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Mrs. Emma Turner Perry
"Mrs. Perry"
​Susan E Turner (Mrs. Perry) was born on May 28th, 1875. Her life began in Warren, RI, daughter of successful sea captain Robert Northam Turner, Sr.. Captain Turner commanded vessels and voyages transporting regional goods along the Atlantic and as far as the Caribbean, returning with textiles, sugar, and molasses. Her mother, Susan Emma Peck, was a descendant of the first Europeans to settle the region.
Susan was raised to be part of the town’s elite social and maritime landowners and mercantile and naval families. In the late 1890’s, she married William Wallace Perry. William was from the prominent Perry family lineage, famous for its naval heroes and deep ties to Bristol’s historical legacy. Together they lived at the historic Silver Creek Homestead (now the Perry Rego House) from about 1895 until the Silver Creek property was battered beyond affordable repair from the hurricane of 1938.
Mrs. Perry took great pride in her gardens. Beautiful daffodils and narcissus graced the homestead grounds in spring, followed by June roses and an abundance of tiger lilies in summer. Paths on the grounds had arches of the “old matrimony vine” that witnessed numerous bridal processions. The trees on the property included large walnuts and the high Ailanthus. In addition to the beautiful gardens and upkeep of Silver Creek Homestead, Mrs. Perry is credited with forming the Bristol Garden Club in 1928.
Mrs. Perry died on March 28, 1947 and is buried at the Juniper Hill Cemetery located in Bristol RI.
