James Perrill
One of the men of Fayette county of a past generation who has long since gone to his reward is James Perrill, who lived the life of a farmer for many years in Jasper township. He was a man of kindly impulses and gentleness of heart and so lived as to endear himself to a large circle of friends and acquaintances, He was scrupnlously honest in all of his dealings and a man who was sincerely mourned bv everyone who knew him. He performed many acts of charity, about which the public knew nothing, as he never let his many acts of kindness become known. He was always glad to succor those less fortunate than himself, yet in this, as in everything else, he was unostentatious. Such a man is a blessing to the comnumity in which he lives, and thus did Mr. Perrill live and die.
James Perrill, the son of Hugh and Margaret (Caldwell) Perrill, was born in Virginia in 1821, and died in Fayette county on the 22d day of November, 1898. He was only a small boy when his father, who was a millwright in old Virginia, was drowned. Hugh Perrill and wife reared a family of five children, Margaret, Mrs. Mary Brown, John, Nathan and James.
James Perrill was a very small child when his mother moved from Virginia to Ohio and located in Highland county. Here he received his education, which was very meager, owing to the limited educational advantages to be found in his county, and when a very young lad began to work for himself. Several years before his marriage he bought his first piece of land in Jasper township, starting in as land owner in 1850. He gradually added to his land holdings until at the time of his death he was the owner of fourteen hundred acres of fine land in the county and was one of its largest land owners.
James Perrill was married in September, 1862, to Rebecca Cheneworth, the daughter of Abraham and Jemina (Blackstone) Cheneworth. Mrs. Perrill's family came from England and settled in Berkeley county. Virginia, Abraham Cheneworth being the son of Thomas and Mary Cheneworth. To Thomas and Mary Cheneworth were born twelve children, Martha, Sarah, Mary, John, Thomas, Arthur, Richard, William, Elijah, Ann, Hannah and Abraham. Abraham and Rebecca (Kerr) Cheneworth were the parents of fourteen children, Mrs. Martha Hackney, William, Jacob, Mrs. Anna Moore, John, Mrs. Susannah Turner, Mrs. Mary Hibbins, Noah, Mrs. Sarah Moore, Mrs. Hannah Blackstone, Abraham, Mrs. Rebecca Talbert, Joel and Gideon. Abraham and Jemina (Blackstone) Cheneworth were married in 1835, at the foot of Cooper's Mountain, in Ross county, Ohio, and reared a family of thirteen children: John, born in 1836; William, born in 1837; Anna, born in 1838; Rebecca, who is Mr. Perrill's wife, born in 1840: Elizabeth, deceased; Thomas B., born March 28, 1844: .Mary, born in 1846; James; Sarah, born in 1851 ; Margaret; Gideon, born in 1853; Mrs. Susan Armsey, born in 1853, and Addie M.. born in 1857.
Mr. and Mrs. Perrill reared a family of seven children; Jesse (died in infancy). Jennie, James, John, Mary M., Carrie and Gilbert. Jesse is the only one of the family who is deceased; Jennie married John B. Shoop, the assistant superintendent of the Chicago schools, and they have two sons, Arnold and Edwin; James married Maomi Henkle; John married Grace Burnett and has two children, Helen and Eugene; Carrie is the wife of C. W. Beard and has three sons, John P., Boyd and Charles N,; Gilbert married Anna Slagle and has two sons, James H. and Charles H.
Mr. Perrill was a strong Republican and alwavs took an active interest in political matters. For years he was a school director in Jasper township and still later served as trustee of the township. In whatever official capacity he was found he always did his work faithfully and well, and no more conscientious public servant ever served the people of his township than did Mr. Perrill. He was a man who was always busy, yet in the midst of his labors he was never too busy to lend a helping hand to anyone in distress. He was a man whom everyone trusted, and because of his high character and clean and wholesome life he left a name which will long be remembered by his friends and acquaintances and always cherished by his family.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)