urn:taro:utexas.cah.00543 A Guide to the James F. and Stephen S. Perry papers, 1785-1942 The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
Austin, Texas
February 2007 February 2007Encoded in XMetal 3 by Edward Sevcik according to instructions in TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. Finding aid written inEnglish. Descriptive Summary Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin Perry, James F. and Stephen S. James F. and Stephen S. Perry papers, 1785-1942 13 ft., 9 in.

Pre-1865 material is available on microfilm. Photocopies should be made from microfilm, not from originals. See access restrictions below for further information.

Materials are in English. James Franklin Perry was the second husband of Stephen F. Austin's sister Emily. He served as the administrator of Austin's estate, and in 1839 declined to become secretary of the treasury of the Republic of Texas. Correspondence, daybooks, letterbooks, memorandum books, maps, estate papers, and literary productions by James Perry and his son Stephen Samuel Perry and their extended families cover significant events in Texas history from the early years of colonization up to the twentieth century. Scope and Contents

Correspondence, daybooks, letterbooks, memorandum books, deeds, surveys and plat maps, estate papers, and literary productions by James Perry and his son Stephen Samuel Perry and their extended families cover significant events in Texas history from the early years of colonization up to the twentieth century. Correspondence and business records concern Stephen F. Austin's land holdings, James Franklin Perry's mercantile business and other family-related business enterprises, the establishment and operation of Peach Point Plantation, and the daily concerns of paternalistic slaveholders who found it difficult to make ends meet raising cotton, corn, and sugar; to educate their children where there were no public schools; and to handle chronic health problems. The papers accentuate the contrast between life in various sections of the United States since the Perrys traveled for business, health reasons, and pleasure; attended schools in Ohio, Connecticut, Virginia; and corresponded with and visited relatives in the northeast as well as Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri.

 Biographical Note

James Franklin Perry was the second husband of Stephen F. Austin's sister Emily. Born in 1790, he emigrated from Pennsylvania to Missouri where he married Emily Austin Bryan in 1824. In 1830 the couple were granted eleven leagues of land in Texas. Perry and his family set up a store in San Felipe, then moved to Peach Point Plantation, near a settlement on the Brazos River that later became known as Perry's Landing. He managed some of Stephen Austin’s business affairs while Austin was in Mexico, and became more politically active during the Texas Revolution, serving at various conventions and on the Committee of Safety. He served as the administrator of Austin's estate, and in 1839 declined to become secretary of the treasury of the Republic of Texas. He owned about twenty slaves, and was one of the first Texas planters to shift from cotton to sugar as a primary product. After Emily’s death in 1851, Perry and his daughter traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi to meet his son Henry. Both James and Henry Perry contracted yellow fever there; Perry died on September 13, 1853 and was buried in Biloxi. His oldest son Stephen Samuel Perry (1825-1874) continued to manage Peach Point Plantation, which declined after the Civil War until the discovery of petroleum on the property brought a brief return of prosperity in the early twentieth century.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Austin, Stephen F. (Stephen Fuller), 1793-1836. Brown, Hiram L. Bryan, Guy Morrison, 1821-1901. Bryan, Moses Austin, 1817-1895. Bryan, William Joel, 1815-1903. Hammeken, George Lewis. Hopkins, Matthew, 1808-1883. Leaming, Thomas F. McLeod, Hugh M., 1814-1862. Perry, Emily Austin Bryan, 1795-1851. Perry, James Franklin, 1790-1853--Archives. Somervell, Alexander, 1796-1854. Subjects (Organizations) Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Brazos and Galveston Railroad Company (Tex.) Confederate States of America. Army. Texas Infantry Regiment, 4th--History. Kenyon College. Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.) Subjects Epilepsy. Land titles--Texas. Medicine--practice. Merchants--Texas. Plantations--Texas. Railroads--Texas. Reconstruction--Texas. Slavery--Texas. Sugar -- Texas. Brazoria County (Tex.)--History--Sources. Brazos River (Tex.) Peach Point Plantation (Brazoria County, Tex.) San Luis Island (Tex.) Texas--History--Revolution, 1835-1836.

