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The Florists' Review 



September 9, 1915. 



OBITUARY 



George J. Walther, Sr. 



George J. Walther, Sr,, founder of 

 the business now conducted under the 

 name Of his son^ George, Jr., on Sixty- 

 third street, Chicago, 111,, died late on 

 Wednesday evening, September 1, at 

 the Walther homestead on Lowe ave- 

 nue, at the age of 77 years. " Though 

 he had been in feeble health for the 

 previous two years and had done little 

 active work during that time, he was 

 not supposed to be dangerously ill un- 

 til latfe* February, when he suffered a 

 stroke -'which the physician said was 

 due to a hemorrhage of the brain. A 

 third stroke of the same nature was 

 the imiafidiate cause of his death. 



He wjl^'^orn near Darmstadt, in the 

 province of Hesse, Germany, October 

 29, 1837, «nd came to America when 

 15 y*ft£*^^^of age. After residing in 

 New Jt^nc state about a year, he jour- 

 neyed^'^mf^Ctly to Chicago and settled 

 on the north side of the city. While 

 living there, he was married, June 6, 

 1865, to J^ifls Mary Selig, who survives 

 him. Iji "1873 — two years after the 

 great Chicago fire — he removed to the 

 south side, where he shortly afterward 

 bought a tract of ground on Lowe 

 avenue, in Englewood. There he 

 started business as a vegetable gar- 

 dener and built the residence which 

 has been the Walther home for the 

 last thirty-three years. 



In 1883 and 1884 he erected several 

 greenhouses, but he continued to de- 

 vote his attention chiefly to vegetables 

 until about ten years later. Then he 

 began the growing of flowers, which 

 soon became his main crop. He opened 

 his first store in 1893. About fifteen 

 years ago he retired from the manage- 

 ment of the business, placing it in 

 charge of a son and a daughter, George, 

 Jr., and Louise L. The younger man 

 has become one of the best known 

 figures in the Chicago market and in 

 the Chicago trade generally. The 

 senior Walther, however, did not then 

 withdraw entirely from the business, 

 but concentrated his energies at the 

 greenhouses and grounds, where he 

 actively superintended the production 

 of the crops until his health began to 

 fail, about two years ago. 



The funeral services were held at his 

 home, Saturday afternoon, Septem- 

 ber 4. The unusually large attendance 

 and the abundance of floral offerings 

 bore testimony to the high esteem in 

 which he was held. The surviving 

 members of the family, besides those 

 already mentioned, are Anna A. and 

 Catherine D. Walther, both residing at 

 the family home; Edward J., of Mon- 

 tana; Frederick P., of Montclair, 

 N, J., and Ralph A., of Lake Forest, 

 111. None of them is engaged in the 

 florists' trade except George and 

 Louise. 



Richard D, Griffin, 



Richard D. Griffin, one of the lead- 

 ing members of the Albany Florists ' 

 < lub, died August 26 at his home, 192 

 Second street, Albany, N, Y., after 

 a few days' illness from pneumonia. 

 The deceased was born in Albany fifty- 

 seven years ago. He entered the city 

 fire department when a young man, but 

 later was employed by the bureau of 



parks as assistant gardener. Follow- 

 ing a change in political administra- 

 tion, he left the city service and se- 

 cured employment as gardener for 

 several large estates, which work he 

 continued until the time of his death. 

 Mr. Griffin is survived by his wife, a 

 son, Russell, and a daughter, Mrs. J. 

 Linden. 



Eugene W. O'Hara. 



Eugene W. O'Hara, of Los Angeles, 

 Cal., was instantly killed by the acci- 

 dental discharge of his shotgun, Sep- 

 tember 2, when starting from San 

 Bernardino, Cal., on a hunting trip. 

 He was 53 years old, a native of Scot- 

 land, but born of Irish parents. For 

 many years he had charge of the 

 greenhouses and landscaping on large 

 private estates in the vicinity of 

 Boston and elsewhere, and he removed 

 to Portland, Ore., about ten years ago. 

 He took a position with the Portland 

 Seed Co., naving charge of its nursery 

 department. After serving eight years 

 in this position, he went to California 

 and in a short time entered the em- 

 ploy of Howard & Smith, of Los 

 Angeles. This position he held up to 

 the time of his death. 



He owned a residence at Portland, 

 Ore., which he had not occupied since 

 the death of his wife, about five years 

 ago. He was active in organizing the 

 Portland Floral Society and was a 

 popular member, serving a term on the 

 board of trustees. His only known 

 relative is an aunt, who lives in south- 

 ern California. A Portland Masonic 

 lodge took charge of his remains. 



S. W. W. 



Edwin Lonsdale. 



The brave old Duke of York, 



He had ten thousand men; 

 He led them up to the top of the hill, 



Aud be led them down again. 



