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BIOGRAPHY BURNETT PERRY
- TRULY A NATIVE SON
By Georgia Myers Ogle
"A great sense of humor." "Easy-going and good natured." "Loved Children." " No
telling how many people he helped." "Loyal to his heritage" "Told a good yarn in
a droll manner." "Funny things, He was a darned good business man, but had a lot
of hard luck in his own business." "Who? Doc? Why, just Doc."
These are some of the comments made by friends about Wade Hampton Burnett
(Doc) Perry. Most of the suggested characteristics are borne out in this brief
account of Burnett's life based on a conversation with Eva Lee Perry, his wife.
Born on January 8, 1906, Burnett was the fourth child and the second son
of the children who survived infancy of Wade Hampton and Laura Ann (Ollie)
Thompson Perry. He was born on the family farm directly east of today's
McLaughlin Elementary School on Webb Chapel Road. His first two given names are
those of his father, the third was that of Dr. Tom Burnett, who delivered him
thus his nickname "Doc."
When he was four years old, the family moved into town to a new home in
the 1100 block of Belt Line. When the six houses on the south side of
Belt Line just west of today's Myers Street burned on Thursday, August 24, 1916,
the Perry home was the next in line to the west. "Though badly scorched, it was
saved by a "bucket bridge" keeping it wet.
Burnett started to school in the frame building at Belt Line and Erie and
finished in the old red brick building atop the hill on Belt Line, about where
the Harriet Perry Warner Gymnasium is now. He graduated in 1923. Following his
local school education, he attended Metropolitan Business College in Dallas.
During the years when there were only four church in Carrollton, he
regularly attended the Union Baptist Church and could recall some experiences at
that church when it was located at Perry Cemetery. He was converted after Union
was moved to the corner of Belt Line and Myers and was baptized in the Elm Fork.
Devotedly he participated in the activities of his chosen church, but on the two
each month when there was no preaching there, he visited one of the others.
Through the years he served in various ways in the church: He was Sunday School
secretary; he taught the juniors Sunday School class; he served on renovations
and building committees. The steps in front of the church were steep for the
older people to climb. In fact, his Aunt Lou Fyke, whose husband used
crutches or a cane, always waited for Burnett to help them up the steps. Typical
of his life-ling concert for other people, Burnett erected banisters on each
side of the steps to make it easier for the older members. The time came when a
large group of members felt that they should move their membership to the
Southern Baptist Church -- the First Baptist Church of Carrollton. Burnett felt
a hesitancy to leave the beloved church of his childhood and youth, the church
of his parents, but on Sunday morning, November 29, 1936, when the group
transferred, Burnett, true to his convictions, was the first member behind the
deacons in the procession to the alter.
That Burnett had fallen in love was no secret to his family; Even his
sweetheart, Eva Lee Cowling, was informed by his kid sister Alfredda that
"Burnett said he was going go marry you !" AND that's exactly what happened.
Burnett and Eva Lee were married on August 16, 1924, in a ceremony performed by
Rev. E. L. Jones at the Union Baptist parsonage. Then in January, 1926, their
only child, Peggy Jean, was born. She later married Edward Oliver; they have two
children, Mary Frances (Fancy) Tanner and Joseph Edward.
Perry's business interest tended toward the grocery store. The following
resume, though not necessarily complete or in order, gives some of his ventures
in that field. Too, since he assumed family responsibility when the
depression was beginning to be felt in the community, he, like everyone else,
picked up at various times "dollar-a-day" jobs to supplement his income -- such
as driving the school bus, working in the Roy Russell Dry Cleaning Shop, and
clerking at the post office. His wife's mother and stepfather, Mr. and
Mrs. J. R. (Daddy) Davis, had operated for several years a cafe in the frame
building on the southeast corner of the square, but had eventually turned it
into a grocery store. The week after their marriage Burnett and Eva Lee went
into the business with the Davises and moved into the new Sinclair building at
1110 West Third on the north side of the square (presently occupied by the Old
Craft Store). Known as Davis and Perry, the business flourished about seven
years. They sold out to Uncle Jake Gravley around 1928-29.
In the meantime the old frame structure on the southeast corner of the
square had been replaced with a modern brick building. There Burnett and Eva Lee
established the Perry Variety Store, first of its kind in Carrollton. It was a
short-lived venture. As one fellow expressed it, "Though it was a
five-and-ten-cent store, the people around here didn't even have nickels and
dimes to spend for anything bur bread and milk."
For about a year and a half, the Perrys lived in Dallas while Burnett
worked for an A & P store. That was the only time in his life when he lived out
of Carrollton. He returned home to work in the T. G. Kelley grocery store. In
time he had his own grocery store again. He invested in a help-your-self laundry
with Mr. Davis; Eva Lee managed that business and helped in the grocery store
during rush hours. The Perrys suffered two catastrophes during the time
they were in the grocery business - the 1949 flood and a 1951 fire that closed
the store temporarily. The frozen foods lockers, established by T. G. Kelley --
the first in Texas Eva Lee explained -- were a big part of their business.
During the long time that it took to redo the store, people with lockers
had to relocate. Financially Burnett never recovered from the disaster. He
closed the store permanently.
While Burnett was in the grocery business, the A & P store, managed by
Eric Weigand, moved from the square to the new Godfrey building, where Busy Bee
is located today. Burnett and Bear Young another local grocery merchant, paid
Mr. Weigand a visit. After looking at the new store over from top to bottom,
Burnett's parting remark was "Eric, you've got a beautiful store, darn it!"
