John Perrin Spaulding (1832-1896)
"Sugar King" of the Revere Sugar Refining Co., of Boston, Massachusetts
He was born at Madison, Maine, and came to Boston in 1857 as a partner in Israel Nash & Co., wholesale grocers and dealers in West Indian supplies. By the time he became a partner in 1863, Nash, Spaulding & Co. confined its business to importing tea, sugar, and molasses. In 1867, they bought and enlarged the Oxnard sugar refinery on Broad Street before establishing the Revere Sugar Refining Company from a plant at East Cambridge "of enormous proportions" - six-stories high, it produced 1,400-barrels of refined sugar per day. As a well-respected sugar man he enjoyed a personal friendship with and the trust of the Havemayers and Searles. He was a director of the Union Pacific Railroad (before Jay Gould took control); Boston & Albany Railroad; Atlas National Bank; International Trust Company of Boston; and, the American Surety in New York. He was unmarried and kept rooms at the United States Hotel in Boston; a farm near his native Madison; and, "a palatial home" on 18-acres on Pope's Hill at Dorchester, Massachusetts. In his obituary in Boston Globe he was described as, "the Sugar King and Philanthropist". His heirs were his brother, Mahlon, and Mahlon's three children.
His protégé was the "wonderful, deaf, dumb and blind" Helen Keller who owed her "splendid education to his generosity". She sat in a front pew at his funeral and wrote that his passing was, “the greatest sorrow that I have ever borne, except the death of my father. Only those who knew and loved him best can understand what his friendship meant to me.” He was also well-known for helping his business colleagues in times of disaster: As the Chicago Fire raged, he telegraphed a ruined friend to draw $100,000 from his account. That man would later become one of the richest men in Chicago. He was a life member of the YMCA and gave liberally to churches, hospitals, widows, orphans, etc.
His protégé was the "wonderful, deaf, dumb and blind" Helen Keller who owed her "splendid education to his generosity". She sat in a front pew at his funeral and wrote that his passing was, “the greatest sorrow that I have ever borne, except the death of my father. Only those who knew and loved him best can understand what his friendship meant to me.” He was also well-known for helping his business colleagues in times of disaster: As the Chicago Fire raged, he telegraphed a ruined friend to draw $100,000 from his account. That man would later become one of the richest men in Chicago. He was a life member of the YMCA and gave liberally to churches, hospitals, widows, orphans, etc.
