Boundaries - Historical Notes

The following is a summary of acts which authorized boundary changes for Perry County.

1. Acts of 1825, Chapter 247, extended the lines of Wayne County so as to take in the plantation on which Henry Mahan now lives, which is presently located in Perry County on the bank of the Tennessee River opposite the town of Carrollville, so that Mahan shall become a citizen of Wayne County.
2. Acts of 1835-36, Chapter 45, added the land of Perry County lying between the Purdy's and Daugherty's line to Benton County. The Perry County citizens that were affected by this act were to have all of the same rights and privileges of that were extended to Benton County citizens.
3. Acts of 1837-38, Chapter 273, attached to Wayne County all that part of Perry County on the south side of the Tennessee River, and on the east side of a line beginning on the south side of the River, opposite the lower end of James Island and running north to strike said River above Isaac West's, Senior, and this area shall be attached to the same Civil District in Wayne County which contains Carrollville.
4. Acts of 1839-40, Chapter 80, repealed Chapter 273, Acts of 1837-38, and states that the part of Perry County which was intended to be stricken off to Wayne County was that part of the bend of the Tennessee River lying east of a due line north from David Roach's landing on the said river.
5. Acts of 1843-44, Chapter 40, appointed Thomas R. Jett and Burwell Beard of Benton County, and John L. Houston and Jesse Taylor of Perry County, as commissioners to run the line between the two counties on the west side of the Tennessee River and the line so designated shall be the line between Benton and Perry Counties. Each commissioner would be paid $2.00 per day for each day's work.
6. Acts of 1859-60, Chapter 100, changed the lines between Perry and Wayne Counties so as to include the residences and farms of W. M. Lofferty and D. W. Carroll in Wayne County, provided Perry County is not reduced below its constitutional limits in so doing. Section 7, of the same Act, moved all the citizens living on Russell's Creek into Perry County from Hickman County.
7. Acts of 1866-67, Chapter 28, transferred the house and lands belonging to Clement C. Dyer out of Hickman County and into Perry County.
8. Acts of 1867-68, Chapter 60, moved the lands of George Beard out of Humphreys County and into Perry County, and the farm and residence of Amos S. Keltan out of Hickman County and into Perry County.
9. Acts of 1868-69, Chapter 31, returned to Maury, Hickman, Lawrence, Wayne, and Perry Counties the territory taken from them to compose Lewis County. Section 2 made some changes between Perry and Hickman described as beginning in the northwest corner of Amos Skelton's lands; thence to the farm of Joseph R. Sutton, leaving here in Hickman County; thence north so as to include the farm of Amos Edwards in Perry County; thence west of north to the southeast corner of the lands of C. C. Dyer, said boundary including the farms of Samuel Bates, James Rodgers, James Hughes, James Bates, William Whitwell, John Whitwell, the lands of Thomas Kelly deceased, and James Hofstedder all in Perry County. The first Section was repealed by the Act below and the other in Item 10.
10. Acts of 1869-70, Chapter 30, provided that the Act returning the fractions of counties, which composed Lewis County, to the original counties is repealed and Lewis County is restored in full. All officers would return as well as all the official records and the tax collectors would pay over to Lewis County all the taxes due it.
11. Acts of 1869-70, Chapter 88, repealed the second Section of Chapter 31, Acts of 1868- 69, Item 8, above, thus restoring the line between Perry and Hickman Counties to the status it was in before the passage of that Act.
12. Acts of 1879, Chapter 57, was the authority to change the boundaries between Perry and Humphreys Counties so as to include wholly within Humphreys County the lands of G. D. Hays, T. B. Smith, L. W. Goodman, J. N. Goodman, A. G. Goodman, W. F. Goodman, J. M. Gray, J. L. Phelps, G. T. Phelps, and J. A. Wooten.
13. Acts of 1891, Chapter 150, stated that, whereas grave doubt existed as to the exact location of the boundary line between Wayne and Perry Counties causing trouble and inconvenience to the citizens of both, the Quarterly Courts of the two counties shall appoint three competent men from their respective counties surveyors. The surveyors shall begin at the established corner of Wayne and Lewis Counties and run the line westward as far as may be necessary to definitely establish the disputed lines.
14. Acts of 1895, Chapter 174, transferred all the lands belonging to Mrs. H. A. Mauldin, Mrs. Mary Hamer, and J. C. Whittaker, out of Perry County, and into Wayne County.
15. Acts of 1899, Chapter 175, appointed B. W. Depriest, the County Surveyor of Perry County; William Grinder, and Commodore Dabbs, of Perry County; William Hale, the County Surveyor of Lewis County; Frank Fain and George Turnebo of Lewis County, to resurvey and establish the line between Lewis and Perry Counties, which shall be recorded as the true line between the two. They shall start on the Wayne County line between Opossum and Mills Creek, the southeast corner of an entry in the name of J. L. Webb and Thomas Lomax in Perry County and the southwest corner of an entry in Lewis County in the name of George Nixon, running north with the old county line as near as practicable until it strikes the line of Hickman County between the head of Coon and Brush Creeks and the waters of Cane Creek.
16. Acts of 1903, Chapter 53, altered the lines between Perry and Hickman Counties so as to include all the properties of Charles Cagle in Hickman County.
17. Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 21, moved the residences and farms belonging to R. G. Oglesby and C. B. Oglesby out of Perry County and into Lewis County.
18. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 683, changed the lines between Wayne and Perry Counties so that the farms of J. L. Phillips, Mrs. Sallie Phillips, W. S. Stove, John J. Brumley, J. E. Baston, S. T. Kettrell, Mrs. Ed Pope, and F. M. Thomason. All being a part of the Flat Woods District, were all included in Perry County.