Commodore Perry at Rockwood - River Journal Online
Written by Henry Steiner
For generations every local schoolboy and schoolgirl has studied the landmark expedition of
Commodore Perry to Japan. I studied it too, but I didn't realize that Perry lived for a time in this
neighborhood.
Matthew Calbraith Perry was born in 1794 in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Perrys were a seafaring family and Matthew's older brother, Commodore Oliver Hazard
Perry, became the most celebrated American Naval hero of the War of 1812, coining the
phrase, "Don't give up the ship!"
In 1814, Matthew Perry married Jane Slidell, the sister of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie. I have
written about Mackenzie in this column. The Perry family lived in various places as Matthew
Perry rose through the ranks and was promoted to increasingly responsible commands. About
1840, the Perrys moved their growing family from New York to the banks of the Hudson River at
the northern border of the Beekman farm. Perry's brother-in-law, Alexander Slidell Mackenzie,
lived on the south end of the land we know today as Rockwood Hall; Matthew Perry and his wife
(Mackenzie's sister) lived on 120 acres at the north end. It appears that Mackenzie bought the
whole parcel from the widow Beekman and almost immediately sold the northern section to
Perry.
Neither the Perrys nor the Mackenzies built ostentacious homes; they had cottages or
farmhouses built in keeping with what a naval officer's salary could afford—although the Perrys
did give their estate a name, "The Moorings." This was not the first time the Perrys experienced
the Sleepy Hollow-Tarrytown locale; according to a Perry biographer, S. E. Morison, they had
been accustomed to summering in the area when they previously lived in New York—possibly
during the period of 1816 to 1821.
The 1840 move to Rockwood was the brainchild of Mrs. Perry, who had been minding the
family in New York City. Washington Irving had only recently settled in Tarrytown, heralding the
imminent migration of wealthy and influential newcomers to the community. Perry and Irving
met and conversed on the long sloop rides from New York to Tarrytown and became friends.
Irving and Mackenzie were already friends from twenty years earlier in Spain.
By 1848, the Perrys and the Mackenzies had two prominent immediate neighbors—Anson G.
Phelps, Jr., who built what we know today as the James House, and Colonel James Watson
Webb, a prominent newspaper publisher, who lived south of Phelps at Pokahoe. These last two
residences are unique in that, today, they are the only gracious Sleepy Hollow homes of that
era still standing.
At the north end of Perry's former estate is the small, picturesque brook (nameless, as far as I
can tell) running from Archville to the Hudson. His stone cottage stood on a knoll overlooking
the Tappan Zee, with a dock just below at the water's edge. Like the Mackenzies, the Perrys set
about to improve their "farm" establishing bushes and trees and planting a garden. They
managed to pay for their new home through Jane Slidell Perry's inheritance and by borrowing
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Commodore Perry at Rockwood - River Journal Online
Written by Henry Steiner
from friends and family.
In late 1842 the notorious "Somers Affair" shook both the Perry and the Mackenzie households.
During a voyage in the Atlantic, Commander Mackenzie had occasion to order the execution of
the son of the Secretary of War. Two of Perry's sons were serving on board at the time. The
incident was followed by a sensational inquiry and trial. In September, 1848, Mackenzie died
suddenly while on business in Ossining, a blow to both his own family and the Perrys.
Although Perry was often away from home on sea-duty, he was frequently at The Moorings
from 1848 to 1852 due to his service in New York as commodore of the Home Squadron and
General Superintendent of Mail Steamers. Previously, while serving in the Mexican War, he
considered selling The Moorings in the face of mortgage and upkeep costs. Soon, thanks to the
prize money he received from the Mexican War and $7000 paid to him by the Hudson River
Railroad for a right of way through his land along the riverside, he was able to pay off much of
his debts.
In 1849, Perry's daughter, Caroline, married August Belmont, one of the wealthiest men in New
York. This was the climax of a series of financially beneficial social connections made by the
Perry children.
Shortly after his appointment to command the Japan expedition, Perry sold his Rockwood land.
It was purchased by George H. Swords of New York City for $25,000 on March 3, 1852. When
Matthew Perry returned to New York from his successful mission, he purchased a house in New
York at 38 west 32nd Street.
The family was now among New York's social elite, but Perry was not destined to enjoy that for
long. He saw the "Narrative" of his historic mission to Japan published in December 1857 and
died unexpectedly in March 1858. At the time of Perry's death, the impact of the Japan
expedition was overshadowed by the Panic of 1857 and the gathering clouds of the
approaching Civil War. It was not until later that the benefits of Perry's achievement were fully
recognized in the United States.
Henry Steiner is the village historian of Sleepy Hollow. He is an associate broker with Hudson
Homes in Tarrytown.
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