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Daniel Perry (Sr.)
Born Oct 9, 1733? Queen Anne's Co. MD
Died Mar 24, 1789 Natchez District
SPOUSE CHILDREN
Magdalene Murray

m. 1758
Kent Germany
b. 1740?
?Germany
d. Dec 10, 1802
Barnabas

b. by 1760

d. after Aug 19, 1795
?Jefferson Co. Miss. Terr.
Rebecca



d. ?before Mar 1789
Daniel (Jr.)

b. 1762
Queen Anne's Co. MD
d. Nov 24, 1827
Jefferson Co. MS
Ann




Dinah




Lydia




Daniel received a British grant on May 5, 1776 for "250 acres near Cole's Cr., easterly 20 miles from Fort Natchez, southerly 2 miles from the Choctaw Path, bounded on all sides by vacant lands" [McBee, p. 358].
Map of the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799.
The Commandant of the Natchez District received notice of the death on Jul 29, 1781 of Elizabeth Alston, wife of John Alston. On that date a Conveyance was issued to appoint Alexander as the guardian of the six surviving children, and an Estate Inventory was performed, listing 16 slaves as well as lands and buildings [McBee, Book A, p. 1].
On 3 Aug. [Friday], 1781, Alexander McIntosh declared to the Court that Henry Alston, one of the minor heirs died, and on the 2nd day of the same month died a negro boy, named "Stephen", aged 7 yrs., belonging to the Alston estate. He also asked that a female slave be sold and that Daniel Perry be appointed to manage the Alston plantation [McBee, Book A, p. 2].
On Sep 5, 1781 John Alston sold "all his cattle" to a William Brocus, as witnessed by John Townshend. By Sep 29, 1781 John Alston had "absconded" when the rest of his estate was put up for sale [McBee, pp. 3, 235].
On Oct 24, 1781, Daniel Perry and Isaac Johnson were appointed by the Commandant to perform the inventory and appraisal of the estate of John Holloway. Daniel did not sign the inventory because he "declared that he cannot write" [McBee, Book A, p. 48-49].
Alexander McIntosh died sometime during late 1781 and early 1782, leaving his business in the hands of his widow, Anne McIntosh. On Oct 22, 1781, he appeared in Natchez to release a mortgage after a debt owed by Isaac Johnson and his wife had been paid. His wife Anne was recorded as "widow" first on May 17, 1782 [McBee, Book A, p. 13].
In May 1782, David Smith and his wife arrived at Natchez in a party of 4 "Individuos" and 7 "Esclavos" [slaves] under the entry "David Smith, wife and children". A total of 13 families were recorded by Spanish authorities, and the record signed by Grand-Pré on Jul 6, 1782. Arrivals included the family of David's brother, William Smith [Natchez Court Records].
On May 16, 1782 Thomas Ethridge made a deposition to the Natchez District Commandant, Carlos de Grand-Pré, after obtaining he received "secret advice ... from the zealous and faithful subjects of His Majesty, Daniel Perry and St. Germain" about the conduct of those Americans arriving on flatboats down the Mississippi River, mentioning David Smith and the others. He said that of the seven slaves brought by Smith "six were stolen" [Farrell Family History website].
On Jun 1, 1782 Daniel exhibited to the Natchez District Commandant the will of James Perry, a planter in the District and his brother who died Mar 21, 1782, which was executed on Mar 19. In the will he mentioned nephews Barnabas Perry, who received "all my real estate in this District", and Daniel Perry; nieces Rebecca Perry, Ann and Lydia; and brother, Daniel Perry who received the residue of my est. and he to be exor." He signed his will with a mark, witnessed by Isaac Johnson, Benjamin Holmes and Michael Hooter [McBee, Book A, p. 14].
On Sep 10, 1784, St. Germain witnessed the sale of 100 arpents (about 84 acres) of land from David Smith to Cato West "near Cole's Creek, bordered on one side by land of Samuel Osborn, on other sides vacant" for $150 in cash paid at time of sale [Potter, p. 342; McBee, Book A, p. 27].
On Nov 13, 1784, Daniel certified in court that he was stopped by "Mr. Trevino who forbid [him] from taking Mrs. Woods [wife of John Woods, absconded] on [his] boat to New Orleans [McBee, p. 164].
