Captain John Cushing of Boston, Massachusetts, arrived in Canton, China, as a teenager and spent nearly 25 years in China. John was the son of Anna Maynard (aka Nancy) Perkins and Robert Cushing. James Perkins and Elizabeth Peck Perkins, parents of Thomas Handasyd Perkins and James Perkins ll were his grandparents. John had one sister. Uncles of John Cushing included Russell Sturgis, and Ralph Bennett Forbes, all of whom married Perkins women. Cousins of Robert Bennet Forbes and John Murray Forbes. John Cushing was placed in the care of his uncle, Thomas Handasyd Perkins, founder of the Perkins Institute of the Blind. Perkins was a slave trader and trained John Cushing, to work in his firm. Cushing was sent to Canton, China, and served as a manager of the Canton branch of Perkins business. He returned to the States to manage his investments. He married Lousia Gardiner. John Murray Forbes mother was Margaret Mitchell Perkins. [In the Dwight~Livingston family bloodline: Lousia Dumerque Perkins, daughter of Thomas H. Perkins, married William Morris Hunt, a famous portrait painter. Hunts brother was married to Catherine Clinton Howland, sister of Joseph Howland. Theodore Sedgwick married Susan Anne Livingston. Sedgwick was a partner of Harmanus Bleecker, a friend of President John Q. Adams.] Harmanus Bleecker maintained numerous friendships and professional relationships, many of which transcended political leanings. For many years he practiced law with Theodore Sedgwick (1780-1839), the son of Federalist legislator and judge Theodore Sedgwick (1746-1813), and he was once engaged to Judge Sedgwicks daughter Catharine Livingston Sedgwick. He was also a close friend of Federalist Congressman and Boston Mayor Josiah Quincy (1772-1864). In addition, Bleecker was a longtime friend of Democrat Martin Van Buren, with whom he shared an interest in the Dutch culture and language. Harmanus Bleecker also maintained a close friendship with Democratic Congressman and Senator John Randolph (1773-1833). Bleecker and Randolph exchanged portraits as a token of their mutual esteem, and each displayed in his home the portrait of the other. Bleecker was the subject of a biography, 1924s Harmanus Bleecker: An Albany Dutchman, 1779-1849, by Harriet Langdon Pruyn Rice. Harriet Rice was the daughter of John V. L. Pruyn and granddaughter of Amasa J. Parker. John Pruyn and Amasa Parker had been involved in the disposition of Bleeckers estate, which gave Harriet Rice access to Bleeckers papers.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 17:59:46 +0000
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