A note of triumph rather than sad- 

 ness is expressed in the words of the 

 song he sang and loved so well. They 

 recur now, when it is meet to offer fit- 

 ting tribute to a noble life, full of 

 achievement and of warm-hearted 

 friendship — Edwin Lonsdale has gone 

 forth to meet his Creator. 



A telegram from Los Angeles, Cal., 

 brings tidings that Edwin Lonsdale 

 died in a hospital there Wednesday 

 afternoon, September 1, after a long 

 illness borne with great courage. These 

 are the plain facts. What do they 

 mean? That many, many of us who 

 are scattered all over this wide land 

 have lost a friend, a friend to whom 

 we could always turn for companion- 

 ship, sympathy and counsel; a friend 

 whose cheerful greeting and hearty 

 laugh won and held for him a warm 

 place in our hearts; a friend long to 

 be remembered. 



Edwin Lonsdale was born in Shrews- 

 bury, England, October 6, 1845. His 

 boyhood days were spent at Shenstone. 

 When a lad he commenced work as a 

 gardener at Enville Hall, the country 

 seat of the Earl of Slainsford, one of 

 the great show places of England. 

 Stephen Taplin, brother of James and 

 uncle of William H. Taplin, was at that 

 time in charge of the grounds and 

 greenhouses at Enville Hall. Here this 

 lad had opportunity to develop his taste 

 and acquire knowledge in his chosen 

 calling. 



Edwin Lonsdale came to America in 

 1869. He secured a position with 

 Thomas Meehan & Sons, Germantown, 

 Philadolptia, but soon after returned to 



England with the intention of going 

 into business with a partner in Lon- 

 don. This plan fell through. He re- 

 turned to this country in 1871, going 

 out to California. There he held posi- 

 tions with John H. Sievers in San 

 Francisco, and Mr. Rock in San Jose. 

 In 1873 Mr. Lonsdale returne'H to Phil- 

 adelphia and rented the Fletcher green- 

 houses, on Thorps Lane, Belfield. Here 

 he forced, roses and grew a general line 

 of plants for local consumption. When 

 there was a surplus he took his stock 

 to town and soon found that he got a 

 better price for it at wholesale in the 

 city stores than he did at retaU among 

 his neighbors. This suggested the idea 

 of growing especially for the wholesale 

 market. So, with his brother-in-law, 

 John Burton, who was renting green- 

 houses at Church and Chew streets, 

 Germantown, he decided to embark in 

 business on a more extensive scale. 

 Ground was purchased at Wyndmoor, 

 near Chestnut Hill, in 1882, and on it 

 were erected four greenhouses, 25 x 100 

 feet each, by the new firm of Lonsdale 

 & Burton. Each partner continued to 

 operate his leased greenhouses, a fore- 

 man being placed in charge of the new 

 property. The firm of Lonsdale & Bur- 

 ton was the first of the strictly whole- 

 sale cut flower and plant growers of 

 Philadelphia. Their affairs prospered, 

 more greenhouses were built, then two 

 fine dwellings, when first one partner 

 and then the other came there to live. 

 Roses, notably American Beauty, were 

 the leading crop. There were other 

 things, palms, carnations and smilax, 

 all in wholesale quantities. 



Mr. Lonsdale was always fond of try- 

 ing new things. One of his great suc- 

 cesses was made at this time with the 

 hybrid perpetual rose, Mme. Gabriel 

 Luizet. Mr. Lonsdale saw the possi- 

 bilities of this beautiful rose with the 

 perfect foliage. He secured a stock, 

 planted it out in solid beds in the green- 

 house and made a hit with it. Its pop- 

 ularity lasted for four or five years, 

 high prices being realized by the firm 

 for the blooms. With carnations Mr. 

 Lonsdale was extremely successful, both 

 as a grower and as a hybridizer. To his 

 skillful work with the camel 's-hair brush 

 we owe many beautiful seedlings. Grace 

 Battles, a lively light pink flower of 

 good size and fragrance, was in its day 

 a great carnation; so, too, was Helen 

 Keller, a large white with carmine 

 markings. 



The firm of Lonsdale & Burton dis- 

 solved in 1887, Mr. Burton, retaining 

 the greenhouses and the eastern portion 

 of the property, while Mr. Lonsdale 

 took the western portion and built new 

 greenhouses and a dwelling thereon. 

 The remarks made at that time by 

 those considered as in a position to 

 know seem funny now. They said that 

 the firm had been successful, but would 

 they do well in the future? With their 

 energies divided and double the amount 

 of glass, would the places prosper? It 

 was doubtful. They did prosper, never- 

 theless. Both places produced fine 

 stock and increased their glass area. 

 Mr. Lonsdale continued his hybridiz- 

 ing with plants, producing some not- 

 able crotons. Two of his best seedlings, 

 Robert Craig and Edwin Lonsdale, are 

 among our standard varieties today. He 

 was continually trying new plants, pay- 

 ing a high price for small plants or cut- 

 tings, or seeds that he believed to pos- 

 sess merit, growing them, and, if they 

 came up to his expectations, distribut- 



