138 
The Garden Magazine, November, 1920 
The best of these trees and some of the shrubbery were cut 
down by Mr. Lilley, the owner, about that time, as he considered 
the shade too dense about the house. Many large trees were 
standing when 1 first visited the garden on May 22, 1896 and 
again in 1904, and on September 27, 191 3, to make an address at 
a memorial meeting of the Chester County Historical Society in 
memory of Humphry Marshall and William Darlington. 
The photographs which accompany this account of the Mar- 
shall Arboretum were taken on the fourth visit to the place on 
May 23, 1919, and in September, 1920. The noteworthy trees 
of the planted ground in front of the substantial stone hou’se were 
the Cucumber-tree (Magnolia acuminata), Kentucky Coffee-tree 
(Gymnocladus canadensis), Sweet-gum (Liquidambar styraci- 
flua), Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), Black-locust (Robinia 
pseudacacia), Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), Tree-of- 
heaven (Ailanthus glandulosus), White Pine (Pinus Strobus), 
Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), Chestnut (Castanea dentata), 
Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), Black Birch (Betula lenta), and 
the White Poplar (Populus alba). 
The Maple trees were represented by the Norway Maple 
(Acer platanoides), and Sycamore Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus). 
A large Horsechestnut (Aesculus Hippocastanum), full of flowers 
on the day of one visit, and the Buckeye (Aesculus octandra) 
were noteworthy. The secondary trees consisted of Box 
(Buxus sempervirens), Papaw (Asimina triloba) in full flower 
with its chocolate colored petals, Mountain Magnolia (Magnolia 
Fraseri) and Catalpa. On the ground the following herbaceous 
plants lent an interest to the stroll about the place; Winter 
Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) in fruit, Star-of-Bethlehem 
(Ornithogalum umbellatum) in beautiful white flower, False- 
mermaid-weed (Floerkea proserpinacoides), Mayapple (Podo- 
phyllum peltatum). The Winter Aconite was probably intro- 
duced originally from Bartram’s garden, as at one time it grew 
plentifully on the lawn there. All of the trees noted above on 
the days of the last visit of the writer were in a vigorous condi- 
tion of health. 
The old stone house built by Humphry Marshall and shown in 
the illustrations is in an excellent state of preservation. In 
Darlington’s time, a projecting bay-window was in evidence on 
the southwest corner of the second floor, and it is said was used 
by Marshall in his observation of the stars. This bay-window 
remained until a date subsequent to 1884, when a photograph of 
the house was taken by R. S. Redfield. Some lime between 
1884 and 1893, R was removed and the open space walled in, 
as the house at present stands. The house abounds in oddly 
shaped rooms, cupboards and closets. A grandfather clock 
formerly occupied a nook built for it in the old 
house. In the kitchen is the old fireplace with its 
swinging crane before which doubtless Marshall 
sat on winter evenings while writing his famous 
book on trees. Several stones on the east wall 
of the house are marked by rough inscriptions as 
shown in the accompanying photograph. 
In 1780 Humphry Marshall began to prepare 
an account of the forest trees and shrubs of this 
country which was completed and printed at 
the end of the year 1785 under title “Arbustum 
Americanum: the American Grove, or an Alpha- 
betical Catalogue of the Trees and Shrubs, na- 
tives of the American United States.” It is a 
duodecimo volume of one hundred and sixtynine 
pages. The arrangement is alphabetical and the 
descriptions are in accordance with the Linnaean 
system, and are for the most part faithful and 
satisfactory. The book is dedicated to the officers 
and members of the American Philosophical So- 
ciety of which Marshall was a member and was 
for that day, and under the circumstances of its 
production, a useful and highly creditable work. 
He also wrote an essay on the relation between 
botany and agriculture publicly read at a meeting 
of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agri- 
culture, February 14, 1786. In it he points out 
the science of botany in relation to other sciences, 
but emphasizes the fact that ‘‘of all others Agri- 
culture certainly claims the strictest relation.” 
Humphry Marshall was invited by Dr. Casper 
Wistar in a letter dated May 27, 1792, to explore 
the country west of the Mississippi, subsequently 
visited by Lewis and Clark in 1803, but for some 
reason did not accept. 
He was a big man, mentally and physically. 
Tall, erect, robust, possessing great muscular 
strength, his strong character was written in 
every feature. Toward the close of his life, he 
was much troubled with an affliction of the eyes 
and was finally compelled to give up his work 
because of failing sight. But he retained sufficient 
vision to enable him to find his way about among 
his beloved trees, and to point them out to his 
friends. He died November 5, 1801 at the age 
of 79 years and his body was laid to rest among 
his relatives and friends in the grounds at the 
Bradford meeting-house. 
LARGE KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE 
Across the road from the old Marshall house to-day stands this fine 
specimen of Gymnocladus canadensis, one of the best of its kind 
