The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 26, July 1922 - April, 1923 Page: 94

94 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
on Galveston Bay, where he assisted in the building of fortifica-
tions to keep communications open to New Orleans." As a con-
sequence of this absence from home during the planting season,
the crops for 1836 were short and hardly adequate for food and
seed for the next year. Perry contracted with the Schooner
Colonel Fannin to carry his crop of twenty-two bales to Messrs.
John A. Merle & Co. of New Orleans. In the letter notifying
this company of shipment he inquired whether he could obtain
a loan of two or three thousand dollars for April or May, 1837,
if the crop prospects were good at that time."6 The twenty-two
bales did not go by the Colonel Fannin as is seen from the fol-
lowing letter.
Enclosed you will also receive a Bill of Lading pr Schooner
Julias Ceiser for twenty two Bales of Cotton, the whole amount
of my crop, which I hope you will receive in good order and get
a good price for it as I need all I can get and more too."
There is no record of the 1837 crop. Conditions could not have
been prosperous, for Perry was borrowing money as is seen from
the following letter from his factor.
Money is very scare here [New Orleans]. If we can possibly
advance the $500.-you speak of we will enclose it to Mrs. Perry.
New cotton begins to come in July and ranges from 10 to 12c
in price we fear Cotton will not go above 10c this season.67
Peach Point in its beginning was primarily a cotton planta-
tion, with corn and other products to supply the plantation needs.
It is not until the fifties that sugar cane becomes the leading
crop. Beginning with 1838 there is a fairly comprehensive rec-
ord of the cotton crop through 1849, giving the records of the
pickers by name, the total weight of the crop, the number of
bales, the price of the crop, a partial account of the outlay for
the crop, and observations on the weather. While a few refer-
ences were made to the planting of the corn, it was not until
1846 and 1847 that a full record was given of the yield. The
64Texas Planter, November 16, 1853.
"'Perry to John A. Merle & Co., New Orleans, January 29, 1837. Austin
Papers.
"Perry to John A. Merle & Co., February 6, 1837. Austin Papers.
"7James, Reed & Co. to Perry, October 5, 1837. Austin Papers.