THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM A FAMILY HISTORY WRITTEN 

BY JOHN MOSBY PERRY OF CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND

(Furnished by Eloise Thomas) 

OUR PERRY FAMILY

BY 

JOHN MOSBY PERRY 

The following is a copy of a paper written by Marvin Banks Perry in 1972. 

A Brief Sketch of One Branch of the Perry Family

The first Perrys in this country came over from England to Virginia.  Perry is a well-known name in England and is now rather widely known in the United States of America, especially in the Eastern and Middle Western area. 

    From Virginia three Perry men went South, one stopping in Georgia and the other two in Florida, where one of them later became Governor of Florida.  There is a town named Perry in both Georgia and Florida.  In other states there are many towns named Perry, Perryville, Perryton, etc.  In Maryland there are Perryville and Perry Hall. 

The Perry who first came to Georgia had two sons who were doctors, practicing on horseback with saddle bags hung across the horses' withers.  One of them was Dr. Edwin Perry in Jasper County, Georgia and the other was his brother Dr. Alfred Perry in adjoining Newton County, Georgia. 

Dr. Edwin Perry died during the third year of the War Between the States and was buried in the small town, Newborn, Georgia, just outside Jasper County and just inside Newton County.  He died as a young man leaving his wife, Margaret Davis Perry and five small children, three girls and two boys.  The wife lived to age ninety eight, never married again, brought up her children in the difficult years following the war, and now lies buried by the side of her husband Dr. Edwin Perry in Newborn, Georgia. 

It would seem that Perry men tended to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, businessmen, etc.  In other branches of the Perry family there were Lt. Matthew Galbraith Perry (Commandant Perry) and Oliver Hazard Perry, also a naval officer, best known for his message to the President "we have met the enemy and they are ours".  There was Bliss Perry, author of "And Gladly Teach" and many other English books.  He was long a teacher at Williams College, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, etc.  At Harvard there was the noted philosopher, Ralph Barton Perry, the author of many scholarly books while teaching at Harvard. 

Not to be overlooked as Bishop Perry in Rhode Island, perhaps still living; and the two brothers Gaylord and Jim Perry, star pitchers in the National League.  Time and space do not permit other citations on Perrys.