Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

Vale Perkins and Perkins Landing received their name from the first known settler – Samuel Perkins.  Vale Perkins is something of an undefined locality and perhaps is better described as a state of mind!  Technically, it may be described as more of an intersection than actual settlement.  But it was not always so…

“ About 1793, Samuel Perkins, the other son of Peter II, hearing that Nicholas Austin had left the camp that he had built on the shore of Memphremagog Lake somewhere about 1785 and had taken his family to his property at Austin's Bay, cut a trail through the woods from where Mansonville now stands to Vale Perkins, taking up the land vacated by Austin at Perkins Wharf.  Here he and his three sons, Cyrus, John and Ebenezer, lived and died.  The family of John moved away; Ebenezer had no children; and the land generally came down through Captain Cyrus to his son David, who lived the larger part of his long life of ninety-two years on the old farm, which passed at his death to his only son, William Cyrus Perkins, who now resides there. »^[1]  

The family name Perkins/Perkinson is derived from the Welsh meaning 'son of little Pier' or pierkin.  The Perkins family in North America appears to have come from Warwickshire, England, from whence they voyaged to Massachusetts in the very early 1600's.  From there, the family spread to Ipswich, and beyond, where one of their number, Mary Perkins Bradbury, in 1692, was persecuted as a witch in the infamous Salem Witch era of American history, although she did escape death by hanging.

Many were the number of descendants of the Potton Perkins' in its earliest years – and broad was their influence in civic and economic interests of the day.  The Perkins homestead in Vale Perkins changed hands many years ago, when a large portion of it was sold to the Baudinet family.  Before that, much of the original land holdings were parcelled out over time as building lots for cottages on the Girls' Camp road. 

The Boulangerie Perkins, begun by Dave and Doris Perkins in the 1980's, once bustled with customers, but closed several years ago.  Now only one son, Alan, of the original Potton Perkins family remains as a resident of the little community that bears his family name.  Another Perkins descendant is a landowner but does not live here permanently.

At one time, Vale Perkins was a bustling little community with a cluster of residences, a creamery, saw mills, blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse which doubled as a Church and community hall, as well as a general store with post office operated by Charles H. Gordon. 

A family by the name of Geer were among the earliest settlers here.  The buildings depicted in the foreground of the cover photo of Potton d'antan – Yesterdays of Potton were those of the farm belonging to Walter Geer.  The yellow building to the right in the photograph was the creamery belonging to the Labelle family.  The building with the red roof is now known as Jewett's Store.  Rob and Mamie (Geer) Magoon owned the store, when the photograph was taken.  The building to its right was a blacksmith shop.  The roofs of two homes are visible behind the store.  The first of these belonged to Mina (Geer) Sargent, the second was the home of Clara and Gardner Jones.  The young ladies depicted in the photograph are Ethel Magoon, who lived in Vale Perkins, Victoria Cote and Blanche Davis, who lived in the area of Owl's Head.  It is believed that this photograph dates from around 1912. 

For further information about Vale Perkins, Potton Heritage has a fine description in the publicity folder of the same name.  If you would like to research the Perkins family name: www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/Perkins.html will provide a good start.  It is an interesting read.