JOSIAH PERRY
Josiah Perry the eldest of five sons of Rev. Owen F. and Jane (Powell) Perry, was born in Remsen, Oneida county, N. Y., March 22, 1851. His father, a native of North Wales, Great Britain, came to America in 1847, and for about forty years was the beloved pastor of the Baptist church at Bardwell near Remsen. He still lives in the village of Remsen. The mother was the daughter of John and Nancy Powell, early settlers of the town of Trenton, Oneida county, coming from Connecticut stock. Their children, besides the subject of this sketch, were Newton Perry, who died in Kansas in 1887; Rev. George Powell Perry, pastor of a flourishing Baptist church in Providence, R. I.; Lincoln Perry, a successful merchant in Boonville, N. Y.; and John O. Perry, of Utica.
Josiah Perry spent his boyhood on his father's farm and in attending the district schools at Remsen. In these two spheres he received a thorough rudimentary training, and both acquired and inherited those thrifty traits of character which distinguish the successful man. He subsequently spent one term at Fairfield Seminary, afterwards attended the State Normal School at Cortland, also Madison (now Colgate) University, and after completing his education taught school for a time. In 1874 he entered the office of Risley, Stoddard & Matteson, of Utica, as a student at law, and was admitted to the bar at the Utica General Term in 1877. The same year he began the active practice of his profession in Utica, where he has since resided. In 1881 he became the junior member of the law firm of Risley, Brown, Quinn & Perry, and thus continued until Mr. Brown was appointed State Dairy Commissioner and Mr. Quinn removed to New York City, when the firm name changed to Risley & Perry. This copartnership was dissolved in February, 1892, and Mr. Perry has since practiced alone.
Mr. Perry has been for several years a prominent and influential factor in the Republican Party of Oneida County. He is an orator of ability, a pleasing, forcible speaker, and on the platform commands the closest attention. In 1868 he was the Republican candidate for district attorney of the county of Oneida, and was defeated by only seventy-five votes. He was corporation counsel of the city of Utica in 1891 & 1893, and in this capacity rendered valuable services to the public. He is a careful and conscientious student, and as a lawyer is one of the strongest advocates of the Utica bar. His defense of the Chinaman, Fong You, charged with murder in the first degree, gave him celebrity as a skilled criminal lawyer, while his connection with many other noted trials has given him a wide reputation. He is a member of Faxton Lodge, F. & A. M. of Skenandoah Lodge, I. O. O. F. of Imperial Council, R. A. and of the Arcanum Club. He is also a prominent member of the Cymrogyddion Society, an organization for the promotion of Welsh literature and music which conducts the famous "Eisteddfor" held in Utica every New Years'.
Mr. Perry married first in November, 1878, to Miss Ella Williams, daughter of Hugh Williams, of Utica, who died in November, 1883, leaving one daughter, Edith. In December, 1888, he married for his second wife, Miss Nellie Gaylord, daughter of ex-sheriff Lewis Gaylord, of Rome, and they have one son, Josiah Gaylord Perry, born August 4, 1895.
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