He was born on January 16, 1741 in Norwich, Connecticut, United States, a descendant of John Perkins who came to New England in 1631 and in 1633 settled in Ipswich. His father was Dr. Joseph Perkins, an eminent practitioner in Norwich; his mother, Mary (Bushnell) Perkins.
Elisha is said to have studied at Yale, and it is certain that he was given the necessary education for medical practice by his father.
He first settled in Plainfield, Connecticut, where he achieved a considerable reputation as a physician. He established an academy there and, according to report, because of the lack of adequate boarding accommodations took many pupils into his own home; he also received patients there for treatment - a common practice in that day. In 1792 he became one of the incorporators of the Connecticut Medical Society and he served as chairman of the Windham County Medical Association for several terms.
He invented so-called "metallic tractors. " These instruments were devised by him in an attempt to apply to medical practice the principles of the discovery of Galvani. Perkins made these magic instruments at his home, in a small furnace concealed in the wall of his house, and sold them for five guineas a pair. In the year 1795 he reported his discovery to the Connecticut Medical Society, but gained little encouragement there from his professional brethren. He went to Philadelphia, where he met with a most enthusiastic reception. Here he is said to have made extensive tests in the public hospitals, infirmaries, and other institutions. Congress was then in session, and some of the most distinguished men in the country, as well as physicians, were witnesses.
On February 19, 1796, he took out a patent for his tractors, receiving the exclusive right of making them for a period of fourteen years. The following year he was expelled from membership in the Connecticut Medical Society, on the ground that he was "a patentee and user of nostrums".
In 1799, during an outbreak of yellow fever in New York, he visited that city for the purpose of using his remedy. After four weeks of assiduous effort, during which time the remedy proved of no avail, Perkins himself contracted the fever and died in his fifty-ninth year.
Elisha Perkins was famous for the invention of the celebrated Perkins Patent Tractors. He also devised antiseptic medicine and used it for dysentery and sore throat. Besides, Perkins claimed to have discovered a cure for yellow fever. His inventions were later subject of the first placebo research. Additionally, he established an academy in Plainfield, served as chairman of the Windham County Medical Association for several terms.
On September 23, 1762, he married Sarah Douglass of Plainfield, and had by her ten children - five sons and five daughters. His son, Benjamin Douglas Perkins, established a thriving trade on the base of the inventions of his father. .
