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Edward A. Perry

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Edward Aylesworth Perry
14th Governor of Florida
In office
January 7, 1885 – January 8, 1889
LieutenantMilton H. Mabry
Preceded byWilliam D. Bloxham
Succeeded byFrancis P. Fleming
Judge of the Escambia County Court
In office
1857–1861
Personal details
BornMarch 15, 1831
Richmond, Massachusetts, US
DiedOctober 15, 1889(1889-10-15) (aged 58)
Kerrville, Texas, US
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseWathen Virginia Taylor Perry
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Branch/service Confederate States Army
Years of service1861–65
Rank Brigadier-General
CommandsPerry's Florida Brigade
CampaignsAmerican Civil War

Edward Aylesworth Perry (March 15, 1831 – October 15, 1889) was a general under Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War and the 14th Governor of Florida.

Early life

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He was a descendant of Arthur Perry, one of the earliest settlers of New England.[1] His parents were farmers, Asa and Philura Perry, and he was the fourth of five children.[1]

Born in Richmond, Massachusetts, Perry briefly attended Yale University before moving to Greenville, Alabama in 1853. In Alabama, he taught and studied law with Hilary Herbert, who later served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army, a U.S. congressman from Alabama, and Secretary of the Navy under President Grover Cleveland. Perry soon moved to Pensacola, Florida, and passed the bar exam. He served as a judge for Escambia County, Florida, from 1857 through 1861. He married Wathen Virginia Taylor of Greenville, Alabama, on February 1, 1859, the daughter of Hubbard Bonner Taylor and Marjorie Catherine Herbert Taylor, and a granddaughter of Dr. Hilary Herbert, one of the earliest settlers of Butler County, Alabama. Mrs. Perry was also a cousin of the Hilary A. Herbert, with whom he studied law in Alabama.

American Civil War

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During the Civil War, Perry fought with distinction for the Confederacy, rising from the rank of private to brigadier general.[citation needed] In May 1861, he enlisted in the "Pensacola Rifle Rangers",[2] which was later designated Company A of the 2nd Florida Infantry, and was elected as its captain. A year later, he was elected colonel of the regiment.

General E.A. Perry[3]

In June 1862, he was wounded during the fight at Glendale during the Peninsula Campaign and furloughed. On August 28, 1862, Perry was appointed as a brigadier general in the Provisional Army of the Confederacy and returned to active duty the following year. He led an all-Florida brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Chancellorsville, but was stricken with typhoid fever and missed the Gettysburg Campaign, where Col. David Lang commanded Perry's Brigade.[4]

Perry returned to the Army of Northern Virginia to command his brigade for the Bristoe Campaign in the fall of 1863. He was severely wounded in the fighting at the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. He briefly returned to the trenches during the Siege of Petersburg, but had not recovered sufficiently for active duty. Hence, he was sent to Alabama for the duration of the war, serving on reserve duty in the Confederate Invalid Corps.

Aftermath; Governor

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He returned to Florida and became a prominent lawyer and Democratic state politician. Elected governor in 1884, he assumed office on January 7, 1885. During his administration, Florida adopted a new constitution and established the state board of education. He was an outspoken opponent of "carpetbaggers".

Perry was active in the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. His antebellum home became the Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Pensacola.[5]

The Confederate Monument on Palafox Street bears a plaque honoring his wife, Wathen Virginia Taylor Perry, who raised the funds for its erection.[citation needed] After leaving office on January 8, 1889, he returned home to Pensacola.[citation needed] In later years, the property was sold for $2.53 million to the adjacent First United Methodist Church, and fund raising for renovations are in place.[citation needed]

He died suddenly of a stroke while visiting Kerrville, Texas, in 1889, aged 58.[4] He and his wife are buried in St. John's Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida.[4]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Prince, Jr., Sigsbee C. (1951). "Edward A. Perry, Yankee General of the Florida Brigade". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 29 (3). Florida Historical Society: 197–205. JSTOR 30138822.
  2. ^ Roberston, F. L. (1903). "Soldiers of Florida in the Seminole Indian-Civil and Spanish–American Wars. Live Oak, Florida: Democrat Print". Archive.org. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  3. ^ "Engraved portrait of General Edward Aylsworth Perry". Floridamemory.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Goellnitz, Jen (1997–2010). "Biography of General Edward Aylesworth Perry" And Then A.P. Hill Came Up. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  5. ^ "Former Governor Perry's home - Pensacola, Florida". www.floridamemory.com/. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Retrieved August 16, 2023.

References

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Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Florida
1884
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Florida
January 7, 1885 – January 8, 1889
Succeeded by