 
  Scott Co MO |
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Charles married a woman in Tennessee and had a daughter named Mary E. Perry that was born about 1854. We later found him marrying, Mary Jane Redding in Welch Township, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri on January 16, 1859. They are on the 1860 census of Scott County, Missouri, with Charles listed as 35 years old, wife Mary J. as 21, daughter Mary E. born in Tennessee as 6 years old. On March 6, 1860 Charles was at the Scott County Courthouse and entered into a Promissory note, with John Frish, a recent German immigrant, to purchase from him:, one small blind 8 year old horse and a red cow with a white face. This deal was made with one dollar in hand and the promise of 47 dollars by December 25, 1860 with 10 percent interest. He signed with an X indicating, as had been reported on a census, that he could not read or write. The Civil War record for Charles C. is short , yet interesting. He enlisted in Commerce, Mo August 20, 1862 and was assigned as Private Co G 29th Regiment Infantry MO Volunteers. This was a Union Army Regiment , served under Captain Whitney and listed his age as 35. He mustered in at Benton Barracks north of St. Louis , Mo September 18, 1862. I've read accounts of the Fall / Winter at Benton Barracks. Many of these men were, as our Charles, enlisted in the summer and came without shoes, shirt, or extra clothing. My guess is they did not expect to be gone from home long. As winter came on quickly that year, many of these men got frostbite, fingers and feet were amputated and many died. This explains to me why on November 7, 1862, as his unit moved south west to Patterson, Mo., Charles took a detour southeast to home. Thus ended his Union Army career after only a little less than 3 months. It is interesting to note, his brothers William and Wyatt, joined the Confederate Army November 21, 1862. This leads to speculation that Charles C. could have joined the Confederate Army. His first son Charles A. Perry was born in January, 1864, Scott County, Missouri. With twin sons, James Alexander and William Jesse being born October,1866. And His last known child was Rebecca J. Perry, born about 1868, also in Scott, County. Soon after this Charles evidently died, On 12-13-1869 his wife sold 160 acres which she had inherited from her deceased father, Nehemiah Redding's 160 acres, just east of Benton, MO., and in this land sale, it is recorded that Charles was deceased. Mary J. was living with the Isaac Price family in the 1870 census, St Cloud Post office and all the children were still living with her. She remarried to a James A. Morris on April 16 1872, living in Blodgett, Mo. This turned out to be a bad choice, our family has passed the story down through several generations of the beating that Morris gave to Charles A. Perry when he was only 12 years old. This abuse caused Charles to run away from home. Morris had been in the woods cutting timber with the boys. They had returned to the house for something, perhaps to eat and were detained, unable to return to work in the field, Morris told Charles to go fetch the axe. Charles was not able to find the axe and after searching for awhile he returned without it. Morris told him that if he went down there and found it he would beat Charles with it. Sure enough they went into the woods and Morris rolled over the log where he had hidden it before going to the house, and he beat Charles so severely that he was bedridden for days. When Charles was able to get out of bed , he told his mother he was going to leave. She packed him some food in a small package and he left home. He told his children many times of this event. Charles left home at about the age of 12, around 1878. He has stated that his younger sister, Rebecca, had already died. Stoddard County, Missouri, is a place where many pertinent records are found, first on the 5 children of Charles C. Perry and then on just the boys, Charles, Jesse and Alexander. A male relative John C. Perry was given guardianship over all of them April 4, 1870. By 1874, only records for the boys were found, leading one to believe both girls had passed away. He sold an inheritance from their Uncle William Perry in Warren County, Tennessee, March 8, 1872, taking only a small amount to pay his expenses. On April 29, 1880 the son of John C. Perry, William and John's wife, Thena, went to court and got the remaining $57.30 which had belonged to the boys. It seems clear from the records that these boys never lived with John in Stoddard County; however, John was dead when this occurred and he may have been owed this amount and even more. In the 1880 census, Alexander Perry was found as a 13 year old