George Douglas Perkins | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 11th district |
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In office March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1899 |
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Preceded by | Isaac S. Struble |
Succeeded by | Lot Thomas |
Member of the Iowa Senate | |
In office 1874-1876 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Holley, New York |
February 29, 1840
Died | February 3, 1914 Sioux City, Iowa |
(aged 73)
Resting place | Floyd Cemetery in Sioux City, Iowa |
Political party | Republican |
Occupation | Newspaper publisher |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
George Douglas Perkins (February 29, 1840 – February 3, 1914) was a longtime newspaper editor, Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 11th congressional district in the northwestern portion of the state, and a candidate for his party's nomination as governor.
He was born in Holley, New York, the son of John Dyer Perkins and Lucy Forsyth. John Dyer Perkins was a Presidenial elector from Orleans County, New York in 1844. John Dyer Perkins was also the brother of Elizabeth Rogers Perkins Humphrey, the great-grandmother of Humphrey Bogart, the actor.
In 1860, he established the Cedar Falls Gazette in Cedar Falls, Iowa. On August 12, 1862, after the outbreak of the American Civil War, he enlisted as a private in Company B of the 31st Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. His military service ended seven months later on January 12, 1863, when he returned to The Gazette. After 1866, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and was engaged as agent of the Northwestern Associated Press until 1869. He moved to Sioux City, Iowa, having become engaged in Chicago to Louise Julien, daughter of diamond jeweler Narcissus Julien, and in 1869 became editor and publisher of the Sioux City Journal.
He was elected to one term in the Iowa State Senate, having served from 1874 to 1876. He served from 1880 to 1882 as Iowa's commissioner of immigration. On January 29, 1883, U.S. President Chester A. Arthur named Perkins as the United States marshal for the Northern District of Iowa. In 1885, he was removed by the Democratic President Grover Cleveland.