AMERICAN 
JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
Vol. II December, 1915 No. lo 
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF 
CHARLES EDWIN BESSEY 
(with portrait) 
Raymond J. Pool 
Charles Edwin Bessey, professor of botany and head of the depart- 
ment of botany in the University of Nebraska since 1884 and a con- 
spicuous figure in American science and education, passed away at 
his home in Lincoln on February 25, 1915, after a critical illness of 
four weeks. 
The Bessey family is of French extraction, the original form of 
the name being Besse. The tradition is that the early members of 
the family, who were Huguenots, were compelled on account of 
religious persecution to flee to England from the old home near 
Strassburg in Alsace. This exodus occurred in the latter part of the 
seventeenth century after which the "y" was added to the name. 
The Besseys remained in England for several generations. Among 
the first of the family to come to America was Jacob Bessey who, 
about the middle of the eighteenth century, emigrated from England. 
Jacob Bessey married and settled near Doylestown, Pennsylvania. 
One of the sons of this union was Michael, who was a weaver by trade. 
This son married Mary Wismar, a descendant of a family from the 
Palatinate on the Rhine. Michael and Mary Bessey were the parents 
of Adnah Bessey who was born in eastern Pennsylvania in 18 12. In 
1832 Adnah Bessey 's family with many others from the vicinity of 
his home migrated westward and settled in Wayne County, Ohio. 
Adnah Bessey married Margaret Ellenberger. Emmanuel Ellen- 
berger, the father, died when Margaret was but a young girl and the 
widowed mother married again. Margaret's stepfather was Jacob 
Kimmel, a widower with a large family. Margaret was accordingly 
[The Journal for November (2: 429-504) was issued Dec. 16, 1915.] 
505 
