If you are just joining me in this hunt for three 19th century men whose pictures I found in Albuquerque New Mexico, and want to read part one of this series, begin here.
I began my next history detective adventure with a hunt to find H.P. Perrine.
Though his photograph had no date, I felt sure I was looking at an 1870s Carte De Visite. The curved corners of the photograph hints that this photo was probably taken 1870 or later. The clothing with the loose jacket and pants, high waist vest and tie places this in the 1870s decade as well.
The back of the photograph gave me a place!
Trenton, New Jersey.
First, I did a search for H.P. Perrine on Ancestry.com I gave it a broad search range but included the 1870s. I also searched specifically in Trenton.
At first Ancestry turned up no matches. I toggled with the settings and it wasn't long before I had a hit. one hit. Yes, one. Just one. And it uncovered the identity of our first mystery man almost immediately.
Meet Henry Pratt Perrine.
I searched for any other H. P. Perrine's that would fit in the time period and age range of our mystery man and no one else came close. It had to be Henry Pratt Perrine of Trenton.
That's when the story opened up wide for me.
Henry was born to Lewis and Anna Pratt Perrine on April 10, 1846 in Trenton, New Jersey. Henry's father was Major General Lewis Perrine of New Jersey who served as New Jersey's Quartermaster General during the Civil War.
I discovered that this was a prominent family in Trenton in the 1800's. Just south of the location of the Perrine estate in Trenton a street in the city is named for the family. Henry's brother, Lewis Perrine Jr, was a Colonel.
Henry followed in his father's footsteps and entered West Point in 1865 graduating in 1869. He joined the 6th U.S. Calvary Regiment, rose to the rank of second Lieutenant and first Lieutenant respectively. He was appointed to frontier duty at Fort Riley, Kansas and Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory. In 1884 he achieved the rank of Captain.
Perrine was wounded with an arrow to the stomach sometime prior to July 1891. He honorably discharged from the Army and had medical treatment for his wound for the remainder of his life.
Accessed on wikitree.com
On January 10, 1888 H.P. Perrine married Louise Scudder, daughter of Supreme Court Justice, Edward W. Scudder. Henry and Louise had four children. Henry Pratt Perrine Jr, Ida Quinby Perrine, Lewis Perrine and Mary Louise Perrine. Henry's son and namesake went on to graduate from West Point and become a Brigadier General in the Air Force. Henry's brother, Lewis Perrine Jr, was a Colonel.
In US Census records, the Henry Perrine family is found on Greenwood Avenue in Trenton with several servants and a nurse living in the home.
Henry Pratt Perrine, late in life. Accessed on FindAGrave.com
Capt. Henry Pratt Perrine died on January 23, 1927 in Atlantic City, NJ. He is buried in Ewing Cemetery, Ewing, New Jersey.
Accessed on FindAGrave.com, picture by Ellen Sargent Johnson
Courier Post, Camden NJ Jan 25, 1927, p2. Accessed at newspapers.com.
What I find so interesting is that Captain Henry Pratt Perrine was stationed out west with the 6th U.S. Calvary Regiment and shot by what was probably a Native American arrow - a wound that forced him into retirement and back home to New Jersey. Yet, his picture would wind up, 130 years later, in an antique store in Albuquerque New Mexico surrounded by Native American artifacts, in Old Town Albuquerque. A community filled with Native American history, art and museums. Historic irony.
To read the next post in this series, go here.
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