Living in his adopted home of New York City, Perry's health began to fail as he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver due to heavy drinking.
Perry was known to have been an alcoholic, which compounded the health complications leading to his death.
He also suffered severe arthritis that left him in frequent pain, and on occasion precluded him from his duties.

Perry spent his last years preparing for the publication of his account of the Japan expedition, announcing its completion on December 28, 1857.
Two days later he was detached from his last post, an assignment to the Naval Efficiency Board.
He died awaiting further orders on March 4, 1858, in New York City, of rheumatic fever that had spread to the heart, compounded by complications of gout and alcoholism.

Initially interred in a vault on the grounds of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, in New York City, Perry's remains were moved to the Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island on March 21, 1866, along with those of his daughter, Anna, who died in 1839.

In 1873, an elaborate monument was placed by Perry's widow over his grave in Newport.
Living in his adopted home of New York City, Perry's health began to fail as he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver due to heavy drinking. Perry was known to have been an alcoholic, which compounded the health complications leading to his death. He also suffered severe arthritis that left him in frequent pain, and on occasion precluded him from his duties.
Perry spent his last years preparing for the publication of his account of the Japan expedition, announcing its completion on December 28, 1857. Two days later he was detached from his last post, an assignment to the Naval Efficiency Board. He died awaiting further orders on March 4, 1858, in New York City, of rheumatic fever that had spread to the heart, compounded by complications of gout and alcoholism.
Initially interred in a vault on the grounds of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, in New York City, Perry's remains were moved to the Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island on March 21, 1866, along with those of his daughter, Anna, who died in 1839.
In 1873, an elaborate monument was placed by Perry's widow over his grave in Newport.
Matthew C. Perry