South Carolina botanists: biography and bibliography

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BULLETIN of the

South Carolina Botanists:
Biography and BibHography

By WILSON GEE

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ISSUED MONTHLY
BY THE UNIVERSITY

No. 72
Sept. 1918

COLUMBIA, S. C.

SecoDd-Ctasa Mail Matter

El|e '§. p. pU pbrarg

Nortlf Qlar0lma ^tate ((loUege

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PREFACE

The following pages are with slight alteration the same
biographies of South Carolina Botanists as appeared in
the Sunday News of Charleston at intervals during the
years 1909 and 1910. The data were gathered from va-
rious sources too numerous for individual acknowledge-
ment. The resulting monograph was offered and accepted
in 1910 as a thesis for the Master of Arts degree from the
University of South Carolina.

The writer claims no exhaustive or critical appreciation
of their work as the result of his efforts. There has been
brought together here for the first time, however, a sys-
tematic arrangement of the biographies and bibliographies
of the botanists of outstanding note in the state who in
the past have contributed to its reputation in botanical
Hnes.

He desires to thank Prof. A. C. Moore for the inspira-
tion and help which he gave to the work and Prof. Yates
Snowden, that ardent and delightful devotee of things
South Carolinian, for many references and valuable sug-
gestions. There are due, besides, acknowledgements to
many relatives for information concerning their distin-
guished kinsmen. The appreciation for these favors is
imperfectly expressed in the attempt to brighten some-
what the lustre which already surrounds the memory of
the achievements of those whom they revere.

Wilson Gee.

June 14, 1918.

1X0

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5;ei£3

South Carolina Botanists:
Biography and BibHography

By Wilson Gee

JOHN LAWSON

Probably the earliest attempt to catalog the plants of
the Carolinas is that of John Lawson in the year 1700.
While chiefly a historian, for the merging of natural his-
tory in such large proportions into his description of the
province, he deserves mention among the early botanists,
who "attracted by the charms of our fair land, were con-
tent to dwell in its midst," at least long enough to be-
come familiar with a part of its wonderful resources.

John Lawson, historian, was born in Scotland. He
came to this country as surveyor general of North Caro-
lina and began his surveys in 1700, but fell a victim to
the jealousy of the Tuscarora Indians, who confused the
surveyor of their territory with those that had despoiled
them of it. He was captured while exploring North Car-
olina in 1712, in company with a Swiss named Graffen-
reid. The latter was allowed to purchase his freedom,
but Lawson was put to death in a most cruel manner.

He was the author of one of the most valuable and
thoroughly interesting of our early histories of the Caro-

Library
TSr. C, State Collejore

Unas: ''The History of Carolina containing the exact de-
scription and natural history of that country, together with
the present state thereof and a journal of a thousand miles
traveled through several yiations 0/ Indians, giving a par-
ticular account of the customs, manners, etc.''

The original edition of this volume is now very rare; it
was reprinted at Raleigh, North Carolina, however, in
1860. There is in the library of the University of South
Carolina a copy of the edition of 1718, an old volume of
about 258 pages, octavo size, bound in half leather.

The dedication is to the "True and Absolute Lords-
Proprietors of the Province of Carolina in America,'' and
he thus addresses himself to them:

'*My Lords: As debts of Gratitude ought most punctually

to be paid, so, where the Debtor is uncapable of Payment,

Acknowledgements ought at least to be paid.

****** *

"I here present Your Lordships with a Description of
your Own Country; for the most part of her Natural
Dress, and therefore, less vitiated with Fraud and Luxury.
A Country whose Inhabitants may enjoy a Life of the
greatest Ease and Satisfaction and pass away their Hours

in Solid Contentment.

*******

"Your Lordships most obliged

"Most humble
' 'and most devoted servant.

John Lawson.''
The motive for his passage to America he explains as
follows in the opening lines of the introduction to his his-
tory:

* 'In the year 1700 when people flocked from all parts of
the Christian world to see the solemnity of the Grand Jubi-
lee at Rome, my intention at that time being to travel, I
accidentally met with a gentlemen, who had been abroad,
and was very well acquainted with the ways of living in
both Indies, of whom having made enquiry concerning
them he assured me that Carolina was the best country I
could go to; and that there then lay a ship in the Thames

night's stay and in fourteen days after arrived at Cb
Town, the metropolis of South Carolina."

In his **A Journal of a Thousand Miles Travel s
the Indians from South to North Carolina,'' he r
further: "On December 28, 1700, I began my voyag
North Carolina) from Charles-Town, being six Englis
in company, with three Indian men and one woman
to our Indian guide."

With the above information on the character of th(
the date and nature of his trip, we may turn more i
gently to that part of his work with which we are
directly concerned. In his description of the count
treats North and South Carolina separately, t
the portion called "The Natural History of Carolina
considers Carolina as a whole. The following is c
from the introduction to his history in support o
statement: "And since the produce of South and
Carolina is the same, unless silk, which this plac
duces great qualities of and very good. North Cb
having never made any tryal thereof, I shall ref
natural produce of this country to that part which
of North Carolina, whose productions are much the
****** *

I shall now proceed to relate my journey thru the C(
from this settlement to the other, and then treat
Natural History of Carolina, with other remarkab
cumstances which I have met with during my eight
abode in that country. "

Under a subdivision of the natural history entitled
Vegetables of Carolina," we find eighteen pages d(
to "an account of all the spontaneous fruits of Ca

we quote: "We will proceed, in the next place, to show
what exotick fruits we have that thrive in CaroHna, and
what others it may reasonably be supposed would do there,
were they brought thither and planted."

To enter into this list would be beyond the scope of the
present work. A statement of his method is made by
Lawson himself in the preface when he refers his readers
to "the natural history, in which I have been very exact,
and for method's sake ranged each species under its dis-
tinct and proper head." There are however, very few
technical terms in the whole work.

The treatment of animals is even more elaborate than
that of plants. This part of his work embraces forty-
seven pages and is subdivided into "The Beasts of Caro-
lina;" "The Insects of Carolina, " — in which we find no true
insects, but chiefly reptiles; "The Birds of Carolina;"
and "The Fish in the Salt and Fresh Waters of Carolina."

Apart from its historical significance, a work of this
nature is worth little to the scientists of today, yet we feel
a peculiar interest in it for its age and also as repre-
senting a part of the perspective in which the country
was viewed in its early days. His untimely death, no
doubt, deprived, us of many interesting w^orkS; for he was
a writer of no mean ability, and was certainly one to main-
tain the interest of his readers.

Bibliography

Lawson, John— A New Voyage to Carolina; containing
the Exact Description and Natural History of the Country.

London, 1709. Q.

History of CaroHna.— Lord Taylor, 1714. Q.

History of Carolina.— Lord Warner, 1718.

History of Carolina.— Raleigh, N. C, Strother and
Marcom, 1860.

Allerneuste Beschriebunz der Provints Carolina in West-
Indien. Aus dem Englischen Herr Vischer, 1712.

MARK CATESBY

An early naturalist of reputation, who, while not a
a resident of Carolina, was one of the first to investi-
gate the biological- resources of our State, was Mark
Catesby, an English scientist, and later a Fellow of the
Royal Society. The birthplace of Catesby is not definitely
known, nor the date of his birth, but it is generally record-
ed that he was born in London about 1679. If so, he
must have removed from the place when quite young
according to a statement made in the preface of
his large and best known work, "The Natural History of
Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands." For its auto-
biographical value a portion of this is interesting, and the
following is quoted from it:

**The early inclination I had to search after plants and
other productions in nature being much suppressed by my
residing too far from London, the centre of all science, I
was deprived of all opportunities and examples to excite
me to a stronger pursuit after these things to which I was
naturally bent. Yet my curiosity was such that, not being
content with contemplating the products of our own coun-
try, I soon imbibed a passionate desire of viewing as well
the animal and vegetable productions in their native coun-
tries, which were strangers to England. Virginia was the
place, as I had relations there, which suited most with my
convenience to go, where I arrived the 23rd of April,
1712. I thought then so little of prosecuting a design of
the nature of this work that in the seven years I resided
in that country, (I am ashamed to own it,) I chiefly grat-
ified my inclination in observing and admiring the various
productions of these countries, only sending from thence
some dried specimens of plants, and some of the most
specious of them in tubs of earth, at the request of some
curious friends, amongst whom was Mr. Dale, cf Brain-
tree, in Essex, a skilful apothecary and botanist. To him.

