OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (PKAK PKRKINS.) 



American Sabbath be a Holiday or a Holy Day? 

 (1872); and Daniel, the Uncompromising Young 

 Man (1872), as well as Guides and Guards in 

 Character Building (New York, 1883). 



Peak, William Henry, singer, born in Bos- 

 ton, Mass., about 1820; "died in Belvidere, 111., 

 July 11, 1899. His first public appearance is said 

 to have occurred . when he was seven years of 

 age, but his real debut was in what was known 

 as the Peak Quartet, organized and engaged by 

 the temperance societies of Boston to travel with 

 the celebrated lecturer, John B. Gough. The other 

 members of this family of vocalists were young 

 Peak's father, mother, and uncle. They aided 

 in giving entertainment to Mr. Gough's great 

 audiences two years, and then began a series of 

 concerts under their own management. Their first 

 ventures were very modest, and the only instru- 

 ment for accompaniment which they could carry 

 was a small melodeon. William and his sister 

 Julia shortly added guitars, and these two sub- 

 sequently became very skillful on the harp. The 

 celebrated staff bells, from the use of which this 

 family came to be known as the Original Swiss 

 Bell Ringers, were added through the ingenuity 

 of William, who began with swinging bells and 

 gave them up for glasses filled with water to dif- 

 ferent heights to secure the proper notes. A com- 

 pany of real Swiss bell ringers, having failed to 

 get a favorable hearing in 1847, was obliged to 

 sell its table bells. These the Peaks bought, and 

 forthwith organized themselves into the famous 

 coterie of entertainers named as above. They 

 traveled over the country and gave concerts with 

 great success until 1853. In that year William 

 married at Niles, Mich., Miss Lydia Harris, and 

 left the original family to organize a concert com- 

 pany of his own. His troupe, which eventually 

 succeeded to great fame and emoluments, con- 

 sisted of himself, his wife, her three brothers, and 

 two talented children. This family continued to- 

 gether until 1875, when it was joined with the 

 Berger family. The business of traveling enter- 

 tainers, so well done by these families, gradually 

 gave way to the stronger attraction of traveling 

 dramatic companies, and most of the Peaks have 

 been long in retirement. 



Pendleton, William Kimbrough, educator, 

 born in Yanceyville, Va., Sept. 8, 1817; died in 

 Bethany, W. Va., Sept. 1, 1899. At the Univer- 

 sity of Virginia he completed an elective course, 

 and was graduated in law. In 1841 he was asso- 

 ciated with Alexander Campbell in the founding 

 of Bethany College, West Virginia, and in 1866 

 became its president. From 1846 he was co- 

 editor of the Millennial Harbinger, and he was 

 from its foundation on the editorial staff of the 

 Christian Standard. In 1871 he was unanimously 

 chosen as a representative in the West Virginia 

 Constitutional Convention. His wise judgment, 

 manifested in securing a satisfactory free-school 

 system, led to his being twice called to the 

 office of State Superintendent. In his first term 

 he framed the school law, which, passed by 

 the Legislature, has since stood without ma- 

 terial alteration. A list of his public addresses 

 covers most of the practical questions of his 

 time. Shortly before he died he said that, in 

 looking over his editorial career, he had one end 

 in mind, and that was to polish and spiritualize 

 his Church (Disciples of Christ). Others made 

 converts; it was his mission to educate them in 

 all that pertains to life and godliness. In 1887, 

 owing to failing health, he resigned the presi- 

 dency of Bethany College and removed to Florida. 



Pepper, George W., author, lecturer, and 

 clergyman, born in Ballinagarrick, Ireland, July 



11, 1833; died in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 0, 1899. 

 He was educated at the Royal Academical Insti- 

 tution, Belfast, and when young took part in the 

 temperance agitation under Father Mathew arid 

 John Bright. He came to America in 18.14, re- 

 sumed his studies at Kenyon College, Ohio, and 

 subsequently was ordained a minister of the 

 Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a circuit 

 rider, and had various charges in Coshocton, Tus- 

 carawas, and Morrow up to the breaking out of 

 the civil war, when he became a captain in the 

 18th Ohio Volunteers. He fought in the cam- 

 paigns from Corinth to Vicksburg. Afterward 

 he was chaplain of the regiment. After the war 

 he remained with the regular army in North 

 Carolina as chaplain, and did much to aid in 

 the educational work among the freedmen. In 

 1867 he returned to his church work, and had 

 charge of various churches in northern Ohio. In 

 1889 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1890- 

 '95 he was United States consul at Milan, Italy. 

 As " Chaplain Pepper " he was known as a 

 speaker for the Republican party in every presi- 

 dential campaign for twenty-eight years. He 

 was also well known as a lecturer. He wrote 

 several books relating to the civil war, the chief 

 of which was Sherman's Campaign in Georgia and 

 the Carolinas. At the time of his death he had 

 just published Under Three Flags, a sketch of 

 his life as preacher, army officer, and consul. 



Perkins, Frederic Beecher, librarian, born in 

 Hartford, Conn., Sept. 27, 1828; died in Morris- 

 town, N. J., Jan. 27, 1899. He was educated at 

 Yale, but left in 184S without a degree and began 

 the study of law. Subsequently he entered the 

 Connecticut Normal School, and was graduated 

 in 1852. From 1880 to 1887 he was librarian of 

 the San Francisco Free Public Library. He pub- 

 lished President Greeley, President Hoffman, and 

 the Resurrection of the Ring (Burlington, 1872) ; 

 Scrope, a novel (Boston, 1874); Check List for 

 American Local History (1876); Devil Puzzlers, 

 and Other Studies (New York, 1877) ; My Three 

 Conversations with Miss Chester (1877); Charles 

 Dickens: His Life and Works (1877); The Best 

 Reading (edited) ; and Rational Classification of 

 Literature for Shelving and Cataloguing Books 

 for a Library (San Francisco, 1881). Mr. Perkins 

 was the author of unusually clever short stories, 

 and was greatly esteemed for the accuracy of his 

 historical and antiquarian attainments. He was 

 a grandson of Rev. Lyman Beecher. 



Perkins, George Hamilton, naval officer, born 

 in Hopkinton, N. H., Oct. 20, 1836; died in Bos- 

 ton, Mass., Oct. 28, 1899. He was graduated at 

 the Naval Academy in 1856, and on Oct. 20 was 

 ordered to the Cyane, Capt. Robb, to cruise in the 

 West Indies; detached from the Cyane, Jan. 11, 

 1858; Jan. 19, ordered to the Release, Commander 

 William A. Parker, for the Mediterranean and 

 Paraguay; appointed acting master of the Re- 

 lease, Aug. 18, 1858; detached from the Release 

 and ordered to the Sabine at Montevideo, Capt. 

 II. A. Adams, March 17, 1859; April 29, 1859, 

 ordered to the Sumter, Commander Armstrong, as 

 acting master, for a cruise on the west coast of 

 Africa; Sept. 5, 1859, appointed master; Sept. 18, 

 1861, detached from the Sumter. On Dec. 16, 

 1861, he was ordered to the Cayuga, Lieut.-Com. 

 Napoleon B. Harrison, as executive officer. In 

 this vessel he passed Forts Jackson and St. 

 Philip, April 24, 1862, and attacked the Chalmette 

 batteries, April 25, and received their surrender. 

 He landed at New Orleans, and went alone with 

 Capt. Bailey to receive the city's surrender. 

 George W. Cable has written the following de- 

 scription of the scene : " The crowd on the levee 



