Nehemiah Day Sperry (July 10, 1827 – November 13, 1911) was a U.S. Representative from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

Biography

Born in

Woodbridge, Connecticut Woodbridge is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,087 at the 2020 census. The town center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Woodbridge Green Historic District. Woodbridge is part of ...

, Sperry was the third of six children of Enoch Sperry and Mary Atlanta (nee Sperry) Sperry. His eldest sibling Lucien Wells Sperry served as the 23rd mayor of New Haven, CT from 1866 to 1869. Nehemiah attended the common schools and a private school in New Haven. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and worked in a mill. He taught school for several years, and then became a partner in a building and contracting firm Smith & Sperry, among the top builders in New Haven after the Civil War. He served as a member of the New Haven common council in 1853, and an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

in 1854. He served as

Secretary of the State of Connecticut The secretary of the State of Connecticut is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. (The definite article is part of the legal job title.) It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of four ...

in 1855 and 1856. Sperry served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1856, 1864, and 1888. He served as member and secretary of the national and executive committees. He served as chairman of the Republican State committee for a number of years. He served as chairman of the recruiting committee of New Haven during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

. He was appointed by President Lincoln in 1861 as postmaster of New Haven, and served until removed by President Cleveland in 1886. He was again postmaster from 1890 to 1894. Sperry was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Fifty-fourth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1911). He served as chairman of the Committee on Alcohol Liquor Traffic ( Fifty-sixth through Sixty-first Congresses). He is considered the originator of the Rural Free Delivery system of the U. S. Mail, with the Rural Delivery Act which he introduced in 1895. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1910. His home, built in 1857 at 466 Orange Street in New Haven is listed among the Historic Buildings of Connecticut.

Death and burial

He died in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, on November 13, 1911. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperry, Nehemiah Day 1827 births 1911 deaths Connecticut city council members Secretaries of the State of Connecticut Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut 19th-century American politicians