James Perrian Penny, Sr.

James Perrian Penny, Sr., the eldest child of Hardy Penny and his wife Harriet Hood, was born in Henry Co, Georgia circa 1834. His mother died when Perrian was just six years old, and with four young children at home, his father married Nancy Caldwell later the same year.

Perrian grew up in Henry Co, Georgia and in 1851 moved with his family to Cass Co, Texas. Here on July 23, 1854, James Perrian Penny married Lavicy Cook. Lavicy was the daughter of Westley B Cook Sr. and Nancy Holly. She was born 1828 in Marion Co, Mississippi and came to Texas with her parents in the early 1850’s.

On August 9, 1854, James P Penny claimed 160 acres of vacant land under the preemption law. This property lay along the southern boundary of his father-in-law, “Westy” Cook’s preemption. Both of these surveys can be found on present day land maps of Cass County.

Lavicy died about 1867-68. She is buried in Union Chapel cemetery near Bryan’s Mill in Cass Co. There is no tombstone at her grave.

James Perrian and Lavicy had four children. They were: 1. William Warren Penny was born in Cass Co. on September 22, 1856 and died April 2, 1924 in Hunt Co, Texas. He is buried in West Memorial Cemetery in Quinlan, Texas. On October 11, 1881, Billy married Sarah Pandora Cardwell in Cass Co. According to census records they had twelve children, eleven of which are known: Lula, Luther Franklin, Walter, Ira Henderson, Laura Luvenia, Jessie James, Aaron Lee, Jewel, Albert, Johnie Mills, and William Arthur Penny.

2. Nancy Ann Penny was born September 1, 1859 in Cass Co. and died after 1912 in Grayson Co, Texas. She married William H Mitchell in Cass Co on August 11, 1877. They had two surviving sons: Ely A. and George W. Mitchell. After her husband’s death, she married her brother-in-law Charlie Plez Wray on December 9, 1908 in Grayson Co, Texas. They had no children and separated.

3. John Marion Penny was born December 7, 1861 in Cass Co, Texas. His nickname was “Judge”. He died between 1882 and 1888, and is buried at Corinth Cemetery in Cass Co.

He married Permelia Myers, half-sister to his stepmother Amanda, in Miller Co, Arkansas on October 28, 1881. They had one daughter, named Fannie who married William Willingham.

4. James Perrian Penny Jr. was born on, April 18, 1865 in Cass Co, Texas and died at Carterville on December 12, 1950. He is buried at Floyd Hill Cemetery. He married Emma Lelah Fletcher on September 23, 1888. They had 12 children: Foy, Maggie Mary, Roxie Ophelia, Samuel Lonus, Olen, Odis, Vera Estelle, Annie Vista, Mattie Sue, Willie Mae, Sally Evelyn, and James Perrian Penny HI. After Lavicy’s death, James Perrian Penny married Amanda Wright. Amanda was born in Texas about 1845, the year it gained statehood. Though the exact date of their marriage is unknown, they were married at the time of the 1870 census. They had 6 children: 1. Lula Penny was apparently the first child of Perrian Penny and Amanda Wright. In the 1870 census she is listed as being two years old. As she doesn’t appear in any later census, she must have died in childhood. Her burial place is not known.

2 & 3. Alice and Ida Penny were twin sisters born November 5,1871 in Cass Co, Texas.

Alice married James W “Bud” Jones about 1890. They had four children: Dee C, James Ira, Bessie D, and Gertie R. Jones. Alice died in 1945 in Taylor Co, Texas and is buried in the Northview cemetery in Winters, Runnels Co, Texas.

Ida Penny married Charlie Plez Wray on Thursday, April 12, 1888 in Cass Co. They had 8 children: James Perry, Minnie Mae, Lela Francis, Lorena, Willie S. R., Christine Mae, Dosia Orelia, and Charlie Peter Wray. Ida died on April 4, 1908 near Tom Bean, Grayson Co, Texas. She is buried in Whitemound Cemetery near Tom Bean.

4. Emma Penny was born July 12, 1873 in Cass Co, Texas and died in Washington D.C. on November 24, 1956. She is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown section of Washington. She married John Henry Hohn on January 3, 1895 in Dallas Co, Texas. They had seven children: Minnie Belle, Allie Eliza, Ida May, William Perry, Ola, John Franklin, and Louise Caroline Hohn.

5. Robert Perry Penny was born in Cass Co, on January 3, 1876 and died in Uvalde Co, Texas on February 3, 1925. He is buried at Northview Cemetery in Winters, Runnels Co, Texas. He married Sarah L Barrett on August 8, 1896 in Grayson Co, Texas. They had 8 children: Emma Elizabeth., Mattie May, Effie, Virgie Lee, an infant daughter, Hallie, Robert Perry, Jr., and Maurita Penny.

6. Hattie Penny was born September 7, 1884 in Cass Co, Texas and died in Washington D. C. in 1966. She and her husband are buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown section of Washington. She married John Baxter in Washington D. C. on April 20, 1908. They had several children of which, two are known: John Walter and William Baxter.

Early in their marriage, Perry and Mandy farmed near Cussetta. Later they had 140 acres near the junction of Mill and Flat Creeks. James Perrian Penny was reputed to be an honest, hardworking man. He had little formal education and was unable to sign his name, but he was generally well-liked and respected. He died circa October of 1885 and was buried in the Mill Creek Cemetery in Cass Co. A marker was placed in his memory by his descendants in 1988. Amanda Penny was a cultured woman who had the benefits of a formal education. She continued to raise her young children alone after Perry’s death. She made a living off the farm and at the same time made it possible for the younger children to attend grammar school. On July 23, 1888 she married John H Wray. Amanda died on April 10, 1891 in Cass Co, Texas. While her burial place is uncertain, it is believed she may have been buried in “Penny Row” at Mill Creek cemetery.

Submitted by Beatrice Castor Harper and Samuel R. Penny