HUNT'S

MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE

AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW,

JULY, 1855.

Art. I. MERCANTILE BIOGRAPHY:

THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS.

THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS was born in Boston, December 15, 1764, and named for his maternal grandfather, Thomas Handasyd Peck, who His father was a merdealt largely in furs and the importation of hats. chant, who died in middle age, leaving a widow and eight children, three sons and five daughters, most of them very young. She was a woman of excellent principles and remarkable energy, and undertook the heavy charge thus devolved upon her with deep solicitude, (as appeared from a subsequent reference of her own to this passage of her life,) but with firmness and ability. She appears to have assumed some part of the business of her husband, who had been connected with George Erving, one of the Letters from Holland are remembered principal merchants in the town. which were addressed to her as Mr. Elizabeth Perkins; and when her eldest son, having attained the age of manhood, went some years afteward to the Island of St. Domingo, where he established himself, he sailed from Boston in a ship, the Beaver, of which his mother was part owner, and which had been chartered to the French government to transport part of their cavalry to Cape Francois.

This estimable lady discharged her duties successfully, rearing her children with such advantages as fitted them for stations of responsibility, which they afterward filled with credit to themselves and to her; and at the same time taking an active part herself with the charitable associations of the town, which is shown by acknowledgments found among her papers and in records of her services as treasurer and otherwise, from those with whom she acted.

On her decease in 1807, it was voted "that the officers of the Boston Female Asylum wear a badge of mourning for the term of seventy-one days," (corresponding probably to the years of her life,) "in token of their high consideration and respect for the virtues of the deceased, and of their grateful and affectionate sense of her liberal and essential patronage as a founder and friend of the institution." She is still remembered by a few gentlemen, sons of her former neighbors and associates, as an excellent friend, of active benevolence, and as a lady of dignified, but frank and cordial manners.

Numerous descendants of hers, under various names, now move in different walks of life in the United States, in Europe, and Asia, and not a few of them distinguished for prosperity and the wise use of wealth, and for intelligence and refinement, as well as for the sound principles which she inculcated on all.

The success of several of the branches of her family was essentially promoted by the energy and warm-hearted sympathy of the subject of this memoir, who was the second son, only six years of age at the death of his father in 1771. Some notice of one, who was himself an eminent merchant, and in reference to whom it may be said that both his father and mother were merchants, seems to find an appropriate place in a commercial magazine.

His father lived in King-street, now State-street, where the conflict took place between the citizens and the troops, called afterwards the "Boston massacre;" and though he was little more than five years old at that time, the sight of the dead bodies and of the blood, frozen the next day on the street, made an impression on his mind that was never obliterated. The troops being quartered near there, many of the officers were afterwards visitors in his mother's family.

At about seven years of age he was put under the care of a clergyman of great respectability at Middleborough, about thirty miles from Boston, and was afterwards at school in Boston, until intercourse with the country being stopped, his mother retired with her family to Barnstable, where she resided till the town was evacuated by the enemy. His grandfather, Mr. Peck, remained in Boston through the siege, but was near being sent home to be tried as a rebel for freedom of speech.

While living with his mother at Barnstable, both his legs were broken by an unlucky accident, as he was returning from an excursion in the woods; and though the limbs were well set, and he soon recovered the use of them, he occasionally felt the effect of the injury when the weather was bad, even in advanced age. There, too, he formed an early and close friendship, that remained unbroken for nearly eighty years, until terminated by death, with one of his companions whom he had saved from drowning the late distinguished lawyer and statesman, Harrison Gray Otis, nephew of the revolutionary patriot.

Some time after the return of the family to town, his mother decided on giving him a collegiate education, and he was sent, with other boys from Boston-one of whom was the Hon. John Welles, now the oldest living graduate of Harvard-to an instructor at Hingham, the Rev. Mr. Shute, noted for his success in preparing lads for college. After residing there three years, and being prepared for Cambridge, he was so reluctant to enter college, that it was decided that he should go into a counting-house. He was strongly inclined by temperament to active life. Vigorous and bold,

with a frame peculiarly fitted for endurance, which was afterwards developed in fine proportions for strength and beauty in manhood, he saw less to attract him in the life of a student than in one of enterprise, where he might indulge a love of adventure and exercise the courage, equal to almost every emergency, which characterized him. He was placed with the Messrs. Shattuck, then among the most active merchants of Boston, with whom he remained until he was twenty-one.*

On leaving the Messrs. Shattuck in 1785, not being well, he was advised to pass the winter in a warm climate, and visited his elder brother, Mr. James Perkins, in St. Domingo. From there he went to Charleston, S. C., and in some memoranda made for his children within two years past he refers to this visit to South Carolina in the following terms:

