{History of Mapleton} Hyrum Boggs Perry (1859-1951)

This is from The History of Mapleton, by Ralph K. Harmer and Wendell B. Johnson, on page 166.

Hyrum Boggs Perry was the second son of Stephen C. Perry and Mary Boggs Perry. He was born August 13, 1859 at Springville, Utah. He spent his childhood there and later moved to Mapleton. In 1880 he went to work for Deal Brothers and Mendenhall Construction Company in Durango, Colorado. When the job closed, he went to Snow Flake, Arizona and contracted for a five-mile stretch of railroad for the Atlantic and Pacific R.R. The contract extended to Needles, California, but the contractor John W. Young went broke. Hyrum lost his wages and returned home. Later that year he went to Castle Gate, Utah, to work on a tunnel project and in 1883 he moved on the Park City to work for a timber company.

On March 13, 1884, Hyrum married Luella Roundy, daughter of Lauren Hotchkiss Roundy and Martha Edmiston, in the Endowment House. They eventually moved to Mapleton where they shared the old home with George Perry and his wife. In 1885, Hyrum built a two-room frame house located at 800 South Main, but the top burned severely enough that it was replaced with a two-story brick home. For ten years Hyrum worked on canal projects, for the railroad, and several other construction projects. He also found time to serve on the Mapleton School Board. Luella accompanied him on the railroad assignment and hired on as a cook for the camps. Their marriage produced six children: Areva Perry, who married Alpheus Curtis; Hyrum Adelbert Perry, Jr., killed in France during World War I; Zelda Perry, who died in infancy; Lauren Vell, who died in infancy; Wilda Perry, who married John Holley; and sixth child stillborn.


Hyrum served a Western States Mission shortly after the birth of Wilda, in 1896. He consented to go after getting out of debt and as a result of Wilda’s miraculous recovery from typhoid fever. Hyrum, or “Gampy,” as he was affectionately called by the neighborhood children (and almost everyone else in town), settled permanently in Mapleton after his mission. He loved people, always kept a large garden, and was highly respected in the community. He died on December 31, 1951, at the age of 92. He survived his wife Luella by 16 years. She died April 27, 2935 [sic].