Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-10-12
NO. 242.
JOHN BARTRAM.
The SeIf.taught American B0tanlst.
BY JAMES PARTON.


it the parks and gardens of that exqisite-
) ly cultivated island are frequently graft
fled by observing American trees, shrubs
and flowers in great perfection. At Ok
ford there is famous avenue of American
beeches, and, indeed, there is scarcely
any American plant suited to the soil and
climate of England, which is not cultiva-
ted there. An English gentleman informs
me that persons of wealth who have large
gardens, sometimes set off a portion of
} them expressly for American plants, call
ing this portion ''The American garden;'
and in London there is an annual exhibi-
ton of American plants.
1t was only month or two since that
discovered how it was that so many Amer
: lean plants came to DE introduced into
England. The story is one of the prettiest
| have ever told.
John Bartram, the first American botan-
ist, born on the banks of the Delaware in
1899, the son of one of William Penn's
own colonists, inherited from an uncle
rough, poor farm near Philadelphia, which
he cultivated with his own hands, assisted
by one or two slaves. The only educa-
ton which he received in his youth was
such as country school afforded he had
a curious, inquisitive mind, and he ac-
quired, as young man, a smattering OF
Latin and Greek, and such knowledge
of medicine and surgery as enabled him to
be of use to his neighbors in times OF sick
ness and accident. But he was married
man, and fully established in life before he
had acquired the least knowledge Of, or
the least interest in botanical science.
One day in sping, about the year 1925,
John Bartram, after ploughing awhile in
one of his fields, paused under the shade
of tree to rest. While sitting upon the
grass near his painting beasts, he cast his
eyes upon daisy, which he plucked me-
chanically, and began to look at it with
certain languid curiosity. The more he
looked, the more interested he became;
observing the various parts, some perpen-
dicular, some horizontal, some white,
some yellow; and he fell to wondering
s what could be the purposes and functions
e of the several parts of the flower. For
the first time, ne was struck with his igno-
rance of the common things about him.
"What q shame it is" said he to himself,
''that 1 should have employed so many
years in tilling the earth and destroying so
. many flowers and plants without being ac-
quainted with their structure and their
uses !"
In relating the events of this day, he
would declare his inability to account for
such thoughts. He said it was like an in
spiration, for he had never had such re-
Elections before in his life. After pulling
his daisy to pieces, and musing on the
parts awhile, he took hold his plough again
and resumed his labor
But his new thoughts did not abandon
him, and a strong desire arose within him
for some knowledge of the plants and flow
ers around him. When the bell summoned
him to dinner, he related these circum-
stances to his wife, and made her acquaint-
ed with the desire for knowledge which
had sprung up in his mind. She did not
encourage him. He was not rich enough,
she said, to spend any of his time in such
pursuits, and she advised him to stick to
his farm, which, being recently hewed out
of the wilderness, demanded all his time
and care.
But he could not overcome his new de-
sire. 1t haunted him continually, whether
he was at work or at rest, at table or in
bed. He resisted the impulse for four or
days, and then, finding his desires uncon-
querable, he hired a man to plough for
him, saddled his horse, and rose, and rode
to Philadelphia. Arriving at the city, then
y town of ten thousand inhabitants, he
went to book store.
Not knowing what book to ask for, he
told the bookseller his story, and said he
wanted book which would give him the
botanical knowledge of which he was in
search. The bookseller provided him with
work on botany written in Latin, and a
Latin grammar as WELL This was sorry
comfort to mind so eager, but he was
fain to put the books in his saddle-bag.
and return to his farm with them. There
was school-master in the neighborhood
Tot nd
thusiastic student made such progress. that
in three months he found himself able to
translate, slowly and with difficulty, the
Latin of his botanical work.
Then he began to botanize all over the
farm. In a short time he became acquaint-
ed with every plant, shrub tree and flower
in his neighborhood. Then, as opportuni-
ty favored, and the work of his farm al
lowed, he made botanical tours in Mary
land. Pennsylvania, and Delaware, being
entertained by the members of the relig-
ious body to which he belonged, the So
ciety of Friends. Ere long, his circum-
stances improving, he extended his jour-
neys into Virginia, the Carolinas, and New
York until, in fact, he was acquainted
with the nature and habits of every plant
that grew between the Allegheny range
and the Atlantic ocean, and had recorded
his observations with scientific exactness.
He owed the leisure which enabled him
to pursue these extensive studies to his
excellent treatment of his servants, and
his superior management of his farm. At
a time when almost any other farmer of
any wealth cultivated his land with negro
slaves, John Bartram set his negroes free,
paid them eighteen pounds year wages,
taught them to read and write, sat with
them at table, and took them with him to
Quaker meetings
A foreign gentleman, who visited him in
his old age, says, that when the bell an
a nounced that dinner was ready, the whole
family and all the servants went into the
dining-room together. At the head Of the
table, the father and mother took their
seat The family and the guests sat next
to them; then the white hired men: and
last of all. the negroes; and they all dineo