912 CYRUS GUERNSEY PRINGLE. 



CYRUS GUERNSEY PRINGLE (1838-1911) 



Fellow in Class 11, Section 2, 1901. 



Cyrus Guernsey Pringle, who won distinction as a botanical explorer, 

 was born in East Charlotte, Vermont, May 6th, 1838, and died at 

 Burlington, Vermont, May 25th, 1911. By descent he was of both 

 Scotch and Puritan stock. His early years were spent in the simple 

 and rugged conditions prevailing in small agricultural communities 

 of northern Vermont in the middle of last century. Beyond a partial 

 secondary schooling his education was self-acquired. He never had 

 the advantage of collegiate training, yet in maturity he wrote well, 

 in a finished, if somewhat formal, English, was familiar with the ele- 

 ments of Latin and Greek, and had a good command of Spanish, not 

 to mention his technical knowledge of botany, plant-breeding, and 

 horticulture. He was early associated with the Friends and, sym- 

 pathizing deeply with their principles and faith, became a member of 

 their Society. 



In July, 1863, he and two other F'riends from his community were 

 drafted for service in the Federal Array. An uncle offered to pay the 

 sum needful to secure a substitute, but this he refused, feeling that it 

 would have been a concession to an abhorrent principle. Notwith- 

 standing their firm remonstrance against taking an}- part in warfare, 

 Pringle and his associates were taken to conscript camps first on Long 

 Island in Boston Harbor and then to Culpepper, Virginia. They 

 suffered many indignities even to bodily torture, were mild and kindly 

 toward their tormentors, and yet remained absolutely fixed in their 

 determination not to sacrifice their principles. Their case came to 

 the attention of Stanton, the Secretary of War, and they were sum- 

 moned to Washington, where they were treated with more considera- 

 tion. At length, through the intervention of Isaac Newton, the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, their case was brought before Lincoln, 

 who promptly ordered their release. A diary of more than 300 pages 

 carefully kept by Pringle during these trying experiences not only 

 possesses considerable historic significance regarding conscription 

 of the period but is in itself a human document of high interest.^ 



During the next sixteen years Pringle's attention was largely 

 devoted to the improvement of agricultural methods and especially 



5 See Atlantic Monthly, cxi. 145-162 (1913). 



