Frederick Pursh
Frederick Pursh is largely known for his major contribution to the botanical world, his collection of American plants collected by various explorers and himself, Flora Americanae Septentrionalis. He reached his pinacle of success standing on the backs of giants, from where he fell into alcoholism and poverty, in which state he died. Frederick Pursh was born in 1774 in Grossnhein, Germany. He lacked a formal education, but first learned about botany while working in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Dresden. During his time there, Pursh contributed to a publication about the plants of the area, which was met with moderate commercial success and much accord from the German botanical community. For unknown reasons, the young botanist emigrated to the United States in 1800, settling first in Baltimore. By 1801, Pursh had moved to Philadelphia, and was working for Samuel Beck at his "Springhill" garden. Pursh reportedly felt like a "slave" working for Beck, and began working for William Hamilton at "Woodlands" in 1803. During his time there, Pursh gained access to an extensive library and met many of the respected botanists at the time including William Bartram and the Reverend Gotthilf Muhlenberg. Soon afterwards, Benjamin Smith Barton offered Pursh the opportunity to work as a curator for the herbarium of American plants that Barton dreamed of collecting. Pursh traveled as part of his duties as curator, which allowed him to develop a reputation as a diligent botanist. In 1805, President Jefferson delivered the first round of specimens sent back by Meriwether Lewis to Pursh for further examination. Jefferson had chosen Barton (and his protege) to care for the specimens that came back from the west because Jefferson was impressed with Barton's plan for the herbarium, and served with Barton on the board of the American Philosophical Society. Barton also established his reputation as a botanist by publishing the first textbook on the subject in America, Elements of Botany. Barton, however, either lacked the time or the interest to study the specimens forwarded by Jefferson, and left the task to Pursh. Bernard McMahon, a respected seed merchant in Philadelphia, recommended Pursh to Lewis in 1807, well aware that Barton had no intention of studying the plants as he had been charged. Lewis paid Pursh $60 to begin drawing and describing the plants. Pursh began the work, then took a break to go on another collection outing, and returned to the task in the winter of 1807-1808. By May, 1808, much to Pursh's disappointment, his work had still not been published. Pursh, angered at the delay left Barton's employ in 1809 to go work at Dr. David Hosack's Elgin Botanical Garden in New York. His abandonment angered Barton and Lewis as well. They saw Pursh as an employee contracted to do a job, not recieve credit for it. Furthermore, Pursh took the specimens, some of the drawings, and all of his notes from the Lewis and Clark contributions with him. In 1811, Pursh emigrated to London, still in possession of the specimens, his drawings and his notes. He decided to publish his own book on the Flora of America, and began writing for the journal of the Linnean society of London, Transactions. The following year, Pursh met Thomas Nutall, another botanist who would earn fame for his publication of the Flora of America. Nutall had assumed Pursh's position for Barton when Pursh moved to New York, and even went so far as to recollect the plants from the Lewis and Clark expedition that Pursh had taken with him. The two men began to compete to publish his own plant findings first. As Pursh hurried to publish his findings, he acquired a plant collection from John Randolph, who had gone on a collection expedition at the same time as Nutall, but had been delayed leaving the United States because of the War of 1812. His forwarded his collection to London, and Pursh decided to print Randolph's findings as part of his own collection. (Randolph apparently never recovered from the outrage at this behavior, and seemingly retired from the botanical field.) In the meantime, Nutall had planted his specimens in a well respected nursery in London, which printed "A Catalogue of New and Interesting Plants Collected in Upper Louisiana" in 1813. This publication carried much more credibility because of Nutall's method and the widespread knowledge that Pursh had used Randolph's plants for his Flora Americanae Septentrionalis, which was published in two volumes in December of 1813. Pursh had previously published some of his findings in Botanical Magazine, but those early articles bore little weight versus Nutall's final product. In 1814, Pursh was offered two attractive positions. One was as the botanist for the Red River settlement which was being established in Canada, and the other was to establish a garden at Yale University. He accepted the Red River offer, and went to Canada in February, 1816. in June, the leader of the settlement was murdered, and the project collapsed. Pursh's publications subsequent to Flora Americanae... met little success, and Pursh's life-long alcoholism started to be a problem. Pursh started a plant collection with the intention of creating a Flora of Canada, but his collection burned in a fire in 1819. The 1818 publication of Thomas Nutall's Genera of North American Plants also forever hindered the sales of re-editions of Pursh's Flora. Frederick Pursh died drunk and poor in Montreal in 1820. Information from: Reveal, James L. "Frederick Frederick Traugott Pursh (1774-1820)". http://www.life.umd.edu/emeritus/reveal/pbio/LnC/pursh.html.Accessed 23 December 2003.

