Thomas George Percy
Encyclopedia
Thomas George Percy, Sr. was an 18th-century wealthy American
cotton planter
and settler
of Alabama
.
with pretensions to blood lines of the Dukes of Northumberland, Thomas George Percy was born in Alabama in the late 1780s and graduated from Princeton in 1806.
He married Maria Pope in 1814 or 1815. His fellow Princetonian and friend, John Walker
, one of the first two senators from Alabama, married Maria's sister Matilda. The two men built houses on abutting estates in Huntsville
and named their sons for each other. Through their wealthy planter father, LeRoy Pope
, the sisters were related to the English
poet Alexander Pope
.
Thomas George Percy managed the affairs for his friend John Walker while he was away in Washington, D.C.
. Percy stayed in Huntsville, enjoying his large library and extended family.
He and Maria named their eldest son John Walker, after his boon companion. Their second son, Charles Brown, was named after a third friend in Huntsville, Samual Brown, a distinguished physician who had studied medicine at Edinburgh. (Brown married Catherine Percy; their two children died in infancy.) Percy and Maria named their third son, LeRoy Pope, after her father. The youngest was named William Alexander. John William Walker reciprocated by naming one of his sons Percy.
The Percys' youngest son William Alexander
married Nana Armstrong, a daughter of William Armstrong, a wealthy US Indian agent
. Nana was the first cousin of George Armstrong Custer
; both cousins were grandchildren of General James “Trooper” Armstrong, a hero of the War of 1812
.
William Alexander Percy became a colonel in the Confederate Army. After the war, colonel Percy, a successful railroad developer, was elected to the state legislature. He headed the committee of the Mississippi House of Representatives that impeached Adelbert Ames
, considered the last carpetbag governor of Mississippi .
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cotton planter
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
and settler
Settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Biography
Son of Charles "Don Carlos" Percy, (1704-1794), an adventurer from IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
with pretensions to blood lines of the Dukes of Northumberland, Thomas George Percy was born in Alabama in the late 1780s and graduated from Princeton in 1806.
He married Maria Pope in 1814 or 1815. His fellow Princetonian and friend, John Walker
John Williams Walker
John Williams Walker was an American politician, who served as the Democratic-Republican United States senator from the state of Alabama, the first senator elected by that state....
, one of the first two senators from Alabama, married Maria's sister Matilda. The two men built houses on abutting estates in Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
and named their sons for each other. Through their wealthy planter father, LeRoy Pope
LeRoy Pope
LeRoy Pope was a prominent American planter, lawyer, and early settler of Madison County, Alabama. He purchased much of the land on which downtown Huntsville, Alabama now stands, and for his role in the establishment and early growth of that city, has been called the "Father of Huntsville." -Early...
, the sisters were related to the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
.
Thomas George Percy managed the affairs for his friend John Walker while he was away in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Percy stayed in Huntsville, enjoying his large library and extended family.
He and Maria named their eldest son John Walker, after his boon companion. Their second son, Charles Brown, was named after a third friend in Huntsville, Samual Brown, a distinguished physician who had studied medicine at Edinburgh. (Brown married Catherine Percy; their two children died in infancy.) Percy and Maria named their third son, LeRoy Pope, after her father. The youngest was named William Alexander. John William Walker reciprocated by naming one of his sons Percy.
The Percys' youngest son William Alexander
William Alexander Percy
William Alexander Percy , was a lawyer, planter, and poet from Greenville, Mississippi. His autobiography Lanterns on the Levee became a bestseller. His father LeRoy Percy was the last United States Senator from Mississippi elected by the legislature...
married Nana Armstrong, a daughter of William Armstrong, a wealthy US Indian agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
. Nana was the first cousin of George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
; both cousins were grandchildren of General James “Trooper” Armstrong, a hero of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
William Alexander Percy became a colonel in the Confederate Army. After the war, colonel Percy, a successful railroad developer, was elected to the state legislature. He headed the committee of the Mississippi House of Representatives that impeached Adelbert Ames
Adelbert Ames
Adelbert Ames was an American sailor, soldier, and politician. He served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. As a Radical Republican and a Carpetbagger, he was military governor, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi...
, considered the last carpetbag governor of Mississippi .
Other Percys
- Sarah DorseySarah DorseySarah Dorsey was an American novelist and historian.-Biography:Born Sarah Anne Ellis to Thomas George Percy Ellis and Mary Malvina Routh in Natchez, Mississippi, she became a novelist and historian. She was known as the "companion" of Jefferson Davis, to whom she proved a great boon in his...
- Kate FergusonKate FergusonKate Ferguson was a notorious "southern belle", who hailed from two of the South’s most prominent families. She was born Catherine Sarah Lee, to the southern poet Eleanor Percy Lee and William Henry Lee, cousin of General Robert E. Lee. Her life was mired in scandal, mostly through her husband,...
- Eleanor Percy LeeEleanor Percy LeeEleanor Percy Lee, born Eleanor Percy Ware , was an American writer of the South who co-authored two books of poetry with her sister Catherine Anne Warfield, which were published in the 1840s...
- LeRoy PercyLeRoy PercyLeRoy Percy was a wealthy planter from Greenville, Mississippi in the heart of the Delta. He attended the University of Virginia, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. He served as United States Senator from Mississippi from 1910 to 1913...
- Walker PercyWalker PercyWalker Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics. Percy is best known for his philosophical novels set in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, the first of which, The Moviegoer, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962...
- William Alexander PercyWilliam Alexander PercyWilliam Alexander Percy , was a lawyer, planter, and poet from Greenville, Mississippi. His autobiography Lanterns on the Levee became a bestseller. His father LeRoy Percy was the last United States Senator from Mississippi elected by the legislature...
- William Armstrong Percy, IIIWilliam Armstrong Percy, IIIWilliam Armstrong Percy, III, is an American professor, historian, encyclopedist, and gay activist. He taught from 1968 at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and started publishing in gay studies in 1985....
- Catherine Anne WarfieldCatherine Anne WarfieldCatherine Anne Warfield was an American writer of poetry and fiction in the South. Together with her sister Eleanor Percy Lee, she was first of the published authors in the Percy family. The most noted authors have been William Alexander Percy and Walker Percy of the twentieth century...