86 THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 



WILLIAM BARTRAM. 



William Bartram, the fifth son of the botanist, John 

 Bartram, was born at Kingsessing, Penna., February 9, 

 1739, inheriting his taste for botany from his father. He 

 was his father's companion in several botanical journeys, 

 affording him much assistance. As William was never 

 married, he continued to reside in the old home with his 

 brother John, also a botanist, to whom the garden descended 

 by his father's will. 



William traveled extensively in the Southern states, 

 and an exhaustive account of these journeys appeared in a 

 book entitled : " Travels Through North and South Carolina, 

 Georgia, East and West Florida," 1791. * After his return 

 from his tours he devoted himself to science, and in 1782 

 was elected professor in the University of Pennsylvania, 

 which post he declined on account of failing health. f 



So far as can be ascertained, he was the first botanist 

 who visited the southern portion of the Alleghanies. Under 

 the auspices of Dr. Fothergill, X to whom his collections 

 were principally sent, William Bartram left Philadelphia 

 in 1773, and after traveling in Florida and the' lower . part 

 of Georgia for three years, he made a hurried visit to the 

 Cherokee country in the spring of 1776. On this trip he 



* 1791. W. Bartram— T^raueZs through North and South Carolina, Georgia, 

 East and West Florida, etc., containing an account of the soil and natural pro- 

 ductions of those regions, Philadelphia. Reprinted at London for J. Johnson, 

 1794, pp. xxiv, 520 ind. 8 tab. 



t For portrait of Wm. Bartram, see " Poineers of Science in America," 

 edited and revised by Wm. Jay Youmans (Appleton) 1896, p. 24. An oil painting of 

 Wm. Bartram reposes at the Pennsylvania Historical Society. 



X John Fothergill (1712-1780) was a native of Wesleydale in Yorkshire, and a 

 distinguished physician in London, where he lived from 1740 till his death. In 1762 

 Dr. Fothergill planted on his estate in Essex a collection of trees and shrubs, which 

 was at that time considered one of the most important in England. Silva of 

 North America. Sargent, VI, p. 16. Amer. Jour. Sci., XLII. 



