Frederic Tudor (September 4, 1783 - February 6, 1864) was Boston's "Ice King", the founder of the Tudor Ice Company, and a merchant who made a fortune shipping ice to the Caribbean, Europe, and even as far away as India from sources of fresh water in New England. September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1783 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1864 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Alternative meanings: Boston (disambiguation) The 18th-century Old State House in Boston is surrounded by tall buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries. ... Historical marker near Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... ... Europe forms the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... While the states marked in red show the core of New England, the regions cultural influence may cover a greater or lesser area than shown. ...

Tudor was the third son of William Tudor, a wealthy Boston lawyer. Although his older brother William Tudor (1779-1830) would become one of Boston's leading literary figures, Tudor spurned the chance to be educated at Harvard and from the age of 13 occupied himself with business. After a visit to the Caribbean, he decided he could make a fortune exporting ice from the ponds of Massachusetts. William Tudor (1779-March 9, 1830) was a wealthy lawyer, leading citizen of Boston, sometime literary man, and cofounder of the North American Review and the Boston Athenaeum. ... First issue of the North American Review with signature of its editor William Tudor. ... ... State nickname: Bay State Other U.S. States Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney (R) Senators Edward Kennedy (D) John Kerry (D) Official language(s) English Area 27,360 km² (44th)  - Land 20,317 km²  - Water 7,043 km² (25. ...

In 1806, Tudor bought his first brig Favorite to carry Fresh Pond ice 1,500 miles from Boston to Martinique. It left dock on Feburary 10, 1806 to the following report in the Boston Gazette: "Loading ice - No joke. A vessel with a cargo of 80 tons of Ice has cleared out from this port for Martinique. We hope this will not prove to be a slippery speculation." While he secured a cargo of ice, a vessel in which to ship it, and formulated his plan of attack, he sent his brother William and his cousin, James Savage, ahead to obtain a monoply from the various governments of the islands. "We wish you to procure from the gov' of Cuba a grant exclusive in which we offer you either to take a conces' of half or procure the privilege for us & we engage to pay you one thousand dollars with reasonable charges, in obtaining it you however to determine which you will do & write to that effect as early as possible." Although a considerable amount of the ice melted during the three-week journey south, he did manage to sell much of what remained on board for a loss of $4500 overall. However in the subsequent year Tudor had severe financial losses when three shipments to Havana in the brig Trident also resulted in a loss. General plan for Fresh Pond Park, Cambridge, Massachusetts, by the Olmsted Brothers landscape design firm, 1897. ...

Tudor had his first profits in 1810 when his gross sales amounted to about $7400, then increasing to just short of $9000; but of that he only received $1000 due to the "villainous conduct" of his agent. At this point his personal debts far outweighed his income and he spent parts of 1812 and 1813 in debtor's prison. By 1815, however, he had managed to borrow $2100, both to buy ice and to pay for a new ice-house in Havana. It was a double-shelled structure, twenty-five feet square on its outside dimension, nineteen feet square on the interior, and sixteen feet high, holding some 150 tons of ice. "Pursued by sheriffs to the very wharf," in Boston, Tudor set sail for Havana on November 1, 1815. Havana (Spanish: San Cristóbal de La Habana; UN/LOCODE: Habana (CU HAV)) is the capital of Cuba and, with a population of 2. ...

By 1816, Tudor was shipping ice from Massachusetts to Cuba with ever-increasing efficiency and decided to try his hand at importing Cuban fruit to New York. In August of that year, he borrowed $3000 (at 40% interest) for a shipload of limes, oranges, bananas, and pears, preserving it with 15 tons of ice and 3 tons of hay. The experiment ended in disaster as virtually all the fruit rotted during the month-long voyage, leaving Tudor with several thousand dollars worth of new debt. Still, he pressed on, opening up new markets in three southern U.S. cities (Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana). Lime has several meanings: Look up Lime in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Lime (mineral) - a group of calcium compounds and minerals in which they predominate, including: Limestone Agricultural lime - a mineral soil additive Calcium oxide (also quicklime) - a chemical compound Calcium hydroxide (also slaked lime) - a chemical compound Lime (fruit... Orange—specifically, sweet orange—refers to the citrus tree Citrus sinensis and its fruit. ... Species Hybrid origin; see text A banana is a tree-like plant (though strictly a herb) of the genus Musa in the family Musaceae, closely related to plantains. ... Species About 30 species, including: Pyrus amygdaliformis Pyrus austriaca Pyrus balansae Pyrus betulifolia Pyrus bourgaeana Pyrus bretschneideri Pyrus calleryana Pyrus caucasica Pyrus communis Pyrus cordata Pyrus cossonii Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pyrus fauriei Pyrus kawakamii Pyrus korshinskyi Pyrus lindleyi Pyrus nivalis Pyrus pashia Pyrus persica Pyrus phaeocarpa Pyrus pyraster Pyrus pyrifolia Pyrus... Motto: Fedes Mores Juraque Curat Nickname: The Holy City, The Palmetto City Founded Incorporated 1670   County Berkeley and Charleston Counties Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. ... City nickname: The Hostess City Location Government County Chatham Mayor Otis S. Johnson Physical characteristics Area      Land      Water 202. ... New Orleans (local pronunciations: , , or ) (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans, pronounced in standard French accent) is a major U.S. port city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ...

