DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker's the source here, and this is how Duane tells it. Now, some stories start quiet and build slow, like a river you don't realize is deep until you're already in it. This one starts in Tennessee, with a boy named Albert G.
Perry, born in 1807, who at the age of sixteen walked into his brother's Alabama law office and decided that's the life for him. He took to it. Became a successful attorney.
But successful wasn't enough — or maybe Texas just had a louder voice. Because in 1831, he left for Texas and settled in Washington, where he hung out his shingle and opened a law office. The following year, on January 8th, he married Harriet Elizabeth Grimes.
Now — pay attention to that last name, because it carries weight. Harriet, born in 1816, was the daughter of Jesse Grimes, a pioneer who lived from 1788 to 1866 and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. That's the family Albert Perry was marrying into.
Harriet had arrived in Texas back in 1826, traveling with her father and eight siblings. Eight. And one of those siblings — Albert Calvin Grimes — later died at the Alamo.
So when you talk about the Perry family, you are talking about people woven into the very fabric of what Texas became. Albert Perry didn't slow down, either. In late 1833 or early 1834, he became secretary to the Alcalde at Sarahville de Viesca, in Robertson's Colony — present-day Falls County.
Then in 1835, he was serving as first lieutenant of a frontier defense Ranger company. Same year, he was a member of the Viesca Committee of Safety and a delegate to the Consultation of 1835. The man was everywhere the action was.
After that, the Perrys settled into life in Washington from 1836 to 1843, then moved to Anderson in present Grimes County. In 1852, they made one more move — to Falls County, where they farmed the land and Albert served as county and district judge. Harriet lived until 1888.
Albert until 1874. And here's how the story lands. In 1883, when the railroad came through and bypassed a community called Peyton, a new settlement grew up right along that rail line.
They named it Perry — in honor of Albert G. Perry. A Tennessee boy who walked into a law office at sixteen, rode into Texas in 1831, married into a family that signed the Declaration, ranged the frontier, judged the courts — and ended up with a town carrying his name down to this day.
That's not a quiet story at all.
What the marker says
Tennessee native Albert G. Perry (1807-1874) began the study of law at age sixteen in his brother's Alabama law office. He became a successful attorney, but in 1831 left for Texas, settling in Washington, where he opened a law office. The following year, on January 8, he married Harriet Elizabeth Grimes (1816-1888), the daughter of pioneer Jesse Grimes (1788-1866), signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. In 1826, Harriet had arrived in Texas with her father and eight siblings, one of whom, Albert Calvin Grimes, later died at the Alamo. In late 1833 or early 1834, Perry became secretary to the Alcalde at Sarahville de Viesca in Robertson's Colony (in present Falls County), and in 1835 was first lt. of a frontier defense Ranger company. He was a member of the Viesca Committee of Safety, and was a delegate to the Consultation of 1835. The Perrys lived in Washington from 1836 to 1843, when they moved to Anderson in present Grimes County. In 1852 they moved to Falls County, where they farmed, and he was county and district judge. In 1883, when the railroad bypassed the community of Peyton, a new settlement developed along the rail line and was named Perry in honor of Albert G. Perry.