10

besides specimens of plants, I sent some few observations
on the country, which he communicated to the late William
Sherard, LLD., one of the most celebrated botanists of this
age, who favored me with his friendship on my return to
England, in the year 1719, and by his advice (though con-
scious of my own inability) I first resolved on this under-
taking, so agreeable to my inclination. But as expenses
were necessary for carrying the design, I here most grate-
fully acknowledge the assistance and encouragement re-
ceived from several noble persons and gentlemen, whose
names are hereunder mentioned.

:|c :tc « * * * *

"With this intention I set out again from England in the
year 1722 directly for Carolina, which country, though in-
habited by English above an age past, and a country in-
ferior to none in fertility, and abounding in variety of the
blessings of nature, yet its productions being very little
known, except what barely related to commerce, such as
rice, pitch and tar, was thought the most proper place to
search and describe the productions of. Accordingly I ar-
rived in Carolina the 23rd of May, 1722, after a pleasant,
though not a short, passage.

****** *

"Upon my arrival at Charles-Town I waited on Gen.

Nicholson, then Governor of that Province, who received

me with much kindness, and continued his favors during

my stay in that country.

*******

"As I arrived at the beginning of the summer I unex-
pectedly found this country possessed not only with all the
animals and vegetables of Virginia, but abounding with
even a greater variety. The inhabited parts of Carolina
extend west from the sea about sixty miles, and almost
the whole length of the coast, being a level, low country.
In these parts I continued the first year searching after,
collecting and describing the animals and plants. I then
went to the upper uninhabited parts of the country, and
continued at and about Fort Moore, a small fortress on the
banks of the River Savanna, which runs from thence a

11

course of three hundred miles down to the sea, and is
about the same distance from its source in the mountains."

It is to be noted from the above that early in the eight-
eenth century he raised the means for a voyage to the
New World, where he arrived in 1712. The greater part of
the period of this first trip was spent in Virginia. In 1719 he
returned to England with a collection of plants, which was
reported to have been the most complete ever before car-
ried to England from the Colonies. This attracted the at-
tention of men of science, especially Sir Hans Sloane and
Dr. WilHam Sherard, two of the greatest naturalists then
alive. Catesby remained in England for some time arrang-
ing and naming his specimens, a considerable number of
which passed into the museum of Sir Hans Sloane. Here
he was led and assisted by his scientific friends to revisit
America, and took up his residence in South Carolina in
1722. He traversed the coast and made distant excursions
into the interior, collecting materials for his work.

Quoting further from the preface of this same work:
' 'After my continuence almost three years in Carolina and
the adjacent parts, (which the Spaniards call Florida, par-
ticularly that province lately honored with the name of
Georgia,) I went to Providence, one of the Bahama Is-
lands. * * * gQ^j^ jj^ Carolina and on
these Islands, I made successive collections of dried plants
and seeds, and at these islands more particularly, I collect-
ed many submarine productions, as shells, corallines, fru-
tices marini, sponges, afroites, etc."

A better general description of his method of treatment
of the plants cannot be given than that he himself gives.
"I had principally a regard to forest trees and shrubs,
showing their several mechanical and other uses, as in
building, joynery, agriculture, food and medicine. I have
likewise taken notice of those plants that will bear our
English climate, which T have experienced from what I
have growing at Mr. Bacon's, successor of the late Mr.
Fairchild at Haxton. * * * *

*'As to the plants, I have given them the English and
Indian names they are known by in these countries; and

12

for Latin names I was beholden to the above-mentioned
learned and accurate botanist, Dr. Sherard."

In addition to his treatment of the plants, his work was
quite extensively given to animals, and principally to the
"feathered kind," of which he s^iys: *1 believe very few
birds have escaped my knowledge, except some water fowl
and some of those which frequent the sea."

In 1726 he returned to England and at once set seriously
to work in preparing material for his magnificent and best
known work, from which the above extracts have been
taken. This was accompanied by a new map, constructed
by himself, of the districts explored. The first volume
appeared in 1731 and the second in 1748. There are up-
wards of one hundred plates in this first volume, all the
figures of the plants having been drawn and etched by
Catesby himself. In recognition of the merits of this
first part of his work, on the 26th of April 1733, he was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. A German transla-
tion, with an introduction by "M^ Edwards, due College
Royal des Medecins de Londres," was published a Nurem-
berg in 1756.

A third edition w^as required in 1771, to which a Lin-
naean index was appended. An original of this edition
m^y be found in the library of the University of South
Carolina. It consists of two large folio volumes, over
fifty inches in length, and bound in calf. The plates are
large and exquisitely done. Side by side, in parallel
..:■-'' columns, we find the text in English and in French.
^^ Catesby also produced (in 1737) "Hortus Britanno
Americus, or a Collection of 85 Curious Trees and Shrubs,
the Production of North America, adapted to the Climate
and Soil of Great Britain." Many trees and shrubs were
first introduced by him, and the publication of this
volume added considerably to the introduction of Ameri-
can plants into England. He also produced some other
works of importance, which are listed in the appended
bibliography.

A West Indian genus of shrubs of the order Cincho-

13

naceae was named Catesbaea in his honor by the famous
botanist Gronovius.

Catesby died at his house in Old street, London, on Dec-
ember 23, 1749.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Catesby, Mark. 'The Natural History of Carolina,
Florida and the Bahama Islands." 2 Vols, folio, 1731.

Same. Revised by M. Edwards, with an appendix, 1748.

Same. German edition with introduction by M. Edwards,
du College Royal de Londres," Nuremberg, 1756.

Same. Other German editions at Nuremberg in 1750,
1755, 1757 and 1770, and with Latin title in 1750 and
1777. 'The translations generally omit part of the
original."

Same. Third English edition. With Linnaean index of
plants and animals appended, 1771. 2 Vols., folio, 220,
colored plates.

"On the Migration of Birds." Proceedings of the Royal
Society, 1747.

"Hortus Britanno-Americus, or a Collection of 85 Curi-
ous Trees and Shrubs, the Production of North America,
Adapted to the Climate and Soil of Great Britain." Folio,
seventeen engravings. (1737)

"Piscium, Serpentum, Insectorum, aliorumque nonnul-
lorum Animalium, nee non Plantarum quarundam Im-
agines." Folio, Nuremberg, 1777.

14

ALEXANDER GARDEN

One of the most famous physicians of Colonial times,
and according to Ramsay in his history of South Carolina,
"a botanist of no low degree" was Dr. Alexander Garden.
He was born in Scotland about the year 1728, and was the
son of the Rev. Alexander Garden, of the Parish of Birse,
in the shire of Aberdeen, a clergyman of high respecta-
bility w^ho during the rebellion of 1745 was distinguished
by his exertions in favor of the family of Hanover, and
still more so by his humane interposition in behalf of the
followers of the house of Stuart after their defeat at Cul-
loden.

Dr. Garden received his philosophical and classical edu-
cation in the University of Aberdeen at the Mareschal
College there. His early medical training he received un-
der the celebrated Dr. John Gregory, and studied also for
a year in Edinburgh.

He arrived in South Carolina about the middle of the
eighteenth century and began the practice of medicine in
Prince William's Parish in connection with Dr. Rose.
Here his interest for botanical studies began to assert it-
self more strongly. But having lost his health, he was
obliged to take a voyage to the North for his recovery. In
1754 he went to New York, where a professorship in the
college recently formed in that city was offered him.

With improved health he returned to Charleston and
continued the practice of medicine there for about thirty
years, acquiring a considerable fortune in this way. He
seems also to have attained at the same time a high dis-
tinction in the literary circles of this city. Ramsay says:
"He was well acquainted with the Latin and Greek classics
and was a considerable proficient in the knowledge of belles-
lettres, in mathematics, philosophy, history and miscellan-
eous literature, but his attention, when the duties of his
profession permitted any relaxation, was chiefly directed to

15

the study of natural history and particularly that of
botany."

His many like-minded friends in Europe and the mother
country profited as the result of his investigations; for he
made sundry communications to them on the observations
which he from time to time made. Linnaeus, the greatest
botanist of his age, was one of these friends, and he and
Garden corresponded with each other in Latin. To do
honor to his friend Garden, Linnaeus gave the name of
Gardenia toja genus of most beautiful flowering shrubs.

To extend his knowledge in natural history. Dr. Garden
accompanied Governor James Glen in 1752, when he pen-
etrated into the Indian country and made the treaty with
the Cherokees. In 1764 he gave to the public an account
of the virtues of pink root (Spigelia Marilandica) and at
the same time a botanical description of the plant. About
the year 1772 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society,
and after his return to Europe in 1783 he was appointed
one of its council and afterwards one of its vice presidents.
His death occurred in the year 1791.

