Tennessee native Albert G. Perry (1807-1874) began the study of law at age sixteen in his brother's Alabama law office. He became a successful attorney, but in 1831 left for Texas, settling in Washington, where he opened a law office. The following year, on January 8, he married Harriet Elizabeth Grimes (1816-1888), the daughter of pioneer Jesse Grimes (1788-1866), signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. In 1826, Harriet had arrived in Texas with her father and eight siblings, one of whom, Albert Calvin Grimes, later died at the Alamo. In late 1833 or early 1834, Perry became secretary to the Alcalde at Sarahville de Viesca in Robertson's Colony (in present Falls County), and in 1835 was first lt. of a frontier defense Ranger company. He was a member of the Viesca Committee of Safety, and was a delegate to the Consultation of 1835. The Perrys lived in Washington from 1836 to 1843, when they moved to Anderson in present Grimes County. In 1852 they moved to Falls County, where they farmed, and he was county and district judge. In 1883, when the railroad bypassed the community of Peyton, a new settlement developed along the rail line and was named Perry in honor of Albert G. Perry.