Donald E. Perry
During the 1930s Donald E. Perry was prominent on the Ross Valley scene as the secretary of Sanitary District No. 1 in San Anselmo. Having married into the family of James Ross by wedding his granddaughter Annie Sophia Worn, Don Perry was well acquainted with the history of Marin County in particular and of California in general.
Spanning the years 1933-34, Don Perry gave a series of immensely popular historical talks to the San Anselmo Rotary Club. These talks were recounted in the Marin Herald, published in San Anselmo, and also in the column “What’s Doing,” by Harry Lutgens, the editor of the San Rafael Independent. On the success of his talks, Perry went on to write an historical column under his own byline in the Herald. In 1977, Donald E. Perry’s great-grandson, Thomas Ross Perry, compiled these reminiscences from the old newspapers. Some of these have been transcribed.
Marin Herald, December 7, 1933
Speaker Tells Rotary Club Story of Sinking of the Ferry Boat [Ferry Boat San Rafael]
Marin Herald, December 14, 1933
Looking Backward When Oxen Hauled Lumber from Ross Valley [Early Families in Ross Valley]
Marin Herald, December 21, 1933
First Railroad Stock List Gives Pioneers Names; Early Shooting [Kittle Shooting]
Marin Herald, December 28, 1933
Ross Valley Wives Outlived Husbands in Early Days [Incorporation, Water District]
Marin Herald, January 4, 1934
Early History Talk By Don Perry Resumed [Dr. MacKenzie]
Marin Herald, January 18, 1934
Rotary Club Hears Story of First Automobile in Marin [Breast plate, Tom Berry, Ross Family, Sunnyside Tract]
Marin Journal, April 12, 1934
Incidents of Early Marin History [Early families]