In the 1856 spring elections, the Know Nothing movement was popular in Madison Township, and the Democrats nominated Perkins for township clerk; to their surprise, he won, and his actions in office won him the reputation of one of the best clerks the township ever had.
Thurston was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses and as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1857).
Harris was elected as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1855 - March 3, 1861).