Thomas Forbes Cushing

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Thomas Forbes Cushing
Born(1838-12-19)December 19, 1838
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedJune 6, 1902(1902-06-06) (aged 63)
Manhattan, New York
Spouse
Fannie Leslie Grinnell
​
​
(died 1887)​
ChildrenEdith Howard Cushing
Parent(s)John Perkins Cushing
Mary Louisa Gardiner
RelativesJohn S. J. Gardiner (grandfather)

Thomas Forbes Cushing (December 19, 1838 – June 6, 1902) was a prominent American member of Boston, New York, and Newport society during the Gilded Age.[1][2]

Early life[edit]

Cushing was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 19, 1838. He was third son of John Perkins Cushing (1787–1862)[3] and Mary Louisa (née Gardiner) Cushing (1799–1862), the only daughter of the Rev. John Sylvester John Gardiner (1765–1830) of Trinity Church, Boston.[4] His siblings included John Gardiner Cushing (1834–1881), who married Susan Prescott Dexter,[4] and Robert Maynard Cushing (1836–1907), who married Olivia Donaldson Dulany (1839–1906).[4]

His father was a wealthy Boston sea merchant, opium smuggler, and philanthropist.[5][6] His paternal grandparents were Robert Cushing and Ann Perkins (née Maynard) Cushing.[7] He was the uncle of Grafton D. Cushing, a master at the Groton School who distinguished himself during the Spanish–American War and later served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.[8] His father's Cushing ancestor had emigrated to Hingham, Massachusetts,[8] during the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[9]

Society life[edit]

In 1892, both Cushing and his daughter Edith were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[10] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[11] His New York residence was at 29 East 39th Street in Manhattan.[1][12] He was "one of the best-known habitues of the Metropolitan Opera House. He and his daughter had orchestra stalls, and they never missed a performance. They were regular attendants at all the Sunday concerts."[8]

He was a member, and governor,[1] of the Newport Casino,[13] where he attended many dances, balls and social functions.[14][15] He was also a member of the Knickerbocker Club, Manhattan Club, Metropolitan Club, Country Club, and of the Somerset Club of Boston.[1]

Personal life[edit]

Cushing was married to Fannie Leslie Grinnell (1842–1887).[16] She was the daughter of U.S. Representative Moses Hicks Grinnell (1803–1877) and Julia (née Irving) Grinnell (1803–1872).[17] Fannie's mother was a niece of Washington Irving, and her mother was a sister of James Kirke Paulding, a Congressman who served as the Secretary of the Navy under Martin Van Buren.[16] Fannie's sister, Julia Grinnell (1838–1915),[18] was married to George Sullivan Bowdoin (1833–1913), who were the parents of Temple Bowdoin (1863–1914), an associate of J.P. Morgan & Company.[19] Together, they were the parents of: Edith Howard Cushing (1871–1920),[20] who married the composer J. Blair Fairchild in 1903.[12]

Cushing's wife died in May 1887. Cushing was injured in Newport in 1900 "when he was knocked down and trampled on by a horse."[21] He died in New York City on June 6, 1902. His estate, including his "horses, harness, jewelry, silver plate, furniture and other household effects," was left in trust to his daughter.[22][23]

Residences[edit]

On December 3, 1870, Cushing bought a property with frontage on Marlborough and Dartmouth Street from George Wheatland Jr. in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. He then had a residence, known as 163 Marlborough, built by architects Snell & Gregerson, who also designed the Concord Free Public Library.[24] Cushing lived in the home until winter 1892 when he moved to Newport, Rhode Island,[25] and rented the home to U.S. Representative Charles Franklin Sprague. He eventually sold the home to William Endicott Jr., son of William Crowninshield Endicott in 1898.[24]

