Perry, James 1836 - 1910

PERRY, STEPHEN, THOMAS

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 3/14/2013 at 00:17:29

Postville Review, Fri., 25 Feb. 1910. (condensed).

James Perry Buried, The Remains of Postville's Late Mayor Are Deposited in the Tomb With High Masonic Honors. W. W. Perry, Of Milwaukee, Grand Secretary of Masonic Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, Conducts Service of His Own Brother.

James Perry was born in Manchester, England, Aug. 25, 1836, and died in Postville, Iowa, Thursday, Feb. 17, 1910, aged 73 years, 6 months, death resulting from cerebral hemorrhage superinduced by a fall on the icy walk.

He came to the United States with his parents and settled in Milwaukee when six years of age. On Aug. 9, 1862, at Grand Rapids, Mich., he enrolled as a private in Co. "A", 6th Regiment, Mich. Vol. Cavalry, and was present at and participated in many of the important engagements of the Civil War, among them: Little Round Top, Battle of the Wilderness, Battle of Lookout Mountain, and Gettysburg. He was present at Appamattox and saw Gen. Lee surrender to Gen. Grant. He was honorably discharged at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., on June 21, 1865, and soon thereafter, in the same year, came to Postville, Iowa. He worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad and later was an agent of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railroad. For a time he was engaged in the farm implement business and was Postmaster for about 15 years. At the time of his death he was Mayor of the city.

Oct. 12, 1869, he was married to Sophia Stephen. To this union were born four children - Ma_ Josephine, now Mrs. W. H. Thomas, of Santa Ana, Calif.; Edgar James, who died in 1887; John William and Mattie S., of Postville.

The funeral was held at the Congregational church last Tuesday afternoon and was largely attended. Every local business was closed and sessions of the schools were dismissed for the day. The entire body of the church was reserved for the family and societies and was completely filled, the Masons, Eastern Star and Workmen lodges and City Council attending in a body. The services were conducted agreeable to Masonic custom by W. W. Perry, Grand Secretary of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, a brother of the deceased.

The floral offerings were doubtless the most profuse ever seen in Postville on a like occassion. After services at the church the remains were laid to rest in the Postville cemetery.

The sympathy of all is with the wife, children, brother and the other relatives and friends who mourn.

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Notes: The image of this obituary was very faint in some areas and smudged in others. It was accompanied by large photos of James Perry and W. W. Perry, that did not reproduce well.

The Postville Review of Fri., 18 Feb. 1910, carried a column long account of the accident that proved to cause his death, but yields no further family history information.

Submitter is not related.

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