David Olyphant
David Olyphant | |
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| Born | David Washington Cincinnatus Olyphant March 7, 1789 |
| Died | June 10, 1851 (aged 62) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse | Ann Archer McKenzie |
David Washington Cincinnatus[A] Olyphant (March 7, 1789 – June 10, 1851) was an American trader in the Far East and "the father of the American Mission to China".[1] He was an elected member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), the organization that sent the first American missionaries to China in 1829.[2]
Early life
Born in
In 1806, following the death of his father, he went to New York where he worked for the firm of King and Talbot, who were involved in the China trade. After living in Baltimore between 1812 and 1817, he returned to New York where in 1820 he became an agent of Thomas H. Smith of Canton (now Guangzhou), China.[4]
China
On behalf of King and Talbot, Olyphant arrived in Canton in 1820, where he met the Scottish missionary
On November 29, 1834, Olyphant, along with James Matheson, William Wetmore, James Innes, Thomas Fox, Elijah Coleman Bridgman, Karl Gützlaff and John Robert Morrison, formed a committee to inaugurate the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in China.[8]
In 1838, Olyphant was elected to the board of the ABCFM.[2]
In 1842, Samuel Wells Williams, an American Sinologist, described him as a "steady and munificent friend of all efforts for the good of China".[9]
Olyphant & Co.
In 1828, along with Charles N. Talbot, Olyphant founded the trading house Olyphant & Co. in Canton, trading in "silk, mattings and fancy articles"[10] after their former employer King and Talbot went bankrupt.[11] The new firm was unusual in that it eschewed the opium trade unlike many of its contemporary competitors.[12]
Death
Forced by ill-health to leave China for the US, Olyphant died en route in Cairo, Egypt, on June 10, 1851.[4]
Offspring
Olyphant's son Robert Morrison Olyphant 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).[3]
His great-great-great-grandson is actor Timothy Olyphant.
Notes
- Cincinnatus[13]
References
- ^ Bridgman, Eliza J. Gillet, ed. (1864). The Pioneer of American Missions in China: The Life and Labors of Elijah Coleman Bridgman. New York: A. D. F. Randolph. p. 37.
- ^ a b c d Scott, Gregory Adam; Kamsler, Brigette C. (February 2014). "Missionary Research Library Archives: D.W.C. Olyphant Papers, 1827–1851" (PDF). Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Scots and Scots Descendant in America Part V - Biographies Robert Morrison Olyphant and Doctor David Olyphant". Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ^ a b c Shavit 1990, p. 373.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8078-6136-3.
- ^ Newcomb, Harvey (1860). A Cyclopedia of Missions: Containing a Comprehensive View of Missionary Operations Throughout the World : with Geographical Descriptions, and Accounts of the Social, Moral, and Religious Condition of the People. Charles Scribner. p. 271.
- Chinese Repository: 461
- ^ Elijah Coleman Bridgman; Samuel Wells Williams (1835). The Chinese Repository. Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha. p. 381.
- ^ Williams, Samuel Wells (1842). Easy Lessons in Chinese. Macao: Office of the Chinese Repository., dedication
- ProQuest 93699620. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-4766-0284-4.
- ISBN 978-90-04-20402-7.
- ^ "Lucius (Titus) Quinctius Cincinnatus". Kentucky Educational Television. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- Bibliography
- Shavit, David (1990). The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-26788-8.
External links
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