474 PERKY. PETERS. Stuttgart and Frankfort ; was a private pupil in piano music of Kullak, Purckner and Liszt. Returning home, from 1878 to '81 he was a private teacher in Boston. From 1 88 1 to '83 he was professor of music at Oberlin College. In 1883 he once again went abroad for study and travel, returning in 1885. Since that time he has made his headquarters in Boston, as concert pianist and teacher of piano. Each fall, for the space of three months, he makes a concert tour through the South and West, teaching the balance of the year. June 21, 1882, at Peoria, 111., he married Netta A., daughter of Judge H. B. and Emily (Hough) Hopkins. Mr. Perry is a remarkable instance of the independence of one totally blind. Entirely alone he goes about the town of Med ford, where he resides, and the city of Boston, where he teaches, and makes all his concert tours without any traveling companion. He never plays by ear, but memorizes all music by having it read aloud from the notes. He has played in concert in the leading German cities, and in this country is well and most favorably known to the musical public in all places of note this side of the Rocky Mountains. He gives annually some one hundred lec- ture recitals at colleges and conservatories of music throughout the United States. PERRY, Edward Y., son of Elijah and Chloe (Stetson) Perry, was born in that part of the town of Pembroke now Hanson, Plymouth county, November 4, 1812. He was left an orphan at the ten- der age of two years, and was taken in charge by his paternal grandparents, both of whom lived to an advanced age, Mr. Perry being ninety-five and Mrs. Perry over ninety-nine at the time of death. Mr. Perry remained with his grandpa- rents during his minority, working as a farmer's boy, tilling the ancestral acres. At twenty-one he made his first venture as a country merchant in Hanson, where he continued several years ; he was suc- cessful, but lost all by endorsing paper for others. Not despairing on account of his mis- fortunes, he in company with Charles Dyer engaged in the manufacture of tacks in Hanover, under the firm title of Charles Dyer & Co. At this time neither partner had a dollar in the world, and both had failed in business. They started on credit in a small way, advanced very slowly, and at the end of fifteen years Mr. Perry pur- chased the interest of his partner, contin- uing alone three years. He purchased another mill property, associated with himself Ezra Phillips and Martin W. Stet- son, under the firm name of E. V. Perry & Co. After a short lime Mr. Stetson withdrew, and Messrs. Perry and Phillips carried on the business. The association of these two partners was a happy one, and their success was uniform and rapid. They continued for a period of thirty years, and became one of the largest tack manufacturing concerns in the country. The partnership was dissolved by the with- drawal of Mr. Perry, whose outside inter- ests had become so large and demanded so much of his time as to make his former business relations burdensome. During their partnership they had invested in many outside enterprises — steam mill for grist, lumber and box business, at West Hanover ; coal and grain business in Rock- land and Hanover, and a leather and find- ings store in Boston. At the dissolution of the co-partnership these outside interests fell into the hands of Mr. Perry. He has since enlarged his field of man- ufacturing and mercantile operations. To Mr. Perry's persistent efforts is mainly due the building of the railroad from North Abington to Hanover. He has been jus- tice of the peace for twenty-five years ; has done much probate business ; was a member of the House of Representatives in 1867. He was early identified with the anti-slavery cause, being connected with the Garrisonian movement from its inception to the emancipation of the slaves. He is an earnest advocate of temperance in its strictest signification, and in this, as in all other matters, his views are pronounced and outspoken. On the first of July, 1880, he stopped taking interest on any of his loans, and on many mortgages which he now holds he collects no interest. He does this not as a matter of philanthropy, but because he is opposed to the principle of exacting a rate per cent, for the use of money. He holds the principle to be un- just and opposed to the spirit of progress. Mr. Perry was married in Pembroke, July 8, 1834, to Mary 11, daughter of Da- vid and Deborah B. Oldham. They had but one child, Mary E., who died in earliest infancy. The fiftieth anniversary of their wedding was celebrated July 8, 1884. PETERS, ALVAH H., son of Will, am and Hannah (Johnson) Peters, was born at Charlestown, Middlesex county, December 23, 1846. He was educated in the public schools of Boston, and at the atre of seventeen, he
