Madison Starke Perry (1814 – March 1865) was the fourth Governor of Florida. Perry's term of office coincided with Florida's secession from the United States in January 1861 and the outbreak of the American Civil War.

Early life

Madison Starke Perry was born in 1814, in Lancaster County, South Carolina, the youngest child of Benjamin Perry and his wife Mary Starke. He attended South Carolina College, where he was a member of the Euphradian Society.

He came to Florida in the 1830s, settling on a plantation in Alachua County and became a leader among the area's plantation owners. He was elected in 1849 to represent the county in the Florida House of Representatives. The following year he was elected to the Florida Senate. until illness forced his resignation on April 30, 1863. He retired to his plantation in Rochelle, where he died in March 1865, aged 50 or 51, shortly before the end of the American Civil War. Survived by his wife and two children, he was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Rochelle.

The city of Perry, Florida, is named in his honor. The city of Starke, Florida, may have been named in his honor.

Notes

  • Biography at National Governors Association
  • History of the 7th Florida Regiment
  • Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida