JiH,x 22. 1909. 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



13 



korti^ultiwe, growing a varied assortment 

 of pla*to *** b^^ greenhouse on Camp 



.stre«t. 



John Thorpe. 



"Vm^ John" Thorpe, pioneer flo- 

 rist and first president of the S. A. F., 

 nassed peacefully away at his home in 

 Chicag© on the morning of Thursday, 

 .July 15. after a long illness. 



John Thorpe was born in Keyban, 

 Leicestershire, England, April 3, 1838. 

 His love of flowers was an inheritance 

 from several bygone generations, for his 

 nucestora for two centuries had been 

 liorticulturiats. In childhood he at- 

 tended the village school, but most of 

 Ills education, both general and technical, 

 was acquired in the school of practical 

 experience. To a greater extent than 

 is true of most men, he absorbed knowl- 

 edge continually while engaged in his 

 daily work, until he became unusually 

 well informed as a botanist and natural- 

 ist as well as horticulturist. 



After learning the rudiments of gar- 

 dening from his father, he was appren- 

 ticed, at the early age of 12 years, to 

 Ills uncle, a skillful gardener. In this 

 way he received practical training, while 

 still a mere boy, in all the varied details 

 of gardening, and as a horticulturist he 

 gave early proof of the ability which 

 made him in the prime of life one of 

 the foremost men of his profession. After 

 serving hia apprenticeship he took charge 

 of the estate of his cousin, T. Turner, 

 of Little Thorpe, remaining there until 

 1863, when he went into business as a 

 market gardener at Bristol. In 1868 he 

 engaged in the nursery business, in com- 

 pany with a Mr, Bell, at Stratford-on- 

 Avon. 



His activity in connection with flower 

 shows began when he had scarcely 

 reached the age of manhood. The first 

 show for which he was responsible was 

 held in Kensington Gardens, London, 

 nearly fifty years ago. Later he was 

 identified with shows held in the Crystal 

 Palace and in the Boyal Botanic Gar- 

 dens, also in London, and with scores 

 of other shows held throughout England, 

 Scotland and Ireland. 



Early in his career he received the dis- 

 tinction of being created a Fellow of 

 the Boyal Horticultural Society of Lon- 

 don, and although he would certainly 

 have been excusable if he showed a little 

 pride in appending the letters F. R. H. S. 

 to hia name, yet he never made any dis- 

 play of the title. 



Mr. Thorpe was married on Christmas 

 day, 1863, to Miss Clara Soars, the 

 daughter of a well-to-do farmer of Lei- 

 cestershire. They have had a family of 

 six children, all of whom were born in 

 the neighborhood of Stratford-on-Avon, 

 and four of whom are still alive. Mrs. 

 Thorpe died June 8, 1901. 



In 1872, accompanied by his wife and 

 family, he came to America and soon 

 became a prominent figure in the trade 

 in the vicinity of New York city. Not 

 long after his arrival here, he became 

 deeply impressed with the fact that one 

 of the great needs of the florists of 

 America was organization, and he began 

 to argue persistently in favor of the 

 formation of societies and clubs for 

 mutual helpfulness. He was one of the 

 most active participants in the work of 

 organizing the Society of American 

 Florists in 1884 and 1885, and he was 

 a charter member of the society. He 

 was elected president of the meeting for 

 organization, held at Chicago, June 19, 

 1884, and was president during the first 



John Thorpe. 



two years of its history, presiding at the 

 conventions held at Cincinnati in 1885 

 and at Philadelphia in 1886. He was a 

 regular attendant at the annual meet- 

 ings until within the last few years. Mr. 

 Thorpe was also one of the most diligent 

 workers in the organization of the 

 American Carnation Society and the 

 Chrysanthemum Society of America, and 

 few, if any, accomplished more than he 

 in bringing the chrysanthemum into 

 popular favor. 



For the first few years after his arrival 

 in America Mr. Thorpe took care of 

 Gordon park, in Cleveland, O. Then he 

 went to Queens, N. Y., where he was for 

 six years a member of the firm of Hal- 

 lock, Son & Thorpe. In 1887, after the 

 dissolution of this partnership, he bought 

 what was known as the old Hanft prop- 

 erty, including about 20,000 square feet 

 of glass, at Pearl Eiver, N. Y. He 

 made the chrysanthemum a leading spe- 

 cialty and continued in business there 

 until 1891. 



Mr. Thorpe managed the first flower 

 show held in Madison Square Garden, 

 New York, and for eight years he was 

 secretary of the Horticultural Society of 

 New York, of which he was also a char- 

 ter member. 



One of the clearest evidences of Mr. 

 Thorpe 's standing in his profession was 

 his appointment, in 1893, as the chief 

 of the Department of Floriculture at the 

 World 's Columbian Exposition at Chi- 

 cago. It was frankly acknowledged by 

 the trade and by the directors of the fair 

 that Mr. Thorpe 's ability and untiring 



energy constituted one of the chief fac- 

 tors in the success of the floricultural 

 department. 



He laid out the Wooded Island and 

 the Rose Garden at Jackson park, Chi- 

 cago. He was manager of the first 

 two flower shows at Kansas City, in 

 1902 and 1903, the memorable exhibi- 

 tions that may be truly said to have in- 

 troduced a new era in the exhibition of 

 flowers. 



Since that time, except when manag- 

 ing an occasional flower show, Mr. 

 Thorpe has been employed chiefly in 

 caring for the gardens and landscape 

 work of municipalities, corporations and 

 private citizens. He also had leisure to 

 write occasionally for different news- 

 papers and horticultural magazines. 



He is survived by a son, John Thorpe, 

 of Tarrytown, N. Y., and by three daugh- 

 ters. Miss Thorpe, Mrs. Flint and Mrs. 

 Romaine, of Chicago. He also leaves 

 seven grandchildren. 



The funeral was held Saturday, July 

 17, from the home of his daughter, Mrs. 

 Flint, 3519 Princeton avenue, and was 

 attended by many in the trade. The re- 

 mains were cremated and the ashes in- 

 terred upon the same ground in which 

 Mrs. Thorpe was laid away a few years 

 ago. 



Denver, Colo. — There was a hail storm 

 here early in July that broke some green- 

 house glass, but did not do any serious 

 damage. 



The Review sends the Florists' Man- 

 ual, by Wm. Scott, postpaid, for $5. 



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