{{Short description|American lawyer (1838–1929)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Oran D. Perry | office = Indiana Adjutant General | predecessor = John R. Ward | successor = George W. McCoy | term_start = 1905 | term_end = 1909 | birth_date = February 1, 1838 | birth_place = Liberty, Indiana | death_place = Indianapolis, Indiana | death_date = November 30, 1929 (aged 91) | resting_place = Earlham Cemetery<br>Richmond, Indiana | spouse = Mary Jane Poe | service_years = 1861–1865 | rank = 35px Lieutenant Colonel<br>35px Brevet Colonel | unit = {{Flagicon|Indiana}} 16th Indiana Infantry Regiment<br>69th Indiana Infantry Regiment | branch = {{flagicon|USA|1861}} Union Army | allegiance = {{flagicon|USA|1861}} United States of America | battles = American Civil War | image = File:Colonel Oran Perry.jpg | caption = Colonel Oran Perry c.1865 | governor = Winfield T. Durbin }}

'''Oran D. Perry''' (February 1, 1838 – November 30, 1929) was an Indiana lawyer, military officer, American Civil War veteran, businessman, and the Indiana Adjutant General from 1905 to 1909 under Governor of Indiana Winfield T. Durbin and Frank Hanly.

== Early life == Oran Perry was born on February 1, 1838, in Liberty, Indiana, as the son of James Perry and Elizabeth Snowden. In 1844 his family moved to Richmond, Indiana where he lived for much of his childhood.<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Susan E. |url=http://archive.org/details/richmond0000king |title=Richmond |date=2005 |publisher=Charleston, SC : Arcadia |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7385-3994-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Indianapolis times (Indianapolis [Ind.]), November 30, 1929, (Noon Edition) |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82015313/1929-11-30/ed-1/ |access-date=November 26, 2025 |website=LOC}}</ref> Perry's family were Quakers and he attended Quaker schools while growing up in Richmond.

== Military career == During the American Civil War Perry volunteered for service in the Union Army on April 23, 1861, as a private in Company B of the 16th Indiana Infantry Regiment.<ref name="nps.gov">{{Cite web |title=Soldier Details – The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm |access-date=November 6, 2025 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> Perry was eventually appointed as the Sergeant Major of Company B and mustered out of service with the regiment on May 23, 1862.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Indiana. Adjutant General's Office. cn |url=https://archive.org/details/reportofadjutant04indi/page/310/mode/2up |title=Report of the Adjutant General of the state of Indiana .. |last2=Terrell |first2=William H. H. |date=1865 |publisher=Indianapolis, A.H. Connor [etc.] State Printer |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center |pages=310}}</ref> The regiment was present at the Battle of Ball's Bluff in October 1861.

On July 18, 1862, Perry reenlisted in the 69th Indiana Infantry Regiment and was appointed as the regiment's adjutant with the rank of First Lieutenant.<ref name="nps.gov"/><ref name="Terrell, William H. H.-1865">{{Cite book |last1=Indiana. Adjutant General's Office. cn |url=https://archive.org/details/reportofadjutant02indi/page/628/mode/2up |title=Report of the Adjutant General of the state of Indiana .. |last2=Terrell |first2=William H. H. |date=1865 |publisher=Indianapolis, A.H. Connor [etc.] State Printer |others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center |pages=628}}</ref> The 69th Indiana was mainly recruited out of Winchester and Richmond, Indiana, along with Wayne County and Hancock County. Perry fought with the 69th Indiana at the Battle of Richmond where he was captured as a prisoner of war, but was later paroled.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Steve |title=Out of Our Past: Remembering some local Civil War heroes this Veterans Day |url=https://www.pal-item.com/story/news/local/2019/11/10/out-our-past-recalling-local-civil-war-heroes-veterans-day/4155556002/ |access-date=November 6, 2025 |website=Palladium-Item |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Steve |title=Out of Our Past: Wounded troops, enemy fire affected Civil War soldier |url=https://www.pal-item.com/story/news/local/2021/12/23/out-our-past-wounded-troops-enemy-fire-affected-civil-war-soldier/8996491002/ |access-date=November 6, 2025 |website=Palladium-Item |language=en-US}}</ref>

Perry was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the 69th Indiana on March 13, 1863, and fought in the following battles with the regiment; the Battle of Richmond, the Yazoo Pass Expedition, the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, the Battle of Arkansas Post, the Battle of Port Gibson, the Battle of Champion Hill, the Battle of Big Black River Bridge, the Siege of Vicksburg, the Bayou Teche Campaign, the Red River Campaign, and the Battle of Fort Blakeley.<ref name="nps.gov-2">{{Cite web |title=Battle Unit Details – The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm |access-date=November 6, 2025 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908.</ref>

Near the end of the war Perry commanded the "residuary battalion" of the regiment which included just a couple of companies of the original regiment before it was mustered out of federal service on July 5, 1865.<ref name="Terrell, William H. H.-1865" /><ref name="nps.gov-2" /> Perry received the brevet rank of Colonel when mustered out of federal service for gallant actions while serving with the regiment.

== Mining career == thumb|Big Five Mining Company Vice President Oran Perry c.1901 Perry was the Vice president of the "Big Five" Mining Company out of Denver, Colorado.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benesch |first=Adolph B. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433082541149&seq=248 |title=Men of Indiana in nineteen hundred and one. |date=1901 |publisher=The Benesch publishing company |location=Indianapolis, Ind., Cleveland, O. |pages=228}}</ref> The Big Five Company (also written as "Big 5") was a mining conglomerate originally founded by William P. Daniels of Rockport, Illinois and Nathan C. Merrill.<ref name="library.ucsd.edu">{{Cite web |title=The Belman, a Gold Mining Corporation of the Big Five Mines at Idaho |url=https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb3450097z/_1.pdf |access-date=November 6, 2025 |website=library.ucsd.edu}}</ref> The Big Five Company owned and operated a series of gold and silver mines which operated out of Frances, Idaho Springs, and Howardsville, Colorado, as well as the state of Sonora in Mexico.<ref name="library.ucsd.edu" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=An Inventory of the Records of the Big Five Mining Company |url=https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2019/mss.00060_big_5_mining_co.pdf |access-date=November 26, 2025 |website=www.historycolorado.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Big 5 |url=https://westernmininghistory.com/mine-detail/10165818/ |access-date=November 6, 2025 |website=Western Mining History |language=en-US}}</ref>

== The Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument == [[File:Historic American Buildings Survey, Aug 1970 BUTTRESSES IN BASE UNDERGROUND.jpg|thumb|Interior of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in August 1970.]] thumb|Monument Circle Dedication in Indianapolis on May 15, 1902. Perry served as the first superintendent of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Indianapolis which was constructed from 1887 until 1902.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Soldiers and Sailors Monument – Indiana War Memorials Foundation |url=https://www.indianawarmemorials.org/explore/soldiers-and-sailors-monument/ |access-date=November 6, 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=State Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument-Indianapolis |url=https://library.indianapolis.iu.edu/static/collections/kade/soldiers.html |access-date=November 6, 2025 |website=library.indianapolis.iu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical records of Union County, Indiana |page=52 |url=https://iue.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=57395891 |access-date=November 26, 2025 |website=iue.libguides.com}}</ref> In 1918 Perry created a gallery of military history in the lower level which eventually became the "Eli Lilly Museum" which was later owned by the Indiana War Memorial. During this time Perry also wrote several notable books pertinent to Indiana military history including his 1908 title ''Indiana in the Mexican War'', which was a compiled report of Indiana volunteer regiment during the Mexican–American War.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perry |first=Oran |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000166816 |title=Indiana in the Mexican war |date=1908 |publisher=W. B. Burford, contractor for state printing |location=Indianapolis}}</ref> Perry would become the longest serving superintendent for the monument serving from 1919 until his death in 1929.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crippen |first=Lee F. |date=December 1, 1928 |title=Recollections of the Civil War by Oran Perry |url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/6478 |journal=Indiana Magazine of History |language=en |issn=1942-9711}}</ref>

== Adjutant General == Starting in 1905 Perry was appointed as the Indiana Adjutant General under the Governor of Indiana Winfield T. Durbin, a fellow American Civil War veteran. Perry served as the Adjutant General for the state from 1905 to 1909.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indiana Guardsman: An Indiana National Guard Publication |url=http://www.in.ng.mil/Portals/0/PageContents/ForMedia/Publications/IG_2015_Summer.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908194900/http://www.in.ng.mil/Portals/0/PageContents/ForMedia/Publications/IG_2015_Summer.pdf |archive-date=September 8, 2015 |access-date=November 7, 2025 |website=www.in.ng.mil}}</ref>

== Personal life and death == Perry was married to Mary Jane Poe (1841–1936) on May 17, 1866, in Wayne County, Indiana. Perry died on Saturday November 30, 1929, in Indianapolis. He is buried at the Earlham Cemetery in Richmond.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Indianapolis times (Indianapolis [Ind.]), December 2, 1929, (Home Edition) |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82015313/1929-12-02/ed-1/ |access-date=November 26, 2025 |website=LOC}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == *{{commons category-inline}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Oran D.}} Category:1838 births Category:1929 deaths Category:People from Liberty, Indiana Category:People from Richmond, Indiana Category:People of Indiana in the American Civil War Category:Military personnel from Indiana Category:Union army officers Category:Indiana lawyers Category:20th-century American lawyers