EARLY BOTANISTS AND BOTANICAL SECTION. 55 



The garden which he loved is being encroached upon by the 

 busy w6rld, on whose borders it lay for so long a time, but some- 

 thing of . its charm is still left and we hope will exist for many 

 years to come. It will be a great loss to the lovers of nature when 

 Dr. Booth's garden is entirely blotted out. 



El)A\ARD L. HaNKENSON. 



Mr. Edward L. Hankenson, a Corresponding Member of the 

 Academy, was born in Newark, N. Y. , March, 1845, and died in 

 the same town in February, 19 10. His education was obtained in 

 the Newark High School, and at an early age he entered his father's 

 business, developing it, as years went on, into the well known estab- 

 lishment of Hankenson & Son, and continuing in it until his death. 



When about seventeen, Mr. Hankenson began a careful study 

 of botany, and devoted years to this most congenial pursuit. It 

 was not only his great recreation, but he had the ambition to make 

 a complete collection of the flora of Wayne County, and most 

 thoroughly did he explore every portion of that territory. He be- 

 came an authority on the plants of the region, and for a time con- 

 ducted a class in botany in the Newark High School. For years he 

 was in personal correspondence with the most eminent botanists of 

 this country, including Asa Gray, Alphonso Wood, Dr. John Torrey, 

 Dr. J. W. Robins, Mrs. Lincoln Phelps, and many others. 



Upon the organization of the Botanical Section, Mr. Hankenson 

 became much interested in its work, frequently attending the meet- 

 ings and contributing many specimens for the herbarium, representing 

 not only the flora of Wayne County and our own neighborhood, ' 

 but other parts of the country as well. When the List of Plants 

 of Monroe County and Adjacent Territory was published, Mr. 

 Hankenson was authority for hundreds of specimens from Wayne 

 County. After his death, through the kindness of Mrs. Hankenson, 

 his large herbarium, comprising a complete collection of the plants of 

 Wayne County, also many foreign specimens, became the property 

 of the Academy and is incorporated with our other possessions. 



One marked characteristic of Mr. Hankenson' s work in con- 

 nection with the flora of Wayne County, was his demand for abso- 

 lute accuracy. Before making a record, he insisted on seeing the 



