Theodore Bolivar Perry (April 1, 1833 – May 14, 1921) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the

Iowa State Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . E ...

and as prosecuting attorney of

Monroe County, Iowa Monroe County is a county located in the south central part of the U.S. state of Iowa. In the early 20th century, it was a center of bituminous coal mining and in 1910 had a population of more than 25,000. As mining declined, people moved elsew ...

. Perry was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

and, as an adolescent, moved with his family to

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. In early adulthood, he was a schoolteacher and, in 1852 began

reading law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under th ...

Albia, Iowa Albia is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, in southern Iowa, United States. The population was 3,721 at the 2020 census. The city of Albia is known for its historic square and city-wide Victorian Architecture. Albia is also known ...

. In 1854 Perry was admitted to the Iowa Bar and went into practice with John S. Townsend. Perry became a successful attorney, was elected prosecuting attorney of

, and also developed several commercial properties in Albia. He was elected to the Iowa State Board of Education in 1858, serving for four years. In 1877 he built a large "show residence" in Albia – an elaborate, High Victorian home that has since been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. He was later elected to the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...

representing the 15th district (then composed of

Marion County, Iowa Marion County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,414. The county seat is Knoxville. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War. G ...

and

Nathan E. Kendall Nathan Edward Kendall (March 17, 1868 – November 5, 1936) was an American Republican politician. Kendall was a two-term U.S. Representative from Iowa's 6th congressional district and the 23rd Governor of Iowa. Background Born on a farm near G ...

read law under Perry and the two remained lifelong friends. He married Minerva Allison in 1854 and, with her, had two children. After his first wife's death, he remarried, to Amanda Craig. With her, he had three children. Among his grandchildren was J. Harvey Littrell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Theodore 1833 births 1921 deaths People from Albia, Iowa Politicians from Cincinnati Iowa lawyers Democratic Party Iowa state senators 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American legislators 19th-century American educators Schoolteachers from Iowa

See also

References