Oliver Hazard Perry (1785 - 1819)

Born 23 Aug 1785 in South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Champlin (Mason) Perry — married 5 May 1811 in Newport, Newport, RI

Descendants

Died 23 Aug 1819 at age 34 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

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Biography

Oliver Perry is Notable.

• Oliver Hazard Perry was born to Christopher Perry and Sarah Alexander in their family home located in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. He is the oldest of five boys and has three sisters. Oliver's mother gave birth to him at home. That house is still there today. It is situated in the middle of a 60 acre farm with the family burial gravesite located near the house.

Military Career

Oliver Perry was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in the War of 1812.

Commander Oliver Perry served in the US Navy in the War of 1812
Service started: 1812
Unit(s): US Naval Forces on the Great Lakes
Service ended: 1814

• You could say that Perry was destined to be a Naval man - his father had served aboard privateers during the American Revolution and was even a commissioned officer in the US Navy in 1799. Perry's father was able to secure a midshipman's warrant for his 14 year old son, Oliver Hazard Perry; thus begins young Perry's naval career that would have a lasting impact during the War of 1812. ^[1]
• When Perry turned 22, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the United States Army. He had decided that enlisting in the Army would further hone and sharpen his naval skills.
• In February of 1813 Perry was able to convince Commodore Isaac Chauncey, Commander of the US Naval Forces on the Great Lakes, to transfer and grant him command of the U.S. forces on Lake Erie. ^[2] Upon his arrival he commissioned several ships to be built, within the year he had 9 ships, but two were the only ones rigged for battle. Perry needed men: men with strong hearts and a driven will to win or die trying to win. He approached Brigadier General Harrison and successfully convinced the General to give him riflemen to train as seamen and marines. General Harrison could identify with the need for speed and furnished him with 100 of his finest Kentucky marksmen from the famed McArthur Brigade. ^[3] For his gallantry at Lake Erie he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Perry moving his flag from the USS Lawrence to USS Niagara

Due to the USS Lawrence's bad damage, Perry moved his flag to sister ship USS Niagara. The USS Niagara had been commanded by Captain Jesse Elliot, Elliott was ordered to a small boat in order to consolidate American gun boats to surround the British Navy. This was the first time in history that an entire British naval squadron had surrendered, and every captured ship was successfully returned to Presque Isle. ^[4]

After the British defeat, Perry sent a message to Brigadier General Harrison. A famous quote, "We have met the enemy and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."^[5]

Death

Oliver died, while still on active duty, of "yellow fever" on his birthday at the Port of Spain^[6]

Legacy

• Ten US states have named counties in Commodore Perry's honor. The are: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

Notes

• Hazard, Thomas R., and Hazard, Willis P. Recollections of Olden Times. This book contains extracted information from a diary about Rowland Robinson of Narragansett and his unfortunate daughter, as well as genealogies of the Robinson, Hazard, and Sweet Families of Rhode Island. Bibliographic Information: Sanborn, John P. Newport, Rhode Island, 1879.
• The eighth was the old 'Squire John Case house, where Doctor Franklin used to stop over night on his journeys to and fro between Philadelphia and Boston. This house was occupied for some years by the family of Christopher Raymond Perry, father of Commodore O. H. Perry, where the latter spent several years of his boyhood. Commodore Perry was, however, born in a house that formerly stood on his ancestor's homestead estate, situated on the borders of the "hill country," some two miles or more south and west of Wakefield. I remember well the hero of Lake Erie calling and dining at my father's house shortly after the conclusion of the war of 1812 with Great Britain.

Sources

1. ↑ "Oliver H. Perry - Ohio History Central." Oliver H. Perry - Ohio History Central. Web. 19 June 2015.
2. ↑ http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/naval/p/War-Of-1812-Commodore-Oliver-Hazard-Perry.htm
3. ↑ Marshall, Peter, and David Manuel. "Don't Give up the Ship." From Sea to Shining Sea. Old Tappan: F.H. Revell, 1986. Print.
4. ↑ Skaggs, David Curtis; Altoff, Gerard T. (2000). A Signal Victory: The Lake Erie Campaign, 1812-1813. Naval Institute Press,. p. 264. ISBN 9781557508928.
5. ↑ Wikipedia:Oliver_Hazard_Perry
6. ↑ http://www.nps.gov/pevi/HTML/Perry.html

• By Ahodges7 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

• Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Thomas Brownell 1619 to 1910

• Find A Grave: Memorial #805

• The Narragansett Historical Register (Narragansett Historical Pub. Co., Providence, 1883) Vol. 2, Page 155