Fred T. Perris

Fred Thomas Perris (January 2 1836 – May 12 1916) was Chief Engineer of the California Southern Railroad, a company chartered to build a rail connection between the present day cities of San Diego and Barstow, California. Perris oversaw construction of the railroad through Cajon Pass, a route that is still in use by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad.cite book| author=Serpico, Philip C.| title=Santa Fé Route to the Pacific| year=1988| publisher=Omni Publications| Location=Palmdale, California| id=ISBN 0-88418-000-X| pages=pp 18-24| ] The city of Perris, California, a station on the California Southern Railroad, was named in his honor. [cite web| author=City of Perris, California| url=http://www.cityofperris.org/history.asp| title=A Brief History of the Perris Valley| accessdate=2006-07-09| ]

Youth and education

Frederick Thomas Perris (January 2, 1837 – May 12 1916) [LDS Church geneological records] was born in Gloucester, England. At age 12 his parents emigrated to Australia, where he was apprenticed to an architect/mechanic. At age 16 he moved again with his mother and sisters, settling in the Mormon colony at San Bernardino, California, where he was employed as the chain boy on the crew that surveyed and subdivided that city. Four years later, when the colony collapsed the family moved to Utah, where they learned his father, rather than join the Mormons, had sold his assets in Australia, returned to England and died. He proceeded to England to settle his father's estate. During the two years that required, he was employed as an apprentice in the new technology of photography. Returning to America with his childhood sweetheart as his bride, he proceeded to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he attempted, apparently without much success, to sell his wares as a photographer. [There are two stories in The Evening Deseret News (microfilm copies in the Marriott Library of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City). July 1862, in a story on entries at the "State Fair" mentions Fred Perris in the photography exhibit, showing his ambrotypes. Again in January 1863, a reporter wrote that an audience in Santaquin was amazed and amused when Brother Perris, using a strong magnifying glass and a lantern, showed an audience his photographs. Utah was a territory at the time. The "State" referred to was the State of Deseret, the name the Mormon settlers wanted but never got.]

Career

In 1863, at age 26, he was hired to survey and subdivide land for a city named Perris, Idaho. (later renamed Paris) That landed him a position surveying a route for the transcontinental railroad across Utah; but he lost his job in a labor dispute with the territorial governor, Brigham Young. He worked for a number of years as a haberdasher, and involved himself in radical politics. He was one of the founders of the Liberal Party of Utah, running for a seat on the city council. Although the party was defeated 20 to 1 in the election, it was a milestone in that it was the first multi-party election in territorial history. [Fred Perris in Deseret by Neil Jensen, published by the author, P. O .Box 1014, Mountain View, CA 94042. Available at the Perris Valley Historical Museum, Perris, California.] He was one of the founders of the Salt Lake Tribune, originally designed to be the voice of the party; but which has since evolved into the largest newspaper in the state. For two years in its infancy he ran the paper. His was the only name on the masthead during a time when resentment was high against a dissenting opinion against the dominant religion. Then in 1874 he abruptly resigned, sold the paper to a half dozen outsiders, and moved to San Bernardino where he spent the remaining forty years of his life.

In the first year he attempted to establish a newspaper in southern California; but then was offered the job as county surveyor. In that capacity he surveyed the largest county (in terms of land area) of the United States, which included Death Valley and the San Bernardino Mountains. He laid out sites for reservoirs and laid the foundations for the water system that now supplies Southern California. When railroads came to the area he first went to work as Chief Engineer of the California Southern Railroad, a company chartered to build a rail line between San Diego and Barstow, California. When it was taken over in a merger, he advanced to Chief Engineer of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, overseeing the construction of railroad through the difficult Cajon Pass in 1895 (where Interstate 15 now passes), a route that is still in use by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. He held that position for 35 years.

Legacy

Two cities in the United States are named in his honor, Perris, California, and Paris, Idaho.

References