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P. C. PERKINS. The clerk of the circuit court
of Campbell county since 1906, P. C. Perkins has proven one of
the most popular and efficient public officials this community
has known, and his conscientious and faithful services form a
record eminently worthy of emulation by those desirous of
promoting their section's welfare. Mr. Perkins is a native son
of Campbell county, and was born February 21, 1863, a son of
John L. and Martha(Collins) Perkins.
Edward Perkins, the paternal grandfather of P. C. Perkins, was
born in Whitley county, Kentucky, and as a lad accompanied his
parents to Tennessee. He engaged in agricultural pursuits, in
which he continued throughout his life, becoming fairly
successful for his day. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Perkins
was Peter Perkins, who, like his wife Margaret, was a native
of Greene county, Tennessee. He was also a farmer by occupation and passed his life in his native state. John L
Perkins was born in Campbell county, Tennessee, in 1840, and
received an ordinary education As a young man he adopted the
vocation of school teacher, which he followed successfully until
he had accumulated enough means to purchase a property and
devote himself to farming and stock-raising, in which
occupations he prospered greatly, and at this time, although somewhat retired from. active life, is considered one of the
substantial men of his county He is an excellent type of the
self-made man, for he embarked upon his career without financial
means or influential friends, and what he has accomplished has
come as a direct result of his own efforts. He is a faithful
member of the Baptist church. Mr. Perkins married Miss Martha
Collins, who was born in Greene county, Tennessee, in. 1847, and
she died in 1890, after a married life of twenty-eight years.
She was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and
was the mother of ten children, of whom nine grew to maturity:
P. C., of this review; W. R., who is engaged in farming in
Campbell county; Margaret, who married Rev. M. C. Loy, a farmer
and Baptist minister of Whitley county, Kentucky; Sarah E., who
became the wife of J. B. Beard, a successful farmer and
stock-raiser of Campbell county; John T., who is engaged in
farming in this county; James It, a farmer and Baptist minister
of this county; Martha J., who became the wife of William
Powell, of Whitley county, Kentucky, and now resides in Loudon
county, Tennessee, where Mr. Powell is a very successful farmer;
Etta, who married James M. Davis, sheriff of Campbell County ;
and Blanche, who married Thomas Peace, a merchant of Kentucky.
In order to gain an education in his youth, it was necessary for
P. C. Perkins to walk eight miles to the little primitive log
cabin schoolhouse, and this was done only in the short winter
terms, as during the summer months his services were needed on
the home farm. He made the most of these limited opportunities,
however, and soon qualified for a teacher. During the next
several years, in addition to his farm work he taught five
different schools in Campbell county, but eventually gave up the
profession of educator to enter commercial life as a clerk in a
mercantile establishment. He was industrious; enterprising and
progressive, and was finally able to enter business on his own
account at Jacksboro, gradually building it up and developing it
into one of the leading stores of the place. In the meantime, he
accumulated a handsome acreage in Campbell county, and this he
still owns, as he does also a modern residence in Jacksboro,
although he disposed of his store at the time of entering public
life.
Mr. Perkins was married to Miss Mary Beard, daughter of Jesse
Beard, a veteran minister of the Baptist church in Campbell, who
has been preaching for many years and is now well advanced in
age. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Perkins- L. 0.,
who is train dispatcher at Atlanta; and Jessie E., who resides
at home with her parents. Mrs. Perkins died in 1892, and in 1894
Mr. Perkins was married (second) to Miss Martha J Simpson,
daughter of John Simpson, of Kentucky, and three children have
blessed this -anion Charles F., who is employed by a large
concern in East St. Louis, Illinois; and John L. and William R.,
residing at home. While a very busy man, with large private
interests and onerous public duties, Mr. Perkins has not
neglected the spiritual side of man's nature, for at this time
he is acting as a minister of the Baptist church, preaching at
Garyville and Newcomb, both in Campbell county, where he is
greatly esteemed and beloved by the members of his
congregations. He is interested in fraternal matters, being a
Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias, in the latter of
which he has passed through all the chairs. Always a Republican,
in 1906 he became the candidate of his party for the office of
circuit clerk, to which he was subsequently elected by a
majority of six hundred votes, and when he again appeared as a
candidate for that office, in 1910, he had made such an enviable
reputation and had been so eminently satisfactory that he met
with no opposition and was unanimously elected. His popularity
in all walks of life is shown by his many warm friends who
esteem him for his integrity, his probity and his many sterling
traits of character. |
