User:Halvorsen brian/G. L. Perrine

George L. Perrine (November 1857 – May 11, 1945) was an American socialist activist, politician and brick mason in St. Johns, Oregon. He represented the Second Ward of St. Johns, Oregon on the city council in 1911 and 1915. He was elected as the at-large council member in 1912, but did not appear at any meetings causing his seat to be vacated. During that time Perrine was touring the country selling his patented "vacuum fireplace".

Biography
Perrine was born in Michigan in November 1857.

George Perrine married Tillie Crowther on May 23, 1883 in Linn County, Kansas. The two had four children; daughters Anna and Georgia, and sons Gail and Richard.

Perrine was brick mason by trade, specializing in fire places. The editor of the St. Johns Review wrote in 1913, "The great and peerless fireplace builder, G. L. Perrine has just completed installing one of his unsurpassed fireplaces in the home of the [Review]  editor." He trained his son, Gail Parrine, to follow in his footsteps as a brick mason.

In 1897 Perrine moved his family to Clatskanie, Oregon. His family would give a free meals to people visiting Clatskanie.

Begining in 1901, Perrine advertised as a general contractor, plasterer, and brick mason in The Oregon Mist, the newspaper in St. Helens, Oregon. He served as the contractor during the construction of the Imperial Hotel in Clatskanie.

Perrine served as an election judge in Clatskanie during the 1900 elections. In 1902 he ran as a socialist in the Oregon House of Representatives for Columbia County. He came in third out of three candidates with 124 votes.

The St. Johns Review, the city's only periodical, often featured columns and letters from Perrine.

Perrine's first run for office in St. Johns came in the April 1909 elections as the socialist candidate for Mayor of St. Johns. He received 154 votes to the victor J. F. Hendricks, who received 309 votes.

In 1911 Perrine sought the office of City Councilman At-Large. He was unsuccessful in getting enough votes to win one of the three at-large seats.

Perrine supervised the construction of James John High School in 1910.

Perrine sought office for a second time in 1911. He was successful in his election for City Councilman for the Second District, serving alongside Pascal Hill. Perrine served on the water and light, building and grounds, and liquor licences committees. During his tenure on the City Council the St. Johns Review put the suffix "Soc." by his name, which stood socialist. According to the Review they did that at the request of Perrine. His trade often took him out of town, which forced him to miss several council meetings.

During a council meeting in April 1911, Perrine stated his belief that the Chief of Police should be on duty all day and there should be one officer who is on duty from 1 p.m. to midnight and the other to serve from 9 p.m. until relieved by the Chief of Police in the morning.

In May 1911 Perrine spoke to the City Council on the topic of the Maple street sewer, which he asserted was poorly constructed. According to Perrine when he went to touch the concrete it crumbled like dirt. His motion to replace the sewer and the other sewers built by Seybold was passed by the council unanimously. He held a public meeting at the St. Johns City Hall in late May 1911 to lay out his findings of his investigation into the sewers as a member of the building and grounds committee. Perrine called the city engineer before the council in June 1911 and accused him of working with the contractor to use less materials and labor required under the specifications passed by the council.

Instead of running as an incumbent in St. Johns' Second Ward, Perrine chose to run for Councilmember At-Large in 1912, the seat he failed to be elected to in 1910. Coming in third in the vote with 371 ballots cast in his favor, Perrine secured the last at-large seat on the council. He served alongside independent politician J. E. Hiller and D. Frank Horsman, who was a member of the Republican and Democratic party coalition. However, after several absences given to his brick mason work the St. Johns City Council vacated Perrine's seat and appointed I. B. Martin in his place in July 1912. He returned to Portland after a thirteen month absence in July 1913. According the St. Johns Review Perrine toured the east coast selling his fireplaces, which he called Perrine Vacuum Fireplaces.

Despite never having any formal legal training, Perrine served as a candidate for the Judge of the Multnomah County Circuit Court Number Four on the Socialist ticket. He received 3,600 votes, putting him in third out of four candidates.

Perrine stood staunchly against the censorship ordnance and spoke against it at city council meetings before and after it was in January 1915. He argued that the public should not be ignorant to things they may find unsavory, instead the public should educate themselves and not allow the government to be the gatekeepers of knowledge.

Perrine served on St. Johns last City Council in 1915 after the voters of St. Johns chose to have their city annexed to Portland. Perrine had supported the measure, which voters approved ###–### during the April election which also swept Perrine back into office. During the council meetings before Portland took over the municipal responsibilities, Perrine secured $20 for the planting of Norway maple trees to be planted throughout St. Johns, supported a leash law, and secured a "comfort center' near city hall which would be for public use..

In 1920 Perrine and business partners F. M. Heidel and John M. Wall incorporated the Perrine Vacuum Fireplace Company in Hillsboro, Oregon with $5,000 in capital.

On October 10, 1910 Perrine's eldest son, Gail Van Perrine, was married at their family home in St. Johns. Reverend C. P. Gaits married Gail Perrine to Carrie M. Hyde of St. Johns.