Erastus J. Perry: 1880/1900 US Census

If Erastus J. Perry were born in 1886 or 1887, as suggested by the 1920 and 1930 census, or even 1884 or 1885, as suggested by the 1910 census, the 1900 census would have been his first census debut. However, he seems to be shying away for the 1900 census. It seems like I've searched everywhere for him, his mother, and even his siblings, but to no avail.

I decided to check out the 1880 US census for Wyonna and hopefully, Erastus' father. I found the following in Lower Sabine in Calcasieu Parish:

Richman Perry, white, male, age 32, married, laborer, b. LA, f.b. LA, m.b. LA

Ona Perry, white, female, age 24, wife, married, keeping house, b. LA, f.b. MS, m.b. MS

Azema Perry, white, female, age 4, daughter, b. LA, f.b. LA, m.b. LA

Margaret Perry, white, female, age 2, daughter, b. LA, f.b. LA, m.b. LA

William H. Perry, white, male, age 5/12, son, b. LA, f.b. LA, m.b. LA

Estimated birth dates:
Richman Perry: b. abt 1847-1848
Ona Perry: b. abt 1855-1856
Azema Perry: b. abt 1875-1876
Margaret Perry: b. abt 1877-1878
William H. Perry: b. abt Dec 1879

This looks like a close match for Erastus' family because of the following:
1) We know Erastus' mother's name is Wyonna from the 1910 and 1920 census. She was born about 1854-1855 in Louisiana. This Ona was born about 1855-1856 in Louisiana. Ona is likely a nickname for Wyonna.
2) William H. Perry, Erastus' brother, according to the 1910 census, was born about 1879-1880 in Louisiana. This William H. Perry was born about Dec 1879 in Louisiana.
3) Erastus had a brother named Richmon Perry, according to the 1910 census. The father in this family is named Richman Perry.
4) Azema and Margaret do not show up in the 1910 census, but this is probably because they were married with families of their own in 1910. They would probably not have lived at home with their mother.
5) Levenia, Erastus, Richmon (the son), and Eulah would not have shown up in this census, as they were all born after 1880, according to the 1910 census.

The only discrepancy is that on this census, Wyonna's father's birthplace is given as Mississippi. The 1910 and 1920 census records give her father's birthplace as Louisiana.

I decided to read the 1900 census for Lower Sabine line by line to again look for Erastus' family. I did not find them but found the following families:

Aug L. Perry, age 48, b. Dec 1851 in TX
Alice Perry, age 38, b. Feb 1862 in LA
Johnson A. Perry, age 19, b. Jun 1880 in LA
Benson Perry, age 18, b. Feb 1882 in LA
Raymond Perry, age 15, b. Jan 1885 in LA
Gussie Perry, age 5, b. Jan 1894 in LA

Jos. L. Perry, age 38, b. Sep 1861 in LA
Hattie Perry, age 31, b. Nov 1869 in LA
William Perry, age ?, b. Aug 1885 in LA
Lillie Perry, age 14, b. Feb 1886 in LA
Lucius Perry, age 8, b. Mar 1892 in LA
Gracie Perry, age 2, b. Jan 1898 in LA

Wm. L. Perry, age 45, b. Apr 1855 in TX
Catha Perry, age 44, b. Oct 1855 in LA

Edgar Perry, age 27, b. Sep 1872 in LA
Lea Perry, age 27, b. Mar 1873 in LA
Lonnie Perry, age 8, b. Jan 1892 in LA
Agnes Perry, age 3, b. Jun 1896 in LA
Adam Perry, age 1, b. Mar 1899 in LA

Alzena Perry, age 51, b. May 1849 in LA
Mary Perry, age 23, b. Nov 1876 in LA
Emily Sonnier, age 80, b. May 1820 in LA

Alexander Perry, age 41, b. May 1859 in LA (wonder if this was Vinton's first mayor)
Minervia Perry, age 36, b. Mar 1864 in LA
Estella Perry, age 19, b. Apr 1881 in LA
Luther Perry, age 17, b. May 1883 in LA
Ethel Perry, age 14, b. Sep 1886 in LA
Cleave Perry, age 12, b. Nov 1888 in LA
Lister Perry, age 9, b. Jul 1890 in LA
Artian Perry, age 6, b. Aug 1893 in LA
Elmer Perry, age 3, b. Apr 1896 in LA
Lillian Perry, age 1, b. Apr 1899 in LA

William L. and Catherine Perry, who lived next door to Wyonna and her children in 1910, show up in 1900.

