Born at Glenwild, Sullivan county, New York State, on December 30th, 1826, of Quaker parents. He attended a school that was under Quaker supervision in Chester county, Pennsylvania, He taught school for a period of time in at Rocky Forest, New York, before entering Courtland academy at Homer, preparatory to the study of law at college at Schenectady. On March 15th, 1850, he sailed for California and landed on the Isthmus of Panama at the mouth of the Shagres River where, with his party, he took small boats as far as navigable. He then went overland a distance of 80 miles and camped for some time at a point now on the Panama Canal. At one time on this trip the party was lost for several days They took a sailing vessel on the Pacific and after 81 days, 79 of them never seeing land, they landed at San. Francisco. He engaged in farming and mining about Sacramento for a period of three years and returned to New York State in 1853. In 1854 he was united in marriage to Eunice Couch and the following year they came to make their home in Iowa and took up a claim in Howard Center township, where they lived for several years. Mr. Perry held many offices of trust in the formative years of Howard county. He was a member of the first board of supervisors and for a number of years was chairman of the board. In 1863 he was elected to the Legislature of the Stare of Iowa and after one term he was appointed a clerk in the war department at Washington. Mr. Perry was a member of the Congregational church of Cresco and was a staunch advocate of temperance.