Philo Beebe Perry, 1840 Winsted, Litchfield County, CT – 1874 Navasota, Grimes
County, TX
Philo Beebe Perry was born in Winsted, Litchfield County, Connecticut on 7 Apr 1840.
He was the third child of eight children born to Robert Perry and
Christiana Beebe. He died in his
home on 10 Jun 1874 in Navasota, Grimes County, Texas.
Philo married Mary Elizabeth Norton in Grimes County, Texas on 15 Jun 1863. Mary
Elizabeth Norton was born on 9 Apr 1844 in Bedford,
Bedford County, Tennessee, and died 16 Jan 1872 in Navasota, Grimes
County, Texas. To this union were born three children,
all in Grimes County, Texas, USA;
Benjamin Frederick Perry, born 27 Jan 1865, died 5 Mar 1866 in Grimes
County, Texas; William Douglass
Perry, born 9 Feb 1867; died 13 Jun 1867 in Grimes County, Texas; and Mary Grace
Perry, born 22 Jan 1871, died 27 Jun 1912, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.
Philo is first found in Grimes County, Texas in the 1860 U.S. Census living in
Anderson working
as a salesman. The 1870 U.S.
Census shows that Philo is living with his wife Mary Elizabeth Norton, and
Mary’s mother, Martha Williams Norton, in Navasota, Grimes
County, Texas. He is a clerk in a store.
Civil War
Philo Perry was a Private in Company “C” 5th
Regiment of Texas Infantry Volunteer in the Confederate Army during the Civil
War. He enlisted 11 Jul 1861 in
Centerville, Texas, by Capt D M Whaley for the period of
the war. He is described as being
age 18, with blue eyes, light hair, with a fair complexion, and 5’8”; being born
in Litchfield, Connecticut, and employed as a
merchant.
As a Private in Capt J. J. McBride’s Co “C.” 5th
Texas Infantry, Hood’s Brigade, Philo Perry was wounded in the 2nd
Battle Of Manassas (Second Bull Run) in the side and back.
On 6 Oct
1862 he was admitted to Chimborazo Hospital No. 5, Richmond, Virginia.
By virtue of Special Orders No. 237 Par IV from District
Head Quarters “on account of” having Certificate of Disability for service in
the Field, Philo Perry was detailed as Clerk in the Commissary Department at
Hempstead, Texas. From there he was transferred to duty
in General
Hospital, Columbia, Texas, as Acting Hospital Steward.
19 Jan
1865, Special Orders, on certificate of disability from the Examining
Board, Perry is detailed for 90 days as clerk, and reports to Lt. Robt S. Reid
at Anderson, Texas for duty.
Sources: "A Genealogy of Benjamin Cleveland, a
Great-Grandson of Moses Cleveland of Woburn, Mass.
and a Native of Canterbury, Windham, Conn.”, Horace Gillette Cleveland, Chicago,
1879; Galveston News, Tuesday, June 16, 1874; Grimes County marriage license;
1860 U.S. Census, Anderson, Grimes County, Texas;
1870 U.S. Census, Navasota, Grimes County, Texas; and NARA, The National
Archives, Papers of and Relating to Military and Civilian Personnel, compiled
1874 - 1899, documenting the period 1861 - 1865.
Written by Maurene
Waterman-Bencal [email protected]