Gregory Anthony Perdicaris (originally Gregores Antones Perdicaris, ; 1810 – April 18, 1883) was a Greek American statesman, lawyer, professor, author, and entrepreneur. Perdicaris raised awareness about Greece in the United States during the Greek War of Independence and was in Greece during the critical early years. He was the first Consul of the United States for Greece. He is known for incorporating dozens of companies in the United States. Perdicaris and partners built the municipal framework for gas and electric companies. He was associated with Dewing v. Perdicaries, 96 U.S. 193 (1877), the Supreme Court case dealing with Confederate Sequestration. He was a prominent resident of Trenton, New Jersey."Demetrios Constantinos Andrianis" Gregory Anthony Perdicaris Digital Academic Research Archives February 05, 2021: p. 3
Early life Gregores Antones Perdicaris was born in Naousa, a city in the present Imathia regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. He was son of Antones Perdicaris a doctor and politician. The Perdicaris family is an aristocratic Greek family with centuries-old origins in Crete, Corfu and Monemvasia. The Patriarch Licinius, the personal doctor to the Ottoman Sultan, was named a Count by the Republic of Venice for his services, and was beheaded by the Ottomans for the same reason in 1715. Gregory Perdicaris was about 12 years old when he fled the Massacre of Naousa in 1822. Perdicaris and his father fled into the mountains. His two brothers-in-law were killed. His mother, two brothers, and four sisters were taken by the Ottomans and sold into slavery. He eventually fled to Izmir without his father. Afterward, he made his way to Jerusalem where he met Pliny Fisk. Fisk helped secure his passage to the United States. He was brought to America on the ship Romulus on July 7, 1826. On his way to the United States, he was told his family's freedom was purchased. He was sixteen and traveled with Nicolus Prassas and Nicolus Vlassopoulo, none of whom spoke English.
In the later part of the 1820s he learned English and taught at Mount Pleasant Classical Institute. While he was at Mount Pleasant he wrote Suffering Greece; the essay was published in local newspapers. It was an outcry to the people of the United States about war-torn Greece. While Perdicaris was at Mount Pleasant he taught with Petros Mengous author of the book Narrative of a Greek Soldier in 1830. Their students included John C. Zachos, Christophorus Plato Castanis, Alexandros Georgios Paspates, Constantine Fundulakes, and Christopher Evangeles.
By 1830, he was a professor at Washington College, now Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. He was a Greek teacher from 1830 to 1832 and librarian at the institution from 1832 to 1833. He also obtained a master's degree at the college. Prominent future Harvard Professor Evangelinos Apostolides Sophocles lived in Hartford Connecticut during this period. Around 1834, Perdicaris wrote Dr. Coray and the Greek Church. The essay discussed the future of the Greek government and the Greek Church."Gregory A. Perdicaris" Dr. Coray, and the Greek Church,” The American Quarterly Observer Volume 2 Boston: Perkins & Marvin, 1834: pp. 199-227 Perdicaris traveled to many American cities lecturing about Greece from 1834-1837.Andrianis, 2021, p. 4
His lectures created awareness about the war-torn country and its current state. The themes varied from the: Moral and Intellectual Condition on Modern Greece, History and Topography of Macedonia, and the modern Greek language vs Ancient Greek. He also discussed education in the country prior to the war. He briefly lectured at Yale and Harvard University. Gregory was made an Honorary member of Yale's Phi Beta Kappa in 1834. Phi Beta Kappa eventually made him a life member. Some of the prominent locations he lectured included: the Franklin Institute, New York Mercantile Library, Washington D.C., and the Brooklyn Lyceum.Andrianis, 2021, p. 4
His lectures usually cost 50 cents per person, per lecture, and 2 dollars per person, for the entire series. American Poet Edgar Allan Poe enjoyed his lectures and featured two articles about them in the Southern Literary Messenger between 1836 and 1837."Edgar Allan Poe" Edgar Allan Poe to Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, accessed Feb 10, 2021 His lectures were so popular local newspapers gave Perdicaris rave reviews.Andrianis, 2021, p. 4
Around the fall of 1837, Perdicaris was in North Carolina lecturing. He suddenly stopped his lecture tour around May 1837. He married Margret Hanford on May 25, 1837, in Society Hill, South Carolina. Margret was the granddaughter of American Revolutionary War hero Captain William Dewitt. They were a politically elite Southern family of planters. Margret was an orphan but her sister Mary married into the family of Governor David Rogerson Williams. Mary's husband was State Congressman Alexander Markland McIver. Their son was Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court Henry McIver. Margret's uncle was Senator Josiah J. Evans.Andrianis, 2021, p. 5
Greek consul Greece was officially recognized by the United States in 1837. Gregory became the first American Consul to Athens, Greece in October 1837, under the appointment of President Martin Van Buren. It took Perdicaris and his wife sixty days to travel to Greece. He officially assumed his post in Athens, Greece on January 7, 1838.Andrianis, 2021, pp. 6-7 Perdicaris attended the Royal Court of King Otto and Queen Amalia. Perdicaris interacted with the heroes that helped Greece gain its independence. The diplomatic community consisted of dignitaries from 18 different countries. Some of the countries included: Austria, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain, Hanover, Netherlands, Papal Dominions, Portugal, Russia, Prussia, Saxony, Sardinia, Tuscany, Two Sicily’s, Sweden, and the United States."Frederick Strong" Consular Corps at Athens: Greece as a Kingdom, Or, A Statistical Description of that Country London: Longman, Brown, Green And Longmans Paternoster Row, 1842: p. 395 Two notable members of the community were David Pacifico and Jonas King.Andrianis, 2021, p. 14
