Name John Jr. Political party Democratic | Resting place Natchez Cemetery | |
Died November 28, 1885(1885-11-28) (aged 66)
Baltimore, Maryland Education Yale University
Harvard University | ||
Preceded by Alexander Gordon Penn Succeeded by Thomas Green Davidson | ||
John Perkins Jr. (July 1, 1819 – November 28, 1885) was an antebellum U.S. Representative from Louisiana, and then a senator in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War.
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Early life
Perkins was born on July 1, 1819 in Natchez, Mississippi. He received his early education from private tutors. He graduated from Yale College in 1840 and was initiated, his senior year, into the Skull and Bones Society. He then graduated from the law department of Harvard University in 1842.
Career
He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and commenced practice in New Orleans, Louisiana. He also engaged in cotton planting. He was appointed judge of the circuit court for the district comprising Tensas and Madison Parishes in 1851.
He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress (March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1854. He served as chairman of the state secession convention in 1861. He served in the Confederate States Senate 1862–65.
Following the war, he traveled extensively in Mexico and Europe. He returned to the United States in 1878 and spent the remaining years of his life in Louisiana and Canada.
Death
He died in Baltimore, Maryland on November 28, 1885 and was interred in Natchez Cemetery, Natchez, Mississippi.