1. Pre-1865 material is available on Center for American History [CAH] microfilm 18,335, Series G, Part 1, Reels 12-31. See microfilm inventory in the microfilm room (Winkler Study) under the title, “Ante-Bellum Plantations.” Photocopies should be made from microfilm, not from originals.

2. The microfilm of this collection is part of the Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations, Series G, from University Publications of America (OCLC: 16125404).

3. Correspondence from this collection is available in transcripts. See the transcript volumes in the inventory.

 Preferred Citation

The James F. and Stephen S. Perry papers, 1785-1942, the Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Inventory 2J29 General correspondence: 2J29 1785-1786, 1803-1816 2J29 1812-1818 2J29 1819-1830 2J30 June, 1830-December, 1833 2J31 January, 1834-June, 1837 2J79 July, 1837-April, 1840 2J32 May, 1840-December, 1843 and [undated] 2J33 1844-1848 2J34 1849-March, 1853 2J35 April, 1853-April, 1856 2J36 May, 1856-[December,] 1861 2J37 1862-1868 and [undated] 2J38 1869-1872 and [undated] 2J39 1873-1878 and [undated] 2J40 1879-1883 and [undated] 2J41 1884-1918 and [undated] 2J42 Undated, pre-1865 2J42 Undated, post-1865 2J42 Miscellaneous financial papers, [undated] 2J42 Literary efforts, [undated] 2J42 Miscellaneous land surveys and notes, [undated] 2J42 Miscellany and fragments, [undated] 2J42 Ledgers and books: 2J42 James F. Perry letterbook, 1831-1847 2J42 Plantation cotton accounts and daybook, 1839-1861 2J43 James F. Perry ledger, 1831-1833 2J43 James F. and Stephen S. Perry daybook, 1837-1863 2J43 Peach Point ledger and slave list, 1837-1855, 1866, and 1874 2J44 San Luis account books with plat, [circa 1841-1843] 2J44 Order book of Second Batallion, Fourth Regiment, Texas Volunteers, 1861 2J44 Miscellaneous account and memorandum books 1810-1838, 1850-1870, 1884-1889 2J44 Check stubs, 1860-1900 4L39 James F. Perry Ledger 4L39 1830-1838 4L40 1833-1841 4L41 1830-1834 4L43 1836-1874 (photocopy) 4L42 Peach Point Plantation account book, 1881-1898, 1912 2R135 Transcripts: 2R135 James Franklin and Stephen Samuel Perry Papers: 2R135 Miscellaneous Bryan-Perry correspondence, 1815-1863 [not in following volumes; originals interfiled with collection--2 copies] 2R135 Volume 1-2 1786-1829 [2 copies] 2R137 Volume 3-5 1832-1837 [2 copies] 2R138 Volume 9-11 1838-1844 [2 copies] 2R139 Volume 12-15 1845-1848 [2 copies] 2R140 Volume 15-17 1847-1851 [2 copies] 2R141 Volume 18-20 1851-1853 [2 copies] 2R142 Volume 20-22 1853-1855 [2 copies] 2R143 Volume 23-25 1855-1857 [2 copies] 2R144 Volume 25-27 1856-1859 [2 copies] 2R145 Volume 28-30 1859-1867 [2 copies] 2R146 Volume 31-33 1859-1867 [2 copies] 2R147 Volume 34-36 1875-1884 [2 copies] 2R148 Volume 37 1885-1940 [2 copies] 2R148 Volume 38 [undated] [2 copies] 2R148 Volume 39, letter book, account papers, calendar, miscellaneous 1831-1847 [2 copies] 2R149 Emily Austin Bryan Perry letters collected from various sources, 1815-1845 and [undated] 2R149 “Notes on James Perry and His Descendants and Notes on the Perrys of Rhode Island,” by James M. Brown, C. T. Elliott, and Mrs. John Caldwell, 1891, 1939, 1942 2R149 Emily M. Bryan’s book--Vocal Music, 1819 [photocopy] 2.325/V36 Oversize papers, 1830-1940 and [undated] OD 1277 Oversize papers, 1866, 1867, 1877, [undated]