14 



The Florists^ Review 



.iLi.v 11, 1912. 



OBITUARY. 



' John Algood Pettigrew. 



Siiiii' hist \V('(>U 's issue of Till' lu'\ icw 

 went to jircss flic craft has lost, in Jobu 

 Alj,M)0(l I'ctt i^icw, tin' (lean of Aiut'r- 

 icaii park siiiicriiitcniiciits, who difd at 

 BoHtoii July 2. 



JMr. lV'ttij;ro\v was horn at (iatcs- 

 head, l']iijj;laii<i, in 1S14 and at a 

 youthful li'^v toll()W(Ml ill the lootsti'iis 

 of liis father, wlio was a inoniineiit 

 gardener. He worked, among other 

 places, at Biddick Jfall, near J)urhani, 

 and could alwa_\s on occasion talk in 

 tho true \('rnacular of the Tyneside dis- 

 trict. He worked at several other 

 places in Kngland liefoit* coming to 

 America when L'l years of age and 

 gained a good fundamental knowledge 

 not onl\' of general gardening Imt also 

 roadni;il<ing and nursery wori<. which 

 stood liiiii ill excellent stead in later 

 years. 



He settled first in Chicago, where 

 floriculture and landscape gardening oc- 

 cupied him tor many years. His tlower 

 store ill that <ity was destroyed in the 

 great tire of Is71. Jle then became 

 manatzei for a lai.ue loiicern handling 

 building stone and remained with tliem 

 for eiiihteen years. H(> tluMi liecame 

 superintendent of Liiicidn juirk, Chi- 

 cago. During his years there he ac- 

 complished a great deal, some things 

 being cjeemed almost impossible, and 

 rose to the to)* of the ranks of i)ark 

 superintendents. The ]i(ditieal intrigues 

 whicii necessitated his lemoval from 

 (Jhicago were mourned l>y e\ eryone ha\ - 

 iug a sjiark of ci\ ic pride in liis make- 

 up. Mr. I'ettigrew ne.\t went to Mil- 

 waukee as head of its paik system, 

 and a year later was calicil to I'lospect 

 jiark, Brooklyn, wliiidi ho imiiKMistdy im- 

 proved, and so enlianced iiis re|iutati()n 

 that when Boston was in need of the 

 ablest jiark suiierintendeiit jirocurable, 

 eminent authorities, both in Kngland 

 and America, were a unit in ail\ ising 

 his selection. 



As head of the entire Boston jiark 

 system, which imduded the h'ivt'rway, 

 Fenway, Franklin park, Franklin Held, 

 Jamaica jiond and the many beautiful 

 boule\ ards and jdaygrounds of the city, 

 Mr. rettigrew did a notable work since 

 he starteil, .lanuary ], ls<»7, to change 

 what was practical chaos into one of 

 the most beautiful jiark systems in the 

 world, and the title of "Fatlier of the 

 Boston Bark Systi'in"" is his without 

 any (pialiticat ion. 



Mr. I'ettigrew u:is as well known 

 horticultuially in lliiiiiand as in Amer- 

 ica and counteij aiiiong his intimate 

 friends sucii iikmi as Sir Heniv J, 

 A'eit<li, William b'lJii iisoii, William 

 Watson, of Kew, and otlieis. On his 

 last \ isit there lie was com]dimented 

 by being askecl to ser\ c on one of the 

 coiiimitt(>es of th(> lioyal Horticultural 

 Society. His iuiowledge of trees, 

 shrubs ;iihl their proper jjlanting was a 

 re\idation to tliose accustomed to hap- 

 lia/ard mass plantings for immediate 



idVcct. 



