Z PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



ing the character and life-work of George Ord. He was born 

 March 4, 1781, but whether in Philadelphia or England I have 

 been unable to ascertain. 



According to the Philadelphia Directory of 1796, Ord's 

 father, also named George, was a sea captain, living at 354 

 South Front Street. This is confirmed by his tombstone in the 

 Old Swedes churchyard, which further states that he was born 

 in Great Britain, March 26, 1711, and died in Philadelphia, 

 October 13, 1806. On the same stone is the notice of his wife 

 Rebecca, who died in 1823 (1825 ?) as nearly as can be deciph- 

 ered. A further study of the old directories shows that Capt. 

 George Ord became a ship chandler and rope-maker on Willings 

 and Francis Wharf in 1798, and that sometime after, say about 

 1800 took his son George, Jr., into partnership — "George Ord 

 and Son, Ship Chandlers." Ord's home at that time, and ever 

 afterward, was in his father's house on Front Street. After the 

 death of his father in 1806, young George became partner with 

 his mother, as "George Ord & Co.," in the same business. 

 His mother was a Swede, one of five married daughters of 

 George and Judith Lindemeyer, probably very early settlers in 

 the city. Her parents' graves adjoin those of the Ords, and 

 her married sisters' in a corner against the northwest shoulder of 

 the church. How long Ord actively continued his father's 

 business is not exactly determined, but about 1829 he ceases to 

 be listed as a ship chandler. He was always known to his 

 later associates as a wealthy gentleman of leisure, though far 

 from idle in his chosen scientific pursuits. He married, pre- 

 sumably, about 1815, and had a daughter, who died in infancy, 

 and one son, Joseph Benjamin, who was an artist of much 

 ability in the painting of fruit studies. He was recorded as a 

 portrait painter in 1835 and a picture restorer in 1855. Ord's 

 wife was for many years an inmate of the Pennsylvania Hos- 

 pital, owing to a mental affliction, and it was largely due to his 

 gratitude for their good care of her that he gave that institution 

 various sums, amounting to about $20,000, the greater part of 

 which was devoted to a fund for the study and cure of mental 

 diseases. 



Just when he began to take an active interest in nature study 



