Valerian Wine

[Natty]

(08-07-2012 07:16 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Those are the exact families that I ran across also. One positive note is that some of the fortunes gained back then went to philanthropic projects.

Yes, most of these people ended up giving money to charities, hospitals, schools, libraries and other public institutions; many well known causes were sponsored by some of the families involved in the opium trade. That list is actually really long! Some of that money also went into investments that benefited American society on a different level, like railroads and the telephone. From what I gathered, opium was just "the way" to make money during that particular time and pretty much everyone who could tried to have their hand in it.