Early Memories of Saugatuck, Michigan : 1830-1930
Author: Heath, May Francis
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids, Mich: 1930

SAMUEL PERKINS

Samuel Perkins and his wife, Eliza, came to Allegan county in 1860 and in 1871 to Saugatuck and purchased the home in which they lived and where death claimed them— and for fifty-nine years it has been used by the family, it now being the home of the youngest daughter, Nellie.

Mr. Perkins' birthplace was New York, and Mrs. Perkins', Ohio; each lived to be eighty-eight years of age and they were the parents of seven children, three of whom, Anne, George and Delia, are deceased, and living are Emma, Ida, Henry and Nellie.

They were hard-working, hardy pioneers, and while Mr. Perkins through many years worked in the shipyards and helped hew out many a staunch ship, the good wife always did her share; many can remember seeing her at the spinning wheel; she would card and spin the wool and weave the cloth at her loom. Later she wove carpets, doing her best to please rich and poor alike, and she loved her work and kept weaving until she was eighty.

The death of Mr. Perkins in 1911 was the first break in the family circle and Mrs. Perkins followed in 1915.