James Perry marries into Austin family

On this day in 1824, James Franklin Perry married Emily Margaret Austin Bryan, the widowed sister of Stephen F. Austin, in Potosi, Missouri. At Stephen Austin's urging, Perry came to Texas in 1830 and, pleased with what he saw of the country, moved his family to San Felipe de Austin in 1831. Shortly thereafter the Perrys began developing Peach Point Plantation near Brazoria; Stephen F. Austin considered Peach Point to be his only home in Texas, and was buried in the family plot there, though his remains were moved to the State Cemetery in Austin in 1910. James Perry's loyalty to Austin was complete. Perry took care of Austin's papers and tried to collect some notes while Austin was imprisoned in Mexico. Following his brother-in-law's advice, Perry "steered totally clear of politics" until Austin's return but thereafter became active in the movement for independence. After the Texas Revolution Perry settled down to plantation life but was soon called into service as the administrator of Austin's estate. He was one of the first to shift from cotton to sugar as a plantation product. Mrs. Perry died in 1851, and Perry moved to Biloxi in 1853 for health reasons. He died of yellow fever on September 13 of that year.