4 THE “A UD U*BiOeNy sb: U Teer aie 
Major Robert Ken nicott 
The American Ornithologists 
Union a few years ago organ- 
ized a committee on biography 
and bibliography which is to 
make official note of the homes 
and last resting places of well- 
known ornithologists. This has 
involved considerable investi- 
gations but the work of 
the committee has been meet- 
ing with a good measure of suc- 
cess. This committee took the 
occasion of the recent meeting 
of the Union in Chicago to look 
up the home and last resting — 
place of Major Robert Kenni- 
cott, the well-known pioneer in 
Illinois ornithology and Arctic 
explorer under the auspices of 
the National Government. A 
[= _—— - party consisting of Doctor and 
MAJOR ROBERT KENNICOTT Mrs. T.S.Palmer, John H.Sage, 
and Ruthven Deane went to Des Plaines where they were met by 
Ransom §S. Kennicott, Chief Forester of the Cook County Forest 
Preserve, a nephew of the late Major Kennicott. They made 
a pilgrimage to Arlington Cemetery and then they proceeded 
to “The Grove,” the original home of the Kennicotts. The house, 
which appears in our illustration, was built in 1845 and it was 
here that Major Kennicott spent much of his early life and 
wrote many of his reports. The death of this brilliant naturalist 
and explorer at the comparatively early age of thirty-one, cut 
short a career full of promise which had been signalized by 
numerous activities in laying the foundation of scientific surveys. 
Robert Kennicott was born in New Orleans, November 13, 
1838, and passed his boyhood at “The Grove.” He acquired a 
taste for natural history at an early age, and while still little 
more than a youth his writing attracted the attention of some 
of the leading naturalists of the day. As a result he became for 
a while a guest and pupil of Doctor J. P. Kirtland of Cleveland, 
Ohio. In 1854 he accepted an invitation from Dr. P. R. Hoy of 
Racine, Wisconsin, .where he pursued his studies in zoology. 
In 1855 the Illinois Central Railroad Company and the Illinois 
State Agricultural Society formed a combination for the pur- 
pose of making a Natural History survey of the state. Kenni- 
cott received the appointment for the work and the Smithsonian 
Institute furnished the outfit and the results of this expedition 
were worked up at “‘The Grove.” In 1855-6 he rendered assist- 




