The Thomas M. Terry Family, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Mar. 2007
Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives.

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THE THOMAS M. TERRY FAMILY

BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian

One of Ponchatoula's most outstanding citizens of the nineteenth century was 
businessman, soldier, and civic leader, Thomas M. Terry.  Thomas Marriner Terry was 
born 24 Nov. 1836 in St. Tammany Parish to John Orrin Terry and Fruza Ann Marriner.  
Thomas was well educated and as he became a young man was a leader in the 
community.

There is no record of when Thomas Terry moved from St. Tammany Parish to the 
Ponchatoula area, which was then in Livingston Parish, but it was probably in the 
1850's when his father moved to land he had purchased on Selcer's Creek. 

When the War Between the States began, Thomas was farming in the Ponchatoula area.  
He was commissioned a captain and organized Company K of the Seventh Louisiana 
Infantry Regiment.   This company was organized in Ponchatoula and was largely 
composed of men from this immediate area.  Thomas and his men were trained at Camp 
Moore, near Tangipahoa, LA, and then transferred to Virginia.  Thomas and his men 
fought with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in most of the bloody battles 
of that conflict.  He was promoted to the rank of major, and shortly afterwards to 
lieutenant colonel. Serving with Thomas in the Seventh Infantry was his brother 
Lieutenant Vitrivius P. Terry who was killed in battle in 1863, his brother 
Sergeant Orrin F. Terry who was wounded, and his brother Julius D. Terry.

Returning to Ponchatoula after the war, Thomas married the 22 year old Mary 
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Tucker, a daughter of Zelotas Tucker and Nancy Wells Tucker of 
Ponchatoula.  Thomas resumed farming and for a time in the 1870's was a merchant in 
the town of Ponchatoula.

Lizzie Tucker died 22 Oct. 1878 and was buried in the Sandhill Cemetery.  She and 
Thomas had several children during their marriage: Fruzza Marriner Terry 
(1872-1941); John Orrin Terry (1867-1878); Clifford Penn Terry (1871-1939), m. 
Julia Berwick; Beula Maud Terry (1875-1961), m. William R. Porterfield; and Julius 
Jerome Terry (b. 1876). 

When the census was taken in the summer of 1880, Thomas was living in Ponchatoula 
with his four surviving children and listed his occupation as that of a retired 
merchant.  Thomas married again to Ella Florence Tucker, one of his first wife's 
cousins.  They were married 28 Nov. 1880 at Ella's father's home east of 
Ponchatoula, by the Methodist minister John Boyes.  Ella was born 4 Nov. 1864 and 
was the eldest daughter of Nathaniel Warren Tucker (1838-1926) and Nancy A. 
Marchbanks (1843-1891).

Thomas and Ella had children: Dr. Thomas Marriner Terry; Eleanor Florence Terry; 
Bertie Errol Terry; and Wessie Ione Terry.

Thomas served his community as the clerk of the Sixth Judicial Court in Tangipahoa 
Parish immediately after the war, as the postmaster in Ponchatoula for about six 
months from Nov. 1875 to May 1876, and as Mayor of Ponchatoula from 1881 to 1886.

Soon after completing his service as mayor of Ponchatoula, Thomas moved his family 
to New Orleans, where he worked as a contractor.  He dealt in timber, masts and 
spars for ships, and his business office was located at 310 Howard Street in the 
Crescent City.

Thomas was living at the corner of Thalia and Baronne Streets in New Orleans at the 
time of his death 19 Aug. 1895.   His body was taken by train to Ponchatoula and 
was buried in the Sandhill Cemetery.  Ella continued to live in New Orleans 
following Thomas' death and in 1910 was operating a small boarding house on Camp 
Street.  She died 7 Oct. 1918 and was buried beside Thomas. 

A community leader in war and peace, Thomas M. Terry served the Ponchatoula 
community with distinction and left an admirable record for his many descendents.

Anyone with questions, comments, or suggestions for future articles, may contact 
Jim Perrin at 386-4476.