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Perkins

Civil War Pension File of Samuel Henry Perkins, Cedar County, Missouri

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Samuel Henry Perkins was born 18 December 1821 in Halifax County, Virginia. He married Martha Hamby on 24 April 1841 in Cedar County, Missouri. Martha, daughter of Amos and Levina (Palmer) Hamby was born 4 September 1826 in Christian County, Kentucky and died on the 16th of March 1891 in Cedar County.

Samuel and Martha had nine children: James Madison, born 1842 and married Martha Tygart; Amos Hamby, born 1844 and married Jane Cheek; Mary Woosley, born 1846 and married Emsley Harrison Brasher; John Wilke, born 1848 and married Sarah Ann Tygart; Emily, born 1854 and married Richard Denton Frieze; Gustavus A., born 1856 and married Serepta Allie Moore; Wilson Wayne (a daughter), born 1859 and married James Porter Neill; Louisa, born 1861 and died 1881, unmarried; and Joanne (Josie A.), born 1864 and married Greene Whitfield Smith.

Samuel served in the Union Army during the Civil War, enlisting 29 March 1862, Co. E, M.S.M. Cavs. Vols. and was honorably discharged on 15 April 1863 at Lebanon, Missouri.

Samuel received a pension for his services due to disability caused while in military service. His pension file is 24 pages long, but much of it is repetitive. It looks like he had trouble maintaining his status, as he first applied on 30 July 1890, but there are further depositions throughout 1891 and again on 29 August 1892 and 2 May 1898. His last pension payment was received in February 1905 with the notation that he died in April 1905 and was officially dropped from the rolls in July 1905. His pension file number is 305,457.

Samuel’s claim is based on testimony that at Linn Creek, Missouri, he was thrown about on his horse in such a way that the saddle horn cause double inguinal hernias that, through the years, impacted his health to the point where he became totally incapacitated and unable to do any manual labor.

He further added that while being treated in the army, he suffered from chronic diarrhea, which continued in intervals for several years afterwards, which was supported by an affidavit from his family doctor. Samuel was very lucky that he survived the diarrhea, as many men died from it when they caught it in the military camps.

Here are a few of the more interesting pages in the packet:

SamPerkinsCivilWarPension_Page_01
Personal Affidavit, signed by Samuel

SamPerkinsCivilWarPension_Page_09
Invalid Pension, signed off in 1891

SamPerkinsCivilWarPension_Page_18
Signed by Samuel and sons Amos and Marion (Madison)

I find it interesting that Amos could barely write his name, but Marion (Madison) had a large, flowing script.

If you are a descendant of Samuel and Martha and would like a PDF of the full pension file, please leave a comment and/or email me and I would be happy to share it.

 

 

Dating Old Photos

Samuel Henry Perkins, Cedar Co., MO

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Samuel Henry Perkins was my husband’s 3x great grandfather. He was the son of John Perkins and Rhoda Walters Woosley of Halifax County, Virginia. Family lore has it that he was born on the Woosley plantation on 18 December 1821. Samuel married Martha Hamby, daughter of Amos Hamby and Lavina Palmer, on 25 April 1841 in Polk County, Missouri. Martha was born 4 September 1826, in Christian County, Kentucky.

Samuel and Martha had nine children:

1. James Madison, born 10 May 1842, Polk Co., MO
2. Amos Hamby, born 12 January 1844, Dade Co., MO
3. Mary Woosley, born 3 October 1846, Cedar Co., MO
4. John Wilke, born 10 December 1848, Cedar Co., MO
5. Emily, born 19 May 1854, Cedar Co., MO
6. Gustavus A., born 19 December 1856, Cedar Co., MO
7. Wilson Wayne Wooldridge, a daughter, born 7 November 1859, Cedar Co., MO
8. Louisa, born 11 January 1861, Cedar Co., MO
9. Joanna (Josie Ann), born 25 October 1864, Cedar Co., MO

All of their children lived to adulthood, although Louisa died at age twenty on 11 October 1881, unmarried,  in Cedar County and Mary Woosley, who married Emsley Harrison Brasher (my husband’s ancestors) died on 4 March 1882 in Hopkins County, Texas.

Samuel died on 28 April 1905. Martha predeceased him, passing away on 16 Mary 1891. Both died in and are buried in Cedar County, Missouri.

This is a copy of a family photo of Samuel Henry and Martha Perkins with children and grandchildren, probably taken in the late 1870’s. Eugene Perkins, an avid Perkins researcher, who passed away in 2001 just short of his 94th birthday, shared this picture with me years ago, but he didn’t know who most of the people were except for Samuel and Martha in the center.

Sam & Martha Perkins
Family of Samuel Henry and Martha Hamby Perkins

I found a public member tree on line that has a copy of this same photo and below it, someone has identified all of the people. The photo is dated about 1878. They are:

Gustavus A.
Emily, Wilson Wayne, Louisa and Josie Ann
James Madison, ida, Samuel, Emlou, Martha, Marion, Amos
Norman, Horace

Gus, Emily, Wilson, Louisa, Josie, James M. and Amos are the children of Samuel and Martha. Ida, Norman and Horace are James’s children. Emlou and Marion are children of Amos.

The only family missing were daughter Mary, who was living in Hopkins County, Texas and son John W., who was living in Dade County, MO with his young family. As James’s and Amos’s wives are not in the picture, this was meant to capture the immediate direct descendants of Samuel and Martha living in Cedar County. Another mystery solved thanks to technology.