The (leie.'ised \\:is for many years a 

 iiiemi>er id' tlie .M ass;i,|iuset t s Horticul- 

 tural Society, being at the time of his 

 death cli.-iiiinan (d' the jui/es and exlii- 

 bitions committee and a member of the 

 Hoanl of Trustees for the sixth consecu- 

 tive year. When he came to Boston tlie 

 <i;ir(Jeneis ' and I'^lorists' Club \vas 

 b;irely existing and intei'est in it was at 

 a low ebl». Ml'. I'etti^^rew served as vice- 



John A. Pettigrew. 



picsident in ]!»(!] and BldlJ and under 

 his ]iresidency in liKl.'! and 1!H)4 he, by 

 his efforts and personal .magnetism, 

 gahanized it into new life and ;i great 

 jiart of the club's present prosperity is 

 due to liini, a fact wliich the members 

 appreciateil when they made him a 

 presentation after his term had expired. 

 Of tlie new Horticultural Club Mr. Bet- 

 tigrew was one of the original twenty 

 members. The Bark 8uperintendents ' 

 Association of America owes its ijicep- 

 tioJi to liini ami when this body, during 

 the present summer, meets in Boston it 

 will miss his genial smile and kindly 

 welconu'. Mr. I'etti<;rew also belonged to 

 the I^oston Club. Boston Bowling Club. 

 Ajijialachian Mountain Club and Royal 

 Arcanum. He was married in ]8()8 to 

 Miss Anne Good, of Chii-ago, who sur- 

 vives, with four children. 



Funeral services were ludd at th(> 

 hom(> July n ami were attended by tlie 

 mayoi' and other piominent otlicials of 

 the city of Boston, in aildition to a 

 host of friends in other walks of life. 

 .\ wealth of beautiful lloral tributes 

 attested t]i(> esteem in which h(^ was 

 lield. W. X. Craig. 



Mrs. S. Muir. 



Isabelle l.'obertson .Muir, wicjow <d' 

 the late Samuel .Muir, one of the jiio- 

 iieer liorists of '■hic-igo. died -Inly 7 at 

 her lioiiie. llnl I'laiiie avenue, where 

 she hail lived for the last sixteen ye.ars. 



]\lrs. Muir was boin in Scotland, l'\di- 

 ruary L'L', 1 ^^Hi. She came to the riiited 

 States with her jiareiits when she was 

 only 1.") years oi aj^e. .Marrying Samuel 

 .Muir. she became identilieij with the 

 early history of the llnrists' business In 

 ('hicago, ot' which citv she has been 



a resident for forty-six years. The 

 Muir establishment is the second oldest 

 in Chicago, the business having been 

 founded in 186.3, by Samuel Muir, him- 

 self the son of a Scotch gardener. The 

 tirst location was at Thirty-third street 

 and South Park avenue, then called 

 Kankakee avenue. Greenhouses and a 

 residence occupied this site, then well 

 outside the city, and here John T. Muir 

 was born, March 26, 1869. In the early 

 days, Samuel Muir had a retail store 

 at 121 Lake street, being burned out in 

 the big fire of 1871. The store was 

 reestablished on Congress street, be- 

 tween Michigan and Wabash, where 

 the Auditorium now stands. This store 

 also was destroyed by fire. The next 

 location was on Wabash, but subse- 

 quently the store was removed to 2205 

 Michigan. In the meantime the South 

 Bark avenue property had been sold 

 and the greenhouses located at Fifty- 

 fifth and Center. The store at 226."> 

 Michigan was sold to J. T. Anthony, 

 who conducted it a number of years in 

 connection with greenhouses at Thirty- 

 fourth and Prairie. 



It was in 188.3 that Samuel ]\Iuir lo- 

 cated at ."..1.30 ]\nchigan avenue, within 

 a W'w blocks of his first stand. Here 

 he continued until the day of his death, 

 January 12, IS!).'). In the following 

 year tlie son, John T.. took charge of 

 the i'stat(>. The old place on Aliidiigan 

 avenue is still o]ierated, and is doing a 

 steadily increasing trade in spite of the 

 natural withdrawal of jiatronage by 

 iiwise li\iiig Tiearer a fine branch store 

 on (iraiid boulevard near Forty-sevetith 



street. 



Mis. Muir had suffered for years 

 from valvular lesion of the heart and 



