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Delaware County, Iowa

 

 Biography Directory

Amos Perry

Farming

Coffins Grove & Edgewood

 

 
      The death of Amos Perry, which occurred in 1908 at his home in Edgewood, was widely regretted, as he was a man of strict integrity and marked public spirit. He was a resident of Delaware county for fifty-four years, removing here when a young man of twenty years, and was always heartily in sympathy with every measure for the advancement of the common interests. He was born near Penn Yan, Yates county, New York, on the 9th of April, 1834, a son of Matthew H. Perry, who was born in Massachusetts in 1796. The latter accompanied his parents to New York when a lad of ten years and resided there until 1835, when he took his family to Kane county, Illinois. The journey was made partly by boat, the family going up the Illinois river to Joliet and thence to Kane county, where they settled. The father was a farmer and wagon-maker. He was of English descent and was related to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, who won fame in the War of 1812. Matthew H. Perry passed away on the 1st of March, 1890, respected by all who knew him. His wife was a native of Rhode Island, born about 1797, and she passed away in 1876. In religious faith she was a Freewill Baptist and the sincerity of her belief was manifest in her daily life.
     In the family were eleven children, six sons and five daughters, of whom five of the sons entered the Union service during the Civil war. Two died in the south during hostilities and one lost an arm in the service.
    Amos Perry was but a year old when he was taken by his parents to Illinois. He grew to manhood in Kane county, that state, but in 1854, when twenty years of age, came to this county, settling on land on sections 33 and 34, Coffins Grove township. He engaged in farming until the outbreak of the Civil war, when lie enlisted in the Third Iowa Battery and served until the close of hostilities. He then returned to this county and devoted his time to the management of his affairs. He developed his farm and brought the land to a high state of cultivation. He held the respect of those who came in contact with him, the more so as all that he accomplished for many years was done under a great handicap, as for thirty years he was blind. He lost one eye while serving in the army.
     On the 17th of February, 1860, Mr. Perry was united in marriage with Miss Violet E. Minkler, a daughter of Alanson and Elizabeth (Minkler) Minkler. She was born in Erie county, Ohio, on the 6th of June, 1844, and by her marriage she became the mother of seven children: Mrs. Effie Tripp, Mrs. Edith Utley, Mrs. Burch, Mrs. Hobbs, Mrs. Pogue, Willard and Ernest.
      Mr. Perry passed away April 26, 1908, when seventy-four years of age, and the funeral sermon was preached by Elder Hubbell, who had known Mr. Perry well for a number of years. The interment was made in the local cemetery. Mr. Perry was constant in his support of the republican party, believing that its policies are the most adequate to the needs of the country. His honesty was never questioned and his interest in civic affairs was great. His memory is still cher­ished by his many friends and the good that he did still lives.
 

 

~ source: History of Delaware County, Iowa and its People, Illustrated, Volume II. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1914, Chicago. Page 279-280. Call Number 977.7385 H2m; LDS microfilm #934937.

~transcribed and contributed by Constance Diamond for Delaware County IAGenWeb

 

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