(This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)
This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format. Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship.
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He was born on February 29, 1840 in Holley, Orleans County, New York, United States. His father, John D. Perkins, a lawyer, was a native of Connecticut; his mother, Lucy Forsyth Perkins, was born in Albany, New York. The family moved to Indiana and later to Wisconsin, where the father died in 1852, leaving his wife with four children, two sons and two daughters.
There is no information about his education.
In 1860 he and his elder brother founded the Cedar Falls (Iowa) Gazette and published it until 1866, when they sold it, and engaged in business in Chicago for a few years. In 1869 they purchased the Sioux City Journal and converted it into a daily newspaper. After the death of his brother Henry in November 1884, George D. Perkins remained as editor and publisher until his death in 1914.
For many years also he took part in politics. In 1873 he was chosen state senator. He was state commissioner of immigration from 1880 to 1882, United States marshal from 1882 to 1885, and a member of Congress from 1891 to 1899. He was also delegate to the Republican National conventions in 1876, 1880, 1888, 1908, and 1912. In 1906 he was a candidate for nomination as governor of Iowa against Gov. Albert B. Cummins, who was seeking a third term. A strenuous preconvention campaign resulted in his defeat by the manipulation of party leaders on the pretext of party necessity. His opening sentence was: "I thank God that although defeated I am still in possession of my voice and my conscience. " His public service and office-holding Perkins regarded as incidental to his work as a journalist.
Perkins died in Sioux City on February 3, 1914.
George Douglas Perkins was one of the last of the pioneer editors in Iowa and was known throughout the state as "Uncle George. " He established the Cedar Falls Gazette, served as editor and publisher of the Sioux City Journal. Probably no feature of the Sioux City Journal under his management was more characteristic than the "lay sermons" that appeared every Sunday morning for many years. Besides, he served with distinction as the United States marshal for the Northern District of Iowa.
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He was a public speaker of great force as well as a trained and effective writer. He had humor, mastery of idiomatic English, and religious convictions. A solemnly serious face only made his whimsical humor more irresistible. His most expressive features were the eyes which were large, keen and deep and met everyone with absolute directness.
Perkins was married to Louise E. Julian of Chicago on July 2, 1869. Five children were born to them, two daughters and three sons.
