Frederick Allen Perley was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on December 19, 1876. Perley was a civil engineer who was co-proprietor of the logging firm Perley & Crockett. He first arrived in Black Mountain, North Carolina in 1913 to supervise the timber work of his firm in that region. Perley later served as president of the Black Mountain Chamber of Commerce. He died at his winter home in Lee County, Florida on March 19, 1955.