Louis Perrill
There are three means of measuring the magnitude of the farmer's income: the area of land under cultivation, the amount of working capital employed and the productive labor the farm furnishes. These three factors are not independent of each other. In general, the larger the area of productive land the greater the working capital and the amount of productive labor, but this is not always the case. Data are not available for determining the independent influence of these three means of measuring the magnitude of the farming business, but much data has been collected by the United States government to show that each is closely correlated with profit. A most interesting study has been recently issued by the Department of Agriculture in regard to the farmer's profits. A detailed study of two hundred and seventy-three farms in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa revealed the fact that average profits are as follows: For farms averaging thirty-seven acres the profit was $416; seventy-two acres averaged $848; and increasing averages up to six hundred and twenty-three acres with a profit of $6,182. Whether Fayette county measures up to these averages the historian does not know, but if all the farmers of the county were as successful as Louis Perrill, there would he no question hut that they were fully up to the average.
Louis Perrill. the son of John and Margaret J. (Sparks) Perrill, was born November 10, 1862, in Jasper township, in this county. His father was a native of Ross county, Ohio, and came to Fayette county when a young man. He married after settling in this county and reared a family of eleven children, nine of whom are still living: George, Mrs. Ivy Acton, Louis, Mrs. Rebecca Custus, Edward L., Mrs. Laura M. Jones, Mrs. Margaret Glass, C. H., Frank and two infants who died in infancy. The mother of these eleven children was the daughter of Elias and (Hall) Sparks. John Perrill, the father of Louis, was one of three children, the other two being James and Mrs. Mary Brown.
Louis Perrill was educated in the schools of Jasper township and early in life began to assist with the work on the home farm. He spent all of his summer vacations on the farm and in this way had a good practical knowledge of all phases of agricultural life by the time he had reached his majority. At the age of twenty-six he moved to his present farm of two hundred and forty-seven acres, which, with the farm of one hundred and thirty acres since acquired, makes him one of the largest land owners of his township. He divides his attention between farming and stock raising and has met with a success commensurate with his efforts.
Mr. Perrill was married February 9, 1898, to Lucy Johnson, the daughter of Solomon and Mary (Creamer) Johnson. To this marriage there has been born one son, Wallace C. Mr. Perrill and his wife are loyal members of the Methodist Protestant church and are actively engaged in the work of their church. Mr. Perrill is superintendent of the Sabbath school and one of the class leaders of his denomination.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Politically, he has always been identified with the Republican party and has been active in political matters in his county. He has served as trustee of Jefferson township to the satisfaction of his fellow citizens and at the present time is filling the important office of county commissioner, being elected to that position in the fall of 1912 by a handsome majority and re-elected in the fall of 1914 for a second term by one thousand majority.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)