# Perley Keyes
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{{Short description|American politician (1774-1834)}}
'''Perley Keyes''' (February 24, 1774 in – May 13, 1834) was an American politician from [New York](/source/New_York_(state)).
==Life==
Keyes was born in [Acworth](/source/Acworth%2C_New_Hampshire), then in [Cheshire County](/source/Cheshire_County%2C_New_Hampshire), now in [Sullivan County, New Hampshire](/source/Sullivan_County%2C_New_Hampshire), 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](/source/Rutland%2C_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. One historian noted the following: "Judge Keyes, as he was called, was without early educational privileges, and, like many of his contemporaries, was being launched upon the world unaided and alone. He had a powerful frame, a well-balanced brain, and a sanguine temperament."["History of Jefferson County, New York with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers." compiled by Samuel W. Durant & Henry B. Pierce, published by L.H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1878, p. 182.]
Keyes was a member of the [New York State Senate](/source/New_York_State_Senate) (Western D.) from 1814 to 1815, sitting in the [37th](/source/37th_New_York_State_Legislature) and [38th](/source/38th_New_York_State_Legislature); and (Eastern D.) from 1816 to 1817, sitting in the [39th](/source/39th_New_York_State_Legislature) and [40th New York State Legislature](/source/40th_New_York_State_Legislature)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](/source/Sackett's_Harbor). He was also a member of the [Council of Appointment](/source/Council_of_Appointment) in 1816.
In 1820, Keyes, who opposed slavery, ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress against attorney Micah Sterling, a graduate of Yale College who owned a slave.["150 Years of Watertown . . . A History", by Harry F. Landon, The Watertown Daily Times, Watertown, N.Y., 1950, p.20.] Even though he won the vote in Watertown, N.Y., Keyes lost his bid for Congress because he did not have enough support in Jefferson County.["150 Years of Watertown . . . A History", by Harry F. Landon, The Watertown Daily Times, Watertown, N.Y., 1950, p.20.] He was again a member of the State Senate (5th D.) from 1824 to 1827, sitting in the [47th](/source/47th_New_York_State_Legislature), [48th](/source/48th_New_York_State_Legislature), [49th](/source/49th_New_York_State_Legislature) and [50th New York State Legislature](/source/50th_New_York_State_Legislature)s.
Keyes and his friend [Silas Wright](/source/Silas_Wright) were both stalwart supporters of [Martin Van Buren](/source/Martin_Van_Buren). After his presidency, Van Buren described his deceased friend in the following way: "[W]hile [Keyes'] 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."[''History and Proceedings of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, 1880-1889'' by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, Massachusetts, Press of E.A. Hall & Co., Greenfield, Massachusetts, in the chapter titled "Silas Wright. Recollections of a New York Statesman by Hon. W.W. Wright", 1898, Volume II, page 218.]
At age sixty, Keyes was struck down by "[apoplexy](/source/apoplexy)" and died on May 13, 1834.["History of Jefferson County, New York with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers." compiled by Samuel W. Durant & Henry B. Pierce, published by L.H. Everts & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1878, p. 182.] Upon Keyes' death in [Watertown, New York](/source/Watertown%2C_New_York) his political understudy [Orville Hungerford](/source/Orville_Hungerford) 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==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=uqVbAAAAMAAJ&q=perley+keyes+1774+1834 ''Genealogy of the Descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Mass.''] by Almira Larkin White (1900; Vol. 2; pg. 430)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=YnIUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA233 ''History of Acworth''] by John Leverett Merrill (pg. 233)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=E3sFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA125 ''The New York Civil List''] compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 122f, 125ff, 142 and 401; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=amAUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA586 ''Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the U.S. Senate''] (1828; Vol. II; pg. 586-590)
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-ny-sen}}
{{succession box | before = [Samuel Beardsley](/source/Samuel_Beardsley) | title = [New York State Senate](/source/New_York_State_Senate)
Fifth District (Class 1) | years = 1824 - 1827 | after = [Nathaniel S. Benton](/source/Nathaniel_S._Benton)}}
{{s-end}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|New York (state)|Politics|United States}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Perley}}
Category:1774 births
Category:1834 deaths
Category:People from Acworth, New Hampshire
Category:Politicians from Watertown, New York
Category:New York (state) state senators
Category:Sheriffs in New York (state)
Category:New York (state) Democratic-Republicans
Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Perley Keyes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perley_Keyes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perley_Keyes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.