Bibliography

Alexander Garden— 'The Halesia, first described by Dr.
Garden, as appears by the letter of J. Ellis, Esq., F. R. S.,
read before the Royal Society, November 20, 1760."
Transactions of the Royal Society.

"An Account of the Male and Female Cochineal Insects
in a letter to John Ellis, Esq., read before the Royal So-
ciety, December 23, 1762." Transactions Royal Society.

"An Account of an Amphibious Bipes (the Mud Iguana
or Syren of South Carolina, ) communicated in a letter to
John Ellis, Esc[., read before the Reyal Society." Trans-
actions Royal Society.

"An Account of Two New Tortoises, in a letter to
Thomas Pennant, Esq., and read before the Royal Society.
May 2, 1771." Transactions Royal Society.

' * An Account of the Gymnatus Electricus, in a letter to

16

John Ellis Esq., read before the Royal Society, February
24, 1778." Transactions Royal Society.

'** An Account of the Pink Root (Spigelia Marilandica)
with its Uses as a Vermifuge. 1764."

"Pleasure of Piety and Other Poems."

"Description of Table Rock."

''Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America,"
Charleston, 1822.

17

WILLIAM BARTRAM

William Bartram, botanist, was born in Kingsessing,
Pennsylvania, February 9, 1739, and died there July 22,
1823. He engaged in business in Philadelphia, and after-
ward in North Carolina. In 1765 he accompanied his
father to Florida, and remained on the St John's River
for several years cultivating indigo. In 1771 he returned
to his father's home and devoted his attention to botany,
a love for which he had inherited. He was very fortunate
in having at his command the services of so eminent a
botanist as his father, John Bartram, and he makes the
following acknowledgment of the fact in the introduction
to one of his most important works, "from the advantages
the journalist enjoyed under his father, John Bartram,
botanist to the King of Great Britain, and fellow of the
Royal Society, it is hoped that his labors will present new
as well as useful information to the botanist and the zool-
ogist."

From 1773 till 1778 he traveled through the Carolinas,
Georgia and Florida to examine their natural products and
he made many drawings of the specimens he collected.
An account of his experiences while on this trip was pub-
Hshed under the title, "Travels Through North and South
Carolina, Georgia and East and West Florida, the Chero-
kee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges
or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Choctaws.
Containing an Account of the Soil and Natural Productions,
of those Regions, together with Observations on the Man-
ners of the Indians." A copy of the second edition of this
work, published in London, 1794, is to be found in the li-
brary of the University of South Carolina. The first edi-
tion was published in Philadelphia in 1791. The opening
lines of the first chapter give us in his own words the
motives which prompted him to take this trip: "At the
request of Fothergill, of London, to search the Floridas

18

and the western parts of Carolina and Georgia, for the
discovery of rare and useful productions of nature, chiefly
in the vegetable kingdom; in April, 1773, I embarked for
Charleston, S. C."

His treatment of the plants is not systematic; but he
mentions numbers of them in his description of the coun-
try, giving them their correct scientific names. Nor does
his description apply to all parts of the State; for he seems
to have visited only the northwestern part.

In 1782 he was appointed professor of botany in the
University of Pennsylvania, which position he declined on
account of impaired vision. In 1786 he became a member
of the American Philosophical Society, and in addition to
his botanical labors prepared and published the most com-
plete list of American birds previous to that of Alexander
Wilson, whom he greatly assisted at the outset of his ca-
reer. He possessed considerable talent for drawing and
made the illustrations in "Barton's Elements of Botany,''
thus making known for the first time by illustration many
of the most curious and beautiful plants of North Ameri-
ca. Besides this, he published several works, for a list of
which see the appended bibliography.

Bibliography

Bartram, William— "Travels through North and South
Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee
Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or
Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Choctaws. Con-
taining an account of the soil and natural productions of
those regions, together with observations on the manners
of the Indians." Philadelphia: James and Johnson, 1791.
520 pp.

English editions, London, 1792, 1794; Dublin, 1793.

A German edition, William Bartram's Reisen durch
Nord-und-Sud-Karolina * * Aus dem Englischen.
Mit erlauternden anmerkungen von E. A. W. Zimmer-
man, Hofrath und Professor in Braunschwerg, Berlin,
1793.

19

**A French edition: Voyage dans les parties dus de
TAmerique septrionale; savoir; les Carolines Septrionale et
Meridionale * * trad, de Tangl. Par. P. V.
Benorst, Paris. An. VII (1799) 2 vols. 120. pp 457.
Dutch edition, Haarlem. 1794-1797, in three parts,
''Some accounts of the late John Bartram:" Medical
and Physical Journ. Philadelphia, 1804.

20

THOMAS WALTER

Thomas Walter, botanist, was born in Hampshire, Eng-
land, about 1740, and died near Charleston, S. C, about
1788. • He received a liberal education in England, but
emigrating to this country, settled on a plantation in St.
Stephen's Parish, S. C. There he followed the business
of a planter and devoted his leisure to botany. In his gar-
den he cultivated the plants that he subsequently describ-
ed, and several species have since been named in honor of
him.

Relatively little in a connected way seems to be known
of Walter, but here and there we find an occasional ref-
ference. Ezra Brainerd, in an article in Volume 3, Bulle-
tin of Charleston Museum, speaks of him as "an enthusi-
astic student of nature, who was the first to publish in his
Flora Caroliniana a fairly complete account of the flower-
ing plants of a definite region in North America."

There can be no doubt that Walter was during the
time in which he lived of equal rank it not superior to any
of the botanists resident in the colonies. He easily ranks
foremost among all the botanists of our State previous to
his own day. His principal publication is "Flora Carolin-
iana Secundum Systema Vegetabilium perillustris Linnaei
digesta." This was published in London in 1788.

Copies of this work are now very rare; but one may be
found in each of the libraries of the University of South
Carolina and the Charleston Museum.

The following extract taken from the proceedings of the
Elliot Society, Volume 1, page 53, describes a visit of
Henry W. Ravenel over fifty years ago to the place of
Walter's former residence. It is of interest in that it gives
us the impressions of this prominent botanist of a more
recent time.

"On a late visit which I made to "Walter's former resi-
dence on the banks of the Santee, in St. John's Parish, I
found two clusters of this tree, (tallov^ tree of China,

21

Still^gia eebifera,) bearing the marks of age. They,
with one or two other things, were the only memorials
left of his botanical garden. The present trees, one of
which has attained a height of about thirty feet, are
off-shoots from a half decayed stump of at least one
foot in diameter. That he was familiar with this plant
is evident from an allusion which he makes to it in the
preface to his Flora Caroliniana. For seventy years
they have survived the want of culture, and resisted
the inroads of surrounding native vegetation and may,
therefore, lay claim to full and complete acclimation.

'*In the midst of this grove there stands a solitary
grave stone marking the last resting place of this early
pioneer of American science. It is a plain marble slab,
and bears this simple record of filial love :

IN MEMORY
OF
^ THOMAS WALTER.

A native of Hampshire in England

and many years a resident of this

State. He died in the beginning of

the year 1788. Aetatis cir 48 ann.

To a mind liberally endowed by

nature and refined by a liberal

education he added a taste to

the study of Natural History

and in the department of

Botany science is much

indebted to his labours.

At his desire he was buried on

this spot once the garden in

which were cultivated most

of the plants of his

Flora Caroliniana,

From motives of filial affection

his only surviving Children

ANN and MARY
have placed this memorial."

22

In Samuel Dubose's "The Hugenots of South Caro-
lina," under a section entitled the ''Reminiscences of St.
Stephen^s Parish, Craven County and Notices of Her
Old Homesteads," we find the following: ''About
twenty years before the Revolutionary war the belt of
land bordering on the Santee River, through the whole
extent of the parish of St. Stephen's was the garden

spot of South Carolina."

♦ ♦*»**♦*♦**

The plantation known as "Mexico," at the western
extremity of the parish, was the residence of the late
Major Samuel Porcher.

Northwest of Mexico and directly on the river bank
was the residence of Thomas Walter, Esq., the botanist,
an Englishman by birth. He embellished his seat with
a botanical garden, which long commanded the admir-
ation of his neighbors. His first wife was Sarah Peyre,
by whom he had two daughters; his second wife was
Dolly Cooper, whose daughter, Emily, their only child,
married Judge Charlton, of Savannah."