Not much was found for certain with these searches. Perhaps Erastus' father's name was Richman Perry.

Erastus J. Perry: 1910 US Census

Logically, my next step in this search for more information on Erastus J. Perry was to comb the 1910 census for Erastus and his mother, Wyonna. I found a widowed Wyonna living in Police Jury Ward 5 of Calcasieu Parish with five children. Ward 5 is just north of the town of Vinton, where Edgerly, Big Woods, and Starks (all unincorporated) are located.

Wyona H. Perry, head, female, white, age 55, widowed, mother of 10 children, 9 children still living, born in Louisiana, father born in Louisiana, mother born in Mississippi, speaks English, own income, owns house free of mortgage

William H. Perry, son, male, white, age 30, single, born in Louisiana, both parents born in Louisiana, speaks English, stock ranch herder, wage earner, able to read and write

Levenia E. Perry, daughter, female, white, age 23, widowed, mother of one child, one child still living, born in Louisiana, both parents born in Louisiana, speaks English, able to read and write

Richmon W. Perry, son, male, white, age 19, single, born in Louisiana, both parents born in Louisiana, speaks English, stock ranch herder, wage earner, not employed, able to read and write, attended school within the census year

Erastus J. Perry, son, male, white, age 25, single, born in Louisiana, both parents born in Louisiana, speaks English, farm laborer on a rice farm, wage earner, not employed, able to read and write

Eulah Perry, daughter, female, white, age 14, single, born in Louisiana, both parents born in Louisiana, speaks English, able to read and write, has attended school within the census year

Estimated birth dates:

Wyona H. Perry - b. abt 1854-1855
William H. Perry - b. abt 1879-1880
Levenia E. Perry - b. abt 1886-1887
Richmon W. Perry - b. abt 1890-1891
Erastus J. Perry - b. abt 1884-1885
Eulah Perry - b. abt 1895-1896

We find the names of Erastus' siblings: William H., Levenia E., Richmond W., and Eulah. There are probably older sibilings who had already moved out of the household, considering William, Levenia, and Erastus were all in their twenties and thirties. In addition, Wyonna is listed at the mother of ten children, and only five are listed here.

Erastus' age is given differently on this census. He appears slightly older here. If the other two census records are correct, then he would have been about 23 or 24 years old, rather than 25. I'm not sure why he was enumerated out of order either. He is older than Richmon, but he is listed below Richmon.

Erastus was a farm laborer on a rice farm in 1910. So he went from being a farm laborer to a house carpenter to a retail merchant of ice. Hmmm....seems like he was a jack of all trades.

Erastus' parents birthplaces are again given as Louisiana, which is making me think the 1930 census was incorrect when it said they were born in Texas. The 1920 census also said Louisiana.

Wyonna's birth date is again estimated as about 1854 to 1855, which agrees with the 1920 census. Her birthplace and parents' birthplaces also agree.

One interesting thing about this household is Levenia E. Perry. The census says she was widowed and had a child who was still living, but where is the child? Eulah is too old to he her child, and besides, it says Eulah is the daughter of Wyonna. Also, why was Levenia's last name still Perry if she was widowed? Maybe her child had actually died, and maybe the census enumerator just accidentally listed her as a Perry since everyone else in the household was a Perry.

It is important to note that there is a Perry family living next door. They are William L. Perry, age 55, born in Texas, and Catherine Perry, age 55, born in Louisiana. Could William be a brother-in-law to Wyonna? If so, maybe Erastus' father was born in Texas. Hmmm....

Source: 1910 U.S. census, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana population schedule, Police Jury Ward 5, enumeration district (ED) 41, sheet 6A, dwelling 106, family 106, Wyona H. Perry; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Aug 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 511.

