James M. Perry and Georgia A. Licher

First, a note.  Because I try hard not to write about living individuals in my blog, this post about my grandparents, James M. and Georgia A. (Licher) Perry, will not discuss their children or other living persons.  There is a big family reunion coming up, however, and I thought it might be nice to do a post about them before the family gathers.  Secondly, most of the anecdotes and stories in this post come from interviews with Jim Perry done in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

And thirdly, after writing this I discovered something.  It is much harder to write about people I actually knew and about whom I have real memories, than it is to write about the ancestors I never met.  I keep thinking about Grandma and Grandpa and wondering if what I am saying is ok.  What am I leaving out that they would want me to include?  Am I doing right by them?  I think about those things when I write about people I've never met, too, but somehow it seems more important when they are still so real and so alive in my memory.  

James Mortimer Perry

James Mortimer Perry was born 26 June 1899 in Harp, Bald Knob, Franklin Co., Kentucky.  His parents were James Madison Perry and Alice Myrtle Rodgers.  The family in Kentucky called him "Mortimer" or "Mort."  This remained true even as an adult when he would return to Kentucky to visit.  He began using the name "Jim" after he moved to Indiana.

Jim first appears on the census in 1900 with his parents and his paternal grandparents in the Bald Knob district of Franklin Co., Kentucky.   Jim's sister, Venus, was born in November 1900.


He attended Pleasant Ridge School in Harp, Kentucky, before the family moved to Frankfort in about 1906.

Jim told the story that as a young boy they got heat from a hole in the wall with a grate over it.  They would sit around it keeping warm.  When they visited his grandparents, when he was young, he said the cold outside wind came into the house from cracks in the floor and was so strong that it would lift the rugs off the floor.

The 1910 census shows the family living in Frankfort, Kentucky.

In a letter written by his father in September 1912, Jim is mentioned:


"The children are both well and going to school every day.  Venus is hearty and Mortimer eats like a bull. He went to Bill's Friday and Sunday he and Bill gathered hickory-nuts in the rain.  Mortimer has played keeps with marbles till he has won 2000."

Left to right:  Venus, James Madison, Alice Myrtle, and James Mortimer Perry ca 1910

Jim's father, James Madison Perry, died on 8 June 1914; Jim was 14 years old.

Jim started working on a wood wagon for $1 a day.  Then he learned the "printing trade."  He worked for four years as a typesetter for the Franklin State Journal in Frankfort, Kentucky.

When Jim was about 17, he and his grandfather, John William Rodgers, left Kentucky and headed for Akron, Ohio where Jim had a job lined up on a newspaper. On their way to Akron, they stopped in Muncie to see Jim's mother, Myrtle, and sister, Venus.  Both women had come to Muncie earlier to find work.  They asked Jim and John Will to stay.  They did and went to work in local factories.  The 1917-18 Muncie City Directory shows them living at 121 E. 9th St., and includes John W. Rodgers, a blacksmith; Mortimer Perry, working at TW Warner; Myrtle Perry, widow of James M.; and Venus Perry, working at Republic Iron & Steel.

Jim Perry and unknown friend ca 1916

In February 1917, Jim's mother married Marion Clifton and they moved to a farm in Boone Co., Indiana.

In 1918 Jim and some of his friends went to McCullough Park in Muncie, and there he met Georgia Licher who, with some of her friends, were having a picnic.  The groups began talking, and Jim got paired off with Georgia.  Later he walked her home.


Georgia Anna Licher was born 25 September 1900 in Anderson, Madison Co., Indiana.  Her parents were Albert Licher and Anna Gertrude Fricke.  She was baptized 27 September 1900 at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Anderson, Indiana.  Georgia's mother, Anna, said that when they took Georgia to be baptized, she did not go along and they forgot to ask what name she had picked out, so they named her Georgia after her godfather, George Fricke.

Georgia Licher (standing) with her father, Albert, and two siblings ca 1908

The Licher family were in Anderson when the 1910 census was taken.

Once the Lichers moved to Muncie, Georgia attended St. Lawrence Catholic School and then later, Muncie Business College.

By 1917-18, the Lichers were living at 1225 S. Monroe in Muncie.  According to the city directory, Albert was employed at Kitselman Brothers.  Also shown as living there were Agnes M., stenographer and notary public at Silverburg, Bracken & Gray; Catherine A., bookkeeper at Gas Belt Coal Co.,; and Georgia A., student at Muncie Business College.  The 1919 City Directory shows the family still on Monroe Street.  Georgia was employed at the law firm of Silverburg Bracken & Gray.  She was still living with her parents when the 1920 census was taken.

Georgia Licher about 1916

Jim told the story that he and Georgia and their group of friends would go skating at Campbell's Arena on Broadway.  The others would all skate but he would not try it.  He said he could be very stubborn.  Jim and Georgia's dating was mostly going to the movies and for picnics in the park.  Once in awhile they would visit Jim's mother, Alice Myrtle, and her new family near Jamestown, Indiana.

Georgia Licher, Herschel Clifton, Venus Perry ca 1918 at the Clifton farm near Jamestown, Indiana

Georgia Licher and Jim Perry ca 1918

Jim Perry and his sister, Venus Perry, ca 1918

Jim Perry and Venus Perry

Georgia Licher and Jim Perry

Jim Perry

On the 1920 census, Jim is found as a boarder in the home of Edward C. Sharp at 305 W. 10th Street, Muncie.  The census taker recorded his name as "Woterman" instead of "Mortimer."  He is 21, single, born Kentucky, parents born Kentucky, working as a machinist at General Motors Co.

