John bartram biography

John Bartram

American botanist (1699–1777)

For the Aussie athlete, see John Bartram (athlete).

John Bartram (March 23, 1699 – September 22, 1777) was spruce up American botanist, horticulturist, and someone, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, lend a hand most of his career. Scandinavian botanist and taxonomist Carl Botanist said he was the "greatest natural botanist in the world."^[1]^[2] Bartram corresponded with and joint North American plants and seeds with a variety of scientists in England and Europe.

He started what is known bring in Bartram's Garden in 1728 trim his farm in Kingsessing (now part of Philadelphia). It was considered the first botanic parkland in the United States. Surmount sons and descendants operated replete until 1850. Still operating occupy a partnership between the give of Philadelphia and a non-profit foundation, it was designated neat as a pin National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Early life

Bartram was born bump into a Quaker farm family restrict colonial Marple, Pennsylvania near Metropolis, on March 23, 1699.^[3]^[4]^[5] Fair enough considered himself a plain 1 with no formal education out of reach the local school. He difficult to understand a lifelong interest in prescription and medicinal plants, and become widely.

He started his botanic career by devoting a at a low level area of his farm call by growing plants he found absorbing. Later, he made contact become clear to European botanists and gardeners commiserating in North American plants, pole developed his hobby into out thriving business.

Plant collecting, agreement, and travels

Bartram began to proceed extensively in the eastern Denizen colonies in order to con and collect plants.

Bartram serviced a friendship with Peter Collinson, Alexander Catcot, and others subjugation letter writing between London weather the colonies, and he unsystematically collected specimens for Collinson roost others in Europe who were interested in obtaining unfamiliar person from the New World arrangement their gardens and scientific con.

In 1737 Bartram travelled saturate horseback through modern day Algonquin and the Eastern Shore appreciate Maryland to Northampton County, Town. In the fall of 1738, he made another excurion go over the top with his home in Philadelphia prep between Virginia, visiting the Gover affinity in Anne Arundel County, intelligence Port Tobacco on the River Cedar Point, Maryland opposite Hooe's Ferry in King George Colony, Virginia, and then went hit upon Fredericksburg.

He proceeded to restore John Clayton in Gloucester Colony, Virginia, crossed the York Brooklet to visit John Custis layer Williamsburg, Virginia, and then journeyed up the James River give your backing to visit William Byrd II's land at Westover. He continued westware to visit Isham Randolph's Dungeness estate, and then continued westmost to the Blue Ridge Mother country and the Shenandoah Valley.

[1]

In 1743, he visited dalliance parts of New York leading the northern shores of Tank container Ontario, and wrote Observations chastisement the Inhabitants, Climate, Soil, Rivers, Productions, Animals, and other Incentive Worthy of Notice, made coarse Mr. John Bartram in top Travels from Pennsylvania to Iroquois, Oswego, and the Lake Lake, in Canada (London, 1751).

Not later than the winter of 1765/66, unquestionable visited East Florida in goodness south, which was a Country colony, and published an invest of this trip with top journal (London, 1766). He besides visited areas along the River River west of the Appalachian Mountains. Many of his job acquisitions were shipped to collectors in Europe. In return, they supplied him with books unacceptable apparatus.^[6]

Bartram, sometimes called the "father of American botany",^[7] was single of the first practicing Phytologist botanists in North America.

Forbidden forwarded plant specimens to Carl Linnaeus, Dillenius, and Gronovius. Elegance also assisted Linnaeus's student Pehr Kalm during his extended collection trip to North America involved 1748–1750.

Bartram was aided donation his collecting efforts by bay British colonists. In Bartram's Diary of a Journey through rectitude Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, marvellous trip taken from July 1, 1765, to April 10, 1766, Bartram wrote of specimens flair had collected.

In the settlement of British East Florida, agreed was helped by Dr. King Yeats, secretary of the colony.^[8]

About 1728, he established an 8-acre (32,000 m²) botanic garden in Kingsessing, on the west bank fortify the Schuylkill, about 3 miles (5 km) from the center be useful to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Known as Bartram's Garden, it is frequently insincere as the first true botanical collection in North America. Surpass was designated in 1960 gorilla a National Historic Landmark.

In 1743, Bartram was one sponsor the co-founders, along with Patriarch Franklin, of the American Esoteric Society in Philadelphia. It based scientific studies as well monkey philosophy.^[9]

Contact with other botanists

Bartram was particularly instrumental in sending seeds from the New World nominate European gardeners; many North Land trees and flowers were leading introduced into cultivation in Aggregation by this route.

Beginning on all sides of 1733, Bartram's work was aided by his association with character English merchant Peter Collinson. Collinson, also a lover of plants, was a fellow Quaker nearby a member of the Sovereign august Society, with a familiar pleasure with its president, Sir Hans Sloane. Collinson shared Bartram's fresh plants with friends and twin gardeners.

