Chadbourne Whitmore Perry (1876-1921)

From the January 6, 1909 Kennebec Daily Journal.

    Born into a prominent family in Fort Fairfield, Maine, Chadbourne Whitmore Perry possesses a flowery name that brings to mind a successful, affluent man of means. True to that description, Perry was for many years an insurance dealer in Fort Fairfield and was a member of numerous fraternal groups in the Aroostook County. Perry would also represent Fort Fairfield in the Maine state legislature on two occasions between 1907-1911.

   The son of Henry Otis  (1829-1913) and Hattie Ruby (Witham) Perry, Chadbourne W. Perry was born on December 17, 1876. A distinguished citizen of Fort Fairfield, Henry Otis Perry was a Civil War veteran and insurance agent who occupied several political offices during his life including stints as selectman, school superintendent, and member of the Maine legislature (serving from 1867-68.) The origins behind Chadbourne's unusual first name remain unknown, and the spelling of his middle name is variously given as Whitmore, Whitemore, and Whittemore (the first instance being given on his 1917 draft registration.) 

   Chadbourne W. Perry would graduate from the Fort Fairfield High School in 1894 and in September 1898 married to Estella McDougal (born 1874) to whom he was wed until his death in 1921. The couple later had three daughters, Louise (born 1900), Maxine (1902-1991), and Katherine (born 1909). 

   Early in his life, Perry joined his father in the latter's insurance business, eventually becoming a partner. Upon Henry Perry's death in 1913, he became the sole operator of that business and also succeeded his father as agent for the American Express Company. Active in several other business concerns in Fort Fairfield, Perry also served as the director of the Frontier Trust Company in the 1910s.

  In 1906 Chadbourne Perry began treading the political waters, winning election to the Maine House of Representatives from Aroostook County. During the 1907-09 session, he sat on the committees on Mercantile Affairs and Insurance and following his re-election to the house in 1908 served on the committee on Pensions. Perry would also have some oddly named company during this session, serving alongside Eldrean Orff, Verdi Ludgate, and Beloni Dufour. 

Portrait from the Fort Fairfield Review, April 3, 1907.

   Returning to his insurance business after leaving the legislature, Chadbourne Perry also maintained memberships amongst several fraternal groups in Maine, including the Houlton Commandary of the Knights Templar, the Garfield Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons, the Knights of Pythias of Fort Fairfield and the Eastern Frontier Lodge, #112 of Free and Accepted Masons.  Perry died in Fort Fairfield on December 11, 1921, shortly before his 45th birthday, his cause of death being recorded as "chronic alcoholism." He was survived by his wife and was interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Fort Fairfield.