Jim and Georgia were married November 24, 1920 at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Muncie, Indiana.

Jim & Georgia's wedding photo - standing left to right: Katie Licher, George Kaiser, Jim Perry; seated Georgia (Licher) Perry

When Jim and Georgia first got married they lived in Hartford City, and Georgia rode the interurban train into Muncie to go to work at the attorney's office.  His sister, Venus had married and lived in Hartford City.  They only lived there a short time before returning to Muncie and moving into an apartment above a grocery store on Monroe Street.  They were living in that apartment in 1922 when their first child was born.

Georgia and Jim ca 1921

Jim told of purchasing a highchair for their first child and carrying it home from the store while riding on his bicycle.  This highchair is still in the family and in the possession of one of their daughters.




In early 1923, Jim and Georgia shared a home in Yorktown with Georgia's sister, Josephine (Licher) and Josephine's husband, Elmer Smith.  The 1923 city directory for Yorktown lists James M. Perry and wife Georgia on page 951; on page 952, it lists Elmer Smith and wife Josephine and says Elmer is the proprietor of Yorktown Motor Sales.  Later in 1923, they moved to 520 E. 5th Street, Muncie, and lived there until about 1928.  Several more children where born while they lived on 5th St.


Their oldest child remembers living on 5th Street and that there was a swing hung between their house and the one next door, and Jim would push the kids in the swing.  Another memory is of a Christmas there when Jim decided to hide the Christmas presents.

Early in his marriage, Jim worked for a brother-in-law in a factory that made batteries.  He became very ill from lead poisoning and was unable to work for a long time.  In fact, his condition was so serious that he almost died.

The 1927-28 city directory shows the family at 715 E. 7th Street and Jim working as a machine operator.  They are still at the house on 7th Street in the 1929 city directory which shows Jim working as a foreman at Warner Corporation.  A few more children were born while they lived here.

the 7th Street house as it appears now

The 1934 city directory has the family still on 7th street and Jim still working as a foreman.  The 1936 city directory shows the same.

Throughout the depression, Jim was always able to find a job and so the large family managed alright.  In addition, Georgia was very thrifty and that helped.

When Jim applied for a Social Security card in November 1936, he was working at Acme Machine Products in Muncie.  In 1937, he was working for Serrick Co. as a foreman and also in 1937, the family moved to a house at 924 E. Washington St. in Muncie.  The youngest three Perry children were born while the family lived there.

The 1940 city directory says that Jim was a manager at Acme-Lee's Division in Muncie.  By 1941, he was plant superintendent.

Jim Perry in center

Jim Perry ca 1941

Jim Perry with his mother, Alice Myrtle (Rodgers) Perry Clifton

Besides his work and his family, Jim enjoyed fishing and golf.  He was a boy scout leader and also was on a softball team.  Georgia also liked to fish, and she loved playing Scrabble, solving puzzles and television quiz shows.  Georgia had a great ability to pinch pennies and make ends meet.  She loved to shop and was always looking for a bargain.  If she saw something she wanted to buy, she would keep going back and checking the price, waiting for it to go on sale before she bought it.

In 1942, Jim and Georgia purchased the family farm on Windsor Road.  It contained  57 acres and was located about 10 miles southeast of Muncie.

The farmhouse when they purchased it in 1942

The 1943 city directory lists James M. (wife Georgia L.), who was plant superintendent at Durham Manufacturing. Over the years, Jim worked at several factories around Muncie, including Ball Brothers, Acme Lees, and Durham Mfg.  While working at the Chrysler factory in New Castle, Indiana, he became a foreman and a department superintendent.   Later, he was the plant superintendent at both Acme Lee and the Durham Mfg. Co. in Muncie. During World War II,  he was the Plant Superintendent at Durham.  While at Durham the plant won the Navy's "E" award for its war effort in making parts for shells.

Jim Perry second from left

 In 1954, Jim and Georgia paid $2,000 to have the three small ponds on the property excavated into one large pond.  They stocked it with fish and opened a pay-pond fishing lake.

I have many happy memories of the Perry farm and of fishing in the pond with Grandma.

Jim retired in 1963.  On May 23, 1962, Ward M. Harlan, Professional Civil Engineer, did a survey for James M. & Georgia L. Perry of their family farm located in Perry Twp., Delaware Co., Indiana.

Georgia

Georgia and friend Denzel playing Scrabble in the kitchen at the farm

Georgia and Duke

Georgia and Jim

Jim and Georgia celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in November 1970.  Georgia was in the hospital for gall bladder surgery at the time.

Jim and Georgia at 50th wedding anniverary

In June 1973, Jim and Georgia sold their farm and moved to a house at 712 W. Cowing Drive in Muncie.  Taking care of that big property had become too much work, and once they moved, they enjoyed the smaller property and the convenience of being in town.

On 21 March 1977, Georgia Anna (Licher) Perry died at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie from complications after a heart attack.  She was 76 years old.   She was buried at Elm Ridge Cemetery in the plot with her parents.


Jim lived alone in the house on Cowing Drive for a few years, but eventually moved to a nursing home.  He died 21 May 1986 of probable heart disease.  He was buried next to Georgia at Elm Ridge Cemetery.

Jim and Georgia Perry had 10 children, 38 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren. 

A few Perry descendants at the 1978 reunion