Person:Henry Perry (15)

Personal History

Henry Perry, was born 15 March 1774,^[1] in the Province of New Jersey.^[6] According to a biography written 25 years after Henry's death, his parents' family was living in the Wyoming Valley of northeastern Pennsylvania when his parents were killed by Indians, probably in the Battle of Wyoming which occurred on 3 July 1778. Henry was carried off by a party of Indians but was afterwards rescued.^[3][4]

Henry settled at Pittsburgh, Allegheny co., Pennsylvania.^[3] He may have been the Henry Perry occupying a dwelling in 1798,^[5] and the “Heny” Perry, a carpenter, who was listed as a taxable inhabitant in 1800.^[2]

Marriage and Family

(see the Family page for references)

Henry Perry and Sarah Franks were married probably before the birth of their first child in 1807, possibly in Fayette co., Pennsylvania. They had eleven children: Martin, Henry, Adam, Eliza, John, Thomas, William, James, Mary, Sarah, and Susan. Information has not been found for Henry, Adam, John, and Thomas. Upon examination of the census returns, it is likely that two of the boys were born between Eliza and Mary (1810–1813) and the other two were born between James and William (1819–1822).

In 1810, in Ohio co., Virginia (eventually West Virginia), Henry, his wife and two children were enumerated for the U.S. census.

By the 1820 U.S. census, the family had moved to Short Creek township, Harrison co., Ohio, where Henry, his wife, and seven children were enumerated. They were in Ohio as early as 1814 when daughter Mary was born.

In Green township, Henry appeared in a tax list for 1828, and Henry, his wife and nine children were enumerated in the 1830 U.S. census.

In 1840, in the town of Annapolis, German township, Henry, his wife and three children were enumerated in the U.S. census.

By the 1850 U.S. census, Henry (occ. brick mason), his wife Sarah, and their youngest child Susannah, had removed to Lancaster township, Wells co., Indiana, where his eldest son had been living for at least the previous decade.

However by the 1860 U.S. census, Henry and his wife Sarah had returned to Short Creek township, Harrison co., Ohio.

Death and Probate

Henry died 21 May 1865,^[1] in New Athens, Harrison co., Ohio,^[3] and was buried in the Dickerson church graveyard, in Cadiz township.^[1]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} “Burials in Dickerson graveyard”, in Hanna, Charles Augustus. Historical collections of Harrison County, in the state of Ohio: with lists of the first land-owners, early marriages (to 1841), will records (to 1861), burial records of the early settlements, and numerous genealogies. (New York, U.S.A.: [C.A. Hanna?], 1900)
   p. 370.

   “Henry Perry, b. March 15, 1774; d. May 21, 1865.”

2. ↑ “List of the Taxable Inhabitants actually residing within the Borough of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, 1800”, in Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Septennial Census Returns, 1779-1863. (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Archives Series #7.26)
   p. 4, no. 223, Heny Perry.

   Digital image in Pennsylvania, Septennial Census, 1779–1863 (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2702/33017_263379-00039 : accessed 16 July 2017).
   
   Occupation: carpenter.

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} “Harrison County Genealogies: Henry Perry”, in Hanna, Charles Augustus. Historical collections of Harrison County, in the state of Ohio: with lists of the first land-owners, early marriages (to 1841), will records (to 1861), burial records of the early settlements, and numerous genealogies. (New York, U.S.A.: [C.A. Hanna?], 1900)
   p. 554.

   “HENRY PERRY, b. in the Wyoming Valley, Penn., about 1774; d. at New Athens, 1865; when about three years old, his parents were massacred by the Indians and himself carried off captive; afterwards liberated, and settled at Pittsburg; m. Sarah Franks, b. 1786; d. 1866, of Fayette county, Penn., of German descent; removed to Cadiz; had issue ....”

4. ↑ “W. T. Perry”, in Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Harrison and Carrol, Ohio: containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many early settled families. (Chicago [Illinois]: J.H. Beers, 1891)
   pp. 472–473.

   “His grandfather, Henry Perry, was a native of Wyoming Valley, Penn., born in 1774, and when about three years of age his parents were massacred by the Indians in their raid down the valley. He was carried off by a straggling party of redskins, but was rescued at Pittsburgh. Coming to what is now the State of Ohio, when of age, he here worked at the mason's trade, and built the first brick house in Cadiz. He was married to Sarah Franks, of Fayette County, Penn., a lady of German descent, who bore him eleven children ....”

5. ↑ “General list of all dwelling houses … on the first day of October, 1798” (within the County of Allegheny), in United States. Department of the Treasury. Office of the Secretary. United States direct tax of 1798: tax lists for the state of Pennsylvania. (Washington [District of Columbia]: National Archives Microfilm Publication M372, 1962)
   roll 24; register p. 10, no. 160.

   Digital image in Pennsylvania, U.S. Direct Tax Lists, 1798 (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2060/32643_B036836-00616 : accessed 16 July 2017).
   
   Occupant: Perry, Henry; Owner: Geo. Robertson; Situated: Pittsburgh.

6. ↑ ^6.0 6.1 Location is from the 1850 and 1860 U.S. censuses.