Trying to confirm who is the father of William Perry, who was born in 1735 in Massachusetts, USA, and died in 1797 in Ontario, Canada. He was married to Catharine. Interestingly, his two oldest sons, John and William, were born in New York.

According to notes taken from the family bible of his grandson Jeremiah, William was the son of John, and had a brother named John, who was a tradesman, and had many ships under his control.

The notes also indicate (erroneously) that this John Jr. was the father of Commodore Perry, so I don't know what to take as true and not... John Sr. is said to have left England for Massachusetts in 1685 (which is an improbable date).

Considering the info I found in the notes, and the research I've done myself, I've narrowed down the list of possibilities as to the identity of William's brother and father (John Jr. and John Sr.), to one: John, son of John and Elizabeth Gachet (he married Sarah Marble).

My reasoning is that this John was a tradesman and a shipwright (hence why he would have, as the notes indicate, ''many ships under his control'') - unless, of course, the whole idea of ships comes from the idea that he was the Commodore's father. Incidentally, he had a son named Matthew, which may explain the confusion about the Commodore, who was also named Matthew.

I may be way off, but I can simply find no other info to point me in the right direction... Thanks to anyone who can help!