Emily Austin Perry
[2] She achieved significant political, economic and social status as a woman in Texas at a time when women were often not treated equal to men.
She attended Mrs. Beck's Boarding School[3] in Lexington, Kentucky from October 1804 until December 1808,[4][5] then two years at the Hermitage Academy[6] located on the Hudson River to further her education.
[5] Emily and most of her family (including Samuel Stephen and Eliza Margaret) arrived at San Felipe de Austin, Texas, on August 14, 1831.
[17]: 96 [18] Emily and the younger children remained in San Felipe de Austin for several months, and then the family lived for about one year on the Chocolate Bayou producing sugar and cotton.
"[20] Hayes also wrote in a letter to his mother that, "instead of having the care of one family, [Emily] is the nurse, physician, and spiritual adviser of a whole settlement of careless slaves.
Though they may not themselves have known when they met, Perry was also, via shared descent from Anthony Austin and Esther Huggins, a third cousin once removed of U.S. President Rutherford B.
[2][23] Half the estate went to her immediately and half the "entire estate reverted to Emily" in 1837 upon the death of Brown Austin's eight-year-old son, who happened to be named Stephen F. Austin, Jr.[23] Everything was bequeathed not in James Perry's name and not to her sons, but to Perry, a woman, in 1836.
Perry also donated the land on which the Union Church Building was originally built; this one structure served as a prayer center for Methodists, the Episcopalians, and the Presbyterians.
Perry agreed to support her family friend and Austin College Founder Reverend Daniel Baker (who had been Pastor of the Washington, DC Presbyterian church attended by Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams); she supported Baker in his pursuit of expanding religious foundations and education in Texas.
Professor of History, Light Townsend Cummins, of Austin College, the official Historian of the State of Texas at the time of this writing, points out that despite her important participation in and contributions to Texas history, there is no collection of letters archived under Emily's name; rather, the collection archived in the 1930s was titled for her husband and son, "the James F. and Stephen S. Perry Papers."
"[17]: 227- FN5 Perry is buried at Gulf Prairie Cemetery at the site of the present day historical marker in her honor,[34] and beside her brother, Stephen F.
[5] The Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Volume 1, states that on her birthday more than 200 met to "rise up and call her blessed",[4] (applying to Perry the language from the poem, Eishes Chayil (אשת חיל), "A Woman of Valor",[38] with which King Solomon concludes the Book of Proverbs).
Her penmanship style from letters and writings were reduced to a single typeset font for word processing purposes.
[95] Accordingly, history records noteworthy social contribution in each generation of Perry's family dating back to the early 17th century.
