John Jasiel Perry (1811-1897), a U.S. Representative, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on August 2, 1811. In 1812, he moved with his parents to an area of Hebron that is now in the town of Oxford, attended the common schools and Maine Wesleyan Seminary (now Kents Hill School in Readfield).
A deputy sheriff of Oxford County, Perry was a member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1840, 1842, 1843, and 1872. He studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1844 and began his practice in Oxford.
He was a member of the Maine State Senate in 1846 and 1847 and Clerk of the Maine House of Representatives in 1854. Elected as a Republican to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857), he was not a candidate for renomination in 1856. He then was elected to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861) but was not a candidate for renomination in 1860.
Perry was a member of the peace convention in 1861 held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war. He was editor of the Oxford Democrat from 1860 to 1875 and was extensively connected with newspapers, both in and out of the State, as a correspondent.
A member of the State Executive Council in 1866 and 1867, he moved to Portland in 1875 and engaged in the practice of his profession until his death in that city on May 2, 1897, with interment in Evergreen Cemetery.
Additional resources
John Jasiel Perry Congressional Biography: https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=P000243 (accessed January 6, 2021)