Bishop Walden PERKINS, Congress, KS (1841-1894)

PERKINS Bishop Walden , a Representative and a Senator from Kansas; born in Rochester, Lorain County, Ohio, October 18, 1841; attended the common schools and Knox College, Galesburg, Ill.; prospected for gold through California and New Mexico 1860-1862; served four years in the Union Army during the Civil War as sergeant, adjutant, and captain; studied law in Ottawa, Ill.; admitted to the bar in 1867, and commenced the practice of law in Princeton, Ind.; moved to Oswego, Labette County, Kans., and continued practice; local county attorney for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad for two years; prosecuting attorney of Labette County 1869; judge of the probate court of Labette County 1870-1882; became editor of the Oswego Register in 1873; elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1891); chair, Committee on Indian Affairs (Fifty-first Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress; appointed to the United States Senate as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Preston B. Plumb and served from January 1, 1892, to March 3, 1893, when a successor was elected and qualified; resumed the practice of his profession in Washington, D.C., and died there June 20, 1894; interment in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present