Ebenezer Perkins Family Papers (1783-1959)

Finding Aid Completed by Eric Roth, April 1, 1999
Last Revised June 8, 2001
Volume: 0.5 cu. ft.
Acquisition: Unknown.
Access: Unrestricted.
Copyright: Request for permission to publish materials from these records should be discussed with the Archivist and Director of the Huguenot Historical Society.

Biographical Note
 

Ebenezer Perkins, blacksmith at New Paltz, NY, was born on Dec. 14, 1740 to Valentine Perkins (1718-b. 1789) and Temerance Perkins (d. 1789). He married Hannah Purdy (b. 1737), by whom he had seven children: Nathaniel Jane (b. 1764), Valentine (b. 1766), William (b. 1768), Zophar (b. 1770), Henry (b. 1772), Ebenezer and Charity (b. 1774), and Hannah (unknown). [1] Ebenezer Perkins died in 1799.

Collection Description
 

The papers document the lives of the Perkins family of the towns of New Paltz, Milton, Lloyd and Highland in Ulster County, New York from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Papers include deeds, quit-claim deeds, bonds, wills, agreements, insurance policies, burial arrangements and other property records; family letters; receipts for transportation, funeral expenses and domestic goods; family records of the Perkins and Martin families; membership cards; a farmer's almanac; and daguerreotype and tin-type photographs of unidentified dating from the mid-nineteenth century.

Letters to the Perkins family from Valentine Perkins, Zophur and Ely Perkins, John M. Ranken, J.A. Hurn and the East Strout Farm Agency, Inc., mainly discuss family matters (illnesses, deaths, visits, etc.), farm business and church affairs. Also of interest are court papers pertaining to a lawsuit between Valentine Perkins and Zachariah Hasbrouck over a cow pasture (1791); will of Ebenezer Perkins (1795); a notice concerning the division of New Paltz (1833); and the will of Henry Perkins (1850). Other families mentioned in the papers include the Ball, Bevier, DuBois, Ransom, and Young families.

Many of the papers are very delicate, showing signs of damage from tearing, folding, dust and dirt, and weak paper. Also, the glass frame of one daguerreotype is broken and the backing paper shows signs of decay; and the daguerreotype cases are in poor condition. The papers are organized at the folder level alphabetically by format and thereunder by date.

Box and Folder List
 

Correspondence (1827-1931, scattered)

Estate and Legal Papers:
(1785-1925)
(1783-1846) - oversize

Insurance Papers (1916-1959)

Miscellaneous (ca. 1770-1920)

Photographs:
Daguerreotype, Unidentified young man and woman (undated)
Daguerreotype, Two unidentified young men (undated)
Tin-type, Two unidentified young men (undated)
Tin-type, Unidentified young woman (undated)

Receipts and Cancelled Checks (1893-1946)

Notes
 

[1] Hannah Perkins is not listed in the family Bible record, but is mentioned in Ebenezer's will, 1795.