Dad - September 5, 2012

As posted in the White River Current

I’ve mentioned my mother in previous columns but I don’t think I ever said anything about my dad.  My ancestors were primarily English who moved to America in the late 1700’s.  There is
a town located north of Baltimore by the name Perryman, Maryland.  There are no Perrymans
listed in their phone book but there are many in their three cemeteries.  My genealogical info lists
my family in North Carolina in the early 1800’s as the population started moving west.  Later
some moved into middle Tennessee.  I was fortunate to find my great-grandparents’ marriage
license application in the courthouse in Murfreesboro (September, 1832).  Stephen and Elizabeth         
had several children including my grandfather, James (Jim), who was born in 1855.  Sometime
after James was born the family moved to the Lebanon, Missouri, area, probably looking for
work.  Stephen is listed in the 1860 Missouri census as a carpenter.  As the Civil War began to
heat up, Stephen again moved his family, this time to Izard County, Arkansas.  He died of  smallpox in 1865 and was buried near Melbourne by two of his sons.  His wife, Elizabeth, died
in 1888 andwas buried in the Trimble Campground cemetery near Dolph.  James bought a farm
near the Fulton County line and started a business in Wild Cherry, Arkansas, a thriving community that received its name from the popular fruit tree that was abundant in the area.
James and his wife, Rosa, were the parents of twelve children.  Two children died at an early
age but ten, seven boys and three girls, reached adulthood.  Dad attended the Wild Cherry school through the eighth grade and then took over the family farm operation.  Sometime later he
took the job delivering the mail on horseback from Wild Cherry to Calico Rock.  On one
occasion, he had left the State Bank on upper Main Street and was walking past the wholesale
grocery office when he spied the young secretary at the desk near the front window.  As the
story was related to me, he said, to himself or whoever was listening, “that’s the girl I am
going to marry.”  After a proper time of courting, they were married in December 1923.  They
moved back to the farm after my grandfather died in 1925.  After my grandmother died  in 1930
the family returned to reside in Calico Rock.  Dad took the job as consignee for the
Magnolia Petroleum Company which some years later became the Mobil Oil Company.  The
yellow house that is located across the street from the library/city hall became my parent’s home
for a few months and was also the place where I was born.  By the time I was five years old,
we were living in the rock house on the corner of Red Lane and Highway 56.  This was the
fifth house we had moved into but we remained there for seven years.  Two more moves and
we were living in the white house on the south side of Red Lane and Highway 56.  This was
our last move and was my parent’s residence until both had moved to their heavenly home.
Dad worked long hours at his job, often leaving before daylight and getting home after I was asleep.  He always said that my mother “raised” me.  After several years, the oil company was
sold  and Dad sold real estate with the United Farm Agency for a period of time before starting
his own business, Perryman Equipment Company.  As an International Harvester dealer, he sold
pickups and larger trucks, Farmall tractors, combines, hay bailers and other farm equipment to
customers all over the north Arkansas region.  Mom & Dad had great plans for their retirement
years, but she contracted some type of debilitating illness that lasted for nine years.  Dad sold
his business and took care of mom during these difficult years until she passed away.  She was
only 68 years old.  Dad died five years later.  I hope these personal references have not been
too boring but I felt led to share this part of my life to lay the groundwork for other topics that
I might want to tell you.  Maybe they will be more interesting.  Thanks again for all the good
comments.  They keep me going.  By the way, I have both good news and bad news but I am
out of space this week.  Be sure to check back in two weeks. This is Reed saying Bye for now.