1823 :: Birth of Lucy Laura Davis

On this date in our family history . . . the 3rd day of September, in the year 1823 . . . Lucy Laura Davis is born in Morgan County, Georgia . . . by the time this baby girl was born, both of her parents were just shy of their 40th birthdays . . . this Lucy Laura is a 3rd great-grand-aunt to the Keeper of this family history blog.

When Lucy Laura was eleven years of age, her 49-year-old father died . . . at age twenty-two, on the 15th of January, 1846, she married Jesse Mercer Perry in her hometown . . . they are known to have had at least six children during their marriage, with the youngest being born in 1855.

Lucy Laura was apparently a keeper of family history, family letters, etc., e.g. . . . a small collection of letters written to Lucy Laura by various kith 'n kin has survived for more than a century . . . and somehow those letters made it from Lucy Laura's home in Morgan County, Georgia, to Waco, Texas, where they are now a part of the Texas Collection at Baylor University . . . these various stories of our family history were written between 1851 and 1891 . . . and the storytellers [i.e., letter writers] include our JOSEPHINE as well as Josephine's sister, Margaret . . . the letters which were written specifically by these two sisters began in 1859, and were all written back home to Morgan County, Georgia from various locations in Texas.


Although existing records indicate that Lucy Laura probably never left Georgia, it is a known fact that Texas would be the future home [after 1850] for several of her family members, including her sister, Sarah, and her family, as well as their brother, MILTON*, and his family . . . the wisdom (or not) of moving to Texas was probably talked about frequently at family gatherings. [*Milton Grant Davis, who is a 3rd great-grandpa to the Keeper of this family history blog]


In May of 1899, a neighborhood friend, T. J. Walker, wrote of a pleasant visit with our Aunt Lucy Laura, describing her as "an aged lady, whose husband, Mr. Jesse Perry, died some years ago. This is one of the best pioneer families of our state, and is of the old school with the energy, thrift and foresight of the old settlers."

Dr. Walker describes in detail the "good dinner" he enjoyed and goes on to say that . . . "The progenitors of this very practical and thrifty family were of the pioneers of our state. This old lady is a daughter of GRANT DAVIS, who came to middle Georgia among the first settlers. He was decidedly a practical and thrifty man of superb energy, but not more so than his daughter, Mrs. Perry, who even now, in her old age, superintends and helps to provide so beautifully for her family."


Regarding her family history, there is a letter written by Lucy Laura, and published in a Georgia newspaper in 1902, regarding some of her family members, i.e. . . .

The Atlanta Constitution
Atlanta, Georgia
15 Jun 1902, Sun  •  Page 22

Being fully aware that her time on earth was drawing to end, in 1904 Lucy Laura Perry penned a letter which was published in Signs of the Times, and Doctrinal Advocate and Monitor, Volume 72 . . .

Lucy Laura would live a long life of 85 years, and at long last was laid to rest in the family cemetery in Morgan County, Georgia.