The two Diaries of Orren Perkins are dated 1862 and 1863, but there were documents within the pockets of the diary that date to 1865. The diaries consist of daily entries by Universalist minister, Reverend Orren Perkins of Winchester, New Hampshire. Perkins was also a politician who, at the time of the diaries, served in the Lower House and Senate of the New Hampshire Legislature. Perkins wrote about his personal life, church activities, and local and political topics, including the American Civil War.

Orren Perkins was born on August 11, 1823 in Savoy, Massachusetts. He was the son of William Perkins (1776 – 1844) and Parthena Miller Perkins (1787 – 1856).

Perkins was a Universalist Clergyman, ordained in 1847. On December 3 of that same year, Orren married Sarah Maria Clinton Perkins (1824 – 1905). Sarah was a temperance supporter who often lectured on the matter and became a prominent suffragist. The couple had three children; Mary Frances Perkins Pearson (1849 – 1916), Florence Clinton Perkins (1854 – 1930), and Emma Maud Perkins (1859 – 1937).

Orren served as the last principal of the Cooperstown Seminary where his wife taught classes and studied French, and where his daughters were educated.

Reverend Perkins and Sarah were living in Chicago, Illinois when he suffered a severe setback in his mental health. The condition was reported to be one that he inherited from his father. Orren’s condition was so serious that he could not work, and the family regularly discussed committing him to an asylum. The family put off the decision, hoping that the illness was only temporary. On October 30, 1880, Orren escorted Sarah to the train station as she was due to give a lecture. After she had left, Orren returned to the boarding house where they had been staying and committed suicide by cutting his own throat. 

Perkins was just 57 years old when he died. He is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

After the death of her husband, Sarah Perkins moved to Ohio to live with her two youngest daughters. Florence and Emma were both teachers. Florence taught Greek at the Central High School in Cleveland. Emma was a professor of Latin at the Flora Stone Mather College. In 1905, Sarah was struck by a coal wagon and killed at the age of 81. She is buried next to her husband in Lake View Cemetery.

The two Diaries of Orren Perkins are dated 1862 and 1863, but there were documents within the pockets of the diary that date to 1865. The diaries consist of daily entries by Universalist minister, Reverend Orren Perkins of Winchester, New Hampshire. Perkins was also a politician who, at the time of the diaries, served in the Lower House and Senate of the New Hampshire Legislature. Perkins wrote about his personal life, church activities, and local and political topics, including the American Civil War. He also has one spell of depression and a serious illness due to his "poisoned" ear. Documents from within the diary pockets include war widow benefit receipts from 1862, a newspaper clipping about a Senate Convention involving Perkins in 1865, and miscellaneous notes. Perkins kept a detailed record of his purchases in the back of each diary.