History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/George D. Perkins
GEORGE D. PERKINS
GEORGE D. PERKINS was born at Holly, Orleans County, New York, February 29, 1840. His education was acquired in the common schools and printing office. In 1860 he came to Iowa locating at Cedar Falls, where with a brother he established the Cedar Falls Gazette, which soon became one of the best weekly papers in the State. In 1866 he sold the Gazette and removed to Chicago, but returning to Iowa the brothers located at Sioux City where they established the Sioux City Journal. Under their management it soon acquired a wide circulation in northwestern Iowa, eastern Nebraska and Dakota; and as soon as the community demanded a daily, a morning edition was issued which kept pace with the development of that part of the country. Mr. Perkins was an active Republican, generally attending the State conventions of the party and often writing the platforms. He was a delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Conventions of 1876, 1880 and 1888. Under the administration of Governor Gear, he held the position of Commissioner of Immigration for Iowa. In 1873 he was elected to the State Senate, representing nine counties in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth General Assemblies. Under the administration of President Arthur, Mr. Perkins served as United States Marshal for the Northern District of Iowa. In 1890 he was elected Representative in Congress for the Eleventh District and was three times reëlected, serving from 1891 to 1899. His most enduring work is in journalism where he has long ranked among the ablest writers in the northwest. The Daily Sioux City Journal under his direction has for a quarter of a century been one of the most influential and ably conducted newspapers Iowa has ever had.