Ebook The Story of Oliver Hazard Perry for Young Readers

A very long time ago, there lived in England a young Quaker whose name was Edmund Perry. At that time the Quakers were much persecuted. They were a quiet and peace-loving people, and would not serve in the army. They had their own religious meetings, and refused to pay money for the support of the Church of England. For these reasons, they were imprisoned, beaten, and driven from their homes. Edmund Perry believed that the Quakers were right, and he could not endure these persecutions. So, in 1650, he came to America to live. Thirty years before that time, a company of Pilgrims had left England because they also wished to be free to worship God as they chose. They had founded a colony at Plymouth, which is now in the state of Massachusetts. Edmund Perry thought that in this settlement Of Pilgrims he could surely live peaceably in the enjoyment of his own belief. He did not stay long in Plymouth, however. His Quaker religion was hated there, as it had been in England; and the Pilgrims did not wish to have any one in their colony who did not agree with them. Not far from Plymouth was the colony of Rhode Island, which had been founded' by Roger Williams. Roger Williams declared that a man is responsible for his opinions only to God and his own conscience, and that no one has any right to punish him for his belief. The people in the Rhode Island colony did not quarrel with one another about religion, but lived together in peace. Edmund Perry thought that this was the place where he could make a home for himself and his family. He therefore purchased a large tract of land on the shores of Narragansett Bay, near what is now the site of South Kingston. Here he lived for the rest of his life, at peace with all about him, even his Indian neighbors. His descendants also lived in this neighborhood. Among them were judges, lawyers, and doctors, as well as farmers and mechanics; and they were always highly respected in the colony. Christopher Raymond Perry, a great-great grandson Of Edmund Perry, was born in Decem ben 1761.