Nehemiah Day Sperry (July 10, 1827 – November 13, 1911) was an American educator and businessman who served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

for eight consecutive terms from 1895 to 1911.

Biography

Born in

Woodbridge, Connecticut Woodbridge is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, South Central Connecticut Planning Region. The ...

, Sperry was the third of six children of Enoch Sperry and Mary Atlanta 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 taught school for several years, learning the trades of building and masonry in his spare time, and then partnered with his brother-in-law to form the contracting firm Smith & Sperry, among the top builders in New Haven after the Civil War.
Men of Mark in Connecticut: Ideals of American Life Told in Biographies and Autobiographies of Eminent Living Americans
'. Volume 1, pg. 58-61, W.R. Goodspeed, 1906 - Connecticut His home, built in 1857 at 466 Orange Street in New Haven, is listed among the Historic Buildings of Connecticut.

Political career

Sperry was first a member of the Whig Party. He served as a member of the New Haven common council and as a selectman in 1853, and as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

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. In June 1855, Sperry attended the

Know-Nothing Party The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the m ...

Convention in Philadelphia where a platform was formulated. A strong opponent of slavery, Sperry became a Republican and served as chairman of the Republican State committee for a number of years, before and during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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 policies.J ...

. He served as delegate to the Republican National Conventions in

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – The American sidewheel steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatl ...

1864 Events January * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song "Beautiful Dream ...

, and

1888 Events January * January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used. * January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...

, serving as member and secretary of the national and executive committees. During the Civil War, he served as chairman of the recruiting committee of New Haven. He was appointed by

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate State ...

, with whom he enjoyed a personal relationship, in 1861 as postmaster of New Haven, and served until removed by

President Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Dem ...

in 1886. He was again appointed postmaster by President Harrison, serving from 1890 to 1894.

Congress

Sperry was elected as a Republican to the 54th and to the seven succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1911). He served as chairman of the Committee on Alcohol Liquor Traffic ( 56th through 61st Congresses). He is considered the originator of the

Rural Free Delivery Rural Free Delivery (RFD), since 1906 officially rural delivery, is a program of the United States Post Office Department to deliver mail directly to rural destinations. The program began in the late 19th century. Before that, people living in ru ...

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.

Death and burial

He died in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, on November 13, 1911, aged 84. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperry, Nehemiah Day 1827 births 1911 deaths Connecticut city council members People from Woodbridge, Connecticut Secretaries of the state of Connecticut Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives