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BY LOUISE McLAUGHLIN
The death Saturday of John Allen, 77, of Des Moines, has brought up the
question of who was the first child born at Perry.
Allen's relatives say that he was the first child born here
after the town was named. According to other sources (none of them
agree) three other men were the first to be born at Perry.
Allen, who was born in 1870 - just one year after Perry was named, lived
here from the time that the town boasted a population of 74 until 1902
when the population had jumped to 3,000.
Harry Campbell
F.N. Hastie, who has explored the history of Dallas county and written
of it, says that Harry Campbell was Perry's first baby.
Campbell was born January 25, 1869 in a house that some records
say was the first house built in town.
He was the son of Perry pioneer, Benjamin Campbell, who built "Perry's
first house." It was chance that gave Perry the house. Benjamin Campbell
had started to build his house in Alton, but since he was unable to get
clear title to the land he moved the lumber to Perry and built here.
H.M. Shively
Another source says that H.M. "Hub" Shively was also born in the first
house constructed here. But Shively's birthplace was not the house
constructed by Campbell.
"Hub" was born November 22, 1868, in a frame house said to be
the first one built after the town was platted in that year.
There seems to be as much argument about who build the first house as
who was the first to be born here. But Shively's first home was the
first to be built after the town was laid out and Campbell's was the
first house to be constructed after the Willis brothers decided on a
name for the town.
Shively's first home was located at the lots now occupied by the
Traverse garage. The house is still standing on East McKinley st. at the
Eleventh st. curve.
Beason, Beeson
The fourth contender for the honor of having been the first child born
in the new town of Perry is a man named Beason or Beeson. The records
are vague about him, however,
His first name could not be learned Monday, nor the names of his
parents, but he was born in 1858 at the site where Perry was later to be
located.
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