David Washington Cincinnatus Olyphant (March7, 1789June10, 1851) was an American
trader in the Far East and "the father of the American Mission to China".
He was an elected member of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...
(ABCFM), the organization that sent the first American missionaries to China in 1829.
Early life
Born in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
he was the son of Dr. David Olyphant, a Scottish supporter of
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...
, who arrived in America in the 1740s shortly after the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...
, and Ann (née Vernon) Olyphant, granddaughter of
Richard Ward, governor of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
.
In 1806, following the death of his father, he went to
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
where he worked for the firm of King and Talbot, who were involved in the
China trade
The Old China Trade () refers to the early commerce between the Qing Empire and the United States under the Canton System, spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844. The Old ...
. After living in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
between 18121817, he returned to New York where in 1820 he became an agent of Thomas H. Smith of Canton (now
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
), China.
China
On behalf of King and Talbot, Olyphant arrived in Canton in 1820, where he met the Scottish missionary
Robert Morrison. Thereafter he began a long-term involvement with
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
missionary endeavors in China.
Olyphant returned to China following the birth of his son
Robert Morrison Olyphant
Robert Morrison Olyphant (September9, 1824May3, 1918) was an American businessman active in New York City and China in the late 19th century. He served as president of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad for 20 years.
Life and career
Olyphant was ...
to find the man after whom he had named his son
alone in Canton and suffering from chronic depression
following the death of his fellow missionary
William Milne. Delays by the
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...
in sending Morrison assistance led to Olyphant writing to the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most imp ...
(ABCFM) with the news that his ship ''Roman'' would be departing for Canton in December 1829, and "if a missionary could be sent out in her, the passage should be free."
As a result, the chosen individual,
Elijah Coleman Bridgman
Elijah Coleman Bridgman (April22, 1801November2, 1861) was the first American Protestant Christian missionary appointed to China. He served with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. One of the first few Protestant missionarie ...
, became the first American Protestant Christian missionary in China.
Olyphant offered all subsequent missionaries free passage on his ships and free lodgings in Canton as well as supporting the locally produced newspaper ''
The Canton Register
''The Canton Register'' was an English language newspaper founded by Scottish merchants James Matheson and his nephew Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancie ...
''.
In addition, Olyphant allowed the physician and missionary
Peter Parker
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August ...
to use one of his warehouses as a hospital "so that patients could come and go without annoying foreigners by passing through their ''
hongs'', or excite the observations of natives by being seen to resort to a foreigner's house, rendered it most suitable for the purpose."
On November29, 1834, Olyphant, along with
James Matheson
Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet, FRS (17 November 179631 December 1878), was a Scottish Tai-Pan. Born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, he was the son of Captain Donald Matheson. He attended Edinburgh's Royal High Sch ...
, William Wetmore, James Innes, Thomas Fox, Elijah Coleman Bridgman,
Karl Gützlaff
Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (8 July 1803 – 9 August 1851), anglicised as Charles Gutzlaff, was a German Lutheran missionary to the Far East, notable as one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand (1828) and in Korea (1 ...
and
John Robert Morrison
John Robert Morrison (; 17 April 1814 – 29 August 1843) was a British interpreter and colonial official in China. Born in Macau, his father was Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary in China. After his father's death in 1834, Morri ...
, formed a committee to inaugurate the ''Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China''.
In 1838, Olyphant was elected to the board of the ABCFM.
In 1842,
Samuel Wells Williams
Samuel Wells Williams (22 September 1812 – 16 February 1884) was a linguist, official, missionary and Sinologist from the United States in the early 19th century.
Early life
Williams was born in Utica, New York, son of William Williams (178 ...
, an American Sinologist, described him as a "steady and munificent friend of all efforts for the good of China".
[, dedication]
Olyphant & Co.
In 1828, along with
Charles N. Talbot, Olyphant founded the
trading house
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...
Olyphant & Co. in Canton, trading in "silk, mattings and fancy articles"
after their former employer King and Talbot went bankrupt.
The new firm was unusual in that it eschewed the
opium trade
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid m ...
unlike many of its contemporary competitors.
Death
Forced by ill-health to leave China for the US, Olyphant died ''en route'' in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, Egypt, on June10, 1851.
Offspring
Olyphant's son
Robert Morrison Olyphant
Robert Morrison Olyphant (September9, 1824May3, 1918) was an American businessman active in New York City and China in the late 19th century. He served as president of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad for 20 years.
Life and career
Olyphant was ...
joined his father at Olyphant & Co. and was later progressively Assistant President, Vice-President, and for twenty years President of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company (later the
Delaware and Hudson Railway
The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...
).
His great-great-great-grandson is actor
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...
.
Notes
References
;Bibliography
*
External links
Selections from letters of Mr. D.W.C. Olyphant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olyphant, David
1789 births
1851 deaths
Businesspeople from Newport, Rhode Island
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
American expatriates in China
American people of Scottish descent
19th-century American businesspeople
Burials at New York Marble Cemetery