JUDGE ALBERT G. PERRY

 

 

     Albert G. Perry, b July 3,1807 in Knoxville, Tennessee, d March 22, 1874 at his a few miles northwest of Marlin, Falls County, Texas and buried in the family cemetery on a hill located on his land-was a son of Albert and Barthena Perry, natives of Ireland and England, respectively. Receiving his early education in Knoxville, he was sent to Selma, Alabama ca 1823 to study law with an elder brother, where he was admitted to the Bar and began his first law practice. He nurtured a dream of going to Texas - then considered the land of romance and adventure; and in November 1831, Albert arrived in Washington County, Texas - then the State of Coahuila, Mexico, and began his new law practice which took him to San Jacinto, Houston, Austin, Palestine, and other areas which had already been populated with settlers.

     While on one of his trips, Albert met, wooed, and married on January 8, 1832 to Harriet Elizabeth Grimes, b 1818 in North Carolina, d September 14, 1888 and buried by her husband - a daughter of Judge Jesse M. Grimes, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, for whom Grimes County, Texas was named, and his first wife, Martha ("Patsy" Smith) Grimes. The wedding took place at her father's plantation on Grimes Prairie in Grimes County, after a courtship of one week's duration. Judge Grimes had brought his children to Texas in 1825 after his wife died, and he subsequently remarried and had a second large family. One of Harriet's full brothers, Albert Calvin Grimes, gave his life with other Texas heroes at the Alamo on March 6, 1836.

     Returning to Washington after their marriage, the Perrys remained there until 1835, when, as First Lieu- tenant, Albert joined the troop at the Falls on the Brazos River, in present-day Falls County, to defend the settlers from Indian and Mexican raids. The young couple lived at Viesca - seat of Government for Sterling Clack Robertson's Colony, where Perry became Secretary to the Alcalde. Both, Albert and Harriet, received grants of land from Mexico through Robertson's Colony, and their land was in the area which became Falls County.

     Taking part in the Constitutional Congress of Texas, as a representative from Viesca, and continuing his law practice, the Perrys returned to Washington during the Run-Away Scrape of 1836, where they remained until 1843. They relocated in 1843 in Grimes County, where Albert had land, and he re-established his law practice in Anderson, and looked after his farm.

     In 1852, the couple returned to Falls County, and settled on his land grant, located about nine miles northwest of Marlin near the community known as Peyton, which was renamed "Perry" in his honor in 1883. Albert cultivated about twenty acres for garden produce, and primarily raised cattle and sheep. He also served as Falls County Judge.

     In 1866, Perry was appointed District Judge under the Throckmorton Administration - holding court at Marlin, Corsicana, Springfield, Belton, and Palestine. Finding himself unable to endorse the Davis Administration, Judge Perry resigned his position as District Judge, and subsequently was elected and served an- other term as County Judge.

     The Perrys were devout members of the Baptist Church - having been baptized together in that faith at Washington in 1842.

     Mrs. Perry was a woman of fine intellect and superior education for her time. She, as did her husband, showed courage in the face of Indian and Mexican depredations in early Texas - and they were true pioneers who helped to form the Republic of Texas and the subsequent State of Texas. Some of their descendants continue to reside in Falls County, Texas, and elsewhere.

     The six children of Judge and Mrs. Perry were:

     Mary E. Perry, b ca 1837 in The Republic of Texas - married John Shackleford.

     Eugenia V. Perry, b ca 1840 in The Republic of Texas, d ca 1866 - married ca 1854 to James Mc- Donald, and had Edwin McDonald, b ca 1855; James McDonald, Jr., b ca 1856; William McDonald, b ca 1858; Joseph R. McDonald, b ca 1860; Sarah McDonald (called "Sadie"), b 1862 who married Sam Houston Marlin; and Martha Eugenia McDonald, b ca 1866, after her father, James McDonald had returned from his service with the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. Eugenia V. (Perry) McDonald died when her last daughter was only eight days old.

     Emma Diantha Perry, b November 11, 1845, d September 29, 1919 - married October 1, .1868 to James Eldridge Tomlinson, b January 11, 1843, d April 29, 1888 - and both buried in Beulah Cemetery in Falls County, Texas. They had four children.

     Harriet Grimes Perry (called "Hattie") - became the third wife of Samuel Johnson in December 1873. He was b 1857 in Autauga County, Alabama - a son of John and Nancy (Salter) Johnson. They had one daughter, Leoline Johnson; and also reared her niece, Martha Eugenia McDonald, whose mother died when she was only eight days old. They moved to Waco, Texas.

     Horatio Perry, b 1849 in Texas, died young.

     Albert E. Perry, b ca 1853 in Falls County, Texas - married and moved to New Mexico.

 

 

 

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 350 column 2 and page 351 column 1 and 2.  
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.