Quoting further from the same work, under a portion
entitled "Historical and Social Sketch of Craven
County, South Carolina," by Frederick A. Porcher,
Esq., and published in the Southern Quarterly Review
for April, 1852 : "One citizen of this parish has earned
for himself a reputation in the world of letters, and it
is strange that Ramsay, who appears to have sought
eagerly after Carolinian celebrities, should have en-
tirely ignored his existence. Thomas Walter, an Eng-
lish gentleman, whose devotion to the cause of science
led him to the wilds of Carolina, was attracted by the
charms of Miss Peyre, of St. Stephen's, married her and
settled there. He devoted himself particularly to the
pursuit of botany and the curious are still occasionally
rewarded by a visit to his garden, the ruins of which
may still be seen near the banks of the Santee Canal.
He is the ancestor of one branch of the Porcher family,
and of the Charlton family of Georgia."

23
BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Walter, Thomas — 'Tlora Caroliniana, Secundum
Systema Vegetabilium, perillustris Linnaei digesta."
London. J. Fraser, 1788.

24

JOHN DRAYTON.

John Drayton is little known as a botanist; he figures
chiefly for his political activities. Yet he deserves
mention among the botanists of South Carolina for the
work which he did towards cherishing and propagating
a then comparatively new science.

John Dra>i:on, known in history as Governor Dray-
ton, and at one time a Judge of the United States Dis-
trict Court for South Carolina, was bom in 1766, prob-
ably at Charleston, S. C. He was the son of Chief Jus-
tice William Henry Drayton, who died during a visit
to Philadelphia, September 3, 1778. John Drayton
was placed by his father under the instruction of the
celebrated Dr. Witherspoon, at Princeton, N. J. H«
completed his legal education in London, was admitted
to the bar and opened a law ofRce in Charleston, S. C.
In early life he was married to Miss Hester Rose,
daughter of Philip Tideman. In 1798 he was elected
Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, and on the
death of Governor Edward Rutledge in January, 1800,
Mr. Drayton succeeded to the Governorship. At the
end of his term in the following December, he was
elected Governor for a term of two years. His admin-
istration was a successful one, and he was said to be the
first Governor of South Carolina who undertook to
make a thorough personal review of the military
strength of the State. While he held the executive of-
fice in 1802, Governor Drayton published a book en-
titled ''A View of South Carolina," a valuable work con-
taining a large amount of useful statistical information.
Of this some thirty-odd pages are devoted to the plants
and animals of the State, principally to the plants. The
following is quoted from that work:

''Although some attempts have been made to ascer-
tain the vegetable productions of South Carolina; yet

T :'\^^.

JOHN DRAYTON

25

much remains still unexplored. To Catesby we are in-
debted for some drawings, and but imperfect descrip-
tions of plants and flowers, Bartram in his travels
through the State in 1776 has added some particulars
to botanical information. Walter in his ''Flora Caro-
liniana" has brought forward a still greater catalogue ;
not, however, without being suspected of stating differ-
ent species where varieties only existed. And Michaux,
in a work which he has lately published at Paris, has
added valuable information respecting the history of
American oaks. From these sources, and some others
which present themselves, the following indigenous
plants may be noted as flourishing within the boun-
daries of this State."

He devotes twenty-four pages of the "A View of
South Carolina" to a ''Botanical Catalogue of the most
remarkable plants, shrubs and trees, indigenous to the
State of South Carolina." The succeeding three pages
are given to the "Exotic plants." Proportionately lit-
tle space applies to the fauna; this is comprised in a
list of animals only four pages in length.

But the work which makes Drayton worthy of men-
tion among the botanists of our State is "The Carolin-
ian Florist," an unpublished work dated 1807, the
manuscript of which is to be found in the library of the
University of South Carolina. This is in the form of a
book bound in Russia leather and containing 307 pages.
It follows very closely in English the "Flora Carolin-
iana" of Thomas Walter, which was written in Latin.
A clearer insight into the nature of the work can be
obtained from a reprint of the exact title and the letter
which it contains, addressed to the trustees of South
Carolina College.

" 'The Carolinian Florist,' in which upwards of one
thousand plants are mentioned, and the places of
growth and times of flowering of many of them are
ascertained.

VBy John Drayton, author of 'Letters Written During
a Tour Through the Northern and Eastern States of

26

America:" Of "A View of South Carolina as Respects
Her Natural and Civil Concerns," and Member of the
Royal Society of Sciences of Gottingen in Hanover.

"To the Honorable, the Trustees of the South Caro-
lina College — Gentlemen: I beg leave to present the
Collegiate Institution over which you preside this manu-
script work.

"As the botanical publications heretofore respecting
this State are in Latin, for my better information, I have
thus rendered them into English, and hope a work of
this kind m.ay not be inacceptable, although there be
little of originality in its composition. There are no
doubt many errors in the following pages which have
escaped my correction, partly because I have not noticed
them, and partly owing to the imperfect knowledge
which I have of the science of botany. But still I trust
much correct information will be found in their perusal,
and much inducement for further and better inquiries.

"It is a matter of regret that a science so useful in its
nature, so pleasing in the investigations and so con-
nected with the purest principles of morality and re-
ligion, should have thus little attracted the attention
of our citizens. Perhaps this may be owing to its being
little noticed as yet at our public seminaries; and to
an idea which has prevailed of its being an arduous
pursuit ; more so from the want of professors and teach-
ers in a study which requires many explanations and
particular examinations than from real difficulties
springing from the science itself. However, with the
civilization of our country, which education has af-
forded, the veil at length is so far withdrawn as to
afford us the reasonable hope that shortly the general
information will be better on this subject. For already
botany is studied in some of our colleges, and Barton
has spread forth its beauties in language both pleasing
and attractive. Come then let us sometimes unbend
the mind from more serious pursuits and enjoy this
calm, this delightful recreation. On the harmonies, of
nature its system is erected, its pursuits are mild, its

27

discoveries pleasing, all of them tending to compose
and soften the troubles of humanity, to make friend-
ships, to chase away enmities. To lead by calm reflec-
tion to that happy temper of mind which makes adver-
sity not fearful, and which, when fortune favors, adds
much to the pleasures w*e enjoy.

"From Walter principally the following pages are
compiled; from Barton also, and Michaux, much orig-
inal matter is introduced. In some places I have in-
serted the names of plants on the authority of Michaux
instead of Walter, as believing the information of the
former and his connection with learned botanists to be
greater than the latter. But in general have followed
Walter.

"In addition to what they have published I have noted
the times of efflorescence of many plants, and in what
parts of the State they are to be found; and the better
to assist such researches a map of this State has been
affixed ; dividing its territory into lower, middle and
upper country, as nature in her productions seems
peculiarly to require this division. In many cases also
I have referred to books, where correct engravings of
the plants may be seen, which gives the reader an op-
portunity of referring to representations of plants
otherwise not being within his control. Agreeably to
Dr. Barton's method, a character is givento each class,
and mention made of plants as medicinal or ornamen-
tal. The uses of wood and plants are also noticed, as
relating to husbandry, mechanics, agriculture, ship-
building or house building. These and other useful in-
formations, I trust, will be found in the following pages.
They have been presented to your respectable board,
cherished by no vain hopes, but as springing from a
desire of promoting the public good. Which, if this
humble attempt shall be deemed by you, in the smallest
degree, to have been done, the object of my efforts has
been happily attained.

"The Author.

"Charleston, October 29, 1807."

28

During his first term as Governor, Drayton recom-
mended the establishment .of a college at Columbia, and
on December 18, 1801, an Act was passed by the Legis-
lature establishing 'The South Carolina College." On
account of his services in its establishment, the institu-
tion conferred upon him the degree of LL.D.

When his term as Governor expired, he was chosen
by the citizens of Charleston one of their Senators in the
Legislature, which office he held until December 10,
1808, when he was again made Governor for the ensu-
ing two years. When his second term closed he de-
clined a re-election to the Legislature. On May 7, 1821,
he was appointed and commissioned by President Madi-
son, Judge of the District of South Carolina, and con-
tinued in the performance of this office with firmness,
patriotism and industry until his death at Charleston,
S. C, November 27, 1822.

Bibliography.

— Drayton, John. — ''Letters Written During a Tour
Through the Northern and Eastern States." 1784.

— "A View of South Carolina." (500 copies.) 1802.

—"The Carolinian Florist." (MSS in U. of S. C.
Library.) 1807.

— "Memoirs of the American Revolution." 2 vols.
1821.

29

JOHN L. E. W. SHECUT.

Prominent among the early botanical workers of our
State we find the name of John L. E. W. Shecut. Dr.
Shecut was the son of Abraham and Marie Barbary
Shecut, French Huguenots, driven to Switzerland dur-
ing the early years of the persecution, and from thence
taking passage to America, settling in Beaufort, S. C.
Dr. Shecut was born in Beaufort, S. C, December 4,
1770, and died in Charleston, S. C, June, 1836. His par-
ents removed to Charleston at some time prior to 1779.

