George William Eugene Perry (1891 - 1950)

Born 3 Oct 1891 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Husband of Mary Catherine (Nickels) Perry — married 1912 (to 1950) in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Died 21 Mar 1950 at age 58 in Waupun, Dodge, Wisconsin, United States

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Biography

George Perry was a Wisconsinite.

George, the son of Julius and Victorine (Kieffer) Perry was born in 1891 in Milwaukee.^[1][2][3]
George registered for the WWI draft on 5 June 1917 in Milwaukee, which provides the full names for his middle initials, born in Milwaukee on 13 October 1891, was a 'Chauffeur' for Reliance Laundry, and married with one child.^[4]

George married Mary Catherine Nickels around 1912 in Milwaukee. She was his only 'legal' wife. They had three children all born in Milwaukee:

1. John William Perry (b. 1913; d. 2004), m. Elsa Auguste (Dawurske) Couey-Perry
2. Daniel Patrick Perry (b. 1920; d. 2012)
3. Grace Mary Perry (b. 1929; d. 1934)

George "Jiggs" Perry died in Waupun State Prison on 21 March 1950. He was serving a life sentence for murder. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum in Milwaukee.^[5]

"Jiggs: The Marrying Railroad Man" ("See Also")

• George "Jiggs" Perry was a con man. He deserted his wife just prior to Grace's birth in 1929 and left his wife and children destitute. In mid-1930, Mary Perry reported to the Milwaukee police that she had been abandoned by her husband, George Perry. At that time, the police were holding George Perry for the shooting murder of a woman named Cora Belle Hackett.^[6] Cora Belle learned that George was a bigamist and was going to the police, and Jiggs murdered her in northern Wisconsin. George had worked for the railroad and apparently had several 'wives' and girlfriends throughout the Midwest. George was arrested for murder, polygamy and abandonment. In 1931, he was convicted of the first degree murder of Cora Belle Hackett and spent his remaining years in Waupun State Prison.

Sources

1. ↑ Wisconsin Historical Society; Madison, Wisconsin; Census Year: 1905/ Source Information: Ancestry.com.. Wisconsin, State Censuses, 1855-1905 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1055&h=954616&ssrc=pt&tid=119695907&pid=390244338711&usePUB=true
2. ↑ "Wisconsin Birth Index, 1820-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VHHK-88V : 4 December 2014), George E Perry, 03 Oct 1891; from "Wisconsin Births, 1820-1907," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2000); citing Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reel 0169, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Vital Records Division, Madison.
3. ↑ Year: 1900; Census Place: Milwaukee Ward 8, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0052; FHL microfilm: 1241801. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7602&h=63701236&ssrc=pt&tid=119695907&pid=390244338711&usePUB=true
4. ↑ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K87Q-6N4 : 24 August 2019), George William Eugene Perry, 1917-1918.
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 23 July 2020), memorial page for George W.E. “Jiggs” Perry (3 Oct 1891–21 Mar 1950), Find a Grave Memorial no. 118057611, citing Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, USA ; Maintained by Brian Croegaert (contributor 46820848). Find A Grave: Memorial #118057611
6. ↑ "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q5S8-Z3F1 : 8 July 2020), George W E Perry in entry for Thro and George W E Perry Or Jiggs, 1948.

See Also

• http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/lazy-lothario/

Personal Note

• Jiggs received the title "The Marrying Railroad Man" from a front page story that was run in the Milwaukee Journal at the time of the trial. My maternal grandmother, whose mother-in-law, Annie (Nickels) George, was Mary's sister, was interviewed by the journal at that time. My grandmother told me years later she couldn't understand "what women saw in the guy. He was wall-eyed and not much to look at, but he was very good at BS (short for Bull Shite)."