Grace E. (Burgess) Perry

Aylwin J. & Prudence H. "Dencie" (Perry) Perkins
Photo & information submitted by Ron Rogers

Dixie Lee Perry aka Sister Mary Josephine Perry

   Grover Cleveland Perry & his sister Mary (Perry) Robinson
(photo most likely taken in Philadelphia, Pa.)

Grace Ellen (Burgess) Perry
June 25, 1873 - July 18, 1925

     From all indications and records that can be found, Grace Ellen Burgess was the daughter of Major A. & Elizabeth Burgess.  Major and his 1^st wife, Bethany, are found in the 1850 & 1860 Pasquotank census.  Major then shows up in Dare Co. in 1870 with a new wife, Elizabeth.  Nothing has been found on him after 1870.  "Gracy" E. Burgess married James Cader Perry in Currituck Co., NC (Atlantic Twp.) on April 19, 1888.  Her parents were listed as M.A. & Elizabeth Burgess.  James Cader, born May 1863, was the son of Israel Perry and his wife Sabrina "Sabra" Tillett.

It appears that Grace (Burgess) Perry remarried in 1909 because she's found in Poplar Branch, Currituck Co. in 1910 married to Thomas S. Simpson.  Some of the children listed as Simpson's should have been enumerated as Perry's.  It's hard to tell who the father of some of these children are because they are listed as Simpson in one place and Perry in another but these 2 marriage records should put that in order.

In 1920 Thomas & Grace are living in the city of Norfolk at 338 Liberty St.  Her 2 daughters, Grace & Dixie are living with them.

By 1930 Thomas is widowed and living with his son in South Norfolk, Va.  His married daughter, Robanna, is living next door.

Known children of James Cader & Grace E. (Burgess) Perry were:

1) Sally Ann Perry - b. April 1889 NC; d. ???  Married John D. Wicker (s/o James Wicker & Nancy Beals) in Manteo, NC on April 24, 1903 at the age of 14.  They had at least 6 children.
2) Aurora S. Perry (male) - b. Dec. 1890 NC; d. ???
3) Mary E. Perry - b. Dec. 1893 NC; d. 1977   Married a Robinson
4) Grace Ellen Perry - b. June 1897 NC; d. ???
5) Prudence Hathaway "Dencie" Perry - b. Oct. 21, 1898 in NC; d. Nov. 30, 1970;  married: Aylwin Johnson "A.J." Perkins circa 1916.  Aylwin was born June 4, 1894 in Buckingham Co., VA and signed his WWI Draft Card in Norfolk, VA in June 1917 at which time he stated he had a wife and child and his wife's sister was living with him.  The 1920 Norfolk Co., VA census shows Robanna M. Perry, age 12, living in their home.  In 1942 at the age of 47, Aylwin signed his WWII Draft Card stating that he lived in Gloucester, Va. and worked for Goucester-Yorktown Ferry System. He indicated he had a tattoo on his left upper arm.  Dencie and Aylwin had 3 children: Eva Minerva Perkins, Addie Virginia Perkins and Aylwin Johnson Perkins, Jr.
6) Grover Cleveland Perry - b. 1903  d. 1959
7) Dixie Lee Perry - b. 1905 in NC  d. Apr. 3, 1992
Dixie converted to Catholicism in her teens and became a nun, taking the name Sister Mary Josephine Perry. She entered the Visitation Monastery in Brooklyn, NY in Feb. 1921 at the age of sixteen. She took her vows in August 1923 and remained in the monastery for over 70 years.
8) Robanna "Ann" Mae Perry - b. Sept. 9, 1908 in NC  d. Jan. 21, 1988
She lived with Dencie & A.J. Perkins in West Norfolk Village, VA in 1920.  She is buried with her 2^nd husband Navy Cmdr. Russell Edwin Jackson in the Hampton National Cemetery Hampton, Virginia.
9) Sherman Perry - no further information but could be the same as "Aurora S. Perry" listed above
10) Roy Perry - no further information but could be the same as Aurora S. Perry
11) James Perry - no further information