Gregory served both the United States and Greece during his time as Consul. He evaluated legal matters regarding the American missionaries that were living in Greece at the time. Gregory also helped gather American funding for different Greek projects. The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was established. Perdicaris was a member of two American societies: the Natural History Society and the Archaeological Society. Perdicaris also joined the Educational Society (Φιλεκπαιδευτική Εταιρεία). This Greek organization helped establish schools in the country. Godey's Magazine published an article by Gregory Anthony Perdicaris in July 1841, entitled The Court of King Otho. Perdicaris discussed the Court of the King and how the Greek revolutionaries interacted with the foreign dignitaries."Sarah J. Hale, Lydia H. Sigourney, E. Leslie," The Court of King Otho: Professor Perdicaris: Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. 23 Philadelphia: Louis A, Godey, July 1841: p. 260Andrianis, 2021, pp. 6-7
Prominent Greek revolutionary Petrobey Mavromichalis was introduced to Unitarian Minister Charles Lowell of Massachusetts by his friend Perdicaris. Lowell was so taken by Mavromichalis that he published his plea for funds in American newspapers. Charles Lowell wrote the kindest words about the Spartan Greek war hero. In 1840, Perdicaris son Ion Hanford Perdicaris was born in Athens, Greece. Margret wrote letters about her experiences in Greece to Anna McIver, Henry McIver's sister. Anna archived the communications, they can be found in the Anna R. McIver Papers. Greece experienced a revolution around the time the King's Royal Palace was completed in Athens. The coup was called the 3 September 1843 Revolution. The King immediately agreed to the demands for a constitutional monarchy. Perdicaris was back in the United States in the latter part of 1843. The consul took a leave of absence.Andrianis, 2021, pp. 6-7
Gregory wrote the Greece of Greeks. The book was published in the later part of 1845 in two volumes. The book outlines the time he spent in Greece. He describes the different cities he visited. He relayed what he observed, and the interactions he had with the local inhabitants. A notable part of the book describes a nun who had visions of an icon from the island of Dino just before Perdicaris arrived in Greece. He describes how the nun was instructed to find the icon of the Virgin. A church was built Our Lady of Tinos to house the holy relic. Perdicaris said that many pilgrims traveled to the holy church. Outside of the church, there was a festival to raise money. The money was used to build roads and help the newly formed democracy.Andrianis, 2021, p. 7"G. A. Perdicaris" The Greece of the Greeks, Volume 1 New York: Paine & Burgess, 1846: pp. 263-264
Return to the United States
Gregory and his family settled in Trenton, New Jersey. They moved into the Perdicaris Ashley Cottage, a notable estate in Trenton. He resigned his position as consul on February 2, 1845. Records indicate he was considering a professorship in South Carolina. He finished his two-volume book while in the United States. In early 1846, he lectured about his book in Trenton at the Irving Institute. In May of the same year, he was the vice president of the Mexican–American War Committee. Other members of the committee included Mayor of Trenton Charles Burroughs and Governor Peter D Vroom. Perdicaris became a trustee at the Trenton Academy in 1847 he held this position until 1880. Other notable trustees included: William Lewis Dayton, Edward W. Scudder, Mayor Charles Burroughs, Samuel R. Gummeré’s father Barker Gummere."Francis Bazley Lee" History of Trenton, New Jersey F. T. Smiley & Company Trenton N.J. 1895: pp. 103-104 Perdicaris was a manager at the Trenton Saving Fund Society from 1847-1878. Notable managers of the society included: Samuel D. Ingham, Edward W. Scudder, Governor Peter D Vroom."Lewis Parker" Gregory A Perdicaris, History of the Trenton Saving Fund Society, of Trenton, New Jersey Trenton: The Brandt Press, 1895: p. 12Andrianis, 2021, p. 8
Perdicaris was active in the Democratic Party. He attended a meeting on March 5, 1847. In the summer, he attended the Committee for the Mexican-American War for a second year. The newspapers reported in November 1847, he lost the political race for New Jersey Assembly representing Mercer County. Xenophon J. Maynard, Joseph C. Potts, Perdicaris, and several others participated in the incorporation of the Trenton Gas Light Company on February 19, 1847. One year later Perdicaris was one of the directors. Perdicaris was now involved in the coal gas business. Joseph C. Potts, James Hoy Jr., and Perdicaris built the coal gas plant and infrastructure of Princeton Gas Light Company in 1849. That same year notable members of the Trenton community Peter Cooper, Abram Hewitt, and Perdicaris attended the New Jersey State Tariff Convention. Perdicaris participated in discussions regarding trade, they were adopted by the convention.Andrianis, 2021, p. 9
Perdicaris was the president of the Trenton Mutual Life and Fire Insurance Company in 1852. Perdicaris, Joseph C Potts, and Xenophon J. Maynard were on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Mutual Insurance Company. The secretary was James Hoy Jr. In 1852, Perdicaris presided as director of the Trenton Library with Charles Hewitt, Barker Gummere, and several others. Former Treasury Secretary Ingham was president. Perdicaris contributed to A Pronouncing Gazetteer with the pronunciation of the Greek language. Thomas A. Baldwin published the book in 1851.Andrianis, 2021, p. 8