Rev. Peter William Cassey (1831–1917) was an African-American 19th-century school founder, deacon, minister, educator, abolitionist, and political activist. He was a pioneer in Santa Clara County. Cassey founded the first African American secondary school in the state of California, the Phoenixonian Institute. Cassey also worked as a prominent barber and co-owned a shaving saloon in San Francisco; and had worked as Methodist clergy in North Carolina and Florida. His name was sometimes written as Peter Williams Cassey.