Like so many women soldiers, Jane Perkins exited the stage of history but not without leaving an impression on soldiers she encountered. Indeed, a number of men wrote about her, either as fellow prisoners of war at Point Lookout or her Federal captors who described the Irish woman as unruly. She appears to have been quite an interesting character, one whose story is incomplete as she seems to have disappeared from the records after her military service. Some modern researchers have attempted to fill in the blanks, which I greatly appreciate the effort. It is quite a chore to document people of the past who didn't want to be found. I speak from twenty years experience. But there are mistakes that permeate Jane Perkins's story, and I wanted to address them with my most current research.
First, I want to reiterate the fact that she was not a teacher as some authors have claimed — including me! Unfortunately, it was after my book came out when I discovered information from genealogy research that the teacher Jane Perkins was a different woman. Ugh. You can read how I came to the conclusion about the Perkins mixup by scrolling to the end of a previous blog post [HERE].
But below that passage, I mention her grave in Hollywood Cemetery. Specifically, that
researchers were able to acquire a military headstone and place it at the grave of a Jane Perkins who was killed and buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond in 1865. After acquiring burial records from Hollywood, I believe this is the wrong Jane Perkins due to a discrepancy in age and place of birth.
But I want to go further than that with my new research. Let's start with the burial record from Hollywood Cemetery I referenced above so you can see the information on the actual documents. They are probably difficult to make out so I will explain as I go.
This shows the location of the grave of Jane Perkins. At the bottom, you see the date: Sept. 25, 1865 followed by her name. In the upper right-hand corner you see she is buried in Section R, Lot 117.
Here is a screenshot from the website for Hollywood Cemetery showing where this is.
Here's another document regarding her burial. I added the highlights.
In the upper left-hand corner is the year and month: 1865 Sept. At the bottom is the day: 25. So September 25th, 1865. At the bottom, you will see her name: Jane Perkins. Next is her age: 39. The soldier Jane Perkins was not 39 years old in 1865. Next is where she was from: Nottoway County. The soldier Jane Perkins was an Irish immigrant. And finally the cause of death: killed.
Now, here's what the newspapers said about how she was killed. On September 30th, 1865, the New Berne Times carried an article from the Richmond Republic entitled "The Wife-Shooting Case - Arrest of the Husband" detailing an incident in which the husband, James, supposedly mistook his wife for a burglar and shot and killed her. The article referred to her only as "Mrs. Perkins."
So how do we know this is not the soldier Jane Perkins? Several reasons. First, a statement from acquaintances indicate that Mr. and Mrs. Perkins had been married for at least two years.
So this would have been the time when Jane Perkins the soldier was serving with her artillery unit. By the way, this observation seems to insinuate that the shooting was not an accident due to their quarrelsome past.
Next, it is noted that Mrs. Perkins was about thirty years old and had been a cripple, relying on a crutch for mobility.
So this woman could not have possibly served as a soldier with her physical disability which had apparently plagued her for a quite a while. As for her age, the newspaper writer was apparently guessing, which is perilous to do when dealing with women. The burial record noted she was 39. So in the ballpark.
A the article even mentions where Mrs. Perkins was buried.
The article never mentions her first name, but we know this has to be Jane Perkins from the Hollywood Cemetery burial record listing her as killed a few days before the article came out.
What happened to her husband?
But regardless of whether this was an accident or not, his wife was not Jane Perkins the soldier. It should be pretty apparent. And I honestly am completely baffled as to how and why this military stone was placed in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Sure, Jane Perkins the soldier may very well be buried in Hollywood, but this ain't her. If she is there, her grave would be unmarked due to lack of records. This stone designates the resting place of a crippled woman shot by her husband.
So now you know better the next time you see this headstone shared online.
In the meantime, Jane Perkins the soldier remains elusive.
Until next formation.....rest.
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