From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
Alexander Wilson Perry, the youngest of ten children of Captain Ben jam in Franklin and Rebecca Harbeston (Harbinson) Perry, was born November 26, 1819, in Pope County, Illinois. His father, a stonemason by trade but a farmer also, had moved from Virginia, the place of his birth, to Kentucky with his parents, then to Indiana, and on to Illinois.
On January 9, 1840, A. W. Perry married Sarah Shelton Huffman, the daughter of William and Margaret Huffman. His wife was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1823, but grew up in Illinois near the Perry family.
Mr. Perry’s brother, Middleton Lee Perry, had been in the area later known as Dallas County as early as 1837. When he returned to Illinois, his report on the moderate climate, the fertile soil, and the available land appealed to his younger brother. Both brothers came to Peters Colony in 1844, but A. W. settled in what was later the Carrollton area while Middleton went to the southern part of Dallas County. By the end of 1845 a third brother, Western, settled near A. W. Perry.
Primarily Mr. Perry was a farmer; he belonged to the Grange and the Farmers’ Alliance, organizations that promoted agricultural interests. He was also, in the modern sense, a rancher and always had a herd of good cattle, as well as a number of fine horses. He was regarded as a breeder of both. Mr. Perry was a pioneer philanthropist either giving or allowing the use of land for a church, a school, railroad right-of-way, and a cemetery. He acquired much land in addition to his Peters Colony grant and platted several residential additions to the City of Carrollton.
Mr. and Mrs. Perry joined the Union Baptist Church in 1850. The minutes of the church witness to Mr. Perry’s faithfulness – he was a deacon, he served on committees appointed for various purposes, he was named a trustee. So great was his devotion and respect for the Church and what it represented that he had the date when he and his wife became members inscribed on their joint tombstone.
Mrs. Perry was a sturdy pioneer woman. Under the hardships of frontier life she reared fourteen children of her own, two grandchildren, and a niece. All the Perry children except the oldest one remained in the Carrollton area throughout their lives. The sons and daughters are as follow:
1) Margaret Elizabeth (September 25, 1840-September 14, 1927) married James Smith; eventually moved to Oklahoma. 2) Rebecca A. (circa January 7, 1842-January 7, 1860 ). 3) William Franklin (circa December 16, 1843-July 29, 1905) married Amanda Cox. 4) Mary L. (January 23, 1846-February 7, 1860). 5) Harriett Malinda (August 30, 1848-June 9, 1928) married Thomas Warner. 6) Alexander W. Jr. (December 25, 1850-January 29, 1852). 7) Sanford Commodore (November 1, 1852-December 19, 1875). 8) John Hardin (March 5, 1855-December 16, 1935) a twin, married Susan Carro Poor. 9) Sarah J. (March 5, 1855-November, 1863) a twin. 10) DeWitt C. (January 10, 1858- August or September 9, 1930) married Frances Sarah Grimes. 11) Wade Hampton (February 15, 1860-March 2, 1941) married Laura Ann Thompson. 12) Carrie Helen (May 9, 1862-November 23, 1881) married Sylvester Clinton Huffman. 13) Lura Dale (November 25, 1864-November 1, 1957) married William D. Fyke. 14) Roxanna (February 15, 1867-August 26, 1902) married George Nathan Butler.
Though Mr. Perry’s Peters Colony grant of land was in the area of the community of Trinity Mills and the family lived there for over fifteen years, he is more closely associated with the J. B. Lee survey he bought and homesteaded in the Carrollton Area. Today the A. W. Homestead Museum is located on that property and maintained by the City of Carrollton. Mrs. Perry died October 24, 1896; Mr. Perry, May 22, 1904. Both are buried at the cemetery in Carrollton that bears their name.
Bibliography:
- Brown, John Henry. “History of Dallas County, Texas,” The Aldredge Book Store, 1966. Reprinted with John H. Cochran’s Dallas County history listed separately.
- Cochran, John H. “Dallas County: A Record of Its Pioneers and Progress.” Dallas: The Aldredge Book Store, 1966. Reprinted with John Henry Brown’s Dallas County history listed separately.
- Connor, Seymour V. “The Peters Colony of Texas.” Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1959.
- Dallas County Clerk. Deed Records of Dallas County; marriage records, and death certificates.
- Greene County, Illinois. Marriage and birth records.
- Jackson, George. “Sixty Years in Texas.” Reprint by the Peters Colony Historical Society of Dallas County, Texas, of the Second Edition, originally published in 1908. Quanah, Texas: Nortex Press, September, 1975.
- Meadows, Fandella Webb. Personal Files.
- Ogle, Georgia Myers. Elm Fork Settlements. Wichita Falls, Texas: Nortex Press, 1977.
By Georgia Myers Ogle, Carrollton
