PERLEY, Ira, jurist, born in Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts, 9 November, 1799; died in Concord, New Hampshire, 26 February, 1874. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1822, was a tutor there from 1823 till 1825, studied law at Hanover, New Hampshire, and began practice there in 1827. He was treasurer of the college from 1830 till 1835. Mr. Perley was a member of the legislature from Hanover in 1834, and from Concord in 1839 and 1870. He was an associate justice of the superior court from July, 1850, till October, 185:2, and chief justice of the supreme judicial court from 1855 till 1859, and again from 1864 till 1869. After his resignation in 1869 he resumed the practice of the law as a consulting lawyer. His decisions as a judge were highly praised, and he was a profound scholar and a good linguist. He received the degree of LL.D. from Dartmouth in 1852.