Robert Edward Perry (1775 - 1860)

Born 1775 in Bedford County, Virginia, British America

Ancestors

Husband of Francis H (Basham) Perry — married 7 May 1807 in Monroe County, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 1860 at about age 85 in Kanawha, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Concetta Phillipps [send private message]

Biography

Robert E Perry was born between 1766 and 1784. Later censuses help us narrow that gap to between 1775 and 1778, with most sources in agreement that his likely birth was in either 1777 or 1778.

At this time, the DNA research done on this family shows no known link between Robert E Perry and Robert E Perry and Frances Graves. His most likely father is 1815 Joseph Wright of Bedford County, Virginia, and possibly a Mrs. Perry as a mother OR he was given to the Perry family to take care of as he would have been an illegitimate descendent of the Wright family.

Robert had to secure multiple oaths to procure a marriage bond with Frances Basham, resulting in two sons being born before their registered marriage date of 7 May 1807 in Monroe County, Virginia^[1].

By 1810, Robert and his wife Frances move their family to the Kanawha County area of Virginia that fifty years later would become West Virginia^[2].

Unfortunately, the family has yet to be located in the 1820 census. They may have been accidentally skipped as the remaining census document is in alphabetical order, meaning that its likely they were copied from another source.

Robert and Frances remain in Kanawha County and are found in the censuses for 1830^[3], 1840^[4], 1850^[5], and 1860^[6].

As Robert and Frances are in their 80s in 1860, when they are not found in the 1870 census it is most likely because they passed away sometime between 1860 and 1869.

In 1860, Robert is listed as a school teacher, but he does not have an occupation prior to this listed on the census. Its possible he was a teacher throughout his life, as he is able to write his own signature on his 1807 marriage record, as opposed to his brother in law Nathan Basham, who had to sign a mark.

Research Notes

There still remain many questions with Robert Edward Perry.

1. If his father was Joseph wright (which Y DNA confirmed), who was his mother? There's some circumstantial evidence for a "Mrs. Perry" but it needs to be investigated. 2. In whose household did he grow up? Was it a Perry household? Or was he somewhere else? With his mother? 3. What profession did he hold for most of his life? The $150 for a marriage bond was no small fee in those days (its worth about $3800 today). Where did he get that kind of money? 4. What prompted him to move from Bedford County to Kanawha County? Was it the salt mines? Or was it to teach the children of the miners? 5. With 2 male children having the middle name Edward, what significance was this name to him?

Sources

1. ↑ "West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FBYZ-DMW : 11 February 2018), Robert Perry and Fanny Barham, 1807; citing Monroe, West Virginia, United States, , county clerks, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 1,710,518.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2Q-LRB) Robert E Perry, Kanawha, Virginia, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH54-DJS : 7 December 2021), Robert Perry, Kanawha, Virginia, United States; citing , NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm .
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHT2-Q2D : 8 December 2020), Robert Perry, Kanawha, Virginia, United States; citing p. 18, NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm .
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8DH-7BX : 18 January 2022), Robert E Perry, Kanawha, Virginia, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M418-WJX : 18 February 2021), Robert E Perry in entry for James Romine, 1860.

Family Tree Sources

• * Source: S43 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS], "Ancestral File," database,

• Source: Family Search Family Tree (: accessed ), . " Database. Family Search Family Tree. : . TID 3 Life Sketch written by Judith Foster: :In 1979, long before DNA testing, I corresponded with a Perry descendant, Marlene Perry, who wrote me the following: "Grandpa Perry told me that he heard his dad, Roman (son of James R. Perry and grandson of Robert E. Perry) say many times that Perry was not their real name that it was Wright. That 3 brothers came here from Ireland and one died and one went back to Ireland and one stayed and he lived with people named Perry and took their name of Perry. He said it could be the other way around but he was sure it was Wright that took the Perry name instead of a Perry taking a Wright name. I would say from all the other Perry names it would have to be a Wright taking the Perry name if this is true." Years later, a descendant of this line, Robert Perry, had the similar information which he showed through DNA testing on his Robert E. Perry site. I corresponded with him as well as a Robert Grant, who is an expert on the Wright family has written volumes on Thomas Wright using Bedford County, Virginia records. In our email correspondence he shared the following: I have been in touch with Robert Perry and we have discussed the Y-DNA results. My conclusion, and I think Robert agrees, is that Robert E. Perry was probably the son of 1815 (year of death) Joseph Wright of Bedford County, Virginia, (place of death). This is based on the following reasoning.First, the Y-DNA makes clear that Robert E. Perry descends from a male of the family of 1763 Thomas Wright of Bedford County.Second, Robert E. Perry was born in about 1777 or possibly earlier in Bedford County. The only male Wright descendants of 1763 Thomas who were in Bedford County at that time were his sons 1803 John Wright of Bedford County and 1815 Joseph Wright of Bedford County and their sons.Third, the oldest son of 1803 John Wright was 1850 Tommey Wright of Bedford County, who was born in about 1763. That would make him pretty young to be the father of Robert E. Perry.Fourth, the oldest son of 1815 Joseph Wright was 1849 Thomas Wright of Franklin County, who was born between 1760 and 1762, and probably closer to the latter date. That again makes 1849 Thomas pretty young to be the father of Robert E. Perry.Fifth, 1803 John Wright was married to Elizabeth Pate and having children from 1763 through at least 1785. While that does not preclude him from being the father, it would require an extra marital affair. 1803 John lived in Bedford County and by 1770 was residing in the area near Stewartsville, some distance from the Franklin County border. Robert E. Perry I believe resided in a part of Bedford County that became Franklin County and, therefore, was south of the Staunton River. That's pretty far to go for an affair, although not impossible.Sixth, 1815 Joseph Wright was married twice and from the dates of birth of the children, his first wife Elizabeth (Kemp) Wright died probably in the early or mid-1770's. And from the dates of birth of his second set of children, he probably married his second wife Judith Pate in the mid to late 1770's. It would make more sense that 1815 Joseph Wright might have a liaison with another woman during the interim between his marriages.Seventh, 1815 Joseph Wright owned land in Franklin County and would be likely to visit that property, thereby providing the opportunity to pursue a relationship with Ms. Perry.This is not a proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but I think is an adequate case to identify Robert E. Perry as probably the illegitimate son of 1815 Joseph Wright of Bedford County and Ms. _____ Perry."I have also copied the DNA diagram in the document section for Robert."