Perry family papers
Abstract
The Perry family papers (dated 1800-1952; 4.7 cubic feet; 11 boxes) consists of correspondence, accounts, business vouchers, bills of lading, receipts, and legal documents relating to Fountain Perry's river shipping business and Roderick Perry's public service and law career in Gallatin County, Kentucky.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Perry family papers
- Date
- 1800-1952 (inclusive)
- Extent
- 4.7 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Inland Water Transportation -- United States
- Bridges -- Design and construction.
- Bridges -- Kentucky
- Business records -- Kentucky -- Warsaw.
- Shipping -- Ohio River.
- Shipping -- Mississippi River.
- Boatmen.
- Bills of lading.
- Arrangement
- Collection arranged by format.
- Preferred Citation
- 61m145 : [identification of item], Perry family papers, 1800-1952, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- The Perry family, of Campbell and Gallatin Counties in Kentucky, included Fountain Perry, a boat captain and commission merchant who operated flatboats and keelboats down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Cincinnati to New Orleans. He traded at various times in tobacco, pork, lard, ploughs, whiskey, apples, horses and slaves, usually operating his businesses from either Campbell County, Kentucky or Natchez, Mississippi. He later moved to Gallatin County, where he served as a commissioner of the common schools and as a justice of the peace. Fountain's son, Roderick Perry, was a miller, a lawyer and a steamboat owner; he served as an officer in the Confederate Army, was president of the Warsaw, Ky. bank, and served as a court clerk. He was also influential in Gallatin County politics, serving on the Gallatin County Bridge Commission.
- A descendant of the family was William P. Perry, Jr.,a graduate of the Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and the University of Virginia who married Anne Taliaferro in June, 1952. Taliaferro was a member of the Phi Mu sorority and attended St. Mary's Junior College. She graduated from the University of Georgia in March, 1952.
- Scope and Content
- The Perry family papers (dated 1800-1952; 4.7 cubic feet; 11 boxes) consists of correspondence, accounts, business vouchers, bills of lading, receipts, and legal documents relating to Fountain Perry's river shipping business and Roderick Perry's public service and law career in Gallatin County, Kentucky. The family papers include records from Roderick Perry's legal practices and from his service as a clerk and Special Commissioner of the Gallatin County Circuit Court. Additionally, Roderick Perry's papers contain blueprints, statements, and diagrams regarding six major bridge works from 1870 to 1882. These include the Columbia Bridge Works, Kings Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company, Cleveland Bridge and Iron Company, Penn Bridge Works, Smith Bridge Company and the Wrought Iron Bridge Company. The collection also contains a series of letters dating from 1948 to 1952, written by Anne Talliaferro to her fiancé, William P. Perry, Jr., discussing their upcoming marriage as well as integration in the South.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
- Use Restrictions
- Property rights reside with the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky holds the copyright for materials created in the course of business by University of Kentucky employees. Copyright for all other materials has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact Special Collections.