"As I had taken letters of introduction to some of the most distinguished inhabitants of Charleston from Gen. Lincoln and Gen. Knox, the former of whom was the defender of Charleston during the war of the Revolution and was a great favorite, it gave me a pleasant introduction into the best society under most favorable circumstances. As the inhabitants who have large plantations spend as much of their time on them as the climate will allow, I was an inmate in several of their families, but passed the principal part of the time at the plantation of Mr. Thomas Ferguson, who had several rice plantations upon which he numbered upward of 800 slaves. The plantations were at a place called Pon Pon; and in the vicinity was Gen. Wm. Washington, who was a nephew of President W., and during the war commanded a regiment of cavalry. He gained a high reputation as a soldier, and was an accomplished gentleman. There was fine sport with the gun, geese, duck, teal, &c., being in great abundance. Every Saturday the gentlemen of the neighborhood met at a hunting stand in a favorite spot for deer, hunted in the morning, and made good cheer after the chase, dining in the woods, and in case of not having success in hunting, always securing a succedaneum in the form of ham, chickens, and other "creature comforts." The Saturdays were real red letter days; and I could name twenty who were in the habit of meeting on such occasions all of whom have long since retired behind the scenes."

He soon afterward accepted an invitation to join his brother in St. Domingo, and they formed a house there which was very successful; but finding that the climate did not agree with his health, he returned to Boston, and for some time attended to the business of the house in the United States, where their correspondence was extensive, his younger brother, the late Samuel G. Perkins, Esq., filling his place in the firm.

In 1788 he was married to Miss Elliot, only daughter of Simon Elliot, Esq. It was a union entirely of affection, and lasted for more than 60 years. His married life was commenced with necessity for strict economy; but

* Long afterward he recurred to this decision with regret for having relinquished such a privilege, and in advanced age repeatedly said that, other things being equal, (which condition he repeated emphatically,) he should prefer for commercial pursuits those who had received the most complete education. In this opinion he seems to have coincided with another experienced merchant, who once gave it as the result of his observation in a long life, that as a general rule applied to the whole class of commercial men, of whom it is well known that a considerable proportion fail, those had succeeded best who were the best educated. It derives confirmation, too, from a fact generally noticed, both here and in Europe, by those who know what goes on in the public schools where lads are prepared by different courses of study respectively, either for college or for mercantile life, as their friends prefer. Those who are engaged in classical studies for most of the week and give but a small portion of it to other pursuits, are generally found to be well up in arithmetic, geography, &c., with those who bestow their whole time on such branches.

Without underrating the importance of a habit of attention to detail, or the knowledge of minute affairs and the qualities of merchandise, which may be acquired by early apprenticeship, it is to be remembered that men of high culture who mean to effect what they attempt, show great aptitude for the minutiae, as well as for the general scope of any new business which they undertake, and that intellect well disciplined has considerable advantages in comparison with routine.

the connection probably gave an important bias to his commercial career, as it led to intimacy with Capt. James Magee, a relative of Mrs. Perkins, who had made one voyage to Canton. He soon turned his attention to trade with China, and sailed from Boston in February, 1789, as supercargo of the ship Astræa, belonging to E. H. Derby, Esq., of Salem, bound to Batavia and Canton, and commanded by Capt. Magee. Difficulties were encountered and inconveniences were necessarily submitted to then which are avoided now. The ship was not coppered, and her bottom becoming foul, they made a long passage to Batavia; being in want of water before arriving there, they stopped at Mew Island, at the mouth of the Straits of Sunda, for a supply. Referring to the voyage and this incident in some memoranda made for his children many years afterward, he says:—

"The casks in which a part of our water was contained had been used in bringing coffee from the Cape of Good Hope, and although burned out, and. as was supposed, purified, yet the water put in them was most disgusting. The waters from the cascade on the Java shore were, of course, duly appreciated. We remained in this beautiful bay several days. There were at the time I speak of (now fifty-seven years since) no inhabitants on this part of Java. I went on shore every day, and in one of my excursions climbed the precipice over which the cascade flowed, to examine its source, and from what we learned on reaching Batavia, we were led to believe that we had run great hazard, as more than one instance had occurred of persons visiting the same spot having been destroyed by tigers, who were slaking their thirst in this beautiful stream. Bats of great size were seen crossing the narrow strait which 'divided Mew Island from Java, and returning towards the close of day to their roosts on the Java side.