Erastus J. Perry: 1920 U.S. Census

My next step in my Vinton genealogy project was to search the 1920 census for Erastus J. Perry in order to find out more about his prior marriages (if any) and/or his parents and siblings. From the 1930 census, it appeared that he and Bertha did not marry until 1922-23, so I figured I would not find them together. My assumptions were correct. This is what I found:

Center Street

Wyonna Perry, head, owns home free of mortgage, female, white, age 65, widowed, can read and write, born in Louisiana, father born in Louisiana, mother born in Mississippi, can speak English

Erastus Perry, son, male, white, age 32, single, can read and write, born in Louisiana, both parents born in Louisiana, can speak English, house carpenter, wage earner

Gus Lyons, brother, male, white, age 53, divorced, can read and write, born in Louisiana, father born in Louisiana, mother born in Mississippi, can speak English, rice farmer, employer, #15 on farm schedule

Estimated birth dates:

Wyonna Perry - b. abt 1854
Erastus Perry - b. abt 1887
Gus Lyons - b. abt 1866

This census gives us a possible name for Erastus' mother: Wyonna Lyons. It seems that Erastus may not have had any previous marriages, as his marital status is given as single rather than divorced, like his uncle's. He was a house carpenter. I wonder when he quit this to open his ice business. In the last census, Erastus' parents birthplaces were given as Texas, but this census gives both parents' birthplaces as Louisiana. Erastus' birthplace is again given as Louisiana, and his birth date is approximately the same. It looks like he may have been living in the same house as he did in 1930. Perhaps he inherited his mother's house when she died. He was at least living in the same neighborhood on Center Street between East and Industrial Streets. I am starting to wonder if the family lived on the other side of Center Street from Industrial Street. If so, this may be the house they lived in:


View Larger Map

I really need to find a city directory and land records. It would be interesting if this were the house because my mother's friend just bought this house for her mother to live in, and my mom has been helping her paint and do some other minor renovations.

It looks like we also found a brother for Erastus' mother: Gus Lyons. The Lyons family is probably Vinton's most famous family, as Ted Amar Lyons (1900-1986) was a starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox for 21 seasons. I wonder how Wyonna, Erastus, and Gus were related to Ted. Was Gus Wyonna's brother, half-brother, or stepbrother? Since the census does not always capture exact relationships, we have to consider the possibility that Lyons was not Wyonna's maiden name if Gus was a stepbrother or half-brother. Or, he may not be a brother at all. He may be a cousin or nephew.

So it seems some of the questions from my last posting were answered, or at least partially answered. I'll have to continue combing the census records to find the rest of the story.

Source:

1920 U.S. census, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana population schedule, Vinton, enumeration district (ED) 54, sheet 10B, dwelling 217, family 220, Wyonna Perry; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 2 Aug 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll 606.

Erastus J. Perry: 1930 US Census

I decided to begin my Vinton research with the 1930 US Census. On p. 1A, the first family enumerated in Vinton is the family of Erastus J. Perry.

Center Street

Erastus J. Perry, head, owns home, home value is $2,000, owns radio, does not live on a farm, male, white, age 43, married, age 36 at first marriage, can read and write, born in Louisiana, father and mother born in Texas, retail merchant of ice, self-employed, can speak English, veteran of WWI

Bertha I. Perry, wife, female, white, age 37, married, age 30 at first marriage, can read and write, born in Mississippi, father and mother born in Mississippi, can speak English

Joseph Perry, son, male, white, age 5, single, has not attended school during the census year, born in Louisiana, father born in Louisiana, mother born in Mississippi

Carol Perry, daughter, female, white, age 3 5/12, single, born in Louisiana, father born in Louisiana, mother born in Mississippi

Lonnie Manuel, roomer, male, white, age 17, single, has attended school within the census year, can read and write, born in Louisiana, father and mother born in Louisiana, can speak English

Estimated birth years:

Erastus J. Perry, b. abt 1886-1887
Bertha I. Perry, b. abt 1892-1893
Joseph Perry, b. abt 1924-1925
Carol Perry, b. abt Oct 1926
Lonnie Manuel, b. abt 1912-1913

Estimated marriage year:

