John Perkins Cushing
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John Perkins Cushing (April 22, 1787 – April 12, 1862), called "Ku-Shing" by the Chinese, was a wealthy American sea merchant,
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
smuggler, and philanthropist. His sixty-foot pilot schooner, the ''Sylph'', won the first recorded American yacht race in 1832. The town of
Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...
is named after his estate.


Early life

Cushing was born in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to Robert Cushing and his wife, Ann Perkins Maynard. His father's Cushing ancestor had emigrated to
Hingham, Massachusetts Hingham ( ) is a town in northern Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Part of the Greater Boston region, it is located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore of Massachusetts. At the 2020 ...
, during the early years of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
. Cushing's sister, Nancy, later married Henry Higginson (1781-1839). When his mother died of smallpox, Cushing was raised by his uncle, slave and opium trader
Thomas Handasyd Perkins Colonel Thomas Handasyd Perkins, also known as T. H. Perkins (December 15, 1764 – January 11, 1854), was an American merchant, slave trader, smuggler and philanthropist from a wealthy Boston Brahmin family. Starting with bequests from his grand ...
(1764–1854). Cushing was reportedly very fond of the Perkins family and very often brought them house-warming gifts such as large boxes of the finest available white sugar. He was said to have spent a lot of time at their house, often playing
backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back at least 1,600 years. The earliest record of backgammo ...
with William Appleton or Colonel Perkins.


Career

In 1803, at age 16, Cushing sailed for
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
to become clerk in his uncle's
counting house Counting is the process of determining the number of Element (mathematics), elements of a finite set of objects; that is, determining the size (mathematics), size of a set. The traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a (men ...
. The head of the firm in China soon fell ill and died at sea. Thus, when Cushing arrived in China, he found himself Perkins & Company's sole agent, remaining there for nearly 30 years. Cushing was said to have managed the affairs of the firm skillfully and was soon taken into partnership. Under Cushing, the firm of Perkins & Company was formally established in Canton in 1806. They imported and traded rice during a famine in China and during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, the family loaned their money out, at an interest rate of 18 percent, to other merchants in Canton. When the fur trade diminished they began searching for a substitute for what had once been the foundation of Boston's China trade. The firm focused on
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
and, by the 1820s, Cushing was known as the most influential of all the foreigners in Canton, having struck up a close relationship with the merchant
Howqua Wu Bingjian (; 17694 September 1843), trading as "Houqua" and better known in the West as "Howqua" or "Howqua II", was a hong merchant in the Thirteen Factories, head of the '' E-wo hong'' and leader of the Canton Cohong. He was once the rich ...
, who at his death in 1843 was said to be the richest man in the world. In 1820, Cushing brought on his cousin, Thomas Tunno Forbes, to train for the business. Forbes, however, died in 1827 before assuming control of the firm. Cushing, eager for retirement and lacking a suitable replacement, made arrangements to dissolve Perkins & Company by a consolidation with Russell & Co. in 1830. Russell & Co. had been created by China trader
Samuel Russell Samuel Russell (August 25, 1789 – May 5, 1862), was an American entrepreneur and trader, and founder of Russell & Company, the largest and most important American trading house in China from 1824 to its closing in 1891. Early life Russel ...
in 1824. In 1830, Cushing returned to Boston with Eastern manners and manservants.


Personal life

Shortly after his return to Boston in 1830, he married Mary Louisa Gardiner (1799–1862), the only daughter of the Rev.
John Sylvester John Gardiner John Sylvester John Gardiner (1765–1830), aka John S. J. Gardiner, was an American Episcopal priest. He was Rector of Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts, president of Boston's Anthology Club, and active in the Boston Athenæum. Early li ...
(1765–1830) of
Trinity Church, Boston Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 4,000 households, was founded in ...
. It was rumored at the time that there was much disappointment among the young ladies of Boston, who, as someone expressed it, "beset him like bumblebees about a lump of sugar." Together, they were the parents of five children, including: * John Gardiner Cushing (1834–1881), who married Susan Prescott Dexter * Robert Maynard Cushing (1836–1907), who married Olivia Donaldson Dulany (1839–1906) * Thomas Forbes Cushing (1838–1902) * William Howard Cushing (d. 1851), who died aged 11. * Mary Louisa "Isa" Cushing (1845-1894) married Edward Darley Boit her daughters are shown in the painting The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit Cushing died in
Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...
on April 12, 1862. His obituary in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' stated that: "He was so noted for his liberality to the poor that their pertinacity drove him from Boston, where he once had his residence."


Descendants

Through his eldest son, he was the grandfather of Alice Linzee Cushing (1869–1947). Through his son, Robert, he was the grandfather of Grafton Dulany Cushing (1864–1939), Howard Gardiner Cushing (1869–1916), Olivia Cushing Andersen (1871–1917). His great-grandson was Alexander Cochrane Cushing (1914–2006).


Residence

Cushing built himself a handsome mansion on Summer Street, acquired a splendid estate in Watertown named "Bellmont" (now part of
Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...
which is named after his estate), and erected one of the finest conservatories in New England. His house was one of the finest and most comfortable of any in or near Boston. It was a double one-—a house within a house-—and thus warm in winter and cool in summer. Its spacious grounds and beautiful gardens were open to the public, and thousands of visitors went out there each year.


See also

* Maritime Fur Trade


References

;Notes ;Sources * ''Other Merchants and Sea Captains of Old Boston'', State Street Trust Company, Boston, Mass., 1919.
John Perkins Cushing Business Records at Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School

Papers of John Perkins Cushing and Family at the Boston Athenæum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cushing, John Perkins 1787 births 1862 deaths Philanthropists from Massachusetts Businesspeople from Boston People from Belmont, Massachusetts American expatriates in China Cushing family 19th-century American merchants