John Jasiel Perry (August 2, 1811 – May 2, 1897) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Born in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

, Perry moved with his parents to Hebron (now

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

), Maine, in 1812. He attended the common schools and Maine Wesleyan Seminary. During one of his school terms in Hebron his teacher was future President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

. He became deputy sheriff of Oxford County and served as member of the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

in 1840, 1842, 1843, and 1872. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1844, commencing practice in Oxford. He served as member of the

Maine State Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...

in 1846 and 1847 and as clerk of the Maine House of Representatives in 1854. Perry was elected as an

Opposition Party Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

candidate to the

34th Congress The 34th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1855, ...

(March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1856. He was then elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

36th Congress The 36th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859 ...

(March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1860. He served as member of the

Peace Conference of 1861 The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of 131 leading American politicians in February 1861, at the Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the American Civil War. The purpose of the conference was to avoid, if possible, the secess ...

, which was held in an effort to prevent the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He was editor of the Oxford Democrat from 1860 to 1875 and extensively connected with newspapers, both in and out of the state, as correspondent. He served as member of the state executive council in 1866 and 1867. He moved to

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

, in 1875 and engaged in the practice of his profession until his death in that city on May 2, 1897. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, John Jasiel 1811 births 1897 deaths Politicians from Portsmouth, New Hampshire Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maine Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Republican Party Maine state senators People from Oxford, Maine Maine sheriffs Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Portland, Maine) 19th-century American legislators