'''James Franklin Perry''' (1790–1853) was an American who was an early settler of Texas. James married to Emily Austin Perry, and together they operated Peach Point Plantation. He was involved in Texas land distribution.
==Life== James Franklin Perry was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on September 19, 1790.<ref name=bchm>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchm.org/gene/d0001/g0009985.html |accessdate=February 28, 2010 |title=James Franklin Perry profile |work=Brazoria County Historical Museum |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308212117/http://www.bchm.org/Gene/d0001/g0009985.html |archivedate=March 8, 2011 }}</ref> He married Emily Austin on September 23, 1824.<ref name=bchm/> He was her second husband, and the two had six children together:<ref name=bchm/> *Stephen Samuel Perry (born June 24, 1825, in Potosi, Missouri; died September 5, 1874, in Brazoria, Texas).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchm.org/gene/d0002/g0010030.html#I547|accessdate=February 28, 2010|title=Stephen Samuel Perry profile|work=Brazoria County Historical Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010225210720/http://www.bchm.org/Gene/d0002/g0010030.html#I547|archive-date=February 25, 2001|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Emily Rosanna Perry (born September 24, 1826, in Potosi, Missouri; died December 6, 1827, in Potosi, Missouri).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchm.org/gene/d0001/g0009970.html#I548|accessdate=February 28, 2010|title=Emily Rossana Perry|work=Brazoria County Historical Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308212030/http://www.bchm.org/Gene/d0001/g0009970.html#I548|archive-date=March 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Eliza Margaret Perry (born January 3, 1828, in Potosi, Missouri; died January 3, 1862, in Austin, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchm.org/gene/d0001/g0009965.html#I549|accessdate=February 28, 2010|title=Eliza Margaret Perry profile|work=Brazoria County Historical Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308212022/http://www.bchm.org/Gene/d0001/g0009965.html#I549|archive-date=March 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> *James Elijah Brown Perry (born May 17, 1830, in Potosi, Missouri; died February 14, 1831, in Chocolate Bayou, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchm.org/gene/d0001/g0009984.html#I550|accessdate=February 28, 2010|title=James Elijah Brown Perry profile|work=Brazoria County Historical Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308212042/http://www.bchm.org/Gene/d0001/g0009984.html#I550|archive-date=March 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Henry Austin Perry (born November 17, 1831, at Chocolate Bayou, Texas; died September 10, 1853, in Biloxi, Mississippi).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchm.org/gene/d0001/g0009976.html#I551|accessdate=February 28, 2010|title=Henry Austin Perry profile|work=Brazoria County Historical Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308212037/http://www.bchm.org/Gene/d0001/g0009976.html#I551|archive-date=March 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> *Cecilia Perry (born December 10, 1835, at Peach Point Plantation; died June 8, 1836, at Peach Point Plantation<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchm.org/gene/d0001/g0009955.html#I552|accessdate=February 28, 2010|title=Cecilia Perry profile|work=Brazoria County Historical Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308212109/http://www.bchm.org/Gene/d0001/g0009955.html#I552|archive-date=March 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
By marrying Emily Austin, James became owner of Peach Point Plantation and was one of the first plantation owners to shift from cotton to sugar production. He also was involved in the earliest plans for a railroad in Texas. He was offered the position of Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Texas in 1839, but declined. James was also the executor of the will of Stephen F. Austin<ref>Letter of H.N. Cleveland, San Filipe de Austin, to James F. Perry, Executor of S.F. Austin, November 14, 1838</ref> (Emily Austin's brother), a distinction that directly involved him in land distribution, maps, and early Texas colonial affairs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://0-www.tshaonline.org.sapl.sat.lib.tx.us/handbook/online/articles/PP/fpe44.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224181252/http://0-www.tshaonline.org.sapl.sat.lib.tx.us/handbook/online/articles/PP/fpe44.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 24, 2012 |title=Perry, James Franklin |last=Allen |first=Winnie |work=Handbook of Texas Online |accessdate=February 28, 2010 }}</ref> A court case related to titles of land was at one time filed and even appealed by Sam Houston against James Franklin Perry in his capacity as executor for Stephen F. Austin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth31317|title=Sam Houston, Apellant, vs. James F. Perry, Executor|format=digital image|year=1837}}</ref>
James Franklin Perry and his son Henry each died from yellow fever<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro|title=Texas Archival Resources Online}}</ref> on September 13, 1853. There are obituary references to James in various newspapers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/PERRY/2001-01/0978754454|title = Ancestry® | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records}}</ref>
==Legacy== Letters between James, his wife, and their son, Stephen, serve as significant records, frequently referenced as foundational in Texas history.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Guide to the James F. and Stephen S. Perry papers, 1785-1942|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00543/cah-00543.html|work=University of Texas at Austin}}</ref> They were archived in the 1930s and housed at the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.<ref name=cummins>{{cite book|last=Cummins|first=Light Townsend|title=Emily Austin of Texas (1795-1851)|year=2009|publisher=TCU Press|pages=277–FN5|isbn=978-0-87565-351-8}}</ref>
Perry's Landing, in Brazoria, Texas, is named for James Franklin Perry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvpcw|title=Perry's Landing, Texas|last=Allen|first=Winnie|work=Handbook of Texas Online|accessdate=February 28, 2010}}</ref> There is an historical marker<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5039009585 |accessdate=February 28, 2010 |title=James Franklin Perry profile |work=Texas Historical Markers |first1=William |last1=Nienke |first2=Sam |last2=Morrow |year=2005 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707072323/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5039009585 |archivedate=July 7, 2011 }}</ref> for James Franklin Perry at the Gulf Prairie Cemetery. He is referenced as "James F. Perry" in the Supreme Court decision ''Bryan v. Kennett''.<ref>[http://supreme.justia.com/us/113/179/ Bryan v. Kennett, 113 U.S. 179 (1885)] Justia.com; accessed September 13, 2015.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Sallie Glasscock, "Peach Point Plantation," Texas Parade, April 1951. *{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Marie Beth|title=Peach Point Plantation: The First 150 Years|publisher=Texian Press|others=Kathy Jones (illustrator)|year=1982|location=Waco, Texas|oclc=10275759}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, James Franklin}} Category:1790 births Category:1853 deaths Category:People from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Category:American emigrants to Mexico Category:Deaths from yellow fever Category:Sugar plantation owners Category:American businesspeople in the sugar industry Category:Owners of plantations in Mexico Category:Owners of plantations in Texas