Cumberland County, Maine - Perley Putnam Burnham
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Biography
Perley Putnam Burnham
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 438


Perley Putnam Burnham, the leading dry-goods dealer of Bridgton, was born June
26, 1845, in the town of Gilead, Oxford County, son of George and Florilla A.
(Burbank) Burnham. Perley Putnam Burnham, first, grandfather of the gentleman
whose name appears at the head of this sketch, was born, it is thought, in
Bridgton, whither his parents came from Massachusetts. He removed to Gilead when
a young man, and purchased a tract of land, on which he engaged in general
farming until his death, at the early age of thirty-eight years. His widow,
whose maiden name was Mary A. Adams, a native of Jaffrey, Vt., subsequently
married Joseph G. Swan, and lived to a good old age.

George Burnham, also a native of Gilead, born in 1816, was reared to
agricultural pursuits, and succeeded to the ownership of the farm which his
father cleared from the wilderness. He is still living there, a well-preserved
man of seventy-nine years. He married Florilla A. Burbank, who was born in
Gilead in 1824. She was a daughter of General James Burbank, who, as far as
known, was a lifelong resident of Gilead, where he was a successful farmer. He
was also an extensive dealer in cattle, which he bought in the adjacent towns,
and drove to the cattle market in Brighton, Mass. He was quite prominent in
military circles, being an officer in the State militia. George Burnham's family
included eight children; namely, Mellen P., James V., Perley P., Charles A.,
Mary E., Martha I., George I., and Stella A.

Perley Putnam Burnham was educated at Gould Academy in Bethel and at the Maine
Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill. After completing the course of study at the
latter institution, Mr. Burnham began clerking in the general store of R. A.
Chapman in Bethel, where he remained four years, obtaining a general insight
into the details of the business. He was next employed for two years with the
firm of Deering, Milliken & Co. of Portland. He left them to come to Bridgton as
a member of the firm of Davis, Stevens & Co., general merchants. In 1875 Mr.
Burnham purchased the interest of his partners, and has since that time
conducted a thriving business alone. He occupies a double store on Main Street,
where he carries an extensive and well-selected stock of dry and fancy goods and
a complete line of carpets. The constant increase of the number of his customers
shows that his tireless efforts to please and accommodate the public are
appreciated. Outside his store he has other interests. He is President of the
Bridgton Creamery Association, Treasurer of the Bridgton & Saco River Railroad
Company, and a Trustee of the savings-bank for the past twenty-six years, during
seven of which he was also Treasurer.

Mr. Burnham has been twice married. His first marriage was contracted in 1874
with Helen M., daughter of Lincoln and Maria Nichols, of Searsport. She died in
1885; and Mr. Burnham subsequently married her sister, Catherine F. Nichols. Of
his first union there was born one child, named Edith; and of his second, a son,
named Harold N. In politics Mr. Burnham is a steadfast Republican. Both he and
his estimable wife attend the Congregational church.