Xli BRIEF MEMOIR OF BERNARD M'MAHON. 



stores then known in the Union, and where was transacted a con- 

 siderable business for that day. 



Such a store would naturally attract the botanist as well as the 

 gardener, and it was the frequent lounge of both classes, who ever 

 found in the proprietors ready listeners as well as conversers ; in 

 the latter particular they were rather remarkable, and here you 

 would see Nuttall, Baldwin, Darlington, and other scientific men, 

 who sought information or were ready to impart it. Mr. M'Ma- 

 hon was esteemed by these, and in several botanical works his 

 knowledge is spoken of with great respect and consideration; 

 Nuttall .has named a much esteemed species after him, though by 

 omitting the M' the circumstance has been little noticed. 



After a long life of laborious and painstaking industry Mr. 

 M'Mahon paid his last debt, and left the concern to the manage- 

 ment of his wife, who conducted it under difficulties that would 

 have appalled most women. She, however, continued to be suc- 

 cessful, but was at length stricken with blindness; in this con- 

 dition, she still occupied a seat behind the counter, and gave 

 directions to assistants, having a kind word and a piece of intelli- 

 gence for all who frequented the shop. Her foreman supplied 

 the flowers, seeds, plants, and bulbs for a considerable length of 

 time, but at last she too disappeared, the store was closed, and the 

 business passed into other and more enterprising hands. 



The writer of this very imperfect memoir, which he regrets 

 there are not materials extant to make more complete, has been 

 favored with the following letter from the able and well-known 

 botanist, Dr. William Darlington, which will fitly close this record 

 of a useful man. 



WEST CHESTER, June 15, 1857. 



MY DEAR SIB, 



I am much gratified to learn that a new edition of M'MA- 

 HON'S " American Gardener's Calendar" is in press. That work 

 was among the earliest of its kind in our country, and I have 

 always regarded it as among the best. It is at once comprehen- 

 sive and complete; and, moreover, remarkable for its judicious, 

 practical, common sense views of the subject. 



I had the pleasure of knowing BERNARD M'MAHON, in my 

 youthful days. He was, I believe, one of those Exiles of Erin 

 who sought and found a refuge in our country, near the close of 



