Albert Charles Perine, 1850-1931

PERINE, WOOD, WELCH

Posted By: Clay County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 2/10/2011 at 18:51:08

A.C. PERINE OF SPENCER DIES IN 80TH YEAR
Mourn Passing of Pioneer Leader

Albert Charles Perine, for more than half a century identified with the commercial life of the Spencer community as a lumberman and banker and active in civic and religious affairs, passed away at his home at 267 East Third street late Sunday afternoon, February 1, following a sudden attack of pneumonia as the aftermath of a slight cold. Eighty years of age at the time of his death, the greater part of his life was lived in Spencer and was closely connected with the early days and subsequent growth and progress of the city.

During the past three years, Mr. Perine had been confined to his home a great part of the time due to an affliction of the spinal cord which rendered walking difficult. Last Tuesday Mr. Perine contracted a slight cold, but was apparently on the road to recovery when a pneumonia complicated his condition. On Thursday and Friday, Mr. Perine had been able to be up and about and had stated that he felt in normal health.

Saturday morning, however, he suffered a relapse and gradually grew weaker until death ensued shortly before five o'clock in the afternoon. He was conscious until a short time before his passing.

Born in Racine
Mr. Perine was born in Racine, Wisconsin, September 18, 1850, the son of William M. and Margaret (Welch) Perine. Mr. and Mrs. Perine had come to Racine from New York state, the former being treasurer and general freight agent for the Racine and Mississippi railroad at Racine.

When he was seventeen years of age, Albert C. Perine left home for Chicago and secured employment with the Wells and French company, car builders, where he remained for ten years. During this time he accumulated a modest sum of money through regular saving and in 1878 came to Spencer to view the possibilities of opening a lumber yard.

In those early days Spencer had no lumber yards and no railroad, although the extension of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul line was being considered. Lumber and building materials had to be hauled by wagon from other cities and the prices charged were very high. As a result building in Spencer was retarded because of the almost prohibitive cost.

Established First Yard
With the announcement that the Milwaukee railroad would be extended through Spencer in 1878, a large number of prospective lumbermen came to the city in search of sites, but Mr. Perine established the first yard and stocked it with a full line of building materials including many of the higher grades of lumber that previously had been almost unobtainable in the district. The yard, known as the A. C. Perine Lumber Yard, was located on the site of the present Schoneman Bros., company yard on East Fourth street.

Mr. Perine was very successful in his new venture and within a few years he had established a branch at Ruthven.

As a successful business man, Mr. Perine accepted the responsibilities of civic leadership and with the Incorporation of Spencer as a town he became active in promoting its welfare and progress. In 1881 he was elected as a trustee and served on the council from that year until 1884 under the administrations of Mayors J. B. Edmunds, E. E. Snow and M.P.W. Albee. Beginning in 1889, Mr. Perine also served on the Spencer school board, continuing that service for fifteen years and helping lay the foundations for the present educational system.

Loyal Church Worker
A greater part of Mr. Perine's community efforts was expressed through loyalty and devotion to his church, the First Congregational of Spencer. He was a tireless worker and was intimately connected with the early history of the institution, although not a charter member. He was a member of the building committee in charge of the erection of the present church edifice in Spencer and when the chairman of the committee, A. W. Miller, Sr., died during the construction period. Mr. Perine shouldered the responsibility and completed the the work. Not only was his faith represented in his works and gifts, but in a sincere Christian nature that was his characteristic throughout his entire life.

Mr. Perine was also active in the various orders of Free Masonry and was a member of the Evening Shade lodge No. 312, A.F. and A.M. of Spencer, Clay chapter No. 112 Royal Arch Masons, Esdraelon Commandery No. 52 Knights Templar, Za-Ga-Zig temple Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Des Moines, and Order of the Eastern Star of Spencer.

Retires From Business
In 1912, Mr. Perine sold his lumber yard interests to Peter Detmers, of Boyden, Iowa, who in turn sold the Spencer yard to the Schoeneman Bros, company in 1913.

From that time until about three years ago, Mr. Perine devoted his time to other interests including the banking business of the old First National bank In Spencer. Mr. Perine was the principal stockholder in that institution and had served as its president at one time. He was chairman of the board of directors at the time when the bank was closed during the wave of bank failures that swept the state in 1927.

After the closing of the bank, Mr. Perine retired from active participation in local affairs and retired to his home where he spent his declining days. The coming of the spinal illness that made walking difficult for him kept him confined for the greater part of the time, but he declined to become despondent and was cheerful and happy man up until almost the very hour of his death.

Survived by Wife
In 1881, Mr. Perine married Miss Martha Wood, the daughter of Hon. Henry B. Wood, one of Spencer's original settlers and the first representative of Clay county in the Iowa legislature.

Mrs. Ferine survives her husband.

In addition there are three daughters surviving. They are Margaret (Mrs. Crowley E.) Cole of Atlantic, Iowa, mary (Mrs. Amos C.) Pearsall of Des Moines, and Helen (Mrs. A. D.) Mann of Spenncer. Five grandchildren, Edward Perine Cole, Helen Louise Cole, Amos C. Pearsall, Jr., Virginia Louise Pearsall and Robert Perine Mann, also are surviving.

Mr. Perine was the last of his family, a brother and sister having died in Chicago several years ago.

Funeral Wednesday
Funeral services In memory of Mr. Perine were held from the First Congregational Church of Spencer on Wednesday afternoon, February 4, at 3:30 o'clock. Rev. Benjamin J. Trickey, pastor of the church, read the funeral services and euologized the life of the deceased.
Taking as his text the words "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" from the twelfth chapter of Romans, the eleventh verse, Rev. Trickey developed the community's appreciation of Albert C. Perine as a father, as a pioneer business man and as a Christian gentleman.

A great host of friends and neighbors of Mr. Perine attended, the rites In final respect to his memory. A telegram from Rev. John Thrush, Mr. Perine's former pastor in Spencer, from River Falls, Wisconsin, was read in appreciation of the deceasee's exemplary life, and service to his community.

The telegram read: "For forty years I knew A. C. Perine, cnew him best as a churchman richly endowed mentally, emotionally and volitionally. He became a leader and had much to do in determining the history of the church. The last of a noble group of men whose memory is a joy to me."

Mrs. Harry Glover played Mr. Perine's favorite religious melodies at the organ and Mrs. Charles C. Collester read the stanzas of "Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom."

The hands of of six life-long friends of Mr. Perine bore his casket to its final resting place in Riverside cemetery where they placed it beneath a great bank of flowers emblematic of the esteem with which Mr. Perine was held. Pallbearers were E. G. Morgan, B. F. Felt, A. W. Miller, Homer Pitcher, Ralph Free and Charles Howe.

Source: The Spencer News-Herald, Spencer, Clay County, Iowa; February 5, 1931.

Interment in Riverside cemetery
 

Clay Obituaries maintained by Kris Meyer.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen