THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 185 



with Thomas Meehan and John Evans, who had a botanic 

 garden, near Rosemont, Penns3^1vania. The library in 

 which he and his brother spent considerable of their time 

 was in a substantial fire-proof building a few rods from the 

 dwelling. He was much respected by all who knew him ; 

 by both neighbors and friends. 



The merit of the Painters, as botanists, consisted in 

 their arboretum, planted by their own hands on a property 

 of 500 acres, settled by Jacob Minshall in 1701. It passed 

 later to the Painters; Enos Painter marrying Hannah 

 Minshall. Enos and Hannah (Minshall) Painter, the 

 parents of Minshall and Jacob, died about 1840, when the 

 property passed into the hands of their sons, who planted it 

 to trees. 



Between 1840 and 1850 thej^ made exchanges with 

 Thomas Meehan and John Evans and others, from whom 

 they obtained many curious trees, shrubs and plants hardy 

 to the climate of southeastern Pennsylvania. The trees 

 were planted in rows, but later by their growth they formed 

 a perfect thicket. The collection still shows some choice 

 specimens, among them the big-tree. Sequoia gigantea, and 

 red-wood, Sempervirens, a fine cedar of Lebanon, an oriental 

 spruce, and a maple tree. The magnolias, Magnolia macro- 

 p/iylla, and M. Umbrella, are represented, as also the bald 

 cypress, Taxodium distichum, and Quercus macrocarpa. The 

 property, after the brothers' death, passed into the hands of 

 their nephew, John J. Tyler, who does not spend more than 

 two or three months on it.* 



* The information herein contained was furnished in a letter to Henry S. 

 Conard, of Westtown, Pa., who kindly loaned it to me for inspection. Mr. Conard 

 also wrote a sketch of the Painters, the contents of which he kindly permitted me 

 to use. 



