Photo: Mathew Benjamin Brady, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Matthew Calbraith Perry was born in 1794 in Newport. His family’s roots were in South Kingstown, where the Perrys had farmed for generations. The village of Perryville in South Kingstown takes its name from the family. His older brother was Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of Lake Erie.
Matthew joined the Navy as a teenager and served in the War of 1812.
Steam and reform
Perry pushed the Navy to adopt steam power and commanded one of its first steam warships, the Fulton. He also worked on naval education and is sometimes called the father of the steam Navy.
Japan
In 1853 Perry led a squadron of warships into Edo Bay, carrying a letter from President Millard Fillmore asking Japan to open its ports. Japan had kept most foreign trade closed for more than two centuries. Perry returned in 1854 with a larger force, and the Treaty of Kanagawa opened two ports to American ships.
The expedition changed the course of Japanese history and American trade in the Pacific.
Perry died in New York in 1858 and was later buried in Newport, near his brother. The Perry name remains one of the best known in Rhode Island history.
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