A copy of the original report from “The Newport Mercury” outlining Perry’s funeral procession, printed 2 December 1826.
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819) spent his entire adult life at sea, except for a short time at his Touro Street residence with his new family. He died of yellow fever at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad on 23 August 1819, on his 34th birthday. He was promptly buried at Lapeyrouse Cemetery there, after an elaborate funeral at Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Following an Act of Congress, Perry’s remains were exhumed and sailed to Newport on 27 November 1826 aboard the USS Lexington. A massive funeral procession was held on 4 December from Clarke’s Wharf to the Common Burying Ground, where Perry was interred next to his father. The procession included a carriage fashioned after the USS Lawrence, his Lake Erie flagship, followed by a crowd of dignitaries.
In 1843, Perry was moved yet again to his final resting place at Island Cemetery next to the granite and marble obelisk the State of Rhode Island completed after a 16 year delay. Brother Matthew C. Perry also had internment issues. He was originally buried at St. Mark’s on the Bowery in New York and later moved to Island Cemetery to rest next to his son-in-law, August Belmont.
A clipping from the 9 December 1826 issue of “The Newport Mercury” outlining Perry’s funeral procession.