Peter Perkins
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Peter Perkins | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Pittsylvania County | |
| In office 1777–1778 Serving with Abraham Shelton | |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Succeeded by | John Wilson |
| Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses for Pittsylvania County | |
| In office 1775–1776 Serving with Benjamin Lankford | |
| Preceded by | Hugh Innes |
| Succeeded by | position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Peter Perkins March 26, 1739 Goochland County, Colony of Virginia |
| Died | February 12, 1813 (aged 73) Williamson County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Spouse | Phyllis Agnes Wilson |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Rank | Lt. Col. |
| Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War |
Peter Perkins (March 26, 1739 – February 12, 1813) was a American patriot, planter and politician who represented Pittsylvania County, Virginia during the final session of the House of Burgesses, several of the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions and in the first session of the Virginia House of Delegates, as well as led the county militia during the American Revolutionary War.[1]
Early life and education
The eldest surviving son born in then-vast Goochland County to the former Bethania Hardin and her farmer husband, Col. Nicholas Perkins (1718–1762).[2] He would have at least two younger brothers, Nicholas Perkins (1745-1800) and Thomas Hardin Perkins (1757–1838).[3] as well as sisters Bethania (1743-1809, who married Col. Absalom Bostick and moved to what was Rowan County but is now Stokes County, North Carolina), Anne (1752-1829, who married Joseph Henry Scales and moved to Henry County, Virginia), Mary (1754-1798, who married Thomas Hardemon and moved to Davidson County, Tennessee) and Elizabeth (1759-1819, who married Peter Hairston and remained in Pittsylvania County although her husband also owned plantations in North Carolina). Their father, Col. Nicholas Perkins, moved his family south to the Dan River in what became Pittsylvania County, and started a plantation at Berry Hill about 1745, which this son inherited upon his father's death.
Career
Peter Perkins invested in real estate in Pittsylvania County as well as in North Carolina. He also had operated an ordinary at his home,[4] and farmed tobacco using enslaved labor.
Pittsylvania voters elected him as one of their representatives to what proved to be the final session of the House of Burgesses, which began in 1775.[5] After Governor Dunmore prorogued (suspended) that assembly, Pittsylvania voters elected Perkins as one of their representatives in several of the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, alongside fellow burgess and planter Benjamin Lankford.[6] However, no record exists that Lankford nor Perkins actually appeared at the Third Revolutionary Convention. Voters also elected Perkins as one of Pittsylvania County's two delegates at the first session of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1777, this time alongside Abraham Shelton.[7]
Meanwhile, during the conflict, the patriotic Perkins served on the county' Committee of Safety since 1775, as well as led a company of the Pittsylvania County militia. However, his major wartime activity involved gathering supplies for the troops within the county, which held one of the Commonwealth's major depots at Peytonsburg, and during the three months that his home served as a hospital, also operated a ferry. Perkins also at various times served as the county sheriff.[8]
After the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, his home, Berry Hill, along with nearby plantation houses of his brother Nicholas, and William Harrison, served as hospitals (and cemeteries) for those wounded during the battle, with Berry Hill later receiving the most reimbursement of the three, ₤50 compared to ₤35 for Harrison and ₤16.10 awarded Nicholas Perkins for damage to his home.[9] Perkins remained in Pittsylvania County for a while after the war, but by 1795 had moved across the border to North Carolina, where he and a partner owned an iron furnace, and he may also have served a term in the North Carolina legislature.
Personal life
He married Agnes Wilson, whose father Peter Wilson patented land along Sandy Creek (a tributary of the Dan River) and became an important figure in Pittsylvania County (an early justice of the peace tho never a burgess), and one ford of the Dan River continues to bear that family's name.[10][11] Peter and Agnes had sons James and Nicholas Perkins, as well as daughters Bethania (who married Lemuel Smith), Elizabeth (who married John Pryor and after his death, William Henley Stone) and Alcey (who married Peter Hairston).
Death and legacy
Ultimately, Perkins moved to Tennessee, as did his son Nicholas, although his burial location is unknown. Perkins freed four enslaved people in his will. His descendants (through his son Nicholas) continued to own Berry Hill through the 20th century. The land has now been acquired by the City of Danville, which plans to construct an industrial park on that and adjacent acreage.
References
- ^ Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, vol. 1 p. 303
- ^ Sons of the American Revolution application dated 1958 of De Witt Sherell Figuera on ancestry.com
- ^ Hurt p. 138 indicates he also had a brother named Constant who lived near Nicholas, though the name often genders as female and given the receipts mentioned below, may have been Nicholas' wife
- ^ Frances Hallam Hart, An Intimate History of the American Revolution in Pittsylvania County, Virginia (Danville: The Womack Press, 1976) p.139
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619–1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978) p. 106
- ^ Leonard pp. 110, 113, 115, 118
- ^ Leonard p. 126
- ^ Hart, pp.138-139
- ^ Hart, p.139
- ^ Maud Carter Clement, History of Pittsylvania County(1929) p. 58n.11
- ^ Henry H. Mitchell, 1990. Echoes of the Revolution at Berry Hill