Burnett went to work at Roy Gravley's Hardware Store. Roy explained
it, "He was always hanging around so I had to hire him"; Burnett explained it,
"I was doing so much free work for him, I finally made him put me on the
payroll." Whichever story is correct, the relationship was a congenial
one; Burnett worked there for fourteen years; Eva Lee, thirteen years. They
worked a short time for the new owner when Roy sold out to Milburn Gravley. For
the next four years Burnett worked as tool checker for EDM of Texas. The report
s that he practically paid his own salary in the tools he saved. After that job,
he retired and enjoyed the "Good Life" for about six years; though Burnett would
say that all his life was good.
As a young man Burnett was active in Woodman of the World. He was a member
of the James A. Smith Masonic Lodge No. 395 and transferred membership to the
Carrollton Lodge 1400 when it was established. He served in the Carrollton
Volunteer Fire Department. Too, he was a longtime member of the Carrollton
Chamber of Commerce and the Lion's Club. He joined the Peters Colony Historical
Society soon after it was organized, serving as auditor and a member of the
Historic Sites Committee.
One of the services for which he was most appreciated (but for which, it
must have seemed to him at the times, totally unappreciated) was that of
president of the Perry Cemetery Association. Following Mr. Ashley Webb in this
position, he in reality took on a caretaker's job In earlier years the
community-at-large would gather at the cemetery one day each summer for a
clean-up and a dinner-on-the-ground. Then except for an individual's cleaning up
around a family plot or for a new grave, the graveyard went unattended. Uncle
Wade Perry, Burnett's father, being more conscientious about the appearance of
the cemetery, would often tackle the job alone with a hand-pushed mower, a hoe,
and a rake. No doubt, as a youngster, Burnett was conscripted to help. From the
time he became president, Burnett began to think of establishing an annual
Decoration Day -- one on which respect was paid to the memory of those buried
there and one on which he hoped other people would contribute to the year-round
maintenance of the cemetery. In the late 1940's he announced such a day for a
certain Sunday in May. On the Saturday before, he and a boy from his store
worked all day cleaning the cemetery -- having to stop and repair the mower
every other round. At Dark the boy quit, but Burnett worked on until four
o'clock Sunday morning. At the services that day Roy Gravley stepped fourth
spontaneously to impress upon those present that they had to contribute money or
labor for a decent maintenance of a hallowed ground. Some responded; the
local Lions Club donated a new mower. The action let to the formation of a new
Perry Cemetery Association, Inc. With the help of George H. Peters a
Perpetual Care Endowment was set up. Burnett tried to work the Decoration Day in
around similar memorial days at other local cemeteries; eventually he
established the third Sunday in May.
On September 1, 1949, the Perrys moved into the first and only home they
ever owned! It was located in a part of town where people "Living next door"
were truly neighbors. Burnett always enjoyed children. His own grandchildren,
Fancy and Joe, had Sunday dinner with him practically every week of their lives.
Phillip and Tedalu McCoy Carver and their son Phil lived next door to the Perrys
for awhile. Every afternoon young Phil would come over and ask Burnett for a
Coke. When the boys' mother found out, she forbade his doing it again. On the
next trip, Phil climbed into Burnett's lap and said, "Burnett (the way he always
pronounced the name), we sure could use a Coke, couldn't we?" Then again
when Burnett found him seated behind a concealing hedge and smoking a cigarette,
Burnett said, "Phil, I didn't know you smoked." The boy replied, "Now that you
know, you don't have to tell everybody!" The first works a little neighbor
girl learned to day were "Hi, Doc!"
Burnett's hobbies included gardening, canning, cooking, bowling, and gem
cutting. A member of the Texas Gem Cutters Association he cut and faceted a
beautiful amethyst for his daughter's ring and a quartz for his granddaughter.
For the first three Country Fairs, Burnett had a part in the melodrama presented
by the Peters Colony Players. A favorite of the audience and cast alike,
he always stole the show. Old friends seeing the fist production in 1974
wondered why Doc kept taking his hat off so often. Later they discovered his cue
lines were written inside his had. A trophy he appreciated very much read: "The
Peters Colony Players give a standing ovation to Doc Perry, 1974-76 Carrollton
Country Fair."
In 1975-76 when the local Bicentennial Commission directed restoration of
the DeWitt Perry farm home as Carrollton's first museum, Burnett worked
tirelessly on the project. When it was discovered that not a single capital on
the front porch columns was intact, he solicited the help of his granddaughter
Fancy, who was then an art student at S.M.U. From some of the available broken
pieces, she made molds and cast new ones of plaster of Paris. Doc and Grandson
Joe mounted atop the columns.
After he retired, Burnett and Eva Lee could be seen driving somewhere
about the city our countryside each day. That is the way he kept up with new
developments. Sometimes they would pack a lunch and drive off for a day's outing
to some unusual place, like historic Granbury. Each summer they took a longer
driving trip. They enjoyed the simple things in life. On almost any winter
evening, they could be found at home playing dominoes or 42 with friends.
Burnett died January 18, 1979, and is buried amid a host of relatives at
Perry Cemetery. With an ancestral line dating back to the arrival of his
paternal grandparents, A. W. and Sarah Huffman Perry, in 1844. Burnett was
truly a native son !
Elm Fork Echoes - The Peters Colony Historical Society
of Dallas County, Texas.
Vol.
7 No. 2, pg5 April 1979 |
Carrollton-Farmers
Branch TXGenWeb