Thomas Handasyd Perkins

Thomas Handasyd Perkins was one of the most successful and eminent merchant active in China Trade that earned him a name America’s Merchant Prince.

Born in a family of a small merchant that traded in house commodities, young Perkins first tried his fortune in slave trade in Haiti. However, after the slave rebellion of 1751 destroyed his business, he turned his focus on lucrative trade with China being one of the first Americans to enter the Chinese market. In partnerships with his brother he sent ships to the Pacific Northwest to obtain furs that were exchanged in Canton for chinaware, silk and tea. However, the biggest fortune the brothers made in smuggling of Turkish opium to China. The money earned abroad was invested then at home in mining, quarrying and railway industries. Today he is primarily honored for his philanthropic activities: the Boston Atheneum, the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Bunker Hill Monument, and the Perkins Institute for the Blind that revolutionized education for the physically handicapped.