George was the fifth child and only the second son born to James Perry and Sarah Margaret Griffin Coffey. James Perry was born in KY in Jan., 1851 to Jesse Perry and Tabitha Slaughter Coffey. Jesse and Tabitha left Casey Co., KY sometime after the 1850 census and was enumerated in the 1860 census of Collin Co., TX. George was born there on 8 Sep. 1889.
In 1907, George married Bernice Emily Matthews, born Dec, 1889 in Altoga, Collin Co. Unfortunately, they had but one child, a daughter, Evelyn Mae, born Oct. 30, 1911 in Dallas.
Evelyn was a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas and was a member of Delta Gamma sorority, president of the alumnae group and of the College Club. She was the national treasurer of the Mortar Board honorary society, a member of Zeta Phi Delta and former president of Decima at SMU.
After graduation she married Dr. Bruce Alexander Knickerbocker of Dallas and relocated to University Park, outside of Dallas, a more-or-less exclusive area for the well-to-do. Knickerbocker, a medical doctor and graduate of Vanderbilt School of Medicine, settled into private practice. In the 1940 census he valued their home at $5,500. In 2016 dollars that would be nearly $100,000. The doctor apparently had a booming medical practice.
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| Bernice E. Matthews |
Evelyn was a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas and was a member of Delta Gamma sorority, president of the alumnae group and of the College Club. She was the national treasurer of the Mortar Board honorary society, a member of Zeta Phi Delta and former president of Decima at SMU.
After graduation she married Dr. Bruce Alexander Knickerbocker of Dallas and relocated to University Park, outside of Dallas, a more-or-less exclusive area for the well-to-do. Knickerbocker, a medical doctor and graduate of Vanderbilt School of Medicine, settled into private practice. In the 1940 census he valued their home at $5,500. In 2016 dollars that would be nearly $100,000. The doctor apparently had a booming medical practice.
By summer of 1945, the couple still did not have any children. We don't know if that, or some other more personal reason caused the death of Evelyn. However, on Aug. 21, 1945 she committed suicide by drowning herself in a private pond located on Devonshire Drive just south of the Northwest Highway in Dallas. She was 33 years old. Burial was in Hillcrest, now Sparkman Hillcrest Memorial Mausoleum in Dallas.
Her mother died Jul. 3, 1955 and her father died Aug. 22, 1967 in Dallas, Both are buried at Hillcrest.
Dr. Knickerbocker remarried in about 1950 to Anna Louise Bleibler and fathered at least four children with her. He died on Oct. 21, 1969 in Dallas and was buried at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas.
