36 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1892. 



John Chandler Bancroft Davis, now of Washington, D. C, 

 was born in Worcester, in 1822. He was United States Secre- 

 tary of Legation at London from 1849 to 1852, Assistant Secre- 

 tary of State from 1869 to 1871 inclusive, and from 1873 to 

 1875 inclusive. Was United States Minister to Germany in 

 1875, and in 1877 was appointed Judge of the United States 

 Court of Claims. 



Dr. John Green, the first President, will be recognized as the 

 munificent founder of our Public Library. 



Dr. Joseph Sargent, but recently deceased, was for many years 

 the leading physician of this city, and was at his death a Trustee 

 of Clark University. 



Emory Washburn, made Governor of the Slate in 1854, 

 became later in life a distinguished jurist and author. 



Most of the remainder will be recognized by the older mem- 

 bers of this Society, as among the most honored citizens of 

 Worcester. 



But of all this list of officers no one was more active and 

 efficient than William Lincoln, brother of Governor Levi Lincoln, 

 and the historian of Worcester. He was '■^ par excellence^'* the 

 founder of the Society. He seems to have first conceived the 

 idea of such an organization and brought it to a successful issue. 

 And in the accomplishment of this purpose he was indefatigable. 

 His enthusiasm and energy knew no bounds. He not only 

 enlisted the sympathy and co-operation of the leading citizens of 

 Worcester, but secured aid from the Massachusetts Society. 

 Through his efforts generous contributions were sent by mem- 

 bers of that Society to the first exhibition, helping to make it 

 what it proved to be, a marvellous success. The origin of this 

 movement seems to have been a protest on the part of certain 

 members of the Agricultural Society who were devotees of 

 Horticulture at the utilitarian spirit of the managers of that 

 Society. The same " worldliness " which to-day makes the 

 ploughing match subordinate to the claims of the trotting horse 

 at that time ignored the finer products of the garden. 



Apples, and certain products in the vegetable line, were treated 

 with some consideration, but flowers and other fruits received 

 little notice or encouragement. They were relegated to some 



