Cammodore Oliver Hazard Perry

341. Commodore Oliver Hazard⁸ PERRY (Capt. Christopher Raymond⁷, Hon. "Judge" Freeman⁶, Susannah⁵ BARBER, Moses⁴, James A.³, James T.², Thomas¹) (#3235) was born in South Kingston, RI 23 AUG 1785. Some report that his birth was on Aug. 20th. Commodore died 23 AUG 1819 in Orinoco River, Venezuela, at age 34. At 3:00 p.m. on Monday, August 23, 1819 - on his 34th birthday - Oliver Hazard Perry died from yellow fever. While enroute to Port of Spain, Trinidad, after departing Venezuela. His body was interred 1826 in New Port, RI.

He married Elizabeth Champlain MASON 5 MAY 1811 in Newport, RI. (Elizabeth Champlain MASON is #5510.) Elizabeth died 21 JUN 1879 at age unknown. They had five children with one dying in infancy.

When Commodore was age 26 and Elizabeth Champlain MASON was age unknown they became the parents of Christopher Grant Champlain PERRY 2 APR 1812 in South Kingston, Washington Co., RI. When Commodore was age 27 and Elizabeth Champlain MASON was age unknown they became the parents of Oliver Hazard PERRY II 23 FEB 1813 in South Kingston, Washington Co., RI. When Commodore was age 29 and Elizabeth Champlain MASON was age unknown they became the parents of Oliver Hazard PERRY Jr. 23 FEB 1815 in Newport, Newport Co., RI. When Commodore was age 30 and Elizabeth Champlain MASON was age unknown they became the parents of Christopher Raymond PERRY 29 JUN 1816 in Newport, Newport Co., RI. When Commodore was age 34 and Elizabeth Champlain MASON was age unknown they became the parents of Elizabeth Mason PERRY 15 SEP 1819 in Newport, Newport Co., RI. he joined the navy at 13 years of age as a mid shipman, he was zealous about selfemprovement, he was an inveterate reader of military treatises and classic literature. "Perry was born on August 23, 1785 at the Old Perry Homestead in South Kingston, RI of Fighting Quaker parents." His father was in the United States Navy and young Perry soon followed. At the age of 13, Perry entered the Navy as a midshipman, where his first assignment was in the Caribbean under the command of his father aboard the sloop-of-war, GENERAL GREENE. Perry's subsequent voyages took him to Europe and Africa during the Barbary Wars. In 1805, at the age of 20, Perry became a lieutenant and was given the command of a small schooner. Next, he was called to oversee the construction of a number of gunboats ordered by President Thomas Jefferson. When this job was successfully completed, Perry was given the command of the 14-gun vessel REVENGE and crusied the northern- and mid-Alantic waters of the Eastern United States. In January 1811, Perry was ordered to survey a number of Rhode Island harbors Unfortunately, though faulty piloting and bad weather, REVENGE wrecked on a reef. Perry requested an inactive status and an investigation. The court of inquiry foound him blameless for the loss and actually applauded him for his valiant attempts to save public property. In May 1812, Perry returned to active duty and received a promotion to master-commandant. One month later the United States declared war on Great Britain, citing British policies that infringed on the American trade and freedom of the seas. He was given command of the 12 gunboats at newport and New London. Perry lost interest in the relative inactivity of this post and in September 1812, requested duty on the high seas or the Great Lakes. In February 1813, he was ordered to Commodore Isaac Chauncey's command at Sacket's harbor, Lake Ontario. Perry reached Chauncey's headquarters on March 3. Because British attacks were expected momentarily, Chauncey kept Perry with him for two weeks. The attacts failed to materialize and Chauncey decided that Perry would be better use in Erie Pennsylvania, where a fleet was being constructed to wrest the control of Lake Erie from the British who already had a small squadron there. Perry was fully briefed on the situation in Erie and was sent to command the project. He worked well with Noah Brown, the master builder who Commodore Chauncey had hired earlier. Although facing many adverse conditions, including lack of men and materials, Perry and his men successfully completed six vessels by July 1813. These six were joined by others from Buffalo. Two months later, on September 10, 1813, the American squadron cammanded by Perry fought a British squadron commanded by Captain Robert Barclay, RN. The Battle of Lake Erie began with Perry aboard his flagship Lawrence. In the early stagesof the battle, however, LAWENCE and her crew took most of the enemy's fire. Lawernce was severely damaged and over 80 percent of Perry's crew were killed or wounded by concentrated British gunfire. In a attempt to change defeat to victory, Perry, carring his battle flag emblazoned wth Captain Lawrence's dying works, "Don't Give up the Ship" transferred from Lawrence to the lightly damaged NIAGARA in a small boat. He took command of the NIGRARA and sailed her into the British battle line. The British had also taken heavy causualties from the Lawrence' Fire. Broadsides from the fresh NIAGARA compelled their surrender within 15 minutes of Perry's transfer. Immediately following his victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, Perry penned the famous words, "We have met the enemy and they are ours..." in his report to General William Henry Harrison. Perry was the first in history to defeat an entire British squadron and successfully bring back every ship to his base as a prize of war. Perry, at the age of 28, was hailed by the public as a national hero for his victory on Lake Erie. On May 5, 1811 he married twenty year old Elizabeth Champlin Mason at Newport, Rhode Island. The dashing young naval officer first encountered his future bride at a dance four years earlier. The newlyweds enjoyed an extended honeymoon, leisurely touring the New England states. Eventually the union, always described as a happy one, would produce five children, one of whom died in infancy.

