Edwin Oscar Perrin (December 3, 1822

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

– December 19, 1889

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

He was the son of Joseph Perrin, a judge and Whig politician. He was educated at the Springfield Academy, and then studied law with

Samson Mason Samson Mason (July 24, 1793 – February 1, 1869) was a U.S. Representative from Ohio. Born in Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, Mason attended the common schools in Onondaga, New York. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar and pra ...

. Perrin was admitted to the bar in 1842, and the next year commenced practice at

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. From 1845 to 1849, he was Navy Agent and Purser of the Memphis Navy Yard. Afterwards he opened a law firm and in 1854 removed to

to open a branch office there. In 1857, he accompanied

Robert J. Walker Robert John Walker (July 19, 1801November 11, 1869) was an American lawyer, economist and politician. An active member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. Senate from Mississippi from 1835 until 1845, as Secretary of the ...

, who had been appointed Governor of the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

, but opposing the

Lecompton Constitution The Lecompton Constitution (1859) was the second of four proposed constitutions for the state of Kansas. Named for the city of Lecompton where it was drafted, it was strongly pro-slavery. It never went into effect. History Purpose The Lecompton Co ...

returned by the end of the year. Afterwards he ran twice unsuccessfully for the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

. In 1861, he was sent by

U.S. Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

Simon Cameron Simon Cameron (March 8, 1799June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and served as United States Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Americ ...

on a secret mission to the

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...

and remained with the command of

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...

until 1862. President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

nominated him for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

, but the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

rejected the appointment. In

1865 Events January–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Sec ...

, he was the Democratic candidate for

Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals The Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals was one of the statewide elected officials in New York from 1847 to 1870. He was also ex officio a clerk of the New York Supreme Court. The office was created by the New York State Constitution of 1846.se ...

, but was defeated by Republican Patrick H. Jones. In

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

, he ran again and was elected. He was the last statewide elected Clerk, and remained in office by appointment after the re-organization of the Court in 1870 until his death. He died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

Sources

''Dear Old Kit: The Historical Christopher Carson''
by Harvey Lewis Carter (University of Oklahoma Press, 1990, , , page 233)
''Biographical sketches of John T. Hoffman and Allen C. Beach: the Democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant-governor of the state of New York : also, a record of the events in the lives of Oliver Bascom, David B. McNeil, and Edwin O. Perrin, the other candidates on the same ticket''
by Hiram Calkins & DeWitt Van Buren (1868; pages 110f) {{DEFAULTSORT:Perrin, Edwin Oscar 1822 births 1889 deaths Politicians from Springfield, Ohio Lawyers from Memphis, Tennessee Lawyers from New York City Clerks of the New York Court of Appeals 19th-century American lawyers