His early medical training was received under a
friend of the family. Dr. David Ramsay, famous as a
historian and physician, and later he went to Philadel-
phia where he received the degree of M. D. in 1791,
at 21 years of age. He returned to Charleston and im-
mediately began the practice of medicine, which 'he
continued till his death.

Dr. Shecut was twice married, first to Miss Sarah
Cannon, of Edisto Island, on January 26, 1792 ; the sec-
ond time, February 7, 1805, to Miss Susanna Ballard,
of Georgetown, S. C. As a result of these unions nine
children were born ; four by the first marriage and five
by the second.

In 1813 Dr. Shecut founded 'The Antiquarian So-
ciety of South Carolina," which afterward became
'The Literary and Philosophical Society of South Car-
olina."

He was the founder, and for a length of time presi-
dent of the American Homespun Company," estab-
lished in 1820, which operated, it is believed, the first
cotton mill in the State. This was built in the vicinity
of Charleston, S. C.

In his medical practice he was one of the earliest
physicians in this country to use electricity in the treat-
ment of disease, and in 1806 he exhibited to the public

30

his electrical machine, which he invented and used in
his profession.

As an author, considerable work stands to his credit.
Among his principal works was his "Flora Carolinien-
sis," published in 1806, in two volumes. This was the
most extensive work on the botany of the State pub-
lished up to that time. Shecut seems to have been a
very versatile man from the number of interests that
engaged his attention. Botany was a subject to which
he devoted a great deal of time. As evidencing his in-
terest in this subject the passages following are quoted
from his ''Medical and Philosophical Essays."

After describing the establishment of the Medical So-
ciety in 1789, he says: ''The zeal for the promotion of
science was soon evidenced by the formation of three
auxiliary institutions: The Humane Society, the Char-
leston Dispensary for the Poor, and the Botanic Gar-
den.
************

"The Botanic Society, which also emanated from the
Medical Society, was founded in 1805 and was incor-
porated in the same year."

And quoting from Ramsay's History of South Caro-
lina, he further adds: "The Medical Society gave to it
three hundred dollars, fifty dollars per annum, and a
large lot of land, which had been generously given to
them by Mrs. Savage, now Mrs. Turpin, to be used as a
Botanic Garden. The inhabitants were invited to join
the Association, and on their annual payment of any
sum between four to ten dollars at their option, they
were entitled to privileges in proportion to their respec-
tive subscriptions, and became members of the Botanic
Society."

"Notwithstanding all the advantages and delights
that this most pleasing and instructive science offered
to all the citizens * ♦ * Notwithstanding an annual
sum of $1,176 thus obtained from voluntary subscribers
* * * and although the garden was opened the
same year under the most favorable auspices and en-

31

riched with a considerable number of valuable indi-
genous and exotic plants, it flourished for a few years
beyond the most sanguine expectations of its friends, it
has fallen.

"A second attempt was made * * * but it was in
vain.
************

'In the year 1806, conceiving the era favorable to
botany, the author compiled and published by subscrip-
tion a series of numbers on botany entitled 'Flora Caro-
liniensis' in honor of his native State. In this work he
claimed no other merit than the design of promoting a
taste for the study of that science, by simplifying as
much as possible the Linnaean system. This work was
honored with a numerous patronage and was continued
to the completion of a volume of seven numbers; at
which he was compelled to relinquish the undertak-
ing, with the loss of twenty months close devotion to
its progress and also of $1,800 and upwards.

"It is believed that no Carolinian has studied the
science of botany otherwise than for horticultural pur-
poses prior to the Revolution : but since that event this
delightful science has excited attention, which, though
daily increasing, is far short of what it deserves.

''At this period, botany is more extensively cultivated
as a science ; it has been found all-important to the
student of medicine and by no means beneath the dig-
nity of students in all the branches of science. Indeed
the fair sex, conspicuous for their attention to the fine
arts and accomplishments, have lately been aroused to
uncommon exertions towards its acquirement. In the
winter and spring of 1817-18, during the lectures of
Mr. Whitlow, in this city, it is said that upwards of fifty
young ladies attended in classes, for the purpose of ac-
quiring a regular knowledge of this delightful science,
many of whom were making the most delightful prog-
ress therein." ^

32
Bibliography.

Shecut, J. L. E. W. "Flora Caroliniensis," 1806.
(Dedicated to Peter Frenau,Esq.")

''Essays on the Prevailing Fever," 1817. (Dedi-
cated to Dr. David Ramsay.)

''Medical and Philosophical Essays." 1819. Dedi-
cated to the Hon. John Drayton, LL. D.)

— "The Elements of Natural Philosophy and a Nev^
Theory of the Earth." (Dedicated to Samuel L.
Mitchell, M. D., F. R. S., Professor of Natural History
and Botany in the University of the City of Nev^ York.)

— "Medical Philosophical, Topographical and His-
torical Sketches of the City of Charleston."

— "Contagion and Infection." (Dedicated to Dr. J.
B. Witridge.)

— "Principles and Properties of the Electric Fluid."
1817. (Dedicated to Dr. B. B. Greenland.)

— "Medical History of South Carolina."

— "Strictures on Adam Clark's Commentary."

— "The Eagle of the Mohawk." (A novel.)

— "The Scout or the Fast of St. Nicholas. A Novel
of the XVH Century." .

33

JAMES MACBRIDE.

James Macbride, physician and botanist, was bom
in Williamsburg County, S. C, in 1784; died in Char-
leston, S. C, in 1817. He was graduated at Yale in
1805, and then studied medicine. Settling in Pineville,
S. C, he practiced his profession for many years, but
later removed to Charleston where he died of the yel-
low fever. Dr. Macbride was an ardent devotee of
botany and contributed papers on that science to the
•''Transactions of the Linnaean Society" and elsewhere.
His name was given by Dr. Stephen Elliott to the Mac-
hridea pulchra, a genus found in St. John's, Berkeley,
S. C, of which but two species are known to exist. This
same authority dedicated the second volume of his
''Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia
(Charleston, 1824) to Dr. Macbride.

In his "Medical and Philosophical Essays" Shecut
has the following to say with regard to him : "Dr. Mac-
bride, late of St. Stephen's, while living, pursued with
unceasing ardor the study of botany, particularly that
branch of it more immediately connected with medi-
cine.

"Society will long deplore the loss of this amiable
physician and scientific botanist, who, in the midst of
his useful career, and in which he was deservedly ac-
quiring for himself an accession of self-earned honors
and applause, fell a victim to his professional zeal,
during the prevalence of the fever of 1817."

Stephen Elliott in the preface to Volume H, "Sketch
of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia," speaks
of him as follows :

"But principally to the late Dr. James Macbride a
tribute is due not only for the services which he him-
self actually rendered, but for the contributions which

34

he induced others to offer. Devotedly attached to
science, he had the talent to make it popular wherever
his influence extended. Profoundly skilled in his pro-
fession and high in the confidence of his fellov^ citi-
zens he fell a victim to the fatigues and exposures of
an extensive practice. In the midst of a brilliant ca-
reer, with prospects of increasing usefulness and ex-
tended reputation he died at the early age of 33. He
left to many friends a mournful inheritance — the task
of lamenting one so highly gifted, so prematurely lost.
To his memory this volume is inscribed as a testimonial
of long continued friendship and of unabated respect.
It is am.ong the incidents which embitter life that those
v.'ho have shared in common labors should so often be
separated before the termination of their pursuits. The
individuals who took most interest in this sketch scarce-
ly lived to see the commencement of its publication. It
is to the dead that the author has to consecrate the re-
sults of his labours."

35

STEPHEN ELLIOTT.

Stephen Elliott, botanist, was born in Beaufort, S.
C, November 11, 1771 ; died in Charleston, S. C, March
28, 1830. He was the son of William Elliott, who set-
tled in Beaufort, purchased land and married in 1760
Mary Barnwell, a grand-daughter of John Barnwell.
The father died while Stephen was a child, but his
elder brother, William, took good care of his education.
After the preliminary studies, he entered Yale College
in the sixteenth year of his age and graduated in 1791.
At this time he delivered an English oration on ''The
Supposed Degeneracy of Animated Nature," and took
one of the highest honors in his class. Among his col-
lege companions were Chancellor Jones, Samuel Miles
Hopkins, of New York, and Judge Gould, of Litchfield,
Conn.

