Emily Austin Perry

Emily Austin Bryan Perry (June 22, 1795 – 1851) was the sister of Stephen F. Austin and an early settler of Texas. She was an heir to Austin's estate when he died in 1836. She achieved significant political, economic and social status as a woman in Texas at a time when women were often not treated equal to men.

Education

Perry was born in Austinville, Virginia. She attended Mrs. Beck's Boarding School in Lexington, Kentucky from October 1804 until December 1808,Daughters of Republic of Texas, Volume 1 By Turner Publishing Company, p. 218 then two years at the Hermitage Academy located on the Hudson River to further her education.

First marriage and children

Perry married James Bryan (1788–1822) in Potosi, also known as " Mine á Breton" or "Mine au Breton." The two lived with Emily’s parents at their home called Durham Hall, in Missouri, from 1813–1814. In 1815, they moved to Hazel Run, Missouri, and also later to Herculaneum, Missouri. Emily and James Bryan had five children:
* Stephen Austin Bryan was born on July 17, 1814 in Durham Hall, Missouri. He died on August 12, 1814 in Durham Hall, Missouri.
* William Joel Bryan was born on December 14, 1815 in Hazel Run, Saint Genevieve, Missouri. He died on March 13, 1903.
* Moses Austin Bryan was born on September 25, 1817 in Herculaneum, Jefferson County, Missouri. He died on March 16, 1895 in Brenham, Texas.
* Guy Morrison Bryan was born on January 12, 1821 in Herculaneum, Jefferson County, Missouri. He died on June 4, 1901 in Austin, Travis County, Texas.
* Mary Elizabeth Bryan was born on July 5, 1822 in Herculaneum, Jefferson County, Missouri. She died on August 4, 1833.

James Bryan (Emily’s first husband) died on July 16, 1822, in Potosi, Missouri. Perry supported her family by taking in boarders and teaching at a school in Hazel Run, Missouri.

Second marriage and children

On September 23, 1824, Perry married her second husband, James Franklin Perry. Emily and James Franklin Perry had six children:
* Stephen Samuel Perry (Born June 24, 1825 in Potosi, Missouri; died September 5, 1874 in Brazoria, Texas).
* Emily Rosanna Perry (Born September 24, 1826 in Potosi, Missouri; died December 6, 1827 in Potosi, Missouri).
* Eliza Margaret Perry (Born January 3, 1828 in Potosi, Missouri; died January 3, 1862 in Austin, Texas).
* James Elijah Brown Perry (Born May 17, 1830 in Potosi, Missouri; died February 14, 1831 in Chocolate Bayou, Texas).
* Henry Austin Perry (Born November 17, 1831 at Chocolate Bayou, Texas; died September 10, 1853 in Biloxi, Mississippi).
* Cecilia Perry (Born December 10, 1835 at Peach Point Plantation; died June 8, 1836 at Peach Point Plantation).

Of her eleven total children, six would live to adulthood. On June 7, 1831, the family, composed of Emily and James Perry, four Bryan children, and Stephen Perry, began the long move from Potosi, Missouri, to Texas.

First year in Texas: San Felipe de Austin and Chocolate Bayou

Emily and most of her family (including Samuel Stephen and Eliza Margaret) arrived at San Felipe de Austin, Texas, on August 14, 1831. Her son, Moses Austin Bryan, had arrived in Texas some months before his parents, on January 2, 1831. Emily and the younger children remained in San Felipe de Austin for several months, and then the family lived for about one year on the Chocolate Bayou producing sugar and cotton.

Remaining years in Texas: Peach Point Plantation

Perry, her husband, and her children settled in Jones Creek, Texas, in present day Brazoria County, Texas and developed Peach Point Plantation also known as " Peach Point"; she lived at Peach Point until she died in 1851.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Perry interacted with Rutherford B. Hayes during his visit to Peach Point Plantation in 1848. Hayes wrote in a letter that Perry was, "an excellent motherly sort of woman, whose happiness consists in making others happy." Hayes also wrote in a letter to his mother that, "instead of having the care of one family, milyis the nurse, physician, and spiritual adviser of a whole settlement of careless slaves. She feels it is her duty to see to their comfort when sick or hurt." Some historians argue that Perry's relatively/comparatively favorable treatment of slaves can be generalized to other holders of the time period, while others question whether this generalization is reasonable.

Though they may not themselves have known when they met, Perry was also, via shared descent from Anthony Austin and Esther Huggins, a third cousin once removed of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.

Sole heir to Stephen F. Austin

Perry was the sole heir to Stephen Fuller Austin following his death.Cantrell, Gregg (2001), Stephen F. Austin: Empresario of Texas, p. 381, Yale University Press, Half the estate went to her immediately and half the "entire estate reverted to Emily" in 1837 upon the death of Brown Austin's eight-year-old son, who happened to be named Stephen F. Austin, Jr. Everything was bequeathed not in James Perry's name and not to her sons, but to Perry, a woman, in 1836. Transferred by bequest, all of Stephen F. Austin's possessions, property and land became Perry's separate property, and not community property. In fact, Perry was meticulous to ensure the Austin estate proceeds, books, and operations were not commingled, thus maintaining their legal characterization as her separate property, rather than community property with her husband (even though her husband, James F. Perry, was executor of Austin's estate).

Wealth

Accordingly, Perry was one of the largest Texas individual landholders and irrefutably the wealthiest woman in Texas. She was actively involved in management of the Austin estate, including investments and land, actively involved in a time where male signatures were still required on contracts and women could not vote.

Support of land planning, railroads, and industry

Perry was very involved in the urban planning and settling land. For example, she was one of the founders of the San Luis Company, which managed the development of San Luis, including the initial sale of 450 lots, development of streets, building a bridge, and construction of a lighthouse.

Perry raised capital and invested in the first attempt to build a railroad in Texas: The Brazos and Galveston Railroad Company, chartered by the Congress of the Republic of Texas, on May 24, 1838. The rail was initially to go from Galveston Bay to the Brazos River, and later plans were for the rail to go from San Luis Island instead of Galveston Bay. She was the largest shareholder of the first railroad company in Texas. Perry was at the helm of the development and planning of San Luis.

Perry not only owned the league of land which contained Dollar Point, she also managed the development of the town of Austinia, located within that league. Austinia is known in the present day as Texas City.

Perry loaned money to Gail Borden (as in the founder/pioneer of Borden Milk Products

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