View source for Charles Tufts

{{Short description|American businessman (1781–1876)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
[[File:Charles Tufts.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Charles Tufts]]

'''Charles Tufts''' (July 16, 1781&nbsp;– December 24, 1876) was an American businessman and philanthropist.

==Biography==
Tufts was born in [[Medford, Massachusetts]], the son of Abigail and Daniel Tufts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy9ZAAAAMAAJ&q=Charles+Tufts+Abigail+Tufts|title=Tufts Family History: A True Account and History of Our Tufts Families, from and Before 1638-1963|last1=Tufts|first1=Jay Franklin|year=1963}}</ref> He was a descendant of [[Peter Tufts]], an early colonist who came to America from England circa 1637. He received a common-school education.<ref name=acab>{{Appletons'|wstitle=Tufts, Charles|year=1900|inline=1}}</ref> He made a fortune through his brickmaking factory, and inherited a large amount of land.<ref name=acab/> Tufts donated {{convert|20|acres|abbr=off}} of land in Medford for what was to be named [[Tufts University]]. In time, Charles Tufts donated another {{convert|80|acres|abbr=off}}, bringing the campus area to {{convert|100|acres|abbr=off}}.  He married Hannah Robinson in 1821, but had no children.

He died in [[Somerville, Massachusetts]], which is also home to part of the Tufts University campus, and was buried in [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]].

==Legacy==
* [[Tufts University]]
* The [[World War II]] [[Liberty Ship]] SS ''Charles Tufts'' was named in his honor and built in [[Portland, Oregon]] in 1944.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080724115902/http://www.tufts.edu/home/timeline/ Tufts University timeline]
*{{Find a Grave|6688008}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tufts, Charles}}
[[Category:1781 births]]
[[Category:1876 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Medford, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century American philanthropists]]
[[Category:19th-century American businesspeople]]


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