Family-histories and genealogies : containing a series of ...

Mrs. 'Henrietta Perkins Foster, the widow of Hon. Dwight Foster, a
distinguished lawyer of Worcester and Boston, Mass., are all prominent
illustrations of Pitkin qualities of mind and character, as well as worthy
representatives of many other Hues of eminent ancestry.
Mrs. Baldwin's brother Thomas Clap Perkins Esq. was for many
years one of the most distinguished lawyers in the State, and the succession
of distinguished talent has been kept up by his children—Charles Perkins,
who followed him in the legal profession ; Frederick Beecher Perkins, a
literary man ; and Mrs. Emily Hale, wife of Rev. Edward Everett Hale
of Boston, inheriting and transmitting more than ordinary mental power.
A similar mention may be made of her brothers the late Rev. George
William Perkins, and Henry Perkins an astute financier of Hartford, Conn.
It is believed among the descendants that there is a versatility of
talent, a special wit and sprightliness of mind, which brings those of them
who were previously strangers to each other into rapid and easy relations,
and makes companionship delightful.
One of the family, who fully exemplifies all the qualities mentioned,
sends us the following sketch of family-traits :
" The Pitkins have been an active, shrewd, quick-witted race, with a good deal of
dry humor, and a keen way of 'putting things.' Tlieir tendencies have been towards
the conservative side in most social and political movements. The men are generally
thought to have a good head for business, and the women are known to be ready in
conversation, frank and hospitable."
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