Tudor spent the next few years experimenting with various kinds of insulation. Ice was packed aboard ship with wood shavings, sawdust, or rice chaff on its outside surfaces to insulate it against heat. The blocks were also stacked together like well-fitted masonry. He constructed icehouses throughout the tropics and created a demand there for cold refreshments.

By 1825, Tudor was doing well with ice sales, but the difficulty of hand-cutting large blocks limited his company's growth. However one supplier, Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth, harnessed horses to a metal blade to cut ice. Wyeth's ice plow made mass production a reality and allowed Tudor to more than triple his production. Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (January 29, 1802–August 31, 1856) was an American inventor, ice harvester, and explorer and trader in the far west. ...

In 1833, fellow Boston-based merchant Samuel Austin proposed a partnership for selling ice to India, then some 16,000 miles and four months away from Massachusetts. On May 12, 1833 the brig Tuscany sailed from Boston for Calcutta, its hold filled with 180 tons of ice cut during the winter. When it approached the Ganges in September 1833, many believed the delivery was an elaborate joke, but the ship still had 100 tons of ice upon arrival. Over the next 20 years, Calcutta would become Tudor's most lucrative destination, yielding an estimated $220,000 in profits. Early morning on the Ganges The River Ganges (Ganga in Indian languages) (Devanagiri गंगा) is a major river in northern India. ...

However, in the early 1830s Tudor had also begun to speculate in coffee futures with his ice business as collateral. Initially, coffee prices did rise and Tudor made millions of dollars, but in 1834, Tudor fell more than a quarter-million dollars in debt, forcing him to re-focus on the ice trade. By then the ice business had expanded from New York up through Maine, and the construction of new railroad lines allowed the process of transporting ice to become more efficient. By the 1840s, ice was being shipped all over the world, and although Tudor was now just a small part of the trade, his profits allowed him to pay off his debts and resume living a comfortable existence.

Frederic Tudor died in Boston at his house on the northwest corner of Beacon and Joy Streets on Saturday, February 6, 1864. He is buried in the King's Chapel cemetery on Tremont Street in the Tudor family tomb (number thirteen).

The ice business

Ice Harvesting on Spy Pond, Arlington, Massachusetts, 1854.

In 1790, only the elite had ice for their guests. It was harvested locally in winter and stored through summers in a covered well. Ice production was very labor intensive as it was performed entirely with hand axes and saws, and cost hundreds of dollars a ton. By 1830, though, ice was being used to preserve food and by the middle 1830s it had become a commodity. In the 1840s, it began to be used in the production of beer, and by 1850 it was used in urban retail centers. In 1861 the ice box was developed, and by 1865 two homes in three in Boston had ice delivered every single day. Ice Harvesting on Spy Pond 1854, Arlington MA USA This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Ice Harvesting on Spy Pond 1854, Arlington MA USA This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Arlington is a town in eastern Massachusetts, six miles northwest of Boston, latitude 42 degrees 25 minutes north, longitude 71 degrees 09 minutes west. ...

During these years, there were nine main sources of ice around Boston. Some ice came from the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers in Maine, but most centered around Fresh Pond, Cambridge; Smith's Pond, Arlington; Spy Pond, Arlington; Sandy Pond, Ayer; Horn Pond, Woburn; Lake Quannapowitt, Wakefield; Haggett's Pond, Andover; Suntaug Lake, Lynnfield; and Wenham Lake, Wenham. General plan for Fresh Pond Park, Cambridge, Massachusetts, by the Olmsted Brothers landscape design firm, 1897. ...

In the winter of 1846-1847, Henry David Thoreau watched a crew of Tudor's ice cutters at work on Walden Pond and recorded these remarks in his journal: The sweltering inhabitants of Charleston and New Orleans, of Madras and Bombay and Calcutta, drink at my well. . . . The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges. Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, naturalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is famous for Walden (available at wikisource) on simple living amongst nature and Civil Disobedience (available at wikisource) on resistance to civil government. ... Thoreaus Cove, Concord, Mass. ...

Wenham Lake ice in particular became world-famous for its clarity, and graced the tables of the aristocracy of plush London society. It is said without undue exaggeration that no dinner party in London was considered complete without ice from Wenham Lake.

Tudor and Nahant

Tudor inherited his family's grounds in Nahant, Massachusetts and in 1825, after constructing his summer cottage in the center of town, he began a lifelong campaign to plant trees on treeless Nahant. By 1832 he had 3,358 trees growing in his nursery and within two years he had some 4,000 trees in cultivation, offering them to summer residents for free if they would plant them on their properties. The family grounds are now the Nahant Country Club. People came from far. Nahant harbor Nahant (pronounced IPA ) is a town located in Essex County, Massachusetts. ...

Further reading

• The Ice King: Frederic Tudor and His Circle, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, and Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut. 2003.

• The Frozen Water Trade, Gavin Weightman, Hyperion, 247pp.