Thomas perkins wikipedia

Boston slave trader and opium smuggler (–)

ColonelThomas Handasyd Perkins, also known as T. H. Perkins (December 15, – January 11, ), was an American merchant, slave trader, smuggler and philanthropist from a wealthy Boston Brahmin family. Starting with bequests from his grandfather and father-in-law, he amassed a huge fortune.

As a young man, he traded slaves in Saint-Domingue, worked as a maritime fur trader trading furs from the American Northwest to China, and then turned to smuggling Turkish opium into China.^[1][2] His philanthropic contributions include the Perkins School for the Blind, renamed in his honor; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; McLean Hospital; along with having a hand in founding the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Early life

Perkins was born on December 15, , in Boston, Massachusetts.^[3] His parents, James Perkins and Elizabeth Peck, had ten children in eighteen years. His nephew John Perkins Cush About - ThomasPerkinsArt DISUQ