William Sturgis (February 25, 1782 – October 21, 1863) was a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

merchant 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 ...

, the

California hide trade The California hide trade was a trading system of various products based in cities along the California coastline, operating from the early 1820s to the mid-1840s. In exchange for hides and tallow from cattle owned by California ranchers, sailors ...

and the

maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in ex ...

Early life

Sturgis was born in

Barnstable, Massachusetts The Town of Barnstable ( ) is a town in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod, and is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipaliti ...

, to Hannah Mills and William E. Sturgis, a ship master and lineal descendant from Edward Sturgis of

Yarmouth, Massachusetts Yarmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 23,793 at the 2010 census. The town is made up of three major villages: South Yarmouth, West Yarmou ...

, the first Sturgis in America (arrived 1630). In 1796, he joined the

counting house A counting house, or counting room, was traditionally an office in which the financial books of a business were kept. It was also the place that the business received appointments and correspondence relating to demands for payment. As the use of ...

of his uncle

Russell Sturgis Russell Sturgis (; October 16, 1836 – February 11, 1909) was an American architect and art critic of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1870. Sturgis was born in Baltimore Cou ...

(1750–1826), and less than two years later became connected with James and

Thomas Handasyd Perkins Colonel Thomas Handasyd Perkins, also known as T. H. Perkins (December 15, 1764 – January 11, 1854), was an American merchant, slave trader, smuggler and philanthropist from a wealthy Boston Brahmin family. Starting with bequests from his grand ...

between the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

coast and China. Their sister, Elizabeth Perkins, was the wife of Russell Sturgis. Upon his father's death in 1797, he went to sea to support the family as assistant trader on the ''Eliza'', then as

chief mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...

of ''Ulysses''. He then served under Captain Charles Derby on ''Caroline'' until Derby died and Sturgis took command. In 1804 ''Caroline'' sailed from the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

to Kaigani, just south of

Prince of Wales Island, Alaska Prince of Wales Island (Tlingit: ''Taan'') is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. It is the fourth-largest island in the United States (after Hawaii, Kodiak Island, and Puerto Rico) and the 97th-largest i ...

, acquiring some 2,500 sea otter skins that netted $73,034. In 1809, his ship ''

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26-29 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Empir ...

'', owned by

Theodore Lyman Theodore Lyman may refer to: * Theodore B. Lyman (1815–1893), American bishop * Theodore Lyman II (1792–1849), American philanthropist, politician, and author * Theodore Lyman III (1833–1897), American natural scientist, military staff offic ...

, was attacked by Chinese pirates while moored at

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

Roads. Sturgis managed to get the ship underway and fought off the pirates using four small cannons he had brought on board against the wishes of the ship's owner. Using these, they managed to fight long enough to sail within range of the protective guns of the harbor, and the pirates were captured, their commander Apootsae later being tortured to death by the Mandarin authorities. Sturgis had been prepared to blow up the ship if the pirates caught them in order to save the crew and passengers from being tortured. Lyman reportedly chastised Sturgis for having violated his instructions by bringing the cannon on the voyage.

Bryant & Sturgis

In 1810, he returned to Boston formed a trading partnership with John Bryant as Bryant & Sturgis. They served as investment managers to

John Perkins Cushing John Perkins Cushing (April 22, 1787 – April 12, 1862), called "Ku-Shing" by the Chinese, was a wealthy American sea merchant, opium smuggler, and philanthropist. His sixty-foot pilot schooner, the ''Sylph'', won the first recorded American yac ...

, when Cushing was in the railroad business in New York and Pennsylvania. By 1843, Sturgis was a director of the

Attica and Buffalo Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

. It was with advice from Sturgis that

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and Bennett Forbes started their investment in the railroad business in 1843. From 1810 to 1850 more than half of the trade carried on between the Pacific Northwest coast and China was operated by Bryant & Sturgis, and also substantial parts of the

Personal life

On his return to Boston in 1810 he married Elizabeth M. Davis, with whom he had one son, William Watson (1810–1826), and five daughters:

Ellen Sturgis Hooper Ellen Sturgis Hooper (February 17, 1812 – November 3, 1848) was an American poet. A member of the Transcendental Club, she was widely regarded as one of the most gifted poets among the New England Transcendentalists. Her work is occasionally repr ...

(1812–1848), a Transcendentalist poet and mother of

Marian Hooper Adams Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams (September 13, 1843 – December 6, 1885) was an American socialite, active society hostess, arbiter of Washington, DC, and an accomplished amateur photographer. Clover, who has been cited as the inspiration for w ...

; Anne Sturgis (1813–1884);

Caroline Sturgis Tappan Caroline Sturgis Tappan (August 30, 1818 – October 20, 1888), commonly known as Caroline Sturgis, or "Cary" Sturgis, was an American Transcendentalist poet and artist. She is particularly known for her friendships and frequent correspondences wi ...

(1819–1888), a member of the

Transcendental Club The Transcendental Club was a group of New England authors, philosophers, socialists, politicians and intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism. Overview Frederic Henry Hedge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George R ...

and poet published in ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...

'', whose daughter Mary Aspinwall Tappan (1851-1941) and granddaughter Rosamund Sturgis Dixey (1887-1948) donated the

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

estate to the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

in 1936; Mary Louisa Sturgis (1821–1870); and Susan Sturgis (1825–1853).

Political career

In 1814, Sturgis was elected a representative of the town of Boston in the Legislature of Massachusetts. From that year until 1845, he was a member of the Massachusetts House or of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Sturgis was a member and a president of the

Boston Marine Society The Boston Marine Society (established 1742) is a charitable organization in Boston, Massachusetts, formed "to 'make navigation more safe' and to relieve members and their families in poverty or other 'adverse accidents in life.'" Membership general ...

, an honorary member of the Massachusetts Mechanics' Charitable Association and a member of the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...

Legacy

Sturgis donated his childhood home to be the Barnstable public library, now called the Sturgis Library, and his papers are collected there. Bryant & Sturgis business records are preserved at the Baker Library of the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. A short time before his death, Sturgis donated $10,000 to the Observatory in Cambridge. Sturgis was one of the early investors in

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

. He was a trustee of the

Boston Athenaeum Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

from 1823 to 1825. There is a Sturgis Charter Public School, an IB For all 9-12 school in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

The ship ''William Sturgis''

''William Sturgis'' of Boston was an 1849 ship of 649½ tons, built by James O. Curtis in Medford, Massachusetts, for William F. Weld & Co. She sailed from Cardiff to

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

with a cargo of coal. On Sept. 19, 1863, she was off the coast of

Guimaras Guimaras , officially the Province of Guimaras ( hil, Kapuoran sang Guimaras; tl, Lalawigan ng Guimaras), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Jordan while its largest local government ...

. She struck the Magicienne Bank, then sank on Ottorg Bank.

References

;General
William Sturgis biography

description taken from ''Other Merchants and Sea Captains of Old Boston'', State Street Trust Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1919. ;Specific

External links

Bryant & Sturgis Records at Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School