James Franklin Perry

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Now, some men come to Texas chasing glory. James Franklin Perry seems to have come because his brother-in-law wouldn't stop asking.

And that brother-in-law happened to be Stephen F. Austin, so you can understand why a man might eventually pack his wagons. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The story starts a long way from the Brazos River. James Franklin Perry was born on September 19, 1790, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. In 1808 he made his way to Potosi, Missouri, where his relatives Samuel and John Perry were running a mercantile business.

James joined them, worked his way up, and by 1818 he was a partner. Potosi was good to him. And Potosi gave him something even more valuable than a business partnership.

That's where he met Emily Margaret Austin Bryan, a widow raising four children. They married, and together they went on to have six more children. Now, Emily's family tree is worth a moment of your time.

Her father was Moses Austin, and her brother was Stephen F. Austin. Two of the most consequential names in the story of Texas, sitting right there at James Perry's dinner table.

Stephen F. Austin, as you may know from these very roads you're driving, was a pioneer leader in the movement to colonize Texas. And Stephen, it turns out, was persistent.

Upon his urging, James and Emily Perry and their whole family pulled up from Missouri and moved to Texas in 1831. James didn't arrive idle. He established a mercantile business in San Felipe and put down a farm on Chocolate Bayou.

By 1832, the family had settled at Peach Point Plantation on the Brazos River, and that piece of land would become their home ground. Perry wasn't a man who sat on the sidelines, either. He was an active supporter of the Republic of Texas, serving at conventions and on the Committee of Safety.

And when Stephen F. Austin died, it fell to James Franklin Perry, as executor of Austin's estate, to sort through the papers. His reports to the government concerning colonial affairs, maps, and land papers became important to the archives of Texas.

All that history, passing through his hands. James Franklin Perry died on September 13, 1853, of yellow fever, while visiting Biloxi, Mississippi. He is buried there, far from Peach Point, far from the Brazos.

A man who came to Texas on someone else's urging, and ended up helping hold the whole story together.

What the marker says

(September 19, 1790 - September 13, 1853) A native of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, James Franklin Perry moved to Potosi, Missouri, in 1808. He joined the mercantile business of his relatives Samuel and John Perry, and became a partner in 1818. While living in Potosi, Perry met and married Emily Margaret Austin Bryan, a widow with four children. They were eventually the parents of six additional children. Emily's father, Moses Austin, and her brother, Stephen F. Austin, were pioneer leaders in the movement to colonize Texas. Upon the urging of Stephen F. Austin, James and Emily Perry and their family moved to texas in 1831. James Perry established a mercantile business in San Felipe and a farm on Chocolate Bayou. By 1832 the family moved to Peach Point Plantation on the Brazos River. James Franklin Perry was an active supporter of the Republic of Texas, serving at conventions and on the Committee of Safety. As executor of Stephen F. Austin's estate, his reports to the government concerning colonial affairs, maps, and land papers became important to the archives of Texas. Perry died of yellow fever while visiting Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1853 and is buried there. (1989)