Forbes's cottage in Newport was situated next to Frederick Vanderbilt's Rough Point cottage,[26] and was called "New Lodge." His cottage was described by The New York Times as "one of the handsomest of the fashionable residences of that resort".[1] After his death, his daughter used the Newport cottage with her husband.[27] Cushing and his wife built their Newport residence, designed by prominent society architect George Champlin Mason Sr., in 1869. Following Cushing's death in 1902, New Lodge passed to his daughter.[28][25] In 1916, she sold the estate to Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr. and his wife who remodeled the cottage in a classical revival style which they then referred to as Ames Villa.[29] In 1931, Jessie Woolworth Donahue, the daughter of Frank Winfield Woolworth (founder of F. W. Woolworth Company) and mother of James Paul Donahue Jr., bought the Villa and renamed it "Rock Cliff."[26] As of 2013, the home was owned by Samuel Mencoff, the founder of a Chicago private equity firm.[30]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "THOMAS F. CUSHING DEAD; He Was Conspicuous in Society Here and in Newport, and Was Long a Famous Cotillion Leader". The New York Times. 7 June 1902. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. ^ "THE NEWS OF NEWPORT". The New York Times. 7 April 1899. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  3. ^ "GENERAL NEWS. | Mr. JOHN P. CUSHING". The New York Times. 16 April 1862. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Letters from the Children of John Perkins Cushing, and to His Wife Marie Louise Cushing - China, America and the Pacific - Adam Matthew Digital". www.cap.amdigital.co.uk. China, America and the Pacific | Trade & Cultural Exchange. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Cushing, John Perkins, 1787-1862.John Perkins Cushing business records, 1832-1882 (inclusive): A Finding Aid". oasis.lib.harvard.edu. Harvard University Library. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Forbes Family Papers, 1732-1931". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. ^ Shavit, David (1990). The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313267888. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "WHAT IS DOING IN SOCIETY". The New York Times. 7 June 1902. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. ^ Kienholz, M. (2008). Opium Traders and Their Worlds-Volume One: A Revisionist Exposé of the World's Greatest Opium Traders. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595910786. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  10. ^ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  11. ^ Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  12. ^ a b "WEDDINGS OF A DAY.; Fairchild--Cushing". The New York Times. January 2, 1903. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  13. ^ "RAIN KEEPS NEWPORT INDOORS.; Attendance at the Casino Light on Account of the Storm". The New York Times. 13 August 1898. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Subscribers to the Casino Ball". The New York Times. 13 August 1894. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  15. ^ "DANCE AT NEWPORT CASINO.; A Brilliant Assemblage of Guests Present at the Function". The New York Times. 23 July 1898. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  16. ^ a b Emery, William Morrell (1919). The Howland heirs; being the story of a family and a fortune and the inheritance of a trust established for Mrs. Hetty H. R. Green. New Bedford, Mass., E. Anthony and Sons, inc. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  17. ^ "THE LATE MOSES H. GRINNELL.; ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUNERAL--REMINISCENCES OF THE DECEASED GENTLEMAN". The New York Times. 26 November 1877. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  18. ^ "G.T. BOWDOIN HEIR TO ANOTHER ESTATE; 16-Year-Old Boy, Who Recently Inherited $2,000,000, Gets Legacy from Grandmother. BIG BEQUESTS TO CHARITY Mrs. Julia Irving Grinnell Bowdoin Leaves $30,000 to Grace Church -- $10,000 to Temperance Society". The New York Times. 18 March 1915. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  19. ^ "Temple Bowdoin Dead, Partner In J. P. Morgan &, Co. and Stock Exchange Member". The New York Times. December 3, 1914. p. 13.
  20. ^ "Obituary Notes | Mrs. Blair Fairchild". The New York Times. 24 November 1920. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  21. ^ "Thomas F. Cushing Injured". The New York Times. 14 August 1900. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  22. ^ "THOMAS F. CUSHING'S WILL.; His Estate Left to His Daughter, Miss Edith -- No Inventory Filed". The New York Times. June 24, 1902. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  23. ^ "MRS. FAIRCHILD LOSES CASE; Court Rules That $250,000 of Father's Estate Is Principal, Not Income". The New York Times. 29 April 1913. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  24. ^ a b "163 Marlborough". backbayhouses.org. Back Bay Houses | Genealogies of Back Bay Houses. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  25. ^ a b Social Register, Summer. Social Register Association. 1895. p. 67. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  26. ^ a b "Society As He Found It: Harry Lehr". New York Social Diary. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  27. ^ "SOCIETY AT NEWPORT". The New York Times. 7 June 1904. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  28. ^ "THE NEWS OF NEWPORT". The New York Times. 11 October 1901. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  29. ^ "Mrs. Ogden L. Mills's 'Ocean View' Estate (left) and Roger W. Cutler's 'Ames Villa' Estate, Newport, RI :: Robert Yarnall Richie Photograph Collection". digitalcollections.smu.edu. Central University Libraries, Southern Methodist University. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  30. ^ Flynn, Sean (September 6, 2013). "Restored Aloha Landing Boathouse earns praise". The Newport Daily News. Retrieved 26 October 2017.

External links[edit]

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