orphan, living in the Hunter household and we think Jesse is listed as Jesse Williams, a 13 year old orphan, living in the Bugg household not very far away. These were or would have been only surviving members of the family still living in Scott County, Missouri. It does make one wonder what happened to Morris and Mrs. Mary J. between 1878 and 1880. Young Charles A. Perry had set out on his journey away from home with little to eat and bad memories. Exhausted from travel, he came to a farm house where he asked a lady for a drink from her well. She noticed he looked very hungry and asked him to stay and eat. He stayed at this home for awhile and then moved on, staying with one other family along the way in much the same manner. On one occasion during his traveling, he saw a horse approaching with two men on it. They began to chase him. He ran into the woods and hid in a locust tree. They came close enough for him to hear one of them say, if I find that boy I'm gonna kill him. He escaped from these men and lived to tell the tale. We next find Charles A. in Clarke County, Mississippi, October 12, 1891, getting married to Minnie Omag ( Maggie) Lovett. She was the daughter of Enoch Augustus and Annie Jane Lovett. Children born to this union were; Charles Reuben, Ida A., Leona Allie, Mary Cora, Silvester, Ollie, Richard Charles, and Jesse Alexander. We have found Charles to work as a logger, turpentine instiller, and farmer. Word has it he was an excellent shot with a gun. He was known by the nickname Pepper. He and his family moved all over Mississippi. The oldest child Charles Reuben Perry was born in Clarke County, Sylvester was born in Liberty, Mississippi and Jesse Alexander was born in Columbus, Lowndes County, MS. Charles A. apparently avoided the census taker. Listing for him was found on the 1900 census in Jones Co, MS and 1920 census in Franklin Parish, LA. He lived in Franklin Parish from about 1912 until his death near 1934. No death certificate has been found, no funeral record or obituary. His death date came from an older grandson that recalled the last time he ever saw him. So the exact date is unknown. However, we do know he is buried in Central Baptist Cemetery, Jigger, Franklin Parish, LA. Jimmy Perry and some of his brother's located the grave in order to bury their Aunt Ollie Perry Kirkland next to her father. Charles A. never saw or heard from his mother or brother's again. This was the catalyst for his many times of telling and retelling the stories of his youth. James Alexander (Leroy) Perry, was raised as an orphan. In Scott County, Missouri, on November 28, 1889, he married Ella Lawrence, daughter of Marcus M. Lawrence, a Wagon maker and Blacksmith. They had at least two boys, Lawrence Perry, born June 26, 1892, and Charles Edward Perry born September 6, 1894. Ella apparently passed away and Alexander remarried to Druscilla Pridmore on November 7, 1899 in Scott County MO. The 1900 census listed Alex as living in Morely, Scott County, MO . He is listed as Alick Peery with his second wife Druscilla, son Lawrence, step daughter Rosa Pridmore, and son Charlie. This pronunciation of the name Alex is one clue I was excited to find. Jimmy Perry told me when we started this project that Charles A. Perry had two brothers Elleck and Jesse. I asked are you saying Alex? He wasn't sure. No one had ever written it down this was only the way the family pronounced the name. On 11-21-1909, Alexander married Mamie E. Martin in Benton, Saline County, Arkansas. They had 4 children Maggie, Earl, Alexander (Elleck), and Dewell. Alex Perry continued to live in this area for the remainder of his life. He was a heavy equipment operator and no doubt a farmer as well. He raised several of Mrs. Mamie's children from her marriage with Mr. Martin. He died January 30, 1931 and is buried in the Hughes Cemetery, Benton, Saline County, Arkansas. The last brother William Jesse Perry, twin to James Alexander Perry, has been much harder to track. We know of three marriages for Jesse: Polina Nelson on 11-28-1895, Lucy Gordon 12-14-1900 and Georgia McIntosh 8-27-1910, All of these took place in or near Scott County , Missouri. We have at this time found no children. Jesse apparently liked to hide from the census taker as his brother Charles A. did at least we know they had that much in common. By: John Robinson Campbell This site is a AHGP Project which is a volunteer genealogical organization dedicated to the free access of genealogical information. NOTE: If you run across a site thats charges a fee to view these pages, please let me know This is a free site. There is not a charge to view these pages. Return To -P- Biographies 
 
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