Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/298

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PERRY


PERRY


to Anna, daughter of Jonathan Flynt Morris of Hartford, Conn. He was pastor of the East Congregational church, Ware, Mass., 1887-90; professor of bibliology and librarian of Hartford Theological seminary, 1891-1900. and %vas elected president of Marietta college, Oliio, in 1900. The honorar}' degree of D.D. was conferred on him by Williams college in 1901. He is the author of: A Handy Harmony of the Oosjiels (3d ed., 1892), and The Pre-eminence of the Bible as a Book (1899).

FERRY, Benjamin Franklin, governor of South Carolina, was born in tiie Pendleton district, S.C, Nov. 20. 1805; son of Benjamin and Anne (Foster) Perry, and grandson of Lieut. John Foster of Virginia, an officer in the Continental army. Benjamin Perry was a native of Massa- chusetts ; was a sol- dier in the Revolu- tionary arm}' ; re- moved to Charleston, S.C, in 1784, and en- gaged in planting in Greenville. Benja- min Franklin Perry was brouglit up on the plantation and attended a classical school in Asheville, N.C., 1821-24. He then studied law un- der Judge Earl in Greenville and Col. James Gregg in Col- umbia. He was admitted to the bar in Greenville in 1827 and in 1832 took charge of the editorial de- partment of the Greenville Mountaineer and made the paper the organ of the Union party in that state, in opposition to tlie teachings of John C. Calhoun. He was a delegate to the Union state convention at Columbia in 1832, and was defeated as a candidate for representative in the 24th congress in 1834 by AVaddy Thompson, Jr. He was married in 1837, to Elizabeth Frances, daughter of Hext McCall of Charleston. He represented Greenville in the state legislature, 183G-43 ; was a state senator, 1844-00 ; an elector at large on the Cass and Butler ticket in 1849, and one of the organizers of the Greenville and Columbia railroad. In IS.'iO he established at Greenville the Southern Patriot, which was the only Union newspaper in the state. In the same year he made a stirring Union speech in the state legislature, and was a member of the Democratic state convention in 1851. He was a delegate to the Charleston Democratic national convention in 1860, and although opposed to secession accepted the situation when tliat ordinance was adopted by his state. He was a


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member of the state legislature, a commissioner under the Confederate government to regulate prices, and a district attorney and district judge during the war. He was appointed provisional governor of South Carolina by President Johnson in 1865, filling the office six months ; was elected to the U.S. senate from Soutii Carolina in 1860 ; presented his credentials Feb. 28, 1866, but like the other southern senators was denied his seat ; and was a delegate to the Democratic national conventions of 1808 and 1876. He was a trustee of the Medical College of Charleston, S.C. He contributed to the press, and is the author of : Reminiscences of Public Men (1883) and left in manuscript several sketches of American states- men, afterwards edited, enlarged and published by his wife, with a sketch of his life and intro- duction by Wade Hampton (1887). He died in Greenville, S.C, Dec. 3, 1886.

PERRY, Bliss, editor, was born in Williams- town, Mass., Nov. 25, 1800; son of Arthur Latham and Mary (Smedley) Perry ; grandson of the Rev. Baxter and Lydia (Gray) Perry, and of Dr. James and Lucy (Bridges) Smedley, and a descendant of John Perry, who came from Lon- don to America about 1666. He was gradu- ated from Williams college, A.B., 1881, A.M., 1883, studied at Berlin and Strasburg universi- ties, Germany ; was professor of elocution and English at Williams college. 1880-90, and pro- fe.ssor of oratory and aesthetic criticism at Prince- ton university, 1893-99. He was married in 1888 to Annie L., daugiiter of F. R. Bliss, of New Haven, Conn. In 1899 he became editor of the Atlantic Monthly, Boston, ^Mass. The honorary degree of L. H D. was conferred on him by Princeton university in 1900, and by Williams college in 1902. He edited selections from Burke ; Scott's Woodstock and IvanJtoe, and Little Masterpieces, and is the author of : TJie Broughfon House (1890); Salem Kittredge and Other Stories (1894); The Plated City (1895); The Powers at Play (1899), and A Study of Prose Fiction (1902). In 1902 he delivered the Cliarter Day address at the University of California, Berkele}-.

PERRY, David Brainerd, educator, was born in Worcester, Mass., March 7, 1839; son of Samuel and Mar}' (Harrington) Perry. He attended the high school at Worcester ; was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1803, A.M., 1866, B.D., 1867, and was a tutor at Yale, 1805-67. He was married, in 1876, to Helen Doane, of Cliarles- town, Mass. He was a tutor at Doane college, Crete, Neb., from its foundation in 1872-73; professor of Latin and Greek, 1873-1881 ; a trustee from 1884 ; member of the executive committee from 1895 ; Perry professor of mental and moral philosophy, 1881-90 ; professor of mental