The Perry Family

The Perry family is an American naval and political dynasty whose roots in the United States extend to Edward Perry, an English immigrant who settled in Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. Through later marriages and descendants, the family became connected with several prominent colonial and early American lineages, including the Raymond, Hazard, Prence, Brewster, and Soule families. Its principal American branch developed in Rhode Island, where Christopher Raymond Perry and his sons Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry became especially important figures in the history of the United States Navy. Christopher Raymond Perry was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1761. He served as a teenager during the American Revolution, first in local militia and privateering activities and later in the Continental Navy. His wartime experiences included captivity and escape. After the war, he married Sarah Wallace Alexander, moved to South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and established the household from which the best-known naval branch of the family emerged. Their eldest son, Oliver Hazard Perry, became one of the central naval heroes of the War of 1812. His victory at the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 helped secure American control of the lake and contributed to the wider campaign in the Old Northwest. Perry was commemorated for the battle flag motto “Don’t Give Up the Ship” and for his report that the opposing forces had been met and defeated. Matthew Calbraith Perry, Oliver’s younger brother, continued the family’s naval influence into the nineteenth century. He served in several conflicts, supported professional education for naval officers, and advocated the transition from sailing vessels to steam-powered warships. His expedition to Japan culminated in the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, an agreement that opened Japanese ports to American trade and established a significant early diplomatic connection between Japan and the United States. His work in naval education and modernization contributed to his later reputation as an important architect of the American steam navy. The family’s influence extended beyond the two brothers. Related members served as naval officers, commanders, educators, diplomats, politicians, lawyers, physicians, artists, and social figures. Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers and other Rodgers descendants held senior naval commands and leadership positions, including at the United States Naval Academy, the United States Naval Institute, the Naval War College, and the Pacific Squadron. Matthew Calbraith Butler, a descendant through Jane Tweedy Perry, had a complex public career as a Confederate general, a United States senator, and a United States Army general after the Civil War. Marriage into the Belmont family created another prominent branch. Caroline Slidell Perry married financier August Belmont Sr. in 1849. Their children included diplomat and congressman Perry Belmont, financier August Belmont Jr., congressman Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, and other figures associated with New York finance, transportation, politics, publishing, sport, and high society. The Belmont branch helped extend the family’s public profile into the Gilded Age. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Perry descendants continued to serve in the United States Navy and to participate in national military affairs. Several were associated with the Spanish–American War, World War I, naval intelligence, naval education, and military history. The family also produced aviation pioneers. John Rodgers led an early attempted nonstop flight from California to Hawaii in 1927, while Calbraith Perry Rodgers completed the first transcontinental airplane flight across the United States in 1911 in the aircraft Vin Fiz. The family is therefore remembered less as a commercial brand than as a multigenerational network associated with American naval development, public service, military innovation, diplomacy, politics, and aviation.

The family’s American history begins with Edward Perry, who came from Devon, England, to Massachusetts in 1637. Later generations connected with Rhode Island through the Hazard and Raymond families. Christopher Raymond Perry, born in Newport in 1761, entered military service during the American Revolution. He served with local forces, privateers, and the Continental Navy, and endured captivity before escaping and returning to American service. After the war he married Sarah Wallace Alexander and settled in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Christopher Perry’s sons Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry created the family’s enduring naval reputation. Oliver served in the Quasi-War, the Barbary conflicts, and the War of 1812. His command at Lake Erie in 1813 produced a decisive American victory and made him one of the country’s most celebrated naval officers. Matthew served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War, promoted steam propulsion and naval training, and led the American expedition that negotiated the Convention of Kanagawa with Japan in 1854. Together, the brothers became associated with the professionalization, expansion, and international role of the United States Navy. The dynasty broadened during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers held senior commands and later led the Naval Academy and the United States Naval Institute. Matthew Calbraith Butler, related through Jane Tweedy Perry, served the Confederacy during the Civil War and later returned to national public life as a Democratic senator and United States Army general. A major social and political extension came through Caroline Slidell Perry’s 1849 marriage to August Belmont Sr. Their descendants included Perry Belmont, a congressman and diplomat; August Belmont Jr., a financier involved in New York rapid transit and the Cape Cod Canal; and Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, a congressman and publisher. Other members of this branch were involved in finance, horse racing, polo, publishing, and New York society. The family’s military prominence continued into the Spanish–American War and World War I. Raymond Perry Rodgers served in naval intelligence, commanded ships, and became president of the Naval War College. Thomas S. Rodgers and William Ledyard Rodgers also served as senior naval officers, while the latter became known for historical writing on military and naval subjects. Perry descendants also participated in the early development of aviation. Calbraith Perry Rodgers made the first transcontinental airplane flight in the United States in 1911, completing the journey through numerous planned and unplanned stops in the Wright Model EX Vin Fiz. John Rodgers later commanded an early naval attempt to fly nonstop from California to Hawaii. These episodes extended the family’s historic association with technological experimentation and nationally visible public service. The Perry family is consequently best understood as a historical dynasty rather than a conventional commercial organization. Its significance rests on the cumulative public achievements of several branches across naval warfare, diplomacy, education, politics, finance, aviation, and cultural memory.

• 1927

  California–Hawaii flight attempt

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  John Rodgers led an early United States Navy attempt to fly nonstop from California to Hawaii.

• 1911

  First transcontinental airplane flight

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  Calbraith Perry Rodgers completed the first transcontinental airplane flight across the United States.

• 1854

  Convention of Kanagawa

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  Matthew Calbraith Perry’s expedition helped negotiate the Convention of Kanagawa, opening Japanese ports to American commerce and diplomacy.

• 1849

  Perry–Belmont family connection

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  Caroline Slidell Perry married August Belmont Sr., creating a prominent political, financial, and social branch of the wider dynasty.

• 1813

  Battle of Lake Erie

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  Oliver Hazard Perry commanded the American fleet to victory at Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

• 1785

  Birth of Oliver Hazard Perry

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

• 1761

  Birth of Christopher Raymond Perry

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  Christopher Raymond Perry was born in Newport, Rhode Island, later becoming the patriarch of the family’s best-known naval branch.

• 1637

  Edward Perry settles in Massachusetts

  [1]Perry familyen.wikipedia.org

  Edward Perry, identified as a paternal ancestor of Christopher Raymond Perry, arrived from Devon, England, and settled in Massachusetts.

A historical American family dynasty associated primarily with naval leadership, military service, political office, diplomacy, aviation, and elite public life.

1. 1Perry familyen.wikipedia.org