ee 
Part Il. The Academy Of Science Of 
St. Louis, 1856-1881: Years Of 
Triumph, Years Of Tribulation 
In January 1856, former Western Academy leaders George 
Engelmann and Friedreich A. Wislizenus met with a group of ten other 
medical doctors, a lawyer, a businessman, and an engineer to discuss 
the formation of a second St. Louis society to advance the study of 
science. In addition to Engelmann and Wislizenus, this group consisted 
of Charles P. Chouteau, James B. Eads, Nathaniel Holmes, Moses 
Linton, William McPheeters, Moses M. Pallen, Simon Pollak, Charles 
A. Pope, Hiram A. Prout, Benjamin F. Shumard, Charles W. Stevens, 
William H. Tingley, and John H. Watters. The motives of this group 
mirrored those of the founders of the Western Academy: they hoped 
to improve St. Louis’ cultural life and they wished to aid in the ex- 
ploration and exploitation of their state and the West. 
On February 8, 1856, eleven of the original fifteen men assembled 
as an ad hoc organizing committee to talk about the proposed society. 
After careful consideration, the group decided that the new society’s 
raison d’etre would be ‘‘the investigation of subjects pertaining to the 
various branches of science, the accumulation of a scientific library, 
and the formation of a museum which should contain collections in the 
various departments embraced in the term, Science, and also objects 
illustrating the manners and customs of the aborigines of North 
America.’”! 
The ad hoc committee also discussed how the new society might 
be financed and talked about the desirability of acquiring certain col- 
lections of fossils and other specimens located in St. Louis. The com- 
mittee appointed William H. Tingley, Benjamin Shumard, and Charles 
P. Chouteau to prepare a circular addressed to the people of St. Louis 
who could donate funds and collections. 
In addition, the ad hoc committee decided to make application for 
a charter at an upcoming session of Missouri’s General Assembly. The 
organizers then named Hiram Prout, William Tingley, Benjamin 
Shumard, and Nathaniel Holmes to a subcommittee charged with draft- 
ing a constitution and by-laws. Furthermore, this subcommittee was 
instructed to consider whether the new society should be named the 
**Academy of Science’’ or the ‘‘Academy of Natural Science.’’? The 
meeting adjourned after the planners agreed to meet again on being 
notified by the chairman of the subcommittee. 
In March, the chairman of the subcommittee, William Tingley, 
11 
