Thomas Perry & Nancy Ray

of Bertie County, NC — line of Ray Gurganus

Thomas Perry ca 1742 – 1790/00 | his parents
& Nancy Ray ? – 1825 | her parents
of Bertie County NC


This is my working hypothesis – the way I see it as of this moment!!
as set forth by William Augustus Perry and Ray Gurganus


Thomas Perry married Nancy Ray in 1779. [AJM Perry records]
Nancy Ray was the daughter of George Ray.
He died in the 1790’s and was buried in a family cemetery located somewhere in the Perrytown Community, Colerain, NC

Children of Thomas Perry and Nancy Ray:
1. Etheldred Perry
2. Ludrick Perry
3. Roderick Perry 1790/00 Bertie Co – 1847 Chowan Co NC
married Hester Ray d. 1850 Chowan Co NC scroll down page
4. William Perry
5. Isaac Perry
6. Rachel Perry
7. Thomas Perry
8. Hymerick Perry 1780 – Aug 1857
married Mary Lackey scroll down page

Thomas Perry [son of John Jr] appears in the record first in 1765
Bertie Book 1 page 22 sells land to a Mr. Harrison
1768 Tax list: Perry, Thomas 1 free white, 2 negro women
in 1771 Book L page 280 sells land to a Mr Hooten
in 1780 M- 479 sells land to a Mr Coke
in 1785 N-32 sells land to a Mr King
in 1785 both Thomas and Isaac receive land grants of 75 ac each N-107
Thomas Perry from Bertie County, a musician, voucher #1761 Co F 5th Reg. REV WAR
[could this be the son?]
on the 1784/87 census of Bertie Thomas appears as 1 male 21/60, 1 female, 7 sl.
1790 Bertie Co Census: Thomas Perry 1 male over 16, 2 females and 9 slaves


line of Brenda Perry Davis

Roderick Perry 1790/00 – 1847 | his parents
& Hester Ray ? – 1850 | her parents
of Chowan Co NC


Children of Roderick Perry and Hester? Ray:
1. John Perry
2. William Perry
3. Starkey A Perry ca 1820 – 1880
lived in the Community of Rocky Hock in Chowan Co, NC
prosperous farmer and fisherman

married Susan H Smith 1825 – Sept 1889
a. Mary Francis Perry 1 Sept 1846 –
b. Martha Temperance(Tempie) Perry 1846 –
c. Pattie Perry 1855 –
d. Claudis Perry b.?
e. Starky Perry( Female)
f. Bertie Perry b.?
g. Sidney Perry b?
h. Louise or Louisa Perry b.?
i. George L Perry b. ,
j. John Henry Perry 22 May 1872 – 31 Oct 1930 Suffolk VA
logger and farmer
moved to Suffolk with all their children, by Mule & Cart with all of their belongings, to their new home on Whaleyville Blvd. This house was later moved to Copeland Rd.
married aft 1901 Temperance [Tempie] Ella Ward [Haste] 1874 – 1933


1900 John Henry Perry and 1900 Tempie Ward Haste
painting from photos

i. Fermer Nathan Perry 1910 –
married Victoria Louise Bradshaw 1912 –
ii. Susie Mary Perry
married Simeon Barnes
iii. John Starky Perry
married Virginia Samuels
iv. Zachariah Perry 1912 – 1991
married Mary Bradshaw 1915 –
1. Brenda Perry Davis
v. Patty Elizabet Perry 1916 –
married James Byrum
vi. Joseph Marcus Perry 1917 – 1999
married Ruby Nell Joyner
Tempie had married 1st George H Haste d 22 Oct 1901
i. Cecil Haste
married Mary Whetnell
ii. Joel Henry Haste
k. James Roderick Thomas Perry 31 Jan 1865 –
4. Winnifred [Winney] Perry
married Miles Ashley
5. Charlotte [Lotty] Perry
married Cullen Halsey


line of Ray Gurganus

Hymerick Perry 1780 – 1857 | his parents
& Mary Lackey ca 1787 – aft 1856 | her parents
of Bertie County NC


Children of Hymerick Perry and Mary Lackey:
1. Cynthia Perry ca 1815 –
married George Jernigan ca 1790 –
2. Abner Perry
3. Zachariah Perry ca 1824 – bef 1880
married Elizabeth Anne Evans 18 Nov 1832 Hertford Co – aft 1880
a. Amanda Perry 1851 –
married William Edward Baker 26 Nov 1850 –
4. Joseph H Perry ca 1831 –
5. Nancy Perry ca 1832 –
6. John Perry ca 1833 –

I think these are probably grandkids.
7. Mary J Perry ca 1840 –
8. Martha Perry ca 1843 –

Bertie Co -Will of Hymerick Perry 17 April 1856 – prob Aug 1857
— to my son, John S. Perry [John L. Perry] that tract of land whereon I now live except the life estate of my wife devised in a firm item of this my will to have and to hold to him and his heirs in fee simple forever except thirty acres on the north side is to go in with the undivided land.
— to my son Joseph Perry [Joseph H. Perry] fifty acres of land whereon he now lives to have and to hold to him and his heirs forever.
— to my Grandson Martin Van Buren Perry fifty acres of land whereon Martin Perry now lives to have and to hold to him and his heirs forever.
— All the rest of my land to be equal divided between Abner Perry, Zachariah Perry, Nancy Perry, Sinthia Jerigan[Sintha Perry], Simon Perry-Lewis.
Item. I give and devise to my grand daughter Melissa A. Halsey twenty dollars to be paid by my executor.
— to my said beloved wife all my household and kitchen furniture, during her life, also one cow & calf, first choice.
— the residue shall be equally divided and paid over to my said wife and all my children equally proportion shares and share alike
Test:John White (signed) William A. Oxley David White

perrytxrg
The writing on the
back says “Grandma’s brother’s family in Texas, 1904.” I believe the
handwriting is that of my grandmother (no longer living), and so the
grandmother she refers to would be either Abell Henry (paternal) or
Amanda Perry (maternal). – Ray Gurganus
note: after checking all the census 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 I find Amanda was an only child, so this would be Abell Henry’s brother. ~ Sally

www.gurganus.org Ray Gurganus [email protected]

Notice for male NC Perry surname descendants: Please consider having your DNA tested.
Three samples from family subgroup 03 at Perry FTDNA website
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/perry/default.aspx?section=yresults can document their ancestry to John Perry b. 1680/90 of Nansemond Co, VA d. 1760 Bertie Co, NC. A fourth sample from the same subgroup 03 can prove his ancestry to Currituck Co, NC. He does not appear to be a descendant of John Perry d. 1760 in Bertie. It is anticipated that the presently unknown common ancestor of these two lines lived in 17C Virginia. DNA may help tie together the several NC lines out of VA, so please consider joining the Perry surname project. Tests can be ordered at a discount through either the Perry FTDNA website above, or www.perry-dna.org. Other companies (Ancestry, etc) also do DNA testing, and your result can be uploaded to the Perry surname project.

One thought on “Thomas Perry & Nancy Ray”

  1. I got my DNA done but I wanted to make a comment..those children listed for Tempi Haste. Who is her husband. I cannot understand from what is listed. Dates dont work for her to be married to Zachariah so she must be married to one of the boys ….would that be John Henry or who?

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