OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. 



" Stealing from the World away " (1834) ; " Be- 

 fore Thy Throne, with Tearful Eyes" (1834); 

 " Wake thee, O Zion, thy Mourning is ended " 

 (1834); ''When downward to the Darksome 

 Tomb " (1842) ; " And is there, Lord, a Rest ? " 

 (1843) ; " O, sweetly breathe the Lyres above " 

 (1843); "Eternal Father, Thou hast said" 

 (I860); "Jesus, Lamb of God, for me" (1863); 

 "Take me, O my Father, take me" (1864); 

 " Wouldst thou Eternal Life obtain " (1864) ; 

 " Thou, Saviour, from Thy Throne on liigh " 

 (1864) ; " Lord, Thou on Earth didst love Thine 

 own" (1864); and "Lord, Thou wilt bring the 

 Joyful Day " (1864). These are but a portion 

 of Dr. Palmer's hymns and poems, and may be 

 found in most evangelical hymn-books. About 

 two years ago he was stricken with paralysis, 

 and till the second and fatal stroke lived in 

 retirement, preserving his cordial manners and 

 charming simplicity to the last. 



Perkins, William, an American merchant, born 

 in Boston, Mass., Oct. 4, 1804; died there, June 

 13, 1887. He first came into notice about fifty 

 years ago as a partner of Robert G. Shaw, then 

 one of the most widely known merchants as 

 well as one of the wealthiest citizens of Boston. 

 The firm was dissolved about 1842 by the retire- 

 ment of Mr. Perkins, who established a busi- 

 ness of his own, and for years thereafter his 

 name was associated with the commercial inter- 

 ests of Boston, particularly with the India and 

 China trade. He was also the owner and 

 builder of some of the finest ships sailing from 

 that port. His large experience caused him to 

 be elected president of the China Insurance 

 Company, which office he held until his death. 

 With one exception, he was the only survivor 

 of the original occupants of Commercial Wharf 

 when it was first opened for business. Mr. 

 Perkins was a member and, at times, an officer 

 of the Massachusetts Humane Society, and had 

 been treasurer of, and a liberal contributor to, 

 several of the relief funds for the benefit of 

 sufferers by conflagrations in Boston and dis- 

 tant cities having commercial interests with it. 

 He never held public office. 



Perry, William, an American physician, born 

 in Norton, Mass., in 1788 ; died in Exeter, 

 N. H., Jan 11, 1887. He was graduated at 

 Harvard in 1811. and became one of the most 

 successful and skillful physicians of his day in 

 New Hampshire, being particularly noted for 

 his familiarity with the phenomena of insanity. 

 With a lady friend he rode from Albany to 

 Kingston on the celebrated steamboat " Cler- 

 mont," on Aug. 10, 1807, that being Robert 

 Fulton's first venture in steam navigation. At 

 the time of his death he was the oldest person 

 in Exeter, the oldest graduate of Harvard, and 

 the second survivor of the class of 1811. 



IVttin-roll. John Hancock, an American clenrv- 

 man, born in Manchester, Vt., May 11, 1815; 

 died in New Haven, Conn., Feb. 27, 1887. He 

 was graduated at Yale in 1837, and for six 

 years was a teacher iu the Institution for the 

 Deaf and Dumb, New York city, pursuing, in 



the mean time, a course in Union Theolog- 

 ical Seminary. He was ordained, Dec. 6, 

 1843, as pastor of the Congregational Church 

 in South Dennis, Mass., and remained there 

 four years. From April, 1849, till October, 

 1852, he was settled over the Congregational 

 Church in Essex, Conn., and from 1853 till 

 1860 served as district-secretary of the Ameri- 

 can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 

 sions, with residence in Albany, N. Y. After 

 tilling pastorates in Saxonville, Mass., and 

 Westbrook, Conn., he went to Antwerp in 

 1866, as chaplain under the Seaman's Friend 

 Society, returning to the United States in 1872, 

 and residing alternately in New York city and 

 Philadelphia, passing the remainder of his life 

 in the preparation of volumes for the press, in 

 advocacy of the doctrine of conditional immor- 

 tality. Among his works, many of which 

 have been translated into German, Italian, ar.d 

 other European languages, are " Homiletical 

 Index," "Theological Trilemma," "Platonism 

 TS. Christianity," " Bible Terminology," " The 

 Life Everlasting," "The Unspeakable Gift," 

 and "Views and Reviews in Eschatology." 



Pierce, Thomas Prescott, an American soldier, 

 born in Chelsea, Mass.. Aug. 30, 1820; died 

 in Nashua, N. H., Oct. 14, 1887. He was an 

 ornamental painter, employed in Manchester, 

 N. H.. 1840-'46, then enlisted, and was ap- 

 pointed second lieutenant in the Ninth Regi- 

 ment of United States Infantry. He was 

 brevetted first lieutenant Aug. 29, 1847, for 

 gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles 

 of Contreras and Churubusco, Mexico, under 

 Gen. Franklin Pierce. Returning to the State, 

 he was aide-de-camp on Gov. Dinsmore's staff, 

 with the rank of colonel. He resumed his 

 previous vocation, but in 1852 Gen. Pierce pro- 

 cured his appointment as post-master of Man- 

 chester, which office he filled eight years. On 

 the breaking out of the civil war he was se- 

 lected colonel of the Second New Hampshire 

 Regiment of three-months' troops. He de- 

 clined the appointment when the term of en- 

 listments was extended to three years, and or- 

 ganized the Twelfth New Hampshire Regi- 

 ment as temporary commander. In 1866 he 

 removed to Nashua, and became a director 

 and official in the Card and Glazed Paper 

 Company, a director of the Second National 

 and of the Mechanics' Savings banks. He was 

 a member of the State Senate in 1875-'7G, and 

 sheriff of Hillsborough County. 



Poland, Lnke P., an American lawyer, born in 

 Westford, Chittenden County, Vt., Nov. 1, 

 1815; died in Waterville, Vt, July 2, 1887. 

 He received a common-school and academic 

 education, and was admitted to the bar in 

 1836. In 1839-'40 he was register of probate 

 for Lamoille County, in 1843 a member of 

 the State Constitutional Convention, and in 

 1844-'45 prosecuting attorney for the county. 

 Three years later he was elected by the Legis- 

 lature one of the judges of the Supreme Court 

 of Vermont, an office he continued to hold by 