"I remember as if it were yesterday the fright I had in crossing a creek, the bottom of which was hard, about knee deep, and but a few yards wide. My crossing alarmed half a dozen or more young crocodiles or alligators, which were further up the stream than where I was crossing, and they came down upon us with a celerity which was inconceivable. None of them touched either my servant or myself, and I have no doubt they were quite as much alarmed as we

were.

"No boats or vessels of any kind came into the bay while we lay there. Prince's Island was in sight; but the inhabitants, who had a bad name, were otherwise engaged, and we met nothing to alarm us. The pirates from Sumatra and the Eastern Islands made frequent attacks on vessels in those days, even so far to the west as the Straits of Sunda, though their depredations were more confined to Banca Straits and the more eastern archipelago."

That part of Java remains uninhabited now, as it was at the time which he thus referred to, and both tigers and anacondas abound there. Quite recently a botanist, engaged in making collections for a British nobleman, having crossed from Mew Island to the Java shore, his dog sprang from the boat as it touched land, and, dashing into the woods, was immediately seized by a tiger, as his master doubtless would have been if he had entered the thicket first. The enormous bats here mentioned are well known to naturalists. It is said that coal has now been discovered in that vicinity, which may lead to some settlement there.

They were among the earliest visitors at Batavia from this country, and were treated with great civility by the Governor-General and others in authority, but found some difficulty in obtaining permission to dispose of the cargo intended for that place. He kept a journal while there, and the following extracts from it exhibit some obstructions in business and deference to authority, from which foreigners are now relieved.

'July 13, 1789. At five o'clock anchored in three fathoms water in the harbor of Batavia, where we saw Capt. Webb's brig. At seven the captain came on board, and gave us the most melancholy account of the state of affairs at the place of the prohibition and restrictions on trade, and everything else which could serve to give us the dumps.

“14th. At eight in the morning took Capt. Webb in our boat and went on shore. The entrance of the canal through which we pass is about half a mile from the ship. The appearance in the habor beautiful. Canals, which cross each other at right angles through the city, are about forty or fifty feet wide. The water, which is always very dirty, must be unhealthy; they are continually filled with boats, which carry up and down cargoes.

"The variety of nations, which are easily to be known by their different countenances, astonishing. Great numbers of Chinese. Stopped at the customhouse, where the names of the captain and myself were taken, and other minutes respecting our passage, &c. As the canal is difficult to pass after getting to this place, which is about a mile-and-a-half from shore and through the centre of the town, we took a coach, which was provided us by the Scribe who questioned us, and with whom I rode to the Shabendar's. Received with civility by him, but discouraged from expecting permission to sell. Represented our situation-the encouragement we had ever met with, &c. He told us he would do everything in his power to serve us, but feared we should not succeed.

"Was conducted to the hotel, where all strangers are obliged to put up. Found Blanchard, who speaks of his prospects as distressing. Had been here a week and done nothing but petition.

"According to common custom, presented a petition through the Shabendar for permission to sell. Waited upon the Director-General, for whom we had a letter from Mr. L his nephew. His house a palace; he received us, Dutchman-like, in his shirt sleeves, and his stockings half down his legs; took our address, and told us we should hear from him again; think he will be of service to us. Made other acquaintances through my knowledge of French, and endeavored to make some friends. To-morrow the council sit, when our fate is to be known.

"This evening the British ship Vansittart arrived, and the captain, whose name is Wilson, with his second mate, purser, and doctor, came on shore. Was very happy to find the doctor to be the gentleman for whom I had a letter, and whom I supposed to have been in the Pitt, Indiaman; he seems to merit all which has been said to me of him; feel myself drawn towards him more from his being a countryman than, perhaps, from any other circumstance, on so short an acquaint

ance.

"Thursday, 15th. Anxious for the reception the petition may meet. At ten o'clock Capt. Wilson and I went with the Shabendar, with our petitions, to the council chamber. After walking the hall a long time, and being witness to a great deal of pompous parade, was introduced to the council chamber, where the members who are eight in number-were seated round a large table covered with silk velvet, with the Governor-General as president. I made my respects, and presented my petition, and then left them to take another stroll in the hall, till the Shabendar, upon the ringing of a bell, once more introduced us to the great chamber, when Capt. Wilson had liberty to land his articles; but we, poor, despised devils, were absolutely denied the liberty of selling a farthing's worth. Whatever I thought of the partiality, I very respectfully took my leave, but determined to persevere--and after much difficulty, got leave to renew our petitions.

"16th. Received an invitation to sup with the Director, where we were su perbly entertained and met much company. Many speak French; represented our situation; music at supper.

"Friday, 17th. Nothing to be done until Monday, when the council meet again. It is supposed we shall not have our future petition acceded to. Making interest.