The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-08-15
BY ELMO SCOTT WATSON

- \ on the thirty-fourth anniversary
III Of his birth-on August %, 1919.
ill., NJ It is not given TO many men to
~ win deathIess fame before they
are thirty. But Fate decreed that
a youthful commander in the United States navy
should be of those favored mortals. Nor
was it blind chance or a mere stroke Of luck
which brought him his renown. When his big
opportunity came, he was trained and ready for
it The result was one of the most brilliant vic
tories in the history of naval warfare-his de-
feat and capture of a British feet on Lake Erie,
September 10, 1913. That, plus his triumphal
announcement the lacOnic quality of which is
in keeping with the briefness Of his career, has
made the name of Oliver Hazard Perry one of
the best known in American history.
If ever there was an American family which
exempliies a naval heritage it was the Perrys
of Rhode Island. That heritage began with
Christopher Raymond Perry who was only thir-
teen years old when the Revolution began But
he Immediately enlisted in the Kingston Reds
and served valiantly in the Continental army.
He next served on privateer, then on board the
NIi1lin was captured by the British and for
three months endured the horrors Of the British
prison ship, Jersey. Escaping from the Jersey,
Perry enlisted on the Trumbun under Capt
James Nicholson and had a part in the victory
over the British privateer. Watt, in 1779. Later
he was captured again and sent to Newry, Ire
land, as prisoner of
There he became acquainted with Sarah Alex
ander, pretty Scotch girl, whose grandfather
had fed from Scotland 10 Ireland and who had
been left an orphan in her childhood. AT the
close of the war Christopher shipped as a sea-
man on a British ship bound for America. Sarah
Alexander was passenger on the same ship and
upon her arrival at the home of DIR. Benjamin
Rush in Philadelphia Christopher sought her out
and they were married. He took his bride to
the Perry homestead at Wakefield. R. l., a house
that looked out toward the sea and from which
her husband and her sons were TO ego down to
the sea in ships" and become officers in the
United States navy.
There were five of them-Oliver Hazard, Ray
mond H j. Matthew Calbraith. James Alexander
and Nathaniel Hazard. As if this contribution
to her adopted country's sea forces was not
enough, two of her three daughters married naval
officers, Capt. George ". Rodgers and DR.. VIII
liam Butler!
The influence of this mother on her sons had
much to do with their later fame. She told them
stories of her warrior ancestors in Scotland; she
closely supervised their education, she fitted
them to command by teaching them to obey" and
when, still in their teens, they answered the call
of the sea, she sent them forth cheerfully. She
lived to see all of them make honorable records
in the service of their country and two of them
to become famous-Oliver Hazard as the victor
in the Battle of Lake Erie and Matthew Cal
braith as the commander of the expedition which,
in 1854. opened the ports of Japan and started
that nation on the rise to its present position
among the world powers
Oliver Hazard Perry entered the United States
navy at the age of fourteen as a midshipman.
That was in 179S when war with France seemed
inevitable. But it was not until the war with
Tripon when Commodore Preble was sent to
no mir
saw his first active service. In 1910 he was COM
missioned a lieutenant and placed in command
of the schooner Revenge. The Revenge was
wrecked off Watch HILL near his home, but
naval board of inquiry not only cleared him of
all blame for the disaster but also praised him
for his conduct on that occasion.
BY the time the second war with England be-
gan. Perry was known as one Of the best ord
nance officers in the navy and early in 1872 he
was placed in command of a fotilla of gunboats
in Newport harbor. But before he had chance TO
distinguish himself with this command. certain
significant events took place in the West which
determined that he would win his fame on our
inland seas rather than on the broad Atlantic.
In July, 1872. General Hull surrendered to the
British at Detroit and ii became apparent that
control of Lake Erie would be vital factor in
the war. Immediately both Americans and Brit
ish began construction of war vessels and a
thrilling race with time ensued. There was
feverish activity in the British shipyards at
Maiden. opposite Detroit and far TO the east in
the harbor of Presque Isle (now Erie, Pa.) there
a similar bustling about An American fleet
was TO be built there under the direction of
young Oliver Hazard Perry who was TO take
command Of il, wrest control of Lake Erie from
the British and cooperate with Gen. William
Henry Harrison. commander in chief of the
American military forces in Ohio, then threat
ened with invasion by the British and their
Indian allies.
Making his way through the wilderness in a
sleigh, Perry arrived at Presque Isle in Febru-
ary 1873 and found what seemed to be hope
less task on his hands Only the materials for
his ships were there and those materials were
the unhewn timber of the forest Shipbuilders
sailors naval stores. guns and ammunition had
10 be brought thither from distant points over
roads which were little better than mere trails
Letter after letter he wrote TO his superiors in
the East. begging for more men, more supplies
more money, more of everything which he would
need If he were TO cope successfully with a
powerful enemy. A lesser man than Perry would
have despaired but he refused to be daunted by
his handieaps.
And So after months Of labor the last Of his
ships were launched at the mouth of Cascade
creek and on July 10, 1913. he found himself in
command of the following: the brig Lawrence