Andrew Perry of IndianaIn 1840 we find Andrew Perry in Washington Township, Wayne County, Indiana (indexed as Perrey). The family consisted of 1 male under 5, 1 male 30-40; 1 female under 5, 2 females 5-10, 1 female 10-15, and 1 female 20-30. He had married Nancy Jane Wolfe on 2/16/1837 in Wayne County as his second wife (marriage record found in an old Indiana database that is no longer on the internet.)In the 1850 census we find in New Durham, La Porte County, Indiana: #100 Andrew Perry, 53, blacksmith, born Ohio; Nancy, 34, born Ohio; Minerva, 23, Indiana; Rachel, 21, In; Mary E., 14, In; Albert, 13, In; Lorinda, 9, In; Sally Ann, 8, In; Henry, 6, In, and Eli, 5, In. Because of Nancy's age and the ages of some of the children it is quite apparent that Andrew had a wife before Nancy. The database linked above under Contacts references a family history "Some Descendants of Gedeon Merlet and Margariet Martyn," author Don S. Wolford, self published September 1, 1998. It includes a marriage of Laura Marlatt, daughter of Abraham and Margaret Linder Marlatt, to Andrew Perry sometime around 1827. This information is very interesting to us as members of the Marlatt family also wound up in Mercer County. Thomas Marlatt, a son of Abraham and Margaret Linder Marlatt, is mentioned in the Wayne County Indiana History 1872, page 318, where it is also mentioned that Thomas's son Thomas removed to New Boston, Illinois, and early settled. It is hard to say where the dividing line is with the children of Laura Marlatt Perry and Nancy Wolfe Perry. In those early times people could not easily find someone to perform a marriage, often having to depend on itinerant preachers and they may well have gone to housekeeping before the marriage. This especially happened when it was urgent to bring someone into a household with motherless children. On the Bureau of Land Management web site we find that Andrew Perry of Wayne County, Indiana purchased the East half Northwest Quarter of Section 12, Township 20 North Range 4 East 2nd PM in Hamilton County, Indiana at the Indianapolis land office on 10/15/1835. Hamilton County is about halfway between Wayne County and La Porte County where the family is found in 1850 so sometime between Andrew and Nancy's marriage in Wayne County and 1850 they may have gone to the Hamilton County land and found it unsuitable for their needs and migrated on further north. The LaPorte County location then placed them on a pretty direct line to migrate to Mercer County down the Illinois River, a route often used by early immigrants. Both southern Illinois and southern Indiana were extremely swampy and a direct migration from Wayne County usually had to be done in the winter time over frozen ground so many immigrants went north first in Indiana and then south in Illinois to Mercer County. As in many migrations across the eastern half of the US they often used Indian trails that had been in place for centuries. We wonder if there might have been Perry relatives in Mercer County as a Dr. Alfred Perry is mentioned in the 1882 History as living in Perryton Township as early as 1837. "A. Perry and E. Burrall did the first farming on the ridge in Perryton, and during this year Dr. Perry came west and in the winter of 1837-8 built a log house near the timber on the northeast of 28." Dr. Perry died in 1838 and there is no further information on who he was but the township was evidently named for him. There is a mention that Alfred Perry married a daugter of James and Hannah Boone in 1838 but we do not know if it is one and the same as Dr. A. Perry. There was an Alfred W. Perry purchasing over 400 acres of public land in Richland Grove Township in 1854 and we do not know who he is for sure. There is a Samuel Perry mentioned as postmaster in the village of Viola in Greene Township in 1856 and since Andrew named a son Samuel there might have been some relationship there. A Reuben Perry is mentioned as a member of Lodge No. 577 in Greene Township in 1867. Neither Reuben nor Samuel is found in Mercer County in 1870. There were large Perry families in both Rock Island and Warren Counties near Mercer so there may not have been a connection here with Andrew Perry of Ohio and Indiana at all. Andrew Perry was deceased by March 1856 when Nancy Wolfe Perry married William Sabin on March 9. William and Nancy are found in the 1860 census in New Boston Township: #1829 William Sabin, 45, farmer, born NY; Nancy, 45, born Ohio; William Perry,12, In; Samuel, 8, In; Charles Sabin, 14, Il; William Sabin 12, Il; Alice Sabin, 10, Il; Sallie Sabin, 8, Il. Andrew