HEATH, PERRY SANFORD: 1857-1927.
" Perry Sanford Heath (Aug. 31, 1857-Mar. 30, 1927), newspaper man and politician, was one of the six sons of Jacob W. and Rhoda A. Perdieu Heath, of Muncie, Ind. … Perry shifted for himself from an early age. At twenty-one he was editor and proprietor of Muncie's first daily newspaper, and three years later he was publishing the PIONEER at Aberdeen , Dakota Territory. For the next twelve years he worked as a newspaper correspondent at Washington … from 1894 to 1896 he was editor of the CINCINNATI COMMERCIAL-GAZETTE and … had a significant part in directing the publishing and printing for the Republican National Committee. "When the McKinley administration took office Heath was made first assistant postmaster-general … He installed the rural free delivery system although some experimenting had been done during the Cleveland administration, and within three years the number of routes provided in this service was increased from 44 to 1,214 … When he resigned from the service in July, 1900, serious irregularities had come to light in the Cuban postal service, then administered by the United States … In 1903 came disclosures involving men in the department at Washington , several of whom owed their places to him., but when charges were made against him after his resignation, the District Attorney did not find sufficient evidence to indict him. In the meantime he had returned to newspaper work, having bought the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE in 1901, and established the TELEGRAM, an evening paper, in the following year. He had married Ella Conway, of Louisville, Ky., in 1890 …"
page: 142[View Page 142]Condensed from W. B. S., Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. VIII.
- A Hoosier in Russia. New York,
1888.