Erastus J. Perry m. Bertha I. ? abt 1922-1923 (assuming this was their first marriage to each other; the date does make sense in light of the children's approximate birth dates, but since he was 36 and she was 30 at the time of their marriage, it seems that they could have been previously married)

I have been trying to figure out which house the Perry's may have lived in. It looks like their neighbors, Linday and Etna Young, lived on the corner of Center and Industrial Street, so I have a pretty good idea, though I can't be certain without looking at land records. (Wow, I just realized that Vinton now has street views on Google Maps). Here is the house I think they lived in:



View Larger Map
The house on the right (not covered so much by the tree) is the one I think they may have lived in. That street to the left is Industrial Street. On Center Street, on the other side of Industrial, there is now a home for the disabled. It is possible the Perry's lived on that side of Industrial, and that their house was removed to make way for the disabled care center. I would presume that the disabled care center was built post 1930. Perhaps I could find a city directory for Vinton that would give me the exact address. I'll have to check the Southwest Louisiana Genealogical Library this weekend when I visit.

Finding this census record made me ask the following questions:

• Was Erastus J. Perry related to Alexander Perry, the first mayor of Vinton?

• How long had Erastus lived in Vinton?

• What was Bertha's maiden name?

• Did they have any other children after 1930?

• Who were Erastus' parents and siblings?

• Did I grow up with any of his geat-grandchildren? There were some Perry's who attended the Methodist church in Vinton when I attended there in the late 1990s and early 2000s. There was also a Perry who was two grades behind me in school.
  

• When did Erastus die?

• What was the name of Erastus' ice business?

• Were Erastus or Bertha married previously, considering they were both probably over 30 when they married each other?

• What happened to Joseph and Carol Perry after they grew up?

• Was Lonnie Manuel a relative?

Stay tuned to find out some of the answers to these questions!!!

Source:

1930 U.S. census, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Vinton, enumeration district (ED) 26, sheet 1A, dwelling 1, family 1, Erastus J. Perry; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jul 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 789.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog about the history and genealogy of the families of Vinton, Louisiana. I grew up in Vinton, and although my family did not settle there until the 1940s, I decided it would be interesting to study the family histories of the earlier settlers. I have been studying my own family history, which you can read about at Jennifer's Genealogy Blog, for ten plus years.

Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish in southwest Louisiana on Interstate 10, just across the Sabine River from Orange, Texas. It had a population of around 3,300 at the time of the 2000 census. Jean Baptiste Granger was one of the first settlers of Vinton. He arrived in 1827 and settled between what is now Vinton and the unincorporated area just north of Vinton called Big Woods. Due to western Louisiana border disputes between the French and the Spanish, Vinton remained relatively unsettled, even after Louisiana was purchased by the U.S.

The Louisiana & Texas Railroad Company decided to build a railroad between New Orleans and Beaumont, Texas, due to the logging industry that was sprouting up in Calcasieu Parish. The railroad is what put Vinton on the map (and what later brought my great-grandparents to the area in the 1940s). At this time, Vinton was a whistle-stop called Blair.

A land developer named Jabez B. Watkins arrived in nearby Lake Charles, Louisiana, from Lawrence, Kansas in 1883. He bought 500,000 acres of land in southwest Louisiana. To attract settlers, he advertised in newspapers across the country. It is believed that Dr. Seaman Knapp was one of those attracted by his advertisements. Dr. Knapp, an Iowa native and former president of Iowa Agricultural College, arrived in Lake Charles in 1884. He ran an agricultural business for Watkins until 1887, when he opened his own land development company.

Knapp purchased 160 acres that would form the basis of Vinton, and another 640 acres was purchased by Robert F. Evans in 1887. By 1889, Knapp's land development company owned all these tracts and sold them for $10 to $25 per lot. Several other Iowa families that settled in Vinton were the Horridge, Stevenson, Eddie, Ferguson, Stockwell, Morgan, Nelson, Fairchild, Banker, Hall, and Haskill families. Vinton is presumed to be named after Knapp's hometown of Vinton, Iowa.

The settlement of Vinton increased with the oil boom in nearby Ged, an unincorporated community just south of Vinton. Vinton was incorporated on October 10, 1910, and Alexander Perry was appointed the first mayor.