. In 1796 Stephen Elliott married Miss Esther Haber-
sham of Georgia, and was elected a delegate to the
State Legislature, in which he continued to serve until
the establishment of the "Bank of the State" in 1812,
of which he was elected president. He then removed
with his family to Charleston. All his leisure hours
had for many years been devoted to natural science
and to botany in particular. Mr. Elliott was here con-
sidered the leader in all associations for their advance-
ment. He was instrumental in the formation of the Lit-
erary and Philosophical Society in 1813, and aided it by
inviting to his own house, at stated periods, such gen-
tlemen as were most interested in the scheme. In 1814
he delivered the first anniversary address to that insti-
tution, remarkable alike for its elegance of diction and
the capacity of mind which it revealed — that of em-
bracing such various pursuits of science. His object
was not only to explain their relation to each other as
branches of literature, but to encourage the members

36

to add zeal to knowledge and perseverance to enter-
prise. He took the lead in what he recommended, and
delivered a course of lectures on botany gratuitously to
a large class of ladies and gentlemen. He likewise,
in conjunction with Hugh S. Legare, became editor of
the ''Southern Review," and himself contributed many
articles.

Mr. Elliott was one of the earliest and warmest ad-
vocates for the establishment of the Medical College
in 1825, and was elected one of the faculty, as profes-
sor of natural history and botany. His most elaborate
and valuable work, his "Sketch of the Botany of South
Carolina and Georgia," w^as written and published in
the midst of these laborious engagements, financial and
scientific; the first volume appearing in the year 1821,
and the second in 1824. This accumulation of business
mental and bodily, was too great for him to sustain; he
died suddenly in 1830, struck down by apoplexy.

Contemporary with him we find Shecut and Mac-
bride, the latter of whom specially assisted Elliott in
his botanical work. In his ''Medical and Philosophical
Essays" Shecut has the following to say with regard
to Elliott's botanical work:

"In the year 1817 Mr. Elliott commenced the publica-
tion of his "Sketches of the Botany of South Carolina
and Georgia," of which five numbers of the first
volume, accompanied with several highly finished
plates of grasses, is completed. Of the merits of this
work it is unnecessary to say anything in this place.
The well known talents of the author, his travels and
close attention to botany, particularly that of his native
and her sister States, are its guarantees.

"As a direct and truly scientific classification, and
arrangement of plants indigenous to South Carolina
and Georgia, containing several new and hitherto un-
known or nondescript species, together with a mass of
valuable information with regard to the agricultural
advantages and medicinal properties of many species,
this work may be justly considered the best on the

37

botany of these States that has been yet offered to the
public."

Bibliography.

Elliott, Stephen— ''Napoleon Bonaparte." (Article
in Southern Review, No. 1.)

''On the Constitution of the United States. (South-
ern Review, No. 2.)

|lrving's Columbus." (Southern Review, No. 3.)
''Travels in Russia." (Southern' Review, No. 3.)
''Napoleon Bonaparte." (Southern Review, No. 3.)
"Views of Nature and Internal Improvements!"
(Southern Review, No. 4.)

'^Walsh's Narrative." (Southern Review, No. 6.)
"Education in Germany." (Southern Review, No.

"Classification of Plants." (Southern Review, No
8.)

"Bourrienne's Memoires." (Southern Review, No
10.)

"Catalogue of Books in the Charleston Library."
"A Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Geor-
gia." Two vols., 1821-1824.

38

HENRY W. RAVENEL.

Henry W. Ravenel, botanist, was born in St. John's
Parish, Berkeley, S. C, May 19, 1814; died in Aiken, S.
C, July 17, 1887. He was graduated at the South Car-
olina College in 1832, and settled in St. John's, where
he became a planter. In 1853 he removed to Aiken,
S. C, and there he spent the remainder of his life.

As a young man he evinced a fondness for natural
history and pursued studies in botany with enthusi-
asm throughout his long life. He studied critically the
phaenogams of South Carolina, extending also his
work largely into. the field of cryptogamic botany. Mr.
Ravenel discovered a large number of new species of
cryptogams and besides not a few new phaenogams.
With the probable exception of the Rev. Moses A. Cur-
tis, he was the only American of his time who knew
specifically the fungi of the United States, and it is
doubtful whether any other botanist has covered so
wide a range of plants.

In 1869 he was appointed a botanist of the Govern-
ment commission that was sent to Texas to investigate
the cattle disease prevalent there, and at the time of
his death he was botanist to the department of agri-
culture of South Carolina. The degree of LL. D. was
conferred upon him by the college in Winston-Salem,
N. C, several years before his death.

Unfortunately Dr. Ravenel's deafness prevented his
acceptance of two offers of a professorship in botany —
one in a college in Baltimore, which offered to establish
a chair of botany if he would fill it; the other in a col-
lege in California. He was a member of various societies
in the United States and Europe. In 1849 he was elected
a correspondent of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
A few years later he was elected a member of a scien-
tific association in Vienna.

HENRY W. RAVENEL
A. B. 1832, South Carolina College

39

The following is a reprint of the membership card :

Die

Kaiserlich Konigliche

Zoologisch botanische Gesellschaft

in

Wien

ernannt

Herrn

H. W. Ravenel, Esq.,

als

Mitglied

Wien am 5 Jahrer 1883.

Collorid Miensfuht,

Prasident.
Brunner von Wattenwyl,

Vice Prasident.
Claus J. Rogenhofafs,

Secretar.

He was agricultural editor of 'The Weekly News and
Courier," and in addition to his botanical papers, he
published 'Tungi Carolifliani Exsiccati," (5 volumes:
Charleston, 1853-60,) and with Mordecai C. Cooke of
London as joint author, 'Tungi Americani Exsiccati,"
(8 volumes, 1878-82.) The most valuable part of his
excellent Herbarium, (the cryptogamic part) was sold
to the British museum in 1893. The remainder, the
phaenogamic, was sold to Converse College some years
later.

The following is quoted from the ''Ravenel Records,"
p. 62 et seq. :

"Henry W. Ravenel, LL. D., who was born at Pooshee,
St. John's, Berkeley, May 19, 1814, removed to Aiken
in 1853, and died July 17, 1887, was a botanist of more
than national reputation.

"In the Transactions of the Huguenot Society of
South Carolina,' No. 1, it is said that he rose to the first
rank of American scientists. He was correspondent of

40

world renowned societies, and of men of learning, and
was a member of the Zoological and Botanical Society
of Vienna.

"The best known of his works is "The Fungi Caro-
liniani Exsiccati," in five volumes; which appeared
1853-60. This was the first published series of named
specimens of American fungi, of which only thirty
were issued. At a later period he, in connection with
Prof. M. C. Cooke, of England, published in England a
second series, 'Fungi Americani Exsiccati.' These
copies were sold at five guineas each."

"In 1869 he, with Prof. Gangee, was appointed by the
United States Government to investigate the cattle dis-
ease known as ''milk sick," then prevailing in Texas.
The common opinion, and one may hear it all over the
mountains of Western Carolina to this day, is that cows
are affected with this disease, so dangerous to mankind,
by eating a poisonous plant. The exhaustive report of
these botanists is said to disprove this theory.

"In a long article in the Botanical Gazette, published
at Crawfordsville, Indiana, August, 1887, it is said:
"The name of Ravenel will be perpetuated in the genus
Ravenelia of the Uredineae, a genus so peculiar in its
character that it is not probable that it will ever be
reduced to a synonym. One genus and fifty new species
of plants have been named after him. His researches
were original, and it is fairly claimed that his knowl-
edge of the cryptogamic flora of the Southern States
exceeded that of any other person; and for a long time
he and his friend, Dr. M. A. Curtis, were the only Amer-
icans who knew specifically the fungi of the United
States.

It is said that he was better known and appreciated
in Europe than in this country."

41
Bibliography.

Ravenel, H. W. Catalogue of the Natural Orders of
Plants in the Vicinity of the Santee Canal, as Repre-
sented by Genera and Species. Proc. Am. Ass Adv
Science. Vol. 3, 1850.

—Notice of Some New and Rare Plants Found in this
State. Proc. Elliott Soc. 1856.

—Description of a New Species of Baptisia (with
plate.) Proc. Elliott Soc. 1856.

—Some Rare Southern Plants. Bull. Torrey Bot
Club. N. Y. 1876.

— Contribution to the Cryptogamic Botany of South
Carolina. Southern Med. Journ.

— List of Books. Pamphlets. Catalogues and Con-
tributions to Scientific Magazines relating to the Botany
of this State. South Carolina Resources, etc., p 368,
1888.

— Fungi Caroliniani Exsiccati. Charleston. 5 vols.
1853-1860.

