230 THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 



the same business. After residing there about two 3^ears he 

 married Mary Kellom, and in 1851 left Boston and moved to 

 Leominister, where he opened a book-store, and carried on 

 book-binding on his own account. This business enter- 

 prise, not being so successful as he had hoped, was 

 abandoned in 1853, and he removed to Camden, New 

 Jersey, where he resided during the remainder of his life. 

 About two years after the death of his mother, his father 

 married again, and when the father died in 1835, his widow 

 continued to carry on the book-binding business, and Charles 

 became a partner, and assumed the management, subse- 

 quently conducting the work on his own account. 



During the early part of his life he did not manifest 

 any especial interest in natural history, yet for a long time 

 he was a companion of C. S. Rafinesque, the well-known 

 naturalist, who boarded in the same house. This was 

 during the latter part of the life of Rafinesque, when he 

 was engaged in the manufacture of medicines. Very soon 

 after removing to Camden, Charles Parker became inter- 

 ested in conchology and entomology, which he pursued 

 industriously. He became acquainted with members of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences, and was elected a 

 member of that body August 29, 1865. In 1874 he was 

 elected one of the curators. 



Although he continued his interest in the study of con- 

 chology, he seemed to have taken an especial fondness for 

 the study of botany, which he never allowed to falter. He 

 was one of the first to discover that the ballast deposits 

 in and around Philadelphia and Camden were prolific in 

 introduced plants, and his knowledge of conchology some- 

 times enabled him to determine the part of the world from 



