Perley Keyes (February 24, 1774 in – May 13, 1834) was an American politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

Keyes was born in Acworth, then in Cheshire County, now in

Sullivan County, New Hampshire Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,063, making it the second-least populous county in New Hampshire. Its county seat is Newport. Sullivan County is included in the Cl ...

, the son of Capt. William Keyes (born 1740) and Hannah (Scarborough) Keyes. On November 20, 1796, he married Lorinda White, and they had three children. They moved to Rutland, New York in 1800. Keyes was an associate judge of the Jefferson County Court in 1807, and Sheriff of Jefferson County from 1808 to 1812. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(Western D.) from 1814 to 1815, sitting in the 37th and 38th; and (Eastern D.) from 1816 to 1817, sitting in the 39th and

40th New York State Legislature The 40th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from November 5, 1816, to April 15, 1817, during the tenth year of Daniel D. Tompkins's governorship, and while John Tayler was Act ...

s. While in the Senate, Keyes was nominated on November 18, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 9, 1814, as Collector of Customs at

Sackett's Harbor Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sackett (surname), Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augu ...

. He was also a member of the Council of Appointment in 1816. He was again a member of the State Senate (5th D.) from 1824 to 1827, sitting in the 47th, 48th, 49th and

50th New York State Legislature The 50th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to December 4, 1827, during the third year of DeWitt Clinton's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany. B ...

s. Keyes and his friend Silas Wright were both stalwart supporters of Martin Van Buren. After his presidency, Van Buren described his deceased friend in the following way: " ile eyes'want of education was often embarrassing to himself and his friends, still his profound knowledge of the springs of human action always seemed to be an ample compensation; and that he had never met the man whom he thought the Almighty had created shrewder than Perley Keyes." Upon Keyes' death in

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the ...

his political understudy

Orville Hungerford Orville Hungerford (October 29, 1790 – April 6, 1851) was a two-term United States Representative for the 19th District in New York. He was also a prominent merchant, banker, industrialist, freemason, philanthropist, and railroad president in ...

took over the Democratic Party in Jefferson County, New York.''The North Country, A History, Embracing Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Lewis and Franklin Counties, New York'', by Harry F. Landon, published by Historical Publishing Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932, page 422.

References

Sources

''Genealogy of the Descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Mass.''
by Almira Larkin White (1900; Vol. 2; pg. 430)
''History of Acworth''
by John Leverett Merrill (pg. 233)
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 122f, 125ff, 142 and 401; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the U.S. Senate''
(1828; Vol. II; pg. 586-590) {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Perley 1774 births 1834 deaths People from Acworth, New Hampshire Politicians from Watertown, New York New York (state) state senators New York (state) sheriffs New York (state) Democratic-Republicans