Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/300

 PERRY

PERRY

PERRY, Matthew Calbraith, naval officer, was born in Newport, R.I., April 10, 1794; son of Christoplier Raymond and Sarah (Alexander) Perry. He was warranted a midshipman in the U.S. navy through the inlluence of his fatlier, and joined the schooner Revenge in January, 1809. He was transferred to the frigate President under Captain Rodgers, in ISlO; ordered to the friirate Cnifcd States in 1813; commissioned

lieutenant. July 24, 1818; returned to the Presi- dent under Commodore Decatur in April, 1814, and the same year transferred to the Cliippeioa. He served at the Brooklyn navy yard, 1814-19; was executive officer on tiie U.S. ship Cyane under Captain Trenchard. and sailed for the coast of Africa to aid the Colonization society in its efiforts to found, on the island of Shebro, a free negro colony, which, owing to the unhealthful- ness of the location, was transferred to Liberia. He was appointed to the command of the schooner Shark in 1821, and engaged in the war against the West Indian pirates, 1822-2.3. He was pro- moted lieutenant-commander in 1822; was ex- ecutive officer of the North Carolina, under Com- modore Rodgers, and cruised in the Mediterranean. He was commissioned commander, March 21, 1826, and until 1830 was on recruiting service at Boston, Mass., where he founded the first naval apprenticeship system in the United States. In 1830 he was in command of the corvette Concord; conveyed John Randolph to St. Petersburg as U.S. minister to Russia, this being the first American man-of-war to enter Russian waters, and he was offered, but declined, a high rank in the Russian service. He was promoted master commandant, Jan. 7, 1833; was detailed at the Brooklyn navy yard, and during this service su- perintended the school of gun practice at Sandy Hook; organized the Brooklyn Naval lyceum; assisted in founding the Naval Magazine; made a study of the tides on the American coast; per- fected plans for a steam naval service, and com- manded the first steam war vessel of the U.S. navy, the Fulton II., 1838-40. He was promoted captain, Feb. 7, 1837. and declined the command of the South Sea exploring expodition. He intro- duced the Fresnel light at Navesink, and prepared plans for the construction and equipment of the Missouri and MississijiJ^i, the first steam frigates

built for the U.S. navj-. He was promoted com- modore, June 12, 1841, and commanded the African squadron sent out under the provisions of the Ashburton treaty; commanded the 3Jis- sissijijii in the squadron under Commodore Con- ner, 1846; was in charge of a fleet of five ves- sels sent against Tabasco, Mexico, and succeeded in burning the town and destroying the Mexican storehouses. He had directed the naval attack against Tampico; succeeded to the command of the Gulf squadron, and completed the Seige of Vera Cruz, begun by Commodore Conner. In March, 1852, he was placed in charge of the Japan expedition with orders to secure a treaty with that empire that would afiford protection for United States seamen and ships wrecked on the coast, and free access for the U.S. navy to one or more ports for the protection of merchantmen there for purposes of trade. This treaty was signed, March 31, 1854, and Perry returned to the United States. The state of Rhode Island pre- sented him with a piece of plate for his services in Japan, June 15, 18.")5; the city of Boston, a gold medal; the merchants of the city of New York, a silver dinner service, and the merchants of Canton, China, a silver candelabrum. He is the author of: The History of the Japan Expedition (1854). In 1868 Mr. and Mrs. August Belmont caused a bronze statue to be erected to his mem- ory at Touro Park, Newport, R.I. He died in New York city, March 4, 1858.

PERRY, Matthew Calbraith, naval officer, was born in 1821; son of Matthew and Jane (Slidell) Perry. He entered the U.S. navy as midshipman, June 1, 1835, and was ordered to the frigate Potomac. He served as acting master of the brig Somers, under Commander Alexander S. Mackenzie, and was one of the officers to recommend the immediate execution of three of their mutinous crew. He served in the Mexi- can war on the frigate Cumberland; was com- missioned lieutenant in the U.S. army, April 3, 1848, and served on the coast survey. He was commissioned captain, and was retired from active service, April 4, 1867. Pie died in New York city, Nov. 16, 1873.

PERRY, Nora, author, was born in Dudley, Mass., in 1841. She removed to Providence, R.I., with her parents in childhood, and was educated at home and in private schools. At the age of eight she wrote her first story, " The Shipwreck," which was never published, and in 1859 she be- gan to write for publication. Her first publisiied story appeared in a religious magazine; her first successful poem, " Tying Her Bonnet under Her Chin," in a newspaper in Wa-shingtoii. D.C., and her first serial story, "Rosalind Ne%vcomb," in Harper's Magazine, 1859-60. She then removed to Boston, Mass.; became the correspondent of