William F. Perry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 12, 1823 Jackson County, Georgia |
| Died | December 18, 1901 (aged 78) Bowling Green, Kentucky |
| Buried | Fairview Cemetery, Bowling Green, Kentucky |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States of America |
| Service |  Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1862–1865 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Commands | 44th Alabama Infantry Regiment Alabama Brigade |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
| Other work | college professor |
William Flank Perry (March 12, 1823 – December 18, 1901) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. Before the war, he was a self-taught teacher and lawyer, but never practiced law. Perry was elected Alabama's first superintendent of public education and was twice re-elected. He was president of East Alabama Female College[1] at Tuskegee, Alabama, between 1858 and 1862. He joined the 44th Alabama Infantry Regiment as a private but quickly was promoted to major, then colonel. After exercising brigade command for almost nine months in 1864 and early 1865, Perry was promoted to brigadier general near the end of the war. After returning to Alabama and working as a planter for two years, he moved to Kentucky, where he resumed teaching. For many years, he was professor of English and philosophy at Ogden College, Bowling Green, Kentucky.[2]
- ^ Although Warner and Faust give this name for the school, Eicher, Sifakis and Boatner give a more general identification, not the specific name of the school. Other sources consulted do not give the East Alabama Female College name for a female college at Tuskegee, Alabama, during the late 1850s. Tuskegee Female College (now Huntingdon College) was founded at Tuskegee in 1854. The school was renamed "Alabama Conference Female College" in 1872. The word "Conference" relates to the Methodist Church, which founded the school. Apparently, Perry was president of this school, not a school named East Alabama Female College but otherwise unidentifiable.
- ^ The Ogden College name remains active as The Ogden College of Science and Technology at Western Kentucky University. This college of Western Kentucky University is located on the campus of the earlier institution, Ogden College, where General Perry was a professor. Ogden College was established in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1877 under a provision in the will of Major Robert W. Ogden. The original Ogden College closed and its properties were leased to Western Kentucky University in 1928. The name "Ogden College" reappeared in 1965 when the Ogden College of Science and Technology was established within Western Kentucky University. Western Kentucky University web site, retrieved December 4, 2011.