Eulogy of the Hon. Ira Perley, on the late Daniel Webster : pronounced before the executive and legislative departments of New Hampshire, December 22, 1852
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He was born on November 9, 1799 at Boxford, Massachussets, United States, the eldest child of Samuel and Phebe (Dresser) Perley and a descendant of Allan Perley, who settled in Charlestown, Massachussets, in 1630. He had few advantages in early years, the death of his father in 1807 leaving the family in somewhat straitened circumstances. He worked on the farm. Later he studied law at Hanover and in the office of Daniel M. Christie at Dover.
Education
He attended school in the winter months. His mother, however, appreciated the boy's ability in his studies and gave him every encouragement possible. He prepared for college at Bradford Academy and graduated from Dartmouth in 1822 with a distinguished scholastic record. He had defrayed the greater part of his college expenses by teaching school.
Career
He was a tutor at Dartmouth, 1823-25. Later he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Hanover.
From 1830 to 1835 he served as treasurer of Dartmouth College, introducing more efficient business methods, modernizing the accounting system, preparing an inventory of the college property, and advising the trustees on sundry complicated legal and business problems involved in certain Vermont land holdings of the institution. He also represented Hanover for one term in the legislature. He became well known at the Grafton County bar but in 1836 moved to Concord where professional opportunities were better and where he resided for the remainder of his life.
For two years he served as associate justice of the superior court. In 1855 he was appointed chief justice of the supreme judicial court, serving until 1859. In 1864 he was reappointed chief justice, retiring five years later under the age limit imposed by the state constitution.
During his last years he occasionally acted as a legal consultant but did not engage in practice before the courts. He twice represented Concord in the legislature (1839-40, 1870 - 71).
Perley died on February 26, 1874 in Concord, New Hampshire.
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Membership
He was for many years an active member of the New Hampshire Historical and the New-England Historic Genealogical societies.
Personality
In person he was of small stature, and in manner somewhat shy and nervous, but his intellectual qualities made him an impressive figure in the courtroom. He had a laconic manner on the bench and a characteristic shrewdness and humor which occasionally brightened tedious proceedings and furnished anecdotes which were often told at meetings of the New Hampshire bar. He was regarded by his professional associates as possessing the judicial mind in an eminent degree.
Interests
He had acquired a deep interest in general literature in his early years and retained it throughout his life. He read Latin, French, and Italian literature and was always ready with an apt quotation.