THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
316 
bituary. 
JACKSON DAWSON 
* 
With the death of Jackson Dawson the horticultural 
world has lost one of its most notable characters. He 
was a worker rather than an advertiser and as such he 
rose to international fame. 
He was handling plants from Japan, Hawaii, South 
Africa and other remote regions, and sometimes as many 
as 25.000 a year were exchanged with different institu¬ 
tions. 
To have met Mr. Dawson and talked plants with him 
was a treat long to be remembered for no man could have 
a more intimate and profound knowledge of plants than 
he, and it was the kind of knowledge that he could apply 
in his work of hybridizing, grafting and propagation. 
He was a king among plantsment. He loved plants, 
gave his life to them, and they seemed to love him. 
Mr. Dawson’s family is also intimately connected with 
horticultural and floricultural activities; his son Charles 
is in charge of the Eastern Nurseries, while Fred, another 
son is an associate member of Olmsted Brothers, the well 
known landscape architects; a third son is an artist in 
the University of Pennsylvania, and a daughter teaches 
horticulture at Groton, Mass., and has been interested in 
our native plants. 
JOHN CHARLTON 
John Charlton, the founder of the firm of John Charl¬ 
ton & Sons, Rochester, New York, died at his home on 
Tuesday, August 2nd, at the age of 80 years. 
Born in England at Horningsham, Wiltshire, he re¬ 
ceived his education and served his apprenticeship at one 
of the leading private gardens in that country, coming to 
Canada at the age of 21. 
His first position there was gardener to Sir David Mc¬ 
Pherson. Toronto, later going to Rochester, New York. 
Mr. Charlton started in business for himself in a small 
way in 1865, which gradually grew into the present well 
known firm. He introduced many new varieties of 
The Late Jackson Thornton Dawson. 
Mr. Dawson’s death occurred on August 3rd at his 
home at the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain. Mass. 
He was in his 75th year. 
An Englishman by birth, he came to this country when 
he was four years old. and began his life among plants at 
'the early age of eight, at the nurseries of his uncle at 
Andover, later going to ITovey’s, one of the leading es¬ 
tablishments at that time. 
Mr. Dawson served during the Civil War. being 
wounded twice. 
His introduction to a large public came through his 
recognition of the Scottish heather which had been grow¬ 
ing wild in Massachusetts and his making the fact known 
to the world. He found the heather at Tewksbury. 
In 1871 he was offered a position under Francis Park- 
man of the school of horticulture of the Bussey Institu¬ 
tion. Then after two years Prof. Sargent took the place 
of Mr. Parkman, and a little later he became director of 
the Botanical Gardens of Cambridge. Mr. Dawson sup¬ 
plied him with plants for the gardens, and thus he be¬ 
came familiar with plants from all parts of the world. 
plants, among them being Ampelopsis Veitchii, the Peter 
Henderson tree Carnation, the Pockington Grape, the 
Golden Prolific Gooseberry. He also helped to intro¬ 
duce the James Yiek Strawberry and was among the first 
to grow hardy Grapevines for market. He was well 
The Late John Chariton 
