Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/780

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734
PERRY
PERRY

census. Brown gave him the degree of A. M. in 1841. He is the author of '• Carthage and Tunis" (Providence, 1869) ; " Memorial of Zachariah Allen, 1795-1882 " (Cambridge, 1883) ; and " Rhode Island State Census, 1885 " (Providence, 1887).


PERRY, Arthur Latham, economist, b. in Lyme, N. H., 27 Feb.. 1830. He was graduated at Williams in 1852, and has been professor of history and political economy there since 1858. In 1874. at the invitation of the Nebraska state agricul- tural society, he delivered an address in Omaha, Neb., on " Foes of the Farmers," which has been widely circulated. He has written editorially for the Springfield " Republican " and the New York "Evening Post." Since 1883 he has been presi- dent of the Berkshire historical and scientific so- ciety, and he is a member of the Massachusetts historical society. An earnest advocate of free- trade, he has delivered many lectures and ad- dresses in its behalf. In 1868-9 he took part in public debates on this question with Horace (rreeley in Boston and New York. Union college gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1874, and Doane that of D. D. in 1883. Dr. Perry is the author of •' Politi- cal Economy ' (New York, 1865) and " Introduction to Political Economy " (1877), and is now (1888) collecting data for an historical work to be entitled " Williamstown and Williams College,"


PERRY, Benjamin Franklin, lawyer, b. in Pendleton district, S. C, 20 Nov., 1805; d. in Greenville, S. C, 3 Dec, 1886. He was educated in Asheville, N. C, and Greenville, S. C, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1827. On becoming editor of the Greenville " Mountaineer " he boldly attacked the Nullification party, not sparing its leader, John C. Calhoun. The sturdy defence of his principles and the persistent warfare upon his political enemies led to the formation ot a Union party in the state, and he was the chief spirit of its convention in 1832. In 1834 he was an unsuccessful candidate for congress, but in 1836 was elected to the lower branch of the legislature, serving until 1844, when he was sent to the state senate and labored earnestly for the Union cause. He established in 1850 a Union newspaper at Greenville, entitled "The Southern Patriot." In the legislature of 1850 he delivered stirring ap- peals to the loyalty of its members. When the state seceded in I860, although he had tried to prevent the act, he embraced the Confederate cause and sent his sons to serve in the southern army. Under the Confederacy he held the offices of disti'ict at- torney and district judge, and at the close of the war he was appointed provisional governor. Sub- sequently he was elected U. S. senator, but was not permitted to take his seat. He was a delegate to the National Democratic convention of 1876. Gov. Perry was the author of " Reminiscences of Public Men " (Philadelphia, 1883), and left in manuscript several sketches of American statesmen, which have been edited, enlarged, and published by his wife, entitled " Sketches of Eminent American Statesmen, with Speeches and Letters of Gov. Per- ry, prefaced by an Outline of the Author's Life," with an introduction by Wade Hampton (Philadel- phia, 1887). — His son, William Hayne, lawyer, b. in Greenville, S. C, 9 June, 1837. was graduated at Harvard in 1857, practised law with his father, and served in the civil war in Brooks's troop of cavalry, which was afterward incorporated into the Hamp- ton legion. He participated in the chief battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia, and de- fended the coast of South Carolina. Subsequently he served in the legislature, and was elected as a Democrat to congress in 1884 and 1886.


PERRY, Christopher Raymond, naval officer, b. in Newport, R. I., 4 Dec, 1761 ; d. there, 1 June, 1818. Pie was fifth in descent from Ed- mund Perry, a Quaker, who came from Devon- shire, England, to Sandwich, Mass., and wrote " A Railing against the Court of Plymouth," dated 1st day. 1st month, 1676, for which he was heavily fined. ' His son emigrated to Rhode Island. Chris- topher enlisted in the " Kingston Reds," served in the patriot army, and then on a privateer, and on the "Mifflin." He was captured and lay three months in the " Jersey " prison-ship, but escaped, re-enlisted on the " Trumbull," and was in the battle with the " Watt." Again on a pi'ivateer he was captured and kept a prisoner at Newry, Ire- land, where he first met his future wife, Sarah Alexander. In the mercantile marine he made voyages to the East Indies, and on 9 Jan., 1798, he was made post-captain in the U. S. navy. He built and commanded the '• General Greene," cruis- ing in the West Indies, co-operating with Tous- saint L'Ouverture in the civil war in Santo Do- mingo, and displaying the J. S. flag in Louisi- ana. In 1801, when the navy was nearly dis- banded, Capt. Perry was made collector of New- port, and later he returned to private life. — His wife, Sarali Alexander, b. in Newry, County Down, Ireland, in 1768 ; d. in New London, Conn., 4 Dec, 1830. Her grandfather, James Wallace, an officer in the Scotch army and a signer of the Solemn League and Covenant, fled in 1660, with others, from County Ayr to the north of Ireland. She was left an orphan at an early age, grew up in the family of her uncle, and became thoroughly familiar with the historic ground of the neigh- borhood of Newry. Accompanying her parents' friend, Mr. Calbraith to this country, she married on her arrival, at the house of Dr. Benjamin Rush, Mr. Perry, then mate of the ship. She became the mother of five sons — Oliver Hazard, Raymond H. J., Matthew Calbraith, James Alexander, and Nathanael Hazard — all of whom were officers in the U. S. navy. Of her three daughters, Anna Maria married Capt. George W. Rodgers, U. S. navy, and another, Jane Tweedy, married Dr. William Butler, U. S. navy, the father of Senator Matthew Calbraith Butler, of South Carolina. To great strength of character Mrs. Perry added high intel- lectual power and rare social grace, training her children with extraordinary care to high ideals of life and duty. After the victory on Lake Erie, some farmers in Rhode Island declared it was in reality "Mrs. Perry's victory." — Their son, OliTsr Hazard, naval officer, b. in South Kingston, R. I., 23 Aug., 1785; d. in Port Spain, Island of Trini- dad, 23 Aug., 1819, was carefully trained by his mother, who " fitted him to command others by teaching him early to obey," narrated to him the deeds of her military ancestors, and taught him how and what to read. His favorite books were the Bible. Plu- tarch's " Lives," Shake- speare, and Addison. In the private schools of

Kingston, Tower Hill,

and Newport he made rapid progress, and ex- celled in the study of mathematics and naviga- tion. He was the pupil of Count Rochambeau.