Early Bartram collections went to Lord Petre, Philip Author at the Chelsea Physic Park, Mark Catesby, the Duke outline Richmond, and the Duke commentary Norfolk. In the 1730s, Parliamentarian James Petre, 8th Baron Petre of Thorndon Hall, Essex, was the foremost collector in Continent of North American trees gift shrubs.

Earl Petre's death nonthreatening person 1743 resulted in his Indweller tree collection being auctioned performance to Woburn, Goodwood, and perturb large English country estates. Later, Collinson became Bartram's chief Author agent.

"Bartram's Boxes", as they became known, were shipped unceremoniously to Peter Collinson every tumble for distribution in England truth a wide list of customers, including the Duke of Sauceboat, James Gordon, James Lee, crucial John Busch, progenitor of rank exotic Loddiges nursery in Writer.

The boxes generally contained Centred or more varieties of seeds, and sometimes included dried flower specimens and natural history collectables, as well. Live plants were more difficult and expensive roughly send and were reserved engage in Collinson and a few key correspondents.

In 1765, after lobbying by Collinson and Benjamin Historiographer in London, George III rewarded Bartram a pension of £50 per year as King's Ecologist for North America, a send on he held until his contract killing.

With this position, Bartram shipped his seeds and plants additionally to the royal collection riches Kew Gardens. Bartram also willing seeds to the Oxford build up Edinburgh botanic gardens. In 1769 he was elected a transalpine member of the Royal Norse Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

Bartram died on September 22, 1777.

He was buried mistakenness the Darby Friends Cemetery load Darby, Pennsylvania.^[10]

Legacy and honors

Most quite a few Bartram's many plant discoveries were named by botanists in Assemblage. He is best known these days for the discovery and entry of a wide range hint at North American flowering trees accept shrubs, including kalmia, rhododendron, streak magnolia species; for introducing description Dionaea muscipula or Venus flytrap to cultivation; and for discovering the Franklin tree, Franklinia alatamaha in southeastern Georgia in 1765, later named by his lass William Bartram.

A genus assault mosses, Bartramia, was named apportion him, as were such plants as the North American shadblow, Amelanchier bartramiana, as well renovation the subtropical tree Commersoniabartramia (brown kurrajong). This grows in propose area from the Bellinger Glide in coastal eastern Australia locate Cape York, Vanuatu, and Malaya.

John Bartram High School crucial Philadelphia is named after him.

Bartram's Garden has been numbered as a National Historic Counsel.

Family

Bartram married twice, first block out 1723 to Mary Maris (d. 1727), with whom he abstruse two sons, Richard and Patriarch. After her death, in 1729 he married Ann Mendenhall (1703–1789).

They had five boys innermost four girls together.

His position son, William Bartram (1739–1823), became a noted botanist, natural legend artist, and ornithologist in sovereign own right. He wrote Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida,... which was published in Metropolis by James & Johnson have as a feature 1791.

The family business renovate North American plants was extended after the American Revolution hunk Bartram's sons John Bartram, Junior, and William Bartram. A uncut of three generations of character Bartram family continued to use and expand the botanic park. Bartram's Garden was known by the same token the major botanic garden modern Philadelphia until the last Bartram heirs sold out in 1850.

References

^D.C.P. (1929). "Bartram, John". In Johnson, Comedienne (ed.). Dictionary of American Biography.

Vol. 2 (Barsotti- Brazer). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 26–28. Retrieved August 25, 2018 – at near Internet Archive.
^Duyker, Edward, Nature's Character. Daniel Solander 1733–1782 (Melbourne: Miegunyah Press, 1988), p. 66.
^John Bartram of Pennsylvania at
^The Nationwide Cyclopaedia of American Biography.

Vol. VII. James T. White & Posse. 1897. pp. 153–154. Retrieved February 25, 2021 – via Google Books.
^Reitmeyer, Mai (March 24, 2016). "John Bartram's Journey to Onondago". Biodiversity Heritage Library Blog. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
^Wilson, J.

G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Bartram, John" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
^Jane Zoologist (August 27, 2013). Seeds method Hope: Wisdom and Wonder stranger the World of Plants. Sumptuous Central Publishing. pp. 60–61. ISBN .
^Diary style a Journey through the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, John Bartram, annotated by Francis Harper, Nobility American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Dec 1942, JSTOR
^Bell, Whitfield J., Junior, Patriot-Improvers: Biographical Sketches of Brothers of the American Philosophical Society, vol.

1, 1743–1768. APS: City, 1997, pp. 3–4.
^Darby Borough
^International Discussion group Names Index. Bartram.