JOHN TORREY. 



1796-1873. 



ALTHOUGH never noted as a scientific centre, the city of 

 New York has had several men of science of eminent abilities. 

 Among the foremost of these was the subject of the present 

 article. 



John Torrey was born in New York, August 15, 1796. He 

 lived most of his life in that city and died there March 10, 

 1873. He is believed to have been descended from William 

 Torrey, who emigrated from Somersetshire, in England, and 

 settled at Weymouth, Mass., about 1640. His grandfather, 

 John Torrey, and his father, William, removed from Boston to 

 Montreal when the Boston Port Bill came into force. William, 

 then a boy of seventeen, soon ran away to New York and 

 joined a Continental regiment of which his uncle was major. 

 He was made an ensign, served throughout the war, and re- 

 ceived his discharge as a captain. His father also came down 

 from Canada and served as quartermaster of the same regi- 

 ment. 



Captain Torrey married Margaret Nichols, of New York, in 

 1791. John was their second child and the first that reached 

 adult age. His birthplace was in John Street, a locality long 

 since given over to trade. He has been heard to tell that 

 when a boy of some twelve years of age he was sent on an 

 errand one evening as far as Canal Street, and that he consid- 

 ered it a great hardship to be obliged to go so far into the 

 country after dark. When he was fifteen or sixteen years old 

 his father was appointed fiscal agent of the State prison at 

 Greenwich, whither the family removed. Canal Street is now 

 considered to be away down town, while Greenwich, although 

 a suburban village in 1812, is also a down-town district, being 

 below Fourteenth Street. 



Young Torrey received his education in the public schools 



