BENJAMIN SMITH BARTON 



1766-1815 

 Bartonia decapetala — MUHLENBURG 



In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on February 10, 

 1766, Benjamin Smith Barton came into the 

 world with a fair heritage of theology from his 

 father, an Episcopal clergyman, and of science 

 from his mother, sister to David Rittenhouse, the 

 astronomer. The father, Thomas Barton, seems 

 also to have been a scientist, for he was a member 

 of the American Philosophical Society and a 

 correspondent of Linnaeus. 



Benjamin Smith was only eight when his 

 mother died, and but fourteen when left an 

 orphan. His taste for botany developed early, 

 and his knowledge of drawing was increased by 

 lessons from Major Andre, then a prisoner of war 

 at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 



He went to live with an elder brother and be- 

 came a student at the College of Philadelphia, 

 beginning his medical studies under Dr. William 

 Shippen, Jr. While still a pupil with him, he 

 journeyed with his maternal uncle, David Ritten- 

 house, and the other commissioners appointed to 

 survey the western boundary of Pennsylvania, 



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