, and was mar- ried April 11. 1872, to Louise Cushman. He was probate judge of Labette county, 1870-73 ; judge of the 11th judicial district, 1873-82, and a Repub- lican I'epresentative from the third Kansas district in the 48th, 49th, 50th and 51st congresses, 1883-91. He was appointed to the U.S. senate by Governor Humphrey to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Preston B. Plumb, Dec. 20, 1891, serving, 1891- 93, and in 1893 took up the practice of law in Washington, D.C., where he died June 20, 1894.