Since last August, when I found out I was a PERKINS descendant of Abraham PERKINS [of Hampton, NH] through his son David PERKINS who married Elizabeth BROWN and moved to Bridgewater, MA, I have been on a cemetery quest to locate and photograph as many gravestones as I can of the Bridgewater branch of this family.
It is not a simple task and it requires the help of many other researchers. One who grew up here and still lives in Massachusetts and three or four others who live many states away. We are forming a 21st century collaborative team to work on this family. It is expected to take many more months of work. This is the lifeblood of the family historian!
One researcher named Ed Perkins, is compiling a book to be published, so we are all being very careful to document our work. I am insisting upon quality data and I am pleased to be getting it!
As it turns out, Ed's branch is the hardest to document even with the wonderful Vital Records of Bridgewater to 1850 available to me via my research membership at NEHGS. Ed's tree branch has a split in it and we are not able to prove who was the first wife of Nathan PERKINS (1710-1780)! Could it be a woman named Deborah?
Nathan married second, Sarah HARLOW , who was the widow of Nathan PRATT. This is a recorded event in the vital records. But, who was the first wife?
1752/PERKINS/Nathan and Sarah Pratt, April 2, 1752, Marriage/Bridgewater
We know from Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, that there were two children, Charles and Deborah from Nathan's first marriage. Ed Perkins, is descended from Charles (b. 1737). Since Nathan and Sarah didn't marry until 1752, these are clearly NOT their children together.
Charles's sister Deborah Perkins married John Conant and is buried in the Conant Cemetery on Conant St. in Bridgewater. I ventured out this morning to investigate this cemetery and found it to be delightfully well kept and easy to photograph.
3 comments:
I adore this cemetery. It is my Thoughtful Spot whenever I visit Bridgewater.
Many collateral relatives in here.
Hard at work on your Perkins quest, eh? I'm fortunate that my Perkins line is fairly straightforward, but it is always an interesting challenge when you run into those who are mysteries!
would like to help in your efforts on this branch of the Perkins family. Charles and Abigail (Waterman) Perkins had a son, Charles Waterman Perkins. Through him, my lines run through, Quebec, Ontario and into Michigan. I'll be happy to compare notes on this part of the family, if you think that would be helpful. Gary Perkins, Dearborn, Michigan - fort_dearborn@hotmail.com
would like to help in your efforts on this branch of the Perkins family. Charles and Abigail (Waterman) Perkins had a son, Charles Waterman Perkins. Through him, my lines run through, Quebec, Ontario and into Michigan. I'll be happy to compare notes on this part of the family, if you think that would be helpful. Gary Perkins, Dearborn, Michigan - fort_dearborn@hotmail.com
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