John Perkins Cushing

John Perkins Cushing (April 22, 1787 – 1862), called "Ku-Shing" by the Chinese, was a wealthy Boston sea merchant, opium smuggler, and philanthropist. His sixty-foot pilot schooner, the Sylph, won the first recorded American yacht race in 1832, and the town of Belmont, Massachusetts is named after his estate.

Perkins was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Robert and Ann Perkins (Maynard) Cushing. His father's Cushing ancestor had emigrated to Hingham, Massachusetts, during the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Cushing's sister Nancy later married Henry Higginson (1781-1839). When his mother died of smallpox, Cushing was raised by his uncle, Thomas Handasyd Perkins, and in 1803 at age 16 sailed for China to become clerk in his uncle's counting house. The head of the firm in China soon fell ill and died at sea. Cushing thus arrived in China to find himself Perkins & Company's sole agent. There he remained for nearly 30 years.

Cushing 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. At one point he made a good profit during a famine in China by importing rice. During the War of 1812, the family loaned their money out--at 18 percent interest--to other merchants in Canton. But the fur trade paled and when hard cash grew harder to come by, a search began for a substitute for the furs and specie that had been foundations of Boston's China trade. Opium seemed the ideal commodity. By the 1820s Cushing was known as the most influential of all the foreigners in Canton, and had struck up a close relationship with the hong merchant Houqua, 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 an 1827 consolidation with Russell & Co (created by China trader Samuel Russell in 1823).

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