ASA GRAY 



BOTANIST 



1810-1888 

 BY JOHN M. COULTER 



ASA GRAY became the foremost botanist of America, with a 

 place in the esteem and affection of American botanists so unique 

 that it is not likely to be duplicated. His reputation as a scientific 

 man was perhaps greater in Europe, for at that time his most 

 important work could be appreciated better there; but his hold 

 upon his American colleagues was more that of a genial and 

 helpful teacher than that of an impersonal investigator. 



His boyhood gave little promise of this great future, for there 

 was nothing in his surroundings that suggested a life devoted to 

 science. It would be interesting to account for his unusual career 

 by discovering something in his ancestry or in his own early experi- 

 ences that brought it to pass. Unfortunately such records are too 

 scanty to be used in such a way, and Dr. Gray was too busy with 

 his work to supply more than the barest outline of his early life. 

 His father was a tanner in Sauquoit, Oneida County, New York, 

 where Gray was born, November 18, 1810. While he was very 

 young the family moved to a small settlement about a smelting 

 furnace Paris Furnace where the father established a tannery. 

 The child was set the monotonous task of feeding the bark-mill 

 and driving the old horse that furnished its motive power. Those 

 who have seen these old mills can appreciate that a keen, active 

 boy, restless in mind and body, would find such an occupation 

 depressing; but it may have been good training. 



Mrs. Gray has recorded her impressions of the father and mother 

 as follows: 



211 



