Born: May 23, 1831, Stock­bridge, Ver­mont.

Died: Jan­u­a­ry 13, 1902, Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts.

Brother of Henry Perkins, William at­tend­ed the Kim­ball Un­ion Acad­e­my in Mer­i­den, New Hamp­shire, then stu­died mu­sic in Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts; Lon­don; and Mi­lan, It­a­ly. Set­tling in Bos­ton, he found­ed a mu­sic acad­e­my and pub­lished a num­ber of hymn­als. Ham­il­ton Coll­ege award­ed him an hon­or­a­ry doc­tor­ate of mu­sic de­gree in 1879. He lived in Bo­ston 1857-1884, then moved to New York Ci­ty. His works in­clude:

• Choral Harmony, 1859
• Nightingale, 1860
• Union Star Glee Book, 1861
• Atlantic Glee Book, 1861
• Tabernacle, 1862
• The Gold­en Ro­bin, 1863
• Sabbath School Trumpet, 1864
• Church Bell, 1867
• Starry Crown, 1869
• Dominion Songster, 1870
• Laurel Wreath, 1870
• Chorister, 1870
• Mocking Bird, 1871
• Orphean, 1871
• Church Welcome, 1872
• Seminary Album, 1873
• Perkins’ Anthem Book, 1874
• Shining River, 1875
• Zion, 1875
• Perkins’ Singing School, 1875
• Whippoorwill, 1876
• Male Voices Glee Book, 1876
• American Glee Book, 1877
• Herald, 1877
• Requiem, 1878
• Crystal Fountain, 1878
• Singers’ Class Book, 1878
• Tree of Life, 1878
• The Temple, 1879
• The Anthem Harp, 1880
• Vocal Echoes, 1881
• Choral Choir, 1882
• The Peerless, 1882

Sources

Music

1. Amara
2. Beyond the Sun­set
3. Did You Think to Pray?
4. Guernsey