Frederick Pursh

Frederick Pursh is largely known for his major contribution to the botanical world, his collection of American plants collected by various explorers and himself, Flora Americanae Septentrionalis. He reached his pinacle of success standing on the backs of giants, from where he fell into alcoholism and poverty, in which state he died.

Frederick Pursh was born in 1774 in Grossnhein, Germany. He lacked a formal education, but first learned about botany while working in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Dresden. During his time there, Pursh contributed to a publication about the plants of the area, which was met with moderate commercial success and much accord from the German botanical community. For unknown reasons, the young botanist emigrated to the United States in 1800, settling first in Baltimore. By 1801, Pursh had moved to Philadelphia, and was working for Samuel Beck at his "Springhill" garden. Pursh reportedly felt like a "slave" working for Beck, and began working for William Hamilton at "Woodlands" in 1803. During his time there, Pursh gained access to an extensive library and met many of the respected botanists at the time including William Bartram and the Reverend Gotthilf Muhlenberg. Soon afterwards, Benjamin Smith Barton offered Pursh the opportunity to work as a curator for the herbarium of American plants that Barton dreamed of collecting.

Pursh traveled as part of his duties as curator, which allowed him to develop a reputation as a diligent botanist. In 1805, President Jefferson delivered the first round of specimens sent back by Meriwether Lewis to Pursh for further examination. Jefferson had chosen Barton (and his protege) to care for the specimens that came back from the west because Jefferson was impressed with Barton's plan for the herbarium, and served with Barton on the board of the American Philosophical Society. Barton also established his reputation as a botanist by publishing the first textbook on the subject in America, Elements of Botany. Barton, however, either lacked the time or the interest to study the specimens forwarded by Jefferson, and left the task to Pursh. Bernard McMahon, a respected seed merchant in Philadelphia, recommended Pursh to Lewis in 1807, well aware that Barton had no intention of studying the plants as he had been charged. Lewis paid Pursh $60 to begin drawing and describing the plants. Pursh began the work, then took a break to go on another collection outing, and returned to the task in the winter of 1807-1808.

By May, 1808, much to Pursh's disappointment, his work had still not been published. Pursh, angered at the delay left Barton's employ in 1809 to go work at Dr. David Hosack's Elgin Botanical Garden in New York. His abandonment angered Barton and Lewis as well. They saw Pursh as an employee contracted to do a job, not recieve credit for it. Furthermore, Pursh took the specimens, some of the drawings, and all of his notes from the Lewis and Clark contributions with him. In 1811, Pursh emigrated to London, still in possession of the specimens, his drawings and his notes. He decided to publish his own book on the Flora of America, and began writing for the journal of the Linnean society of London, Transactions.

The following year, Pursh met Thomas Nutall, another botanist who would earn fame for his publication of the Flora of America. Nutall had assumed Pursh's position for Barton when Pursh moved to New York, and even went so far as to recollect the plants from the Lewis and Clark expedition that Pursh had taken with him. The two men began to compete to publish his own plant findings first. As Pursh hurried to publish his findings, he acquired a plant collection from John Randolph, who had gone on a collection expedition at the same time as Nutall, but had been delayed leaving the United States because of the War of 1812. His forwarded his collection to London, and Pursh decided to print Randolph's findings as part of his own collection. (Randolph apparently never recovered from the outrage at this behavior, and seemingly retired from the botanical field.) In the meantime, Nutall had planted his specimens in a well respected nursery in London, which printed "A Catalogue of New and Interesting Plants Collected in Upper Louisiana" in 1813. This publication carried much more credibility because of Nutall's method and the widespread knowledge that Pursh had used Randolph's plants for his Flora Americanae Septentrionalis, which was published in two volumes in December of 1813. Pursh had previously published some of his findings in Botanical Magazine, but those early articles bore little weight versus Nutall's final product.

In 1814, Pursh was offered two attractive positions. One was as the botanist for the Red River settlement which was being established in Canada, and the other was to establish a garden at Yale University. He accepted the Red River offer, and went to Canada in February, 1816. in June, the leader of the settlement was murdered, and the project collapsed. Pursh's publications subsequent to Flora Americanae... met little success, and Pursh's life-long alcoholism started to be a problem. Pursh started a plant collection with the intention of creating a Flora of Canada, but his collection burned in a fire in 1819. The 1818 publication of Thomas Nutall's Genera of North American Plants also forever hindered the sales of re-editions of Pursh's Flora. Frederick Pursh died drunk and poor in Montreal in 1820.

Information from: Reveal, James L. "Frederick Frederick Traugott Pursh (1774-1820)". http://www.life.umd.edu/emeritus/reveal/pbio/LnC/pursh.html.Accessed 23 December 2003.