Manerva Esther Perry (maiden name: Wyeth) was born around 1828 in Vermont. She eventually moved to Ohio, and she married Oliver H. Perry on December 11, 1844. They had at least eight children: William, born around 1846; Amelia, born around 1848; Alice, born around 1849; John, born around 1856; Sarah, born around 1858; Nellie, born around 1861; Eva, born around 1865; and Oliver, born around 1869. They lived in Galena, Illinois, and her husband worked as a bricklayer. By 1860, he owned $1,500 of real estate and $100 of personal property.

 

Her husband and at least one son served in the Union army.  By 1870, they owned $500 of real estate and $500 of personal property. She may have separated from her husband in the 1870s; the 1880 census recording him living in Silver Creek, Iowa, and her living in Mills County, Iowa. Her husband died on March 2, 1882. She applied for a widow’s pension in August 1886 and eventually secured one. By 1900, she was living in her son William’s household in Corning, California. She moved to Santa Clara, California, in the early 1900s, and she died sometime after 1910.

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