His family's descendants include Commander John Rodgers, the second person to become a United States naval aviator,[43] and well known civilian aviator Calbraith Perry Rodgers, the first person to fly an airplane—the Vin Fiz—across the United States.[44]

Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge (December 19, 1901 – August 2, 1963) was an American writer and anthropologist, best known for his 1930 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel Laughing Boy.

His great nephew Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (November 12, 1858 – June 10, 1908) was an American socialite and United States Representative from New York.

From the The Soule Kindered Newsletter, 08/02/2021 Summer Vol 55 No.2

If you were asked to name America’s most famous naval commanders, would your list include two Soule descendants, or even one? Until Becket Soule’s comments during our SKA Virtual Reunion last November, I could not. Now I know that two brothers whose line of descent flows from Susannah Soule are decidedly among our most distinguished naval veterans. They are Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry, both Commodores. They were born to Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander. Christopher himself was a navy veteran. Rising to the rank of Captain, he served in the Revolutionary War and the Quasi War with France. All five of his sons served in the US Navy and several grandsons continued with distinction in naval service. As you look up and down the Perry ancestral tree, it would be difficult to find another family with more men of distinguished service to our country in every war through the 20th century.

Oliver Hazard Perry was the oldest son of Christopher Perry. He was born on 23 August 1785 in Rhode Island. In 1799 he gained appointment as a midshipman on the recommendation of his father. Oliver H. Perry then served in the Quasi War with France, the Tripolitan War against the Barbary pirates, and the War of 1812 where he would come to be hailed as “the hero of Lake Erie.” In a war with very few American battle victories and eventually a stalemate, he is credited with this naval victory by the fleet of six ships he had built in 1813. Receiving the surrender of the British on his flagship, he wrote the now famous words, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”

His naval service continued until a diplomatic journey to Venezuela. He died there from yellow fever on his birthday in 1819. Initially buried in Trinidad, his remains were removed in 1826 to Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island. In Put-In-Bay, Ohio, there is a 352-foot-tall monument in his memory, six US ships have been named after him, and there are also a number of American towns named in his honor; the nearest to me is Perry, Georgia, just South of Macon. Matthew Calbraith Perry was a younger brother and the fourth of the eight Perry children. He was born 10 April 1794 in Rhode Island and he enlisted in the US Navy in 1809. He had secured a midshipman’s appointment and initially served on the USS Revenge under his brother’s command at Lake Erie. Matthew Perry participated in many sea battles in his naval career (most notably the Mexican-American War in 1846-47) and he rose eventually to the rank of Rear Admiral. However, his greatest historic notoriety is the “gunboat diplomacy” in 1853 and 1854 which opened Japan to the West. Also hailed as the “Father of the Steam Navy,” Matthew Perry would see only a few more years of life as rheumatic fever would cause his death on 4 March 1858. Initially buried in New York City, his remains were removed to be with his brother and other family at Island Cemetery. Japan erected a monument to him in 1901; it survived World War II and is today located in Yokosuka as part of a museum focused on the Perry expeditions. There is also a monument in Touro Park, Newport, RI, and in 2008 the US Navy dedicated the USNS Matthew Perry in his honor. For our Perry family cousins we say, “Peace be to your ashes and honor be to your memory.” We thank them for their dedicated service to our country!

Commodore Oliver Hazard PERRY and Elizabeth Champlain MASON had the following children:

+ 480 i. Christopher Grant Champlain⁹ PERRY was born 2 APR 1812.

481 ii. Oliver Hazard PERRY II (#8595) was born in South Kingston, Washington Co., RI 23 FEB 1813. Oliver died 4 MAR 1814 in RI, at age 1.

482 iii. Oliver Hazard PERRY Jr. (#8596) was born in Newport, Newport Co., RI 23 FEB 1815. Oliver died 20 AUG 1878 in Andover, Essex Co., MA, at age 63. He married twice. He married Elizabeth Ann RANDOLPH date unknown. (Elizabeth Ann RANDOLPH is #9566.) Elizabeth was born 1816. Elizabeth died 1847 at age 31. From the Virginia Randolph families

He married Mary Ann MOSELEY date unknown. (Mary Ann MOSELEY is #10427.) entered the Navy as a midshipman in 1829, rose to the rank of Lieutenant and resigned in 1849.

483 iv. Christopher Raymond PERRY (#10420) was born in Newport, Newport Co., RI 29 JUN 1816. Christopher died 8 OCT 1848 at age 32. never married, but graduated from the United States Military Academny at West Point in 1842. He served during the Mexican War and foiught at the Battle of Palo Alto on May 8, 1846 and at the battle of Reseca-de-la-Palma on May 9, 1846. He died on active duty as a 1st lieutenant in 1848.

484 v. Elizabeth Mason PERRY (#8597) was born in Newport, Newport Co., RI 15 SEP 1819. Elizabeth died 1842 at age 22. She married Rev. Francis VINTON date unknown. her second marriage (Rev. Francis VINTON is #10428.) well known Episcopal Clergyman

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