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Fountain M. Perkins
Member From: 1869 - 1871
- Birth Date: 1816 or 1817 Birth Place:Louisa County, VA
- Death Date: October 23, 1896
- Gender: Male Race: African American
- Spouse: Esther (sometimes spelled Easter)
- Children: Six sons, two daughters
- Religion: Baptist
- Education:
- Military Service:
- Occupation/Profession: Farmer and Pastor
- Memberships/Affiliations: African American First Baptist Church, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Springfield Baptist Church, Faulter’s Creek (later Foster’s Creek) Baptist Church, Colored Shiloh Baptist Association
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Additional Info Links:
Bio from Encyclopedia Virginia
Bio from Virginia's Martin Luther King Jr. Commission
- Bio: Fountain M. Perkins was born into slavery and later served one term in the House of Delegates (1869–1871). An overseer on his owner’s farm, by 1867 he was a preacher and had become a political figure. A local official with the Freedmen’s Bureau considered him a prominent man in Louisa County. Perkins began speaking at political meetings and was considered a candidate for the Constitutional Convention of 1867–1868, the first election in which Virginia’s African American men could vote. In 1869 he won one of the county’s two seats in the House of Delegates. He voted to ratify the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which the state was required to do before being readmitted to the United States. Perkins did not run for reelection in 1871 but stayed active in politics during the next two decades, attending local Republican meetings, sitting as an election judge, and serving on the state central committee. He acquired property and farmed, and then, in 1896, died of the effects of paralysis in Louisa County.
| Session | District | District Number | Party | Leadership | Committees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1869-1871 | Louisa | Agriculture and Mining Retrenchment and the Economy |
*The information within this interactive and searchable application has been researched extensively by the House Clerk’s Office. As with any historical records of this age and breadth, there may be discrepancies and/or inconsistencies within records obtained from a variety of credible sources. Any feedback is encouraged at history@house.virginia.gov.