Hide Article Text (OCR)
LASTOF REVOLUTIONDr Crosby A. Perry of Pittsfield Himself ServedThrough the Civil War—Doesn’t BelieveIn Asking For a BonusCnatir 11doatlvtss1113IVJ(ri1DR CROSBY A. PERRYPITTSFIELD, Mass—The only iiving eon of a Revolutionary soldier, Dr Crosby A. Perry of this city, himself a Civil War veteran, brother of a Mexican War veteran who paid the supreme price in that war, observed his $4th birthday March 1 at his home, 149 Egre-mont av.Eighty-four years old. he was but 19 months of ago when his father, Mlcah Perry, a native of Lexington, Mass, died at the age of 80 years, from fatal injuries suffered in a runaway. A span of 103 years is covered by the lives of these two patriots, father and son.Dr Perry was wished many more happy birthdays and bids fair to see them. He is erect, keen of mind and eye and fond of long walks with a dog “Jim” which is the pet of a veteran of our latest war, a very dear friend, Paul Cook, son of Rev Silas P. Cook, with whom Dr Perry makes his home.Revolutionary War, Mexican War, Civil War and World War arc represented in the little household—and the war of 1812 was represented, by curious coincidence, in the person of a riews-paper man of the same name as Dr Perry who called to interview him, his ancestor being Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.his looks, his clothes, everything but his wonderful sincerity and eloquence. It was the iinest address I have ever heard.”Back to the present: Dr Perry think3 that the ex-service men of today are making a mistake in putting up such a fight for the bonus. He declares that he would never sign his name to an application or make an effort to urge the Government to give him a pension.Iirst Siglit of LincoluDr Perry is e? Massachusetts birth, but claims Vermont as his home. For 40 yoars ho labored as physician in and about the town of Readsboro, followinghis service as sugeon in the Civil War, and he-likes to talk about this service even more than about the battles he was in in the '60s.One of the most interesting storiesthat Dr Perry tells is of his first sight of Abraham Lincoln. It was way back in 1855, when Dr Perry was entering his 18th year and lived in New York city. He was at the famous Five Points Mission, a delegate from one of the churches of the city, when a tall, uncouth, ill-clad young man entered and took a seat in a corner.A “testimony meeting” was in progress and the leader mentioned that there was a young lawyer from Chicago present and perhaps the audience would like to hear from him.“This ungainly, long-legged young fellow rose from his seat,” said Dr Perry, “and we young folks of the city smiled. We thought he was a vagabond, a sort of a joke. We had noticed him as he came in and remarked upon his uncouth appearance.“He started to speak—and we forgot“Bonus Matter Overdone”“It is too bad to get this into politics, he said, speaking of the bonus matter. “It spoils the whole spirt of the service they gave. Not that we can ever repay them, in money, for the service they rendered . . . but how much better, how much easier, perhaps, it Would be for the country to reward them if they were not to press their claims 1 “This thing has been overdone, this gratuity matter. We who served our country did so because it was our country and not because we expected reward for it. If our country thinks we deserve some remuneration and gives it to us, unsolicited, that is fine. But 1 do notfeel that it ought to be pressed upon the Government through politics.”Of the result of the Disarmament Conference Dr Perry was rather reluctaut j to speak. He said he had not studied the* matter thoroughly enough to pas* any judgment; but lie remarked, succinctly: “If Nations wiant to fight, as Nations did so ferociously just recently, no treaties will stop them. If they destroy their Navies and reduce their Armies, well and good; but there will always be someone who can invent and perfect something more deadly than ships and rifies for war.”Last Operation on a DogOne of the most touching instance; of Dr Perry's career as a surgeon i: perhaps the last operation he ever per formed. It was the removal of a por tion of a. chicken bone from the throa of “Jim,” the shepherd dog that is hi; constant companion. That was severa years ago, but “Jim” soems to remem I ber wlmt was done for him; it savelt; his life, and the clog will do practicall: anything that Dr Perry suggests.Miss Grace Perry, his daughter lives with him. Miss Perry was j school friend of a daughter of Rev M i-Cook and upon Miss Cook’s death shlt; ! and her father came to live with M; Cook and make his homo less lonely That was six years ago.For 40 years Dr Perry practiced medi
Newspaper Details
Boston Sunday Globe
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Sun, Mar 05, 1922
Page 58
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 09 Feb 2019
Other Publications Near Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts Centinel
Boston Globe
Boston Daily Globe
UMB News
Mass Media
