BIOGRAPHY: James PERRY, Cambria County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lynne Canterbury and Diann Olsen. Portions of this book were transcribed by Clark Creery, Martha Humenik, Betty Mirovich and Sharon Ringler. USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ ____________________________________________________________ From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 252-3 ____________________________________________________________ JAMES PERRY, a retired and highly respected business man of Chest Springs, is a son of James R. and Elmira (Nutter) Perry, and was born in Porter, Maine, March 7, 1827. The name Perry is one of the old and time-honored names of Maine. The family is of English origin, and is descended in a direct line from Lord Becham, of England, who was the great-great-grandfather of our subject. His son, John Perry (the great-grandfather) became involved in some family troubles, and for this reason was disowned by his family. He emigrated to the United States and located in Osipa, Maine, where he married and engaged in agriculture, and, by industry and perseverance, accumulated considerable wealth. His son, Stephen Perry, who became the grandfather of this subject, was born in Osipa, Maine, and following in the footsteps of his esteemed father, became a farmer. He married, and this marital relation resulted in the birth of six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom James R. was the oldest. He was born in Porter, Maine, about 1801, and died in 1863, aged sixty-two years. He too was a tiller of the soil, and spent the greater part of his life on a farm. For a number of years before his death he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His union with Miss Elmira Nutter, the mother of our subject, resulted in the birth of the following children: Sarah, deceased, who was the wife of Harrison Clement; James, Charles, deceased, Eben, ex-sheriff of Portland, Maine; Henry, a printer in New York city, New York; Olive, the wife of Elijah Buggle, a farmer of Iowa; Arminda, deceased; Fannie, the wife of William Hayes, a clothier of Massachusetts; Ella, deceased, who was the wife of a New England railroad conductor. James Perry was reared a farmer boy on the old homestead, in Porter, Maine. At the early age of fifteen years he went to Saco, Maine, where for three years he was employed in a dye-house. He then accepted a similar position in a dyeing establishment in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he remained fifteen years. Early in May, 1863, he removed to Chest Springs, this county, on a farm. For a number of years he was quite extensively engaged in farming and lumbering, and, in connection with the latter enterprise, handled large quantities of shuck. Later he engaged in the mercantile business in Chest Springs. But within the last three years, on account of impaired hearing, he has retired from the business world, and is at present enjoying the fruits of a profitable and well- spent life. Mr. Perry is a prominent and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which organization he has been class-leader for a number of years. In politics he supports the principles of the Republican party, but has never sought nor held office. He married Miss Elizabeth C. Batchelder, of Saco, Maine, who died June 20, 1896. She was a loving wife, a devoted mother, and for many years had been a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their happy marriage has been blessed in the birth of the following children: Charles, who has recently succeeded his father in the mercantile business; Mary, the wife of Perry McDonald, of Chest Springs; Georgia, the wife of J. R. Wilbur, a clothier of Ebensburg, this county; William and Frank, engaged in the meat market business in Coalport, this county, and Lillie and Elmira, who both died in childhood.