PERKINS FAMILY HISTORY (part 2 )

DANIEL CHAPMAN PERKINS

(Father of Hugh Perkins)

As stated above, D. C. Perkins was born in Vermont and came west with his wife to settle in Wisconsin in 1836.  His occupation was that of a farmer.  Earliest mention found in Wisconsin of his presence is that he purchased a land grant here in 1843.  This land grant was located in Waukesha County in the Township of Ottawa.  In the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society Newsletter Vol. 42, No. 1, from June 1995, it states that a Daniel C. Perkins purchased the W1/2 SW1/4 of Section 33, Ottawa Township on July 3, 1843.  This area was just west of the city of Milwaukee, WI.  

Mr. Perkins was also a Civil War Veteran who enlisted in the 3^rd Wisconsin Battery in 1861.  He, with his wife Margaret, moved to Clark County in about 1873.  On an 1880 Sherwood Forest plat map, D. C. Perkins owned land and presumably lived at the site of what is now the Sherwood County Park.  The Hay Creek flowed next to his place, which was later dammed up in the 1940’s to form Sherwood Lake.  After Perkins ownership of this land in Section 34, it was purchased by the Island Mill Lumber Company which operated a logging camp there; later this parcel was sold to Bright and Withee (another logging company).

On June 5^th, 1880, Daniel Perkins started out on foot from his home in Sherwood, never to be seen alive again.  His destination was Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he planned to attend a soldier’s reunion.  He intended to walk as far as Scranton (a now extinct saw mill town located just east of City Point in Wood County, Wisconsin.)  This distance would be about 6 miles cross-country.  Scranton was located along the G.B. & W. R.R. (Green Bay and Western Railroad) where he planned to catch a train ride to Milwaukee

Apparently, a rain storm came up part way into Mr. Perkins journey and he could neither cross the East Fork of the Black River to get to Scranton nor cross the Hay Creek to return home.  The crude bridges at both crossings had washed out so he sought high ground, and using his satchel for a pillow, laid down to rest.  This was the way his remains were found by friends.  (One can only guess that hypothermia may have contributed to his demise.)  Daniel Chapman Perkins was about 68 at the time of his death that summer of 1880.

On April 5, 1910, a motion was made at the Sherwood annual town meeting to raise $25.00.  This money was to be used to hire someone to move the body of D. C. Perkins, “the old soldier”, from his grave in the woods to the Sherwood Cemetery.  (Located in Sherwood Township, Clark County, Wisconsin)  Dan Hill, a resident, was hired to do the job and paid on April 8, 1910.  At the same meeting, Dan was also hired to move an infant buried at a homestead in Sherwood Township into the same cemetery.

Now I will mention my “Unknown Soldier “ theory.  Possibly, several years after Daniel Perkins burial without a marker, town people were aware of his gravesite and that he had been a soldier but forgot his name.  Perhaps they placed the “Unknown Soldier” stone on Daniel’s grave.  Seeing the stone may have sparked some old-timer’s memory – enough to recall that the soldier’s name was Perkins and that he served in the Civil War.  In requesting a stone with this name from the Veteran’s Administration (not recalling his first name) they perhaps mistakenly were given a stone for Hugh Perkins (Daniel’s son) who was also a Wisconsin Civil War veteran.  Instead of removing the “Unknown Soldier” marker, they may have simply placed Hugh Perkins’ stone beside it.  Once again, this is only a theory of mine as to the reason of Hugh Perkins having a stone in the Sherwood Cemetery.  No one in the township appears to recall when the “Unknown Soldier” or Perkins stones were placed there but it was most certainly prior to 1948.

NOTHING COMING TO ME

I can’t write a poem tonight

Because my head’s not on quite right.

It starts a thought and then it ends

It can’t focus or make sense.

So I’ll quit and go to bed

Maybe tomorrow, is what it said.