James L. Perrigo
MSA SC 3520-16932
Biography:
Born to a Baltimore family c.1821, James L. Perrigo (sometimes spelled as Peregoy) was trained in the business of carpentry from a young age.[1] His father, Daniel Perrigo, was one of the "Old Defenders," and supposedly fought at the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. His grandfather, Nathan Perrigo, was one of the first to help establish Methodism in Maryland and James L. Perrigo followed the tradition by becoming an active member of at least two Methodist Episcopal churches in Baltimore.[2] He married Barbara Perrigo, who kept house through much of the marriage, and they had four daughters, Cornelia (b.1845), Sophia (b.1848), Mary (b.1850), and Barbara (b.1852).[3]
By 1855, Perrigo was listed in the Baltimore City directory as a "carver and gilder."[4] It is unknown during the late 1850s whether he worked for other frame manufacturers in town, such as Samson Cariss & Co. In 1863, he entered a partnership with John W. Butler and A. J. H. Way to form an art dealership.[5] The partnership dissolved in late 1867 when A. J. H. Way returned to his profession as an artist and the dealership Butler & Perrigo was formed.[6] Butler & Perrigo's business was profitable, but Perrigo left the company by April 1871.[7]
By the late 1870s, Perrigo had begun to work for his son-in-law, Frank Fairbank, another picture frame manufacturer in Baltimore. On April 20, 1877, the Baltimore Sun reported that "The board of public works to-day authorized the firm of Fairbank, Murphy & Co., of Baltimore, to remove the portraits and paintings in the State House to Baltimore, to be kept in the vaults of the Safe Deposit Company, and James L. Perrigo is now here superintending the removal."[8] Apart from serving as superintendent, Perrigo also clearly worked as a gilder on the frame for Edwin White's Washington Resigning His Commission and left an inscription on the bottom of the piece.
James L. Perrigo died on July 6, 1899 of heart failure. The Baltimore Sun reported that he was an active member of Baltimore's Methodist community and a "well-known picture-frame dealer."[9]
[1] U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD), 1850, MSA SM61-124.
[2] "Obituary," Baltimore Sun, 7 July 1899.
[3] U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD), 1870, MSA SM61-251.
[4] Matchett's Baltimore Director, 1855-1856, Archives of Maryland Online, vol.565 p.266.
[5] Butler, Perrigo & Way's first annual sale of choice oil paintings. Baltimore: J.B. Rose & Co., 1863. Maryland Historical Society, MHF 5476.B98P1.
[6] Baltimore Sun, 1 January 1868.
[7] "Gems of Art," Baltimore Sun, 22 April 1871.
[8] "Letter from Annapolis," Baltimore Sun, 21 April 1877.
[9] "Obituary," Baltimore Sun, 7 July 1899.
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