John Perkins Cushing

Who was John Perkins Cushing?

John Perkins Cushing, 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 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. 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.