— Fungi Americani. London 8 vols. 1878-1882.

42

LEWIS R. GIBBES.

Lewis R. Gibbes, eldest son of Lewis Ladson Gibbes,
and Maria Henrietta Drayton, was born in Charleston,
S. C, August 14, 1810; died on November 21, 1894, at
the same place. A part of his early educational train-
ing he received at the Grammar School of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, in the years 1821
and 1822, then under the direction of the Rev. James
Whitbank ; but his preparation for college was made in
the Pendleton Academy, Pendleton, S. C, in the years
1823 to 1827. December 27, 1827, he was granted ad-
mission to the junior class of the South Carolina Col-
lege and graduated in December, 1829, with the highest
honors.

Upon graduation he began the study of medicine in
the office of Dr. Arthur S. Gibbes, of Pendleton. He had
been interested since boyhood in the subject of botany,
his mother being somewhat of a botanist herself; and
while here he entered upon the study of botany in the
fields and forests surrounding his father's residence. At
the request of the trustees, he took charge of Pendleton
Academy, giving instruction in the classics and math-
ematics until a permanent principal could be selected.
In November he went to Charleston to enter the office of
Dr. John Wagner, and at the same time took his first
course of lectures in the Medical College of the State of
South Carolina. He was elected December 3, 1831,
tutor in mathematics at the South Carolina College, in
place of Isaac W. Hayne, resigned. While tutor he con-
tinued the study of botany in the woods and sandhills
around Columbia, and that of medicine in the office of
Dr. Thomas Wells. The results of this work were pub-
lished in October, 1835, in a small pamphlet, entitled
''A Catalogue of the Phaenogamous Plants of Colum-

43

bia, S. C. and Its Vicinity," which contains the names of
about 900 species, with notes on some of them.

About this time a reorganization of the College took
place, and Mr. Gibbes found his tutorship abolished
and himself constituted acting professor of mathemat-
ics. He continued to act in this capacity until the close
of the college term in June, 1835.

Returning to Charleston, he took his second course
in the Medical College of the State, and was admitted
to the degree of M. D. in March, 1836, receiving the
prize cup for the French essay. He then sailed for
France, and pursued in 1836-37 his studies at Paris,
under the ablest professors at the Sorbonne. While here
he was a constant visitor to the Jardin des Plantes, and
from the professors there employed he obtained botan-
ical and conchological specimens in exchange for those
carried over by him from this country. At the time of
his death his Herbarium contained more than 4,000
specimens.

In November, 1837, he returned to Charleston, and
was elected professor of mathematics in the College of
Charleston in February, 1838, a position which he filled
for more than fifty-four years. Though originally a
teacher of mathematics, his subsequent instruction em-
braced astronomy, mechanics, physics and chemistry.
In 1853 he declined the professorship of mathematics
in the South Carolina College. From 1848 to 1853 he
did much work in the United States Coast survey. Be-
ginning with 1837, he wrote articles on subjects con-
nected with astronomy, natural history, etc., for various
publications. An article "On the Occultator," publish-
ed in the American Journal of Science, March, 1869,
was reprinted in journals in England and France.

In Vol. I, Proceedings of the Elliott Scjciety we find
the following statement. "Prof. Gibbes, after most
faithful service as president for 37 years, declined re-
election."

Of his work. Prof. R. Means Davis had the following
to say in a short article in a publication entitled "The

44

Centennial celebration of the granting of the charter to
South Carolina College:"

''While his favorite study was astronomy, he was at
home in almost every branch of modern science. The
variety of his knowledge was as remarkable as its
range. Natural history was a branch which he eagerly
pursued, and in which he was the colleague of Agassiz,
of Holbrook and of Bachman. As an astronomer, he
made many practical calculations. Next to astronomy,
botany engrossed his affections. His mind possessed
the range of the telescope, the accuracy of the micro-
scope, and the variety of the kaleidoscope. Prof. Gibbes
was always a teacher; not only as a duty, but at home,
by the way, everywhere as w^ell as in his chair as a pub-
lic teacher. He proclaimed the same lofty ideal as was
embodied in the remark of Agassiz: 1 have no time to

make money.'
************

"The wife of a professor in Yale, who knew and hon-
ored him, thus writes of his burial place: 'And now he
lies at rest under the live oaks and magnolias, and the
little plants he loved and knew so well will bloom above
him, and the stars he traced in their courses will shine
down upon him in the earth of his own well-beloved and
native land.' "

To his work, the following tribute was paid by one of
his life-long friends, the Rev. C. C. Pinckney: "The
trees, the flowers, the shrubs, the grapes, the s^eds, the
fruit all engaged his scientific eye. From the scanty her-
bage on the seashore to the lofty firs of the AJJeghanies,
the vegetable kingdom was his familiar frieiaflj,"

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Gibbes, Lewis R. — "A Catalogue of the Phaenogam-
ous Plants of Columbia, S. C, and Its Vicinity." —
Pamphlet. 1835.

— "Accentuation of Names in Natural History." Vol.
I, Proceedings Elliott Society. 1857.

45

. — ''Convenient Form of the Aspirator," Vol. I, Pro-
ceedings of Elliott Society, 1858.

—''Botany of Edings's Bay," Vol." I, Proceedings of
Elliott Society, 1857.

— "Notice of the Phenomena Attending the Shock of
the Earthquake of December 19, 1857. Vol. I, Pro-
ceedings Elliott Society, 1857.

—"Monograph of Genus Cryptopodia/' Vol. I, Pro-
ceedings Elliott Society, 1854.

— "Description with Figures of Six Species of Por-
cellana Inhabiting Eastern Coast of North America,"
Vol. I, Proceedings Elliott Society, 1854.

—"Description of Ramlia Mmicata/' Vol. I, Proceed-
ings Elliott Society, 1857.

.^"Discovery of a New Species of Fir in the Moun-
tains of North Carolina ; Allied to Abre's Canadensis.
Purpose to Call it Abre's Carolinensis. Proceedings El-
liott Society, 1858.

—"On the Occultator," Vol. I, Proceedings Elliott
Society, 1868.

— "Synoptical Table of the Chemical Elements,"
Vol. II, Proceedings Elliott Society, 1875..

—"The Identity. of the Comets, 1886 b," 1844 b, and
1678." Proceedings Elliott Society, Vol. II.'

— "Observations of Earthquake of 1886," Vol II, Pro-
ceedings Elliott Society, 1887.

— "Note on Pieris Rapae/' Vol. II, Proceedings Elliott
Society, 1887.

— "A Portable and Easily Made Heliotrope," Vol. II,
Proceedings Elliott Society, 1887.

— "Note on the usual Methods of Demonstrating the
Arithmetical Rule for Finding the Area of a Triangle
when the Three Sides Are Given," Vol. II, Proceedings
Elliott Society, 1887.

—"Notice of Stalactites Formed in Artificial Struc-
tures," Vol. II, Proceedings Elliott Society, 1889.

46

FRANCIS PEYRE PORCHER.

Francis Peyre Porcher, physician and botanist, was
born in St. John's, Berkeley Parish, Charleston, S. C,
December 14, 1825. He was descended from Isaac
Porcher, a French Huguenot, who emigrated from
France at the time of the persecution of the Huguenots
by the Catholic Church as a result of the revocation of
the Edict of Nantes by the harsh and impolitic act of
Louis XIV. His preparatory training was received at
the Mount Zion Academy, and in 1844 he was graduated
from the South Carolina College with the degree of
A. B. From the Medical College of South Carolina at
Charleston, he was graduated in 1847 with the degree
of M. D., taking the first honor place in a class of
seventy-six medical students. His thesis, which was
published by the College faculty, was entitled "A
Medico-Botanical Catalogue of the Plants and Ferns
of St. John's, Berkeley, South Carolina." Dr. Porcher
afterward spent two years in attendance upon the
medical schools in Paris, also passing some time in
Florence, Italy, where he acquired a knowledge of the
Italian language.

Dr. Porcher returned to Charleston, S. C, and as-
sisted in establishing the Charleston Preparatory Medi-
cal School, and was subsequently elected professor in
the chairs of clinical medicine and of materia medica
and therapeutics in the Medical College of the State.
He was for five years one of the editors of the "Charles-
ton Medical Journal and Review," and also assisted in
editing and publishing four volumes after the War Be-
tween the States. He prepared by order of the Sur-
geon-General of the Confederate States a volume of
over 700 pages, entitled **The Resources of the South-
ern Fields and Forests." This was essentially a medi-
cal botany of the Confederate States. The book was

FRANCIS PEYRE PORCHER
A. B. 1844, South Carolina College

47

of such value and interest as to warrant the issuance by
its author of a revised edition in 1869.

