Neighbors of Perley

Another odd neighbor that became friends with Perley's mother, Elsie Jane Whittier, when she was a young girl was Rosina Delight Richardson Wood. Around 1862 Rosina held the esteemed position of being the "Fat Lady" for the famous P.T.Barnum traveling circus. Perley and his family kept a gold framed portrait of her hanging on the wall of their home for almost 100 years and Perley often recalled his mother telling him that when Rosina came to visit she could only fit through the doorway by turning sideways to enter.