OBITUARIES. 405 



obliged him to resign his naval position. From that time until his death, 

 he has with the greatest zeal prosecuted his favorite study. Though 

 through loss of fortune, he has been obliged to devote some portion of his 

 time to business engagements, it has never been allowed to interfere 

 with his study of botany. He has, both in England and in this country, 

 written several valuable papers on his favorite topic, ferns, his knowledge 

 of that particular branch being wonderful. He was president of State 

 Chapter Agassiz Association, and made an effort get up a chapter in 

 Kilbourne City. Mr. Chanter was the means of keeping up a horticultural 

 society in Kilbourne, consisting of, I think, one hundred and sixty mem- 

 bers. By his energetic canvassing and enthusiastic love of Howers, etc., he 

 gave the people a new interest in horticulture. His whole heart was in 

 the work. With a view of erecting a huge greenhouse for the cultiva- 

 tion of tropical ferns, he bought a portion of the dell, " Artist's Glen," 

 the spot chosen for that purpose, but failing to rueet any encourage- 

 ment from the residents (in fact, something more like opposition to his 

 plans) he eventually sold the land to a company whose object was to 

 improve the property as a summer resort. 



Mr. Chanter was staying in Chicago at the time he met his death with 

 the view of becoming an assistant in the horticultural department of the 

 World's Fair. Mr. John Thorpe being a personal friend of Mr. Chanter, 

 it would have been a source of great pleasure to him if he could have suc- 

 ceeded in his project. The Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company had 

 engaged him to arrange their gardens at the railway stations. Last year 

 he arranged a very pretty and tasteful garden at the Kilbourne depot. He 

 possessed a bright, happy, hopeful disposition, and any number of failures 

 did not daunt him. His predilection for botany was not a mere liking,but 

 a life passion. A man possessing a large heart, alove for all mankind, as, 

 also, a love for all the beautiful in nature— a religious man. As an illus- 

 tration of his love for nature, I will give you a little incident. He pre- 

 ferred, whenever the opportunity occurred, praying in the woods or in 

 some beautiful sequestered spot, to worship in a house; he said he felt 

 that God was nearer to him, and was around in every tree and flower and 

 blade of grass. I should advise all young people to study nature in her 

 manifold forms— for who could be really wicked who possessed a knowledge 

 and a love for the Creator's works'? 



I have known Mr. Chanter climb up rocks of great height and almost 

 perpendicular to reach a specimen; he seemed to know no fear nor dan- 

 ger when a favorite plant had to be reached. He met his untimely death 

 by falling, Dec. Uth, 1892, from an elevator, fifteen stories, in the Ma- 

 sonic Temple, Chicago. He was calling for a professor in the building 

 to accompany him to Jackson Park, and was carrying a basket of tropical 

 ferns to be planted in the park hothouse. 



He was a life member of the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



In writing this little sketch I feel that I cannot do him justice, so 

 many things might'be penned by an abler writer; but I have given you 

 sufficient to show the love he possessed for horticulture. All his friends 

 miss him. 



I forgot to mention that the reason for Mr. Chanter's coming to the 

 States was to pursue in a larger field his study of ferns. He left Eng- 

 land for the States in 1881. 



Yours sincerely, MRS. LILLIAN CHANTER. 