Dr. Porcher, with his two brothers, served throug-h-
out the War Between the States. He was surgeon to
the Holcombe Legion, to the Naval Hospital at Norfolk
harbor, and to the South Carolina Hospital at Peters-
burg, Va. His contributions on medical subjects to
medical publications have been numerous and valu-
able. Articles from his pen appeared in "The Amer-
ican Journal of the Medical Sciences," ''The Charleston
Medical Journal and Review" and other journals North
and South. Some of his most important contributions
were upon yellow fever, diseases of the heart, and on
the medical and edible properties of cryptogamic
plants and on gastric remittent fevers.

Dr. Porcher was president of the South Carolina Med-
ical Association, of the Medical Society of South Caro-
lina, and vice-president of the American Medical Asso-
ciation. He was a member of the American committee
of the World's International Medical Congress, and
also at the meeting in Rome, Italy, 1893. He was also
president of the section on General Medicine, Pan-
American Congress in 1892 ; member of the Association
of American Physicians, and an Associate Fellow of
the College of Physicians in Philadelphia. The degree
of LL. D. was at the commencement in May, 1891, con-
ferred upon him by the University of South Carolina.
He collected as a part of his botanical work a consid-
erable number of plants for preservation, and this her-
barium of his is now in the possession of the Charleston
Museum.

Bibliography.

Porcher, Francis Peyre. — ''Medico-Botanical Cata-
logue of the Plants and Ferns of St. John's, Berkeley,
S. C," 1847.

— "Sketch of the Medical Botany of South Caro-
lina." 1849.

48

"Medicinal, Poisonous and Dietetic Properties of

the Cryptogamic Plants of the United States," (being
a report made to the American Medical Association at
its session held at Richmond, Va., and St. Louis, Mo.)
1854.

"Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests.'*

Pub. by order of the Surgeon-General, Confederate
States of America. 1863.

"Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests."

(Second edition.) 1869.

— ''Illustrations of Disease with the Microscope.
Clinical Investigations, with upwards of five hundred
original drawings from Nature and one hundred and
ten Illustrations in Wood." 1860.

49

JOSEPH HINSON MELLICHAMP.

Joseph Hinson Mellichamp, physician and botanist,
was born in St. Luke's Parish, South Carolina, May 9,
1829. His father was for many years preceptor of
Beaufort College, and afterwards was pastor of St.
James Church, on James Island. Himself a lover of
outdoor life and of natural objects, he influenced the
tastes of his son in the same direction and especially for
botany, an influence which continued throughout his
life.

In 1849 Joseph Hinson Mellichamp was graduated from
South Carolina College and in 1852 from the Medical
College at Charleston. He then spent some time in
Europe, studying in the hospitals of Dublin and Paris.
On his return he established himself as a physician at
Bluffton, S. C, and here he remained most of his life,
the exceptions being the time when he was a surgeon
in the army of the Confederacy, and when, during the
last years, much of his time was spent with his daugh-
ter and only child in New Orleans.

His extended practice among the planters and their
dependents made strong demands on his time, but he
found time for much botanical research and collecting.
In the interesting floral region around him were many
of the rarer species described by Walter, Michaux and
Elliott. Specimens of these were much prized by the
botanical fraternity and, through his correspondents
were largely and freely distributed, finding their way
into, and retaining at the present time, a place in many
of the best herbaria.

His advantageous location and familiarity with the
flora of his locality brought him into intimate touch
with many of the contemporary botanists of note. In
''The Botanical Works of the late George Englemann,"
edited by Wm. Trelease and Asa Gray, 1887, under

50

the caption "Notes on the Genus Yucca/' Englemann
has the following to say: "Within the past two years
an unpretending physician of South Carolina, Dr. J. H.
Mellichamp, who does not even claim to be a botanist,
but is imbued with arduous zeal and keen sagacity and
who lives right among the Yuccas, has wonderfully im-
proved his opportunities, and has very greatly aided me
in my investigation by specimens as well as by his ob-
servations. I may add here that also on other families
of plants of his rich State, already so long and well
known through the labors of a Walter and an Elliott,
have his researches shed new light as will appear in

future pages of these transactions.

♦ * * * * * *■* * * * *

**Dr. Mellichamp's notice of a minute drop of glutin-
ous liquid in the tube formed by the coalescence of the
so-called stigmas led me on to further experiments.
That tube proved to be the real stigma, exuding stig-
matic liquor and insects (in these night-blooming flow-
ers, of course, nocturnal insects) must be the agents
which introduced the pollen into the tube."

Under his treatment of the **Coniferae," he says at
the conclusion of his description of Pinus Elliottii,
Engelm, New Species:

"P. Elliottii was imperfectly known to Elliott and
was considered by him a form of P. Taeda. Later bot-
anists ignored it, till Dr. J. H. Mellichamp, of Bluffton,
S. C, rediscovered it about ten years ago, and directed
my attention to it. Without his diligent investigations,
ample information and copious specimens, this paper
could not have been written. * * * j ^^^ partic-
ularly indebted to Messrs. Bolander, Brewer, Parry,
and Lemmon for their contributions of the Californian
and Rocky Mountain Conifers, and to Messrs. Canby,
Oilman, Ravenel, and Mellichamp for those of the
Northern and Eastern American Pines."

Sargent in his Silva of North America says of Dr.
Mellichamp that ''he rendered substantial service to

JOSEPH HINSON MELLICHAMP
A. B. 1849, South Carolina College

51

science" * * * ''and I am glad to take this op-
portunity to acknowledge my indebtedness to him for
the assistance he has rendered me by studying the
trees, and especially the oaks of the Carolina Coast
Region." Dr. Asa Gray also noticed him in a highly
complimentary way.

A botanist contemporary with Dr. Mellichamp, W. H.
Canby, has the following to say in the Torreya, Vol. 4,
No. 1, January, 1904, with regard to the work and
character of the man :

"His good judgment in making observations and
clear statements of the results brought him the cor-
respondence and esteem of Doctors Gray, Engelmann
and other masters of the science. For Dr. Englemann
he investigated the flowering and fruiting of some
species of Yucca, the peculiar oaks of his region, and
especially Pinus Elliottii, which he practically discov-
ered, and, in the excellent notes he furnished, ade-
quately described. Very acute observations on the in-
sectivorous habits of Sarracenia variolaris were pub-
lished in the Proceedings of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. In this paper he re-
corded his discovery of the lure by which insects are
tempted to the fatal pitcher of the leaf; of the fact that
the secretion therein is more or less of an intoxicant;
and the curious fact that the larva of a certain insect
was able to resist the secretion and feed upon the de-
caying mass. Dr. Sargent, in his Sylva of North Amer-
ica, acknowledges his services in the studies of oaks
and other trees. Dr. Gray so esteemed his assistance
that he named a Mexican Asclepiad in his honor, Mel-
Uchampia. Desirous of helping others, he was one of
those men who, diffident and retiring, and not caring
to advance their own fame, always willingly give others
the benefit of the knowledge they have acquired. It
is not too much to say that but for him considerable of
value would have remained unknown of the flora of
his district; grateful acknowledgments of this have
come from European as well as American botanists.

52

'*Dr. Mellichamp was an ardent lover of nature, with
a poetic and artistic spirit, and his letters teem with
fine descriptions of the various objects which attracted
him in his professional drives about the country. He
was wont, as the spring approached, to speak of the
exceeding beauty of the young flowers of Pinus Elliot-
tii, as they expanded their cones over the trees, crown-
ing their robes of green with a haze of purple. His
letters show the keenest sense of the loveliness and de-
licious warmth of a spring in the pines with flowers
opening everywhere, the fragrance of the woods, of
jessamine and of magnolias filling the air made vocal
with the songs of mocking birds.

''But best of all, he was a man to be loved for his quali-
ties of heart and mind. A magnetic and attractive man,
his friends and correspondents cannot forget his ready
kindness and words of cheer, and will cherish his mem-
ory. He was loved by the poor people of his district,
who, in a touching way, mourned the loss of their *old
doctor' as his body was borne to the grave. As might
have been supposed, he was intensely Southern in his
feelings and in his love for his native State. He now
rests in her bosom; and the well known lines, slightly
altered, may well be applied to him; "Little he'll reck
if they let him sleep on in the grave where a Southron
has laid him.' "

The following notice appeared in the Botanical Ga-
zette for November, 1903 : "Dr. Joseph H. Mellichamp,
an ardent student of the Southern flora, died October
2, in James Island, S. C."

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