George Clement Perkins (August 23, 1839February 26, 1923) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

, Perkins served as the 14th

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, t ...

from 1880 to 1883, and as

United States Senator 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 po ...

from California from 1893 to 1915. He also served in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. D ...

Life and career

Perkins was born in 1839 in Kennebunkport, Maine, the son of Lucinda (Fairfield) and Clement Perkins. Perkins ran away to sea at age twelve, eventually arriving in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

in 1855. After making an unsuccessful effort at staking a mining claim in Butte County, Perkins worked a succession of jobs in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and the mining town of Oroville, including driving a mule team and working as a store clerk. Perkins eventually bought the Oroville store he clerked at, and was soon grossing $500,000 a year. Perkins was elected to California State Senate in 1869, representing Butte County. While in serving in the Senate in Sacramento, Perkins met businessman

Charles Miner Goodall Captain Charles Goodall (1824–1899) was an American businessman and politician. Along with George Clement Perkins and Nelson, he founded the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. Goodall, Nelson and Perkins controlled much of the shipping industry ...

, with whom Perkins would form what would become the

Pacific Coast Steamship Company The Pacific Coast Steamship Company was an important early shipping company that operated steamships on the west coast of North America. It was first organized in 1867 under the name Goodall, Nelson and Perkins. The Goodall, Nelson & Perkins Stea ...

. Leaving his Oroville business to be operated by his brother, Perkins moved to San Francisco in 1875 and expanded his interests in the shipping industry. Perkins sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1879 and ran a successful campaign emphasizing his purported independence from railroad interests given his interests in shipping, a competing industry. During Perkins' term as governor, former

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

general John Mansfield served as his

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. Perkins was appointed to the Senate by Governor Henry Markham in 1893 following the death of

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American industrialist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 8th governor of California from 1862 to 1863 and represented California in the United States Sen ...

. As a Senator, Perkins was a part of the powerful Southern Pacific political machine, commonly called the Southern Pacific Political Bureau, headed by Southern Pacific chief counsel William F. Herrin. Perkins is buried alongside his wife Ruth Parker Perkins in Mountain View Cemetery in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

Personal life

Perkins married Ruth Parker, the daughter of his business partner Edward Parker, on May 3, 1864, in Marysville. Born in 1843 in

County Cork, Ireland County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, she immigrated to California with her family at age eight. An avid reader of poetry, Ruth Perkins had several poems of her own published in magazines and newspapers. She died on February 4, 1921, in Oakland, California. Perkins and his wife Ruth had seven children.

Mount Perkins Mount Perkins () is a mountain at the east end of the Fosdick Mountains in the Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition on the Northeastern Flight of December 15–16, 1934, and named for Jack E. Perkins, w ...

in California is named after him.

References

External links

* * George Clement Perkins Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, George Clement 1839 births 1923 deaths Republican Party California state senators Republican Party governors of California People from Kennebunkport, Maine Republican Party United States senators from California Burials at Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California)