Born on this date in 1839, David King Jr. was not yet 20 when he left for China on a ship called Surprise, ambitious to make his fortune there like his uncles Edward and William Henry King. Months later, in December 1858, he wrote a letter to his parents showing a young man enjoying his new life: “It is the custom when a young gentleman arrives in S[hanghai], to go around & call on all the ladies here…Can you imagine your 2nd son David, not much out of his teens, ‘going the rounds,’ & putting on all the dignity of a man of 30?...I could not believe I was the same little fellow that came out on the Surprise.” King stayed in China for 15 years. After his return to America, he became master of Kingscote, which still houses fascinating Chinese objects he and his uncles brought back. #NewportMansions #Kingscote #History #Tuesday #tuesdaythoughts