THE PERRY NATIONAL BANK
_____
Edward
A. PERRY
The story of banking and of money interests are bound up
with the development of any community, big or small. The men who make a
success of such businesses are the outstanding men in the financial
centers of their localities.
This has been true in the career of E. A. Perry, founder
and president of the Perry National Bank of Hamilton.
Mr. Perry came to Hamilton in 1881 from Missouri, his
native state. He accepted a position in a drug store which he held for
several years. The first bank to open in Hamilton was a private
institution which was established by the late Dr. George Perry, an elder
brother of Ed Perry. This bank was located in the back of the drug store
at its very beginning. This bank was nationalized in 1890 as the Hamilton
National Bank. The young drug clerk then became the first cashier and
started on his banking career. Mr. Perry not only gave attention to the
details of banking but took a keen interest in the civic and commercial
interests of his adopted town. Every public concern is his to the extent
that he contributes both time and money to is development. He served the
City of Hamilton as mayor for eight years without pay.
After 30 years of service as cashier of the Hamilton
National Bank Mr. Perry conceived the idea of founding a banking house of
his own mind and banking policies. An institution that would commemorate,
in one measure, not only in the financial world but in the civic life of
his adopted town, the hopes and aspirations of his life as a man and
builder for the service of the public.
[Edward A. "Ed" Perry came to Hamilton from
Missouri. His parents were Christian Louis Perry and Margaret
Elizabeth (Oil) Perry. His older brother was Dr. George Frederick Perry,
founder of Hamilton National Bank. Ed Perry married Roda "Mollie"
Clark on 12 April, 1885 in Hamilton County. (The marriage record
book in which their marriage was recorded burned in the courthouse fire of
2 February, 1886, and their marriage was later re-recorded on a list in
the County Clerk's Office.
Ed and Mollie were the parents of at least
one child--Margaret Jane "Margie" (Perry) (Kirk) Sikes, who was
born July 20, 1887 and died January 1, 1960. Margie married C. L.
Kirk on 26 May, 1906--Hamilton County Marriage Record Bk. 4, p. 353.
Margie married William Ewing Sikes on November 3, 1908, Hamilton County
Marriage Record Bk. 4, p. 561.
On January 29, 1899, Edward A. Perry
married Imogene Sharp--Hamilton County Marriage Record Bk. 3, p.
1899. Imogene (Sharp) Perry was born 11 February, 1869, and
died 22 September, 1924. She was interred in the large Perry plot of
the IOOF Cemetery, Hamilton.
Edward A. Perry, born 7 November, 1865,
died on 10 February, 1950. He was buried in the IOOF Cemetery in the
same plot as was his second wife, Imogene (Sharp) Perry.
Ed Perry's third marriage was to Vertna
Julia (surname unknown). Ed and Vertna were the parents of
Edwina. Vertna was born 9 November, 1886, and died 30 September,
1985. Vertna was not buried in the Ed Perry plot of the IOOF
Cemetery in Hamilton.---Elreeta Weathers]
The Hamilton County News, Vol. IV, Number
11--Section Three
Historical and Trading Expansion Issue
W. F. Billingslea, Editor-Publisher
Subscription Price ONE YEAR ..$1.00
June 29, 1934