22 



Dr. Andrew Nichols was born in the rural part of Dan- 

 vers, Nov. 22, 1785. He was the soh of Andrew and 

 Eunice (Nichols) Nichols, and studied medicine under 

 Dr. Waterhouse, settling in that part of Danvers, now 

 Peabody, in 1808, where he practised successfully, remain- 

 ing there until his death, March 31, 1853. 



He was particularly interested in the local natural his- 

 tory of this region, and in 1816 delivered a series of 

 lectures on botany, the first of such in this part of the 

 country. Dr. Nichols was one of the founders of the 

 Essex County Natural History Society and its president, 

 retaining unabated till death his interest in his favorite 

 study. 



William Oakes must be acknowledged as the most 

 eminent botanist of Essex County birth. He was the 

 sou of Caleb Oakes and was born at Danvers, July 1, 

 1799. He was educated at Harvard receiving the degree 

 of A. B. in 1820. He early developed a taste for natural 

 history relinquishing the practice of law, his chosen pro- 

 fession, to study this branch of science. 



Mr. Oakes' work was chiefly in New England, collecting 

 extensively in Essex County, Mass., Vermont, the White 

 Mountain region, and southeastern and western Massa- 

 chusetts. He prepared the list of plants of Vermont for 

 Thompson's history of that state ; and his work at the 

 White Mountains was so thorough that recent collectors, 

 with all the advantages of improved roads and easy access 

 to every portion of that region, have failed to add but few 

 to the number of species which he discovered there. It was' 

 his intention to have published a flora of New England, 

 but was deterred by the appearance of Beck's Botany. 

 He afterwards became deeply interested in a work, with 

 illustrations by Sprague, upon White Mountain scenery, 

 which was published in 1848 ; but not until after his death 



