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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]
Thomas Forbes Cushing | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 19, 1838 |
| Died | June 6, 1902 (aged 63) |
| Spouse |
Fannie Leslie Grinnell
(died 1887) |
| Children | Edith Howard Cushing |
| Parent(s) | John Perkins Cushing Mary Louisa Gardiner |
| Relatives | John S. J. Gardiner (grandfather) |
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]
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]
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
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]
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