BIOGRAPHIES OF POMOLOGISTS, BOTANISTS, AND GARDENERS. 



by M. Carey & Son, in 181t. It is a work exhibiting study, nice observation, 

 and an amount of practical knowledge highly creditable to the research of the 

 author; it continues to be valued by pomologists, and to be quoted by them with 

 approbation. The author left among his papers considerable additions, the result 

 of his succeeding efforts to promote the cultivation of fruit. 



Mr. Coxe was born in Philadelphia, May 3, 1162 ; his father's name was "Wil- 

 liam, and his mother's was Mary Frances ; their names will be recognized by 

 Philadelphians, as belonging to families of the first stations, and having preten- 

 sions to be enrolled among the best informed, and most refined circles. 



An early grant of the Jerseys was made by the English crown to an ancestor 

 of Mr. Coxe, but was afterwards revoked from an idea that it was too large a 

 gift to be held by a private individual. A large tract given in exchange near 

 the northern lakes was accepted, a part of which has continued in the family until 

 very recently. 



He received a most imperfect education. The war, which eventuated in the 

 glorious liberty of our country, in its early stages checked all efforts for private 

 improvement, and few or no good schools were open for the instruction of the 

 youth of the land. At nine years of age, he, with some small assistance from 

 a member of his family, began his efforts to acquire' knowledge, and being truly 

 industrious, laid the foundation of a remarkably accurate and extended informa- 

 tion; his fondness for reading continued through life. Well do we remember 

 his extensive library in his fine mansion on the " Bank" at Burlington, when, 

 as a little boy, we were assigned the duty of bringing away, or taking home, some 

 book or pamphlet from his ever open stores of information. Years, we will not 

 say how many, have since rolled over us, and all but whitened a head even then 

 prying into gardens and conservatories with pleasurable sensations ; we have since 

 stood before kings, and the mighty of the earth, but never have felt greater respect 

 and veneration for them than we did when a boy for William Coxe. His person 

 was handsome, and his bearing that of the "old-fashioned" gentleman, improved 

 by mixing in the best society, but retaining the forms of the greatest politeness 

 and suavity, that modern usages are too rapidly casting off. 



An errand to Mr. Coxe's was a cherished privilege; never was the opportunity 

 neglected by him, to place in the hand of his visitor some fruit that he so well 

 knew would ))e appreciated by a youthful appetite. The finest Seckel pears we 

 have ever seen were not unfrequent deposits ; for this fine fruit he had an especial 

 fondness ; and, by careful cultivation, he had brought it to great perfection ; it is 

 by the absence of this cultivation that it has depreciated, and hy this alone. 



In 1789, Mr. Coxe married Rachel Smith, a most estimable and benevolent 

 lady, a descendant of the first and honorable settlers of that district of New 

 Jersey, a name that was so well known there, and so numerous, that a fine old 

 French emigre used to say, that when any one spoke to him, in Burlington, whom 

 he did not recognize, he always took off his hat, and said : " How do you do, 

 3Ir. Smith!" Mr. Coxe, at the time of his marriage, was settled as a merchant 

 in Philadelphia, but being unfortunate in business, he removed to Burlington, 

 where he improved his wife's large property, and materially beautified that ])retty 

 little town, now a city, particularly by extending the front of the "Green Bank," 

 and planting it tastefully with fine trees ; either the first poplar or the first willow 

 there, his daughter remembers him frequently to have said, was brought in his 

 hand from Halifax, Nova Scotia. 



The natural activity of his mind, and his strong desire for improvement, led him 

 to the cultivation of fruit, which he introduced in his collection from all parts of tl 

 United States, as well as from England and France. His orchards and his 