On Apr 9, 1785, John Burnet sold to St. Germain two/thirds of the saw mill "now occupied on or near land of Richard Goodwin, with the same part in a yoke of oxen at the Mill and the wheels and chain and everything belonging to Richard Goodwin, and also my right to said mill" for $800 (Spanish money) "payable January next" [McBee, p. 137].
St. Germain died shortly before May 8, 1786 after "a fall from the top of a tree in the Cypress Swamp" about 15 miles above the Fort of Natches, apparently trying to get wood for the saw mill that he had purchased part of from John Burnet just the year before. The King's Surgeon, Don Louis Faure, informed of the accident, found him in the house of John Burnet "already dead half an hour before his arrival … body cold and wanting one leg" [McBee, pp. 33-4].
On Mar 15, 1789, son "Daniel Perry, Jr." received a Spanish grant of "733 arpens in Dist. of Natchez, on waters of Cole's Cr. on the South Fork, b. [bordering] on Daniel Perry, Sr." [McBee, p. 367].
Daniel died Mar 24, 1789, but the District was not informed of the death until the next year. The will of Daniel Perry was recorded Feb 21, 1790. It lists eldest son Barnabas, son Daniel, and daughters Ann, Dinah and Lydia [McBee, Book B, p. 74, p. 358].
In a letter dated Mar 2, 1790, from Carlos de Grand-Pré, Natchez to Governor Don Estavan Miro, the amount of tobacco produced in 1790 was reported by growers of Natchez. Son "Daniel Perry" reported producing 4,000 pounds of tobacco that year [MDAH, rootsweb website].
According to the 1792 Spanish Census for the Natchez District, there are no Perry households listed. Several Smith families are listed, including William in Santa Catalina (St. Catherine's Creek area]. A John Smith is listed as owning land in Bayou Pierre [future Claiborne Co.] but not living on it.
1895 Map of Natchez from the Ancestral Trackers website, shows the likely routes of the Second and Sandy Creeks in 1792.
On Aug 19, 1795, son Barnabus appeared under oath at the Natchez Court in a matter related to his wounded slave Diana and a "mulatto" slave named Henry Jones belonging to Gabriel Griffing. Witnesses were later interrogated at the Perry plantation, in the "district of Villa Gayoso, 18 miles from the Post of Natchez" an area that became Jefferson Co. MS[McBee, pp. 222-3].
Jefferson Co. MS now borders Claiborne Co. which was created in 1802 from Adams Co., Miss. Terr., and included the towns of Port Gibson and Grand Gulf (see present day map).
Son Daniel married in Dec 19, 1799 and had at least 7 children.
In the 1816 Adams Co. MS Census, page 9 (line 25), the household of "Daniel Perry" had:
3 male adults, 2 female adults, 6 children, and 11 slaves.
On page 18, line 16, there was a household headed by "Martha Perry" with no white persons and three "free people of color" [MDAH, Adams Co. Census].
Sources:
Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census.
Farrell Family History, website.
Imbert, J. Leopold, map maker, Carte des Possessions Angloises... 1777, reprinted by the Museum of the American Revolution from map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book F, p.21.
McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Greenwood MS, 1953, v. 2, Book A, pp. 1-2, 14, 102, 223, 358, 367.
MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1780-1790.
MDAH, Adams Co. MS 1816 Census, Territorial Census 1801-1816 website, microfilm.
Potter, Dorothy Williams, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers 1770-1823, Gateway Press, Baltimore MD, 1982, p. 342.
Tuller, Roberta, "1777 Petition of Holston Men", in An American Family History, website, Amazon Services, 2020.
"Virginia Troops in the French and Indian Wars", Va. Hist. Mag., 1:389, 1894.
Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151,
White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, 1982.
Veach, Damon, "Louisiana Ancestors", article in Sunday Advocate Magazine, Baton Rouge LA, Feb 21, 1982.