OTHER CONNECTICUT PERKINS FAMILIES

Elnathan⁵ Perkins, son of Luke⁴ (Luke³, Quartermaster John², John¹, Senior, of Ipswich, Mass.), was born in Groton in 1718; married Mary Phillips; and was killed in the successful storming and capture of Fort Griswold in the Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781, by the British troops under the command of Benedict Arnold.

A massacre followed the capture of the fort; practically all the little garrison who bravely defended it were killed or wounded in the assault or were massacred after the fort was taken.

As a memorial to those patriots who lost their lives there an appropriate monument has been erected on the site and upon it are inscribed their names. Among the defenders were eight bearing the name of Avery and six that of Perkins. Of the six, three, Elisha, Asa and Luke were sons of Elnathan, and two other sons, Solomon and Ebenezer, were wounded; his son-in-law, Capt. John Williams, who married his daughter Theoda was also killed, leaving a widow and eight children. After the massacre Amy (or Ama) Williams, the eldest daughter of Capt. John, then a young girl, entered the fort to care for the wounded and to look for her relatives among the dead.

The names of the six are:

Three others were wounded and their names were:

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