and Nancy's son Eli, age 16, born In, is working as a laborer next door for the Charles Muhlenberg family. Two doors away son Albert, 23, and son Henry, 18, both born Ohio are working as laborers for an Andrew Johnson family. More on the children of Andrew and Nancy Wolfe PerrySally Ann PerrySally Ann is with the family in 1850 but not in 1860. There is a possibility, but no proof, that the Ann Perry who married Lewis H. Duncan on January 28, 1858 in Mercer County might be Sallie Ann. Something happened to Lewis Duncan and he is found nowhere in 1860. Ann Duncan, age 18 is found working as a domestic in the 1860 census in Millersberg for a McGrew family. Her age would match Sally Ann Perry but the Duncan name is far too common to really speculate on this. One possible clue is that Henry Perry, Sallie Ann's brother, married Elizabeth Ann Duncan, sister of Lewis Duncan. Both Lewis and Elizabeth Ann Duncan were children of Charles and Mary Ann Kirk Duncan. Charles and Mary Ann married 28 September 1834 and had migrated to Mercer County by 1840.Lorinda Perry FullerDaughter Lorinda Perry married Thomas Fuller, son of Jefferson and Tabitha Libby Fuller, on 10/21/1854 in Mercer County and their history is continued on the Fuller page. This marriage tells us that the Perry's arrived in Mercer County sometime before 10/1854.Albert PerryAlbert Perry married Elizabeth Stopher 11 December 1862 in Mercer County. Gloria Lamm tells us that they divorced in Mercer County. The divorce evidently occurred before 1870 as Albert is found with his brother Eli in 1870 in Grant Township, Hardin County Iowa in 1870: #17 Eli Perry, 24, farmer, born In; Anna, 23, In; Rebecca, 1, Il; Albert Perry, 30, farmer, born Indiana.Albert Perry had served during the Civil War in both Company I, 17th Illinois Infantry with his brother Henry, and in the 8th Illinois Infantry. Gloria Lamm tells us that Andrew Perry next married Susan Davis, apparently on Christmas Day in 1873. They are found in Grundy Center, Grundy, Iowa in 1880. Note that some of the children of Andrew's brother Henry are with them. #125 Solomon Smith family, Mary Perry, 24, servant, housekeeper, born Il (daughter of Henry); #126 Albert Perry, 41, laborer, born Ohio; Susan, 26, Oh; Richard, 4, Iowa; Homer, 2, Iowa; Earnest O. 4/12 (mar), Ia; Andrew, 11, nephew, laborer, Ia; Frank, 18, nephew, laborer, Il (two sons of Henry). Henry and Elizabeth Ann Duncan PerryHenry Perry married Elizabeth Ann Duncan, daughter of Charles and Mary Ann Kirk Duncan, on September 14, 1862 in Mercer County. Henry Perry had enlisted in Company I, 17th Illinois Infantry and mustered in May 5, 1861. He mustered out on June 4, 1864 and had apparently been home to Mercer County for the marriage.Henry and family are found in 1870 in Providence Township, Hardin County, Iowa: #251 Henry Perry, 27, frmer, born Il; Elizabeth, 25, Il; Frank, 7, Il; Charles, 5, Il; Mary A.,3, Il; Andrew, 2, Il; Viola, 2, Il; Mary A. Duncan, 2, Il. (We do not know the parentage of Mary A. Duncan). We do not know what happened to Henry and Elizabeth but some of their children are found with the Albert Perry family in 1880 and we do not find Henry anywhere in 1880. Eli and Zilpah Ann Bivens PerryEli Perry married Zilpah Ann Bivens, daughter of Shepherd and Rebecca Bivens, on August 10, 1866 in Mercer County. They are found in 1870 in Grant Township, Hardin County Iowa: #17 Eli Perry, 24, farmer, born In; Anna, 23, In; Rebecca, 1, Il; Albert Perry, 30, farmer, born IndianaBy 1880 they had moved back to Mercer County in Perryton Township: #129 Eli, 34, farmer, born In, father In, mother SC; Anna, 33, In, parents, In; Rebecca, 12, Il; Thomas, 10, Il; Nancy, 6, Il; N. Shepherd, 5, son, Il; T. Samuel, 3, Il; A. Otis, 1, son. They remained in Mercer County until their deaths in the 1920's. William and Samuel PerryAlthough we do not find a William Perry with the Andrew Perry family in Indiana in 1850, we do find a William Perry, age 12, born Indiana, and a Samuel Perry, age 8, with Nancy Wolfe Perry Sabin and William Sabin in the 1860 census in New Boston Township in 1860. We have no further information on either one.Philander PerryWe find a Philander Perry in Company I, 17th Illinois Infantry, enlisting from Bridger's Corner in Mercer County. There are a number of Philander Perry's in both the 1860 and 1870 censuses but none near Mercer County so we do not know who he is. He mustered in on May 25, 1861 with the whole company and the only other notation is that he reenlisted as a veteran but no date is given.
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