Named in honor of Josephine Kent Atkins and her adoptive parents, James and Almena Kent, the China Trade Room contains furniture, an elaborate set of rose medallion china, Canton china, Chinese import paintings and Oriental curiosities brought back from the Far Eastern voyages of Captain Kent and other seagoing men from Chatham. Most items date from the mid to late 19th century, the period of the greatest involvement of Chatham seamen. There are also items from Japan, India, Burma and other areas of the Far East that give a broader and more accurate definition to the term “China Trade.”

Of particular interest in this gallery is the China Trade painting of the ship Wild Rover, one of several ships owned by Alpheus Hardy of Chatham. In 1864, the captain of another American ship, the Berlin, recently arrived in Hong Kong Harbor from Japan, told Captain Horace Taylor of the Wild Rover that he had discovered a young Japanese stowaway on his ship. Because Japanese law at the time made it an offense punishable by death for any male citizen to emigrate, the young man could not be returned to his home. Therefore, the Berlin’s captain asked Captain Taylor if he would take the stowaway back to Boston. Named Neesima Shimeter, the young boy recently had become interested in Christianity and took this risk in an attempt to get to the United States where he could learn more about this religion.

Neesima was transferred to the Wild Rover, and during the voyage back to Boston learned the rudiments of English. Because the crew had difficulty pronouncing his Japanese name, they called him “Joe.” When the ship arrived in Boston, Alpheus Hardy was intrigued by the young man and agreed to sponsor him. He sent him first to Phillips Andover Academy, then to Amherst College and finally to Andover Theological School. During his school years, Neesima spent his vacations with the Hardys in Boston or with the Taylors in Chatham.

Shortly before Neesima’s graduation from Amherst, a Japanese delegation was in the United States studying our education system. They enlisted him as their interpreter, both in this country and in their subsequent travels in Europe. Because of this experience, Joseph Hardy Neesima (the name he had adopted) became interested in transforming Japan’s educational system. Upon completing his studies in this country, he returned to Japan and founded a small Christian college patterned after Amherst College. The school was named Doshisha (Sharing Ideas) and gradually grew into a university in Kyoto. It now has an enrollment of about 25,000 students.

If you would like to donate to this collection, please contact the museum by phone: (508) 945-2493, or by email: mwilkins@chathamhistorical.org.