For
over seventy years the name of PERRY has been prominently
identified with the upbuilding and development of Marshall
county, for as early as 1834 Elijah L. PERRY, father of our
subject, became a resident of this county and took an active
part in reclaiming the land for the purpose of civilization. He
was born in Kentucky in 1820 and on coming to this state located
in Bell Plain township, Marshall county, where he followed
farming throughout the remainder of his life, dying here in
August, 1870. He was an active and consistent member of the
Christian church and was a stanch supporter of the democratic
party. On the 29th of October, 1847, he married Miss Nancy A.
HATTON, who was born in Virginia on the 17th of September, 1825,
and is still living, making her home with her children. She,
too, is an earnest member of the Christian church and is a lady
highly esteemed by all who know her. She was five years of age
when she accompanied her father, Forsythe Hatton, on his removal
from Rockbridge county, Virginia, to Ohio, and in that state she
began her education, pursuing her studies in a little old log
schoolhouse near her childhood home. This was a primitive
structure, one log being left out for a window and the aperture
covered with greased paper. The seats were made of split logs
with pegs driven in them for legs and the building was heated
with a huge fireplace. At the age of nine years she accompanied
her parents on the removal to Illinois. Eleven children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. PERRY, namely: Malinda, W. J., Sophia,
Anna, Z. E., Nettie, Forsythe, Maggie, E. F., A. E., and Cora.
Z. E. PERRY was born in Bell Plain township, Marshall county, on the 18th of September, 1855, and was reared and educated in much the usual manner of farmer hoys. He and his brother A. E. still live on the old home farm with their mother, which has been their place of residence, for twenty-seven years. The mother was left a widow at an early age and had a large family to rear, but the sons have been of great assistance to her in the care of the farm and the management of her business affairs. They today own and operate a fine farm of three hundred acres, seventy acres of which is covered with timber, while the remainder is under a high state of cultivation and supplied with a good set of farm buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. All of the family are members of the Christian church and they occupy an enviable position in the esteem of the community. The sons support the democratic party by their ballots and F. E. and Z. E. have served on the school board. Fraternally they are members of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Extracted July 2011 by Norma Hass from Past and Present of Marshall and Putnam Counties Illinois, 1907.
| Bureau | Putnam | |
| Stark |
 |
La Salle |
| Peoria | Woodford |
