John J. Perry

John J. Perry, 1893

John Jasiel Perry (born August 2, 1811 in Portsmouth , New Hampshire , †  May 2, 1897 in Portland , Maine ) was an American politician . Between 1855 and 1857 and again from 1859 to 1861 he represented the state of Maine in the US House of Representatives .

Career

In 1812 John Perry moved with his parents to Hebron, now Oxford in Maine. There he attended public schools and the Maine Wesleyan Seminary . He later became deputy chief of police in Oxford County . After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1844, he began practicing his new profession in Oxford. At the same time, Perry began a political career. He was a member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1840, 1842, 1843, and again later in 1872 . In 1846 and 1847 Perry was a member of the State Senate . In 1854 he was an administrative clerk in the State House of Representatives. In the mid-1850s Perry became a member of the so-called Opposition Party , a short-lived party in which mainly some former members of the Whig Party sought a political home.

In the congressional elections of 1854 Perry was in the second constituency of Maine in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC selected. There he took over from Samuel Mayall of the Democratic Party on March 4, 1855 . Since he refused to run again in 1856, Perry was initially only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1857 , which was overshadowed by the discussions about slavery .

In the meantime, Perry became a member of the Republican Party, founded in 1854 . In 1858 he was re-elected to Congress as their candidate. There he succeeded Charles J. Gilman on March 4, 1859 , who had become Perry's successor two years earlier. Since he was no longer running in 1860, he remained until March 3, 1861 only for one legislative period in the US House of Representatives. There he witnessed the departure of the delegates from the South who had joined the Confederation . In the spring of 1861 Perry was a member of a last-minute commission in the federal capital, Washington, to prevent the outbreak of civil war . This mission was unsuccessful.

After his tenure in the House of Representatives, John Perry went into the newspaper business. Between 1860 and 1875 he published the Oxford Democrat newspaper. He has also been involved in other newspapers in and outside the state of Maine. In 1872 he was once again a member of the State House of Representatives. In 1875, Perry moved to Portland, where he continued to work in the newspaper business. He died there in 1897.

Web links

• John J. Perry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John J. Perry in the database of Find a Grave (English)