Sources on US maritime fur traders, firms, families, ships, etc etc.
The Golden Ghetto: The American Commercial Community at Canton and the Shaping of American China Policy, 1784–1844.
p. 143: "In 1789 four ships belonging to Elias Hasket Derby, the great Salem merchant, found their way to the anchorage at Whampoa..."
p. 147: "Samuel Snow, a Rhode Islander who became the second American consul in China, arrived [in Canton] in 1798 on the Browns' Ann and Hope (Captain Benjamin Page), of Providence. ...Another resident [of Canton]...was young Sullivan Dorr, who arrived in 1799 to handle the Canton end of his Massachusetts family's fur trade from the Northwest Coast of America. His crafty father, Ebenezer, a Roxbury tanner turned mariner, was one of the earliest American merchants to enter the profitable commerce in peltries..."
p. 150: "Perkins & Co.. In the fall of 1789, young Thomas Handasayd Perkins was in Canton as supercargo of E.H. Derby's ship Astreae, Captain James Magee. Captain Robert Gray of the Columbia arrived in November fresh from the Northwest Coast. From Joseph Ingraham, first mate of the latter vessel, Perkins learned what John Ledyard had been trying to tell American merchants for several years past—that a trade in furs [could be profitable]...The following year, Perkins, Captain Magee, and Russell Sturgis (Sr.) sent Ingraham back to the Northwest Coast in their newly acquired ship, Hope, on a fur voyage. In 1792, with his elder brother, Perkins formed James & Thomas H. Perkins,..." [much much more]
p. 155: "...two representative Boston firms, J. & T.H. Perkins and Bryant & Sturgis, were sometimes collectively called "the Boston Concern" or "the PCBS concern", at Canton, so closely did they cooperate. Central to this informal alliance were the Perkins, Sturgis, and Forbes families..."
p. 156: "...Thus in 1818 Perkins & Co. announced that it was abandoning all commission business to the new firm of J.P. Sturgis & Co. Sturgis had arrived [in Canton] in 1809 aboard the Atahualpa, captained by his colorful uncle, William Sturgis... ...[Cushing announced] the formation of James P. Sturgis & Co., with three brothers, James P. Henry, and George W. Sturgis as partners... [much much more]"
p. 364-: "Appendix 4: Known Partners of American Firms at Canton, 1803-44. [list incomplete]
[page skipped; much more, some highlights:]
p. 367-: Appendix 5: Commerial Family Alliances... [tons of details]
The Perkins Firms
Perkins, Burling & Perkins, May i, 1786-August 15, 1788, Cape Francis. Partners:
James Perkins, Walter Burling, and T. H. Perkins. Perkins, Burling & Co., August 15, 1788-June 21, 1793, Cape Francis. Partners:
James Perkins, Walter Burling, Samuel G. Perkins. T. H. Perkins & James Magee, August 15, 1788-n.d. Boston. Partners: T. H. Perkins
and James Magee. James and Thomas H. Perkins, September 29, 1792-August 1, 1822, Boston.
Partners: James and T. H. Perkins. E. Bumstead & Co., July 15, 1803-December 5, 1805 (?), Canton, China. Partners:
Ephraim Bumstead, 25 percent, J. & T. H. Perkins, 75 percent. Perkins & Co. (first establishment), December 6, 1805-August 1, 1822, Canton,
China. Partners : James Perkins, Thomas H. Perkins, John P. Cushing. S. Cabot Jr., J. & T. H. Perkins, Jrs., January 1, 1817-January 1821(F), Boston.
Partners: Samuel Cabot, James Perkins, Jr., T. H. Perkins, Jr. J. & T. H. Perkins & Sons (first establishment), January 1821-February 20, 1823,
Boston. Partners: James Perkins, T. H. Perkins, Samuel Cabot, James Per- kins, Jr., T. H. Perkins, Jr. J. & T. H. Perkins & Sons (second establishment), February 20, 1823-June 22,
1828, Boston. Partners: T. H. Perkins, Sr., and Jr., Samuel Cabot, James
Perkins, Jr. Perkins & Co. (second establishment), February 20, 1823-June 22, 1828, Canton,
China. Partners: James Perkins, Jr., T. H. Perkins, John P. Cushing. J. & T. H. Perkins & Sons (third establishment), June 22, 1828-ca. November
1835, Boston. Partners: Samuel Cabot, Thomas G. Cary, T. H. Perkins. Perkins & Co. (third establishment), June 22, 1828-ca. November 1835, Boston.
Partners: T. H. Perkins, John P. Cushing, Samuel Cabot.