George Sessions Perry (1910 - 1956)

Born 5 May 1910 in Rockdale, Milam, Texas, United States

Ancestors

Died 13 Dec 1956 at age 46 in Guilford, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

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Biography

"Perry wrote with lifelong affection about his hometown, first as a novelist and later as a magazine journalist. 'Rockdale, my hometown, is Texas' heart and a significant part of its soul,' Perry wrote in his book, Texas: A World Unto Itself." . . . Clay Coppedge at texasescapes.com . . .

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Perry, an American novelist, World War II correspondent and one of the highest paid popular magazine contributors of his time, spent his growing-up years in the Rockdale he so often wrote about. George's maternal grandmother was a member of his household from the time of his birth, and with the early deaths of both of his parents, she was the main influence during many of his formative years, as lovingly written about in My Granny Van, The Running Battle of Rockdale, Texas (1949). He married the love of his life, Claire Hodges, on the 20th of February 1933 in her hometown of Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas. They would remain devoted to each other until his death, and had no children. In 1937, the Saturday Evening Post published the first in a long series of stories by Perry. His 1941 novel, Hold Autumn in Your Hand, won the Texas Institute of Letters award, was the first Texas book to win the National Book Award, and was made into a movie called The Southerner.

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Perry Rites Set Tuesday. Rockdale, Texas (AP). -- Funeral services for George Sessions Perry, writer and native of Texas, will be held here Tuesday [19th Feb 1957]. His body was found Wednesday in Connecticut after he had been missing two months. Tentative funeral arrangements were reported by J.B. Newton, a relative. The hour has not been set. Mrs. Perry is expected to arrive Saturday by plane in Houston, where she will be met by her brother, Bill Hodges, Beaumont. They will come immediately to Rockdale, near where Perry maintained a ranch. The body of Perry, an arthritis victim, was found in a tidal stream near his Connecticut home. . . . Dallas Morning News. February 16, 1957

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Sources

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH19-XKB : accessed 2 December 2022), George Perry in household of Andrew P Perry, Milam, Texas, United States; citing , sheet , line , family , NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll ; FHL microfilm .
• "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK8Y-GRZM : 10 March 2021), George S Perry and Claire Hodges, 02 Feb 1933; citing Milam, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 1,481,552.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4SZ-VJQ : 10 January 2021), George Sessions Perry, Justice Precinct 4, Milam, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 166-14A, sheet 8B, line 63, family 197, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4106.
• "Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2001," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZPC-LSX : 9 December 2014), Georg S Perry, 12 Dec 1956; from "Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2001," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2003); citing Madison, New Haven, Connecticut, Connecticut Department of Health, Hartfort.
• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JGS4-2Z9 : 11 January 2021), George Perry, Dec 1956; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58756611/george-sessions-perry : accessed 23 April 2021), memorial page for George Sessions Perry (5 May 1910–13 Dec 1956), Find a Grave Memorial ID 58756611, citing Odd Fellows Cemetery, Rockdale, Milam County, Texas, USA ; Maintained by BeNotForgot (contributor 46974545) .