William Darlington
William Darlington | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 2nd district | |
In office March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823 | |
Preceded by | See below |
Succeeded by | See below |
In office March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817 | |
Preceded by | See below |
Succeeded by | See below |
Personal details | |
Born | University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine | April 28, 1782
Occupation | Physician, botanist, politician |
Signature | |
William Darlington (April 28, 1782 – April 23, 1863) was an American
Early life and education
William Darlington (cousin of
Political and later career
Darlington was elected as a
In 1823, Darlington was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[6]
He established a natural history society in West Chester in 1826 and published several works on botany and natural history. His published works include Mutual Influence of Habits and Disease (1804), Flora cestrica: an attempt to enumerate and describe the flowering and filicoid plants of Chester County in the state of Pennsylvania (1837) and Agricultural Botany (1847).[3][7] Several others also contributed to the Flora cestrica, making it a collaborative effort. These included Thomas Potts James who wrote the section about mosses and liverworts[8] and Ezra Michner also contributed to this book.[9] Abigail Kimber had provided plant specimens to Darlington and these are also cited in the book.
The degree of L.L.D. was conferred on him by Yale University in 1848, and he was awarded a Doctor of Physical Science in 1855 by Dickinson College.[3] The California pitcher plant, Darlingtonia californica, was described by John Torrey in 1853 and named in his honor.[10] The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University preserves some botanical specimens that he collected — for example, of Talinum teretifolium (Phemeranthus teretifolius — the quill fameflower).[11]
In 1849 he published Memorials of John Bartram and Humphry Marshall; with notices of their Botanical Contemporaries.[12]
He served as director and president of the National Bank of Chester County from 1830 to 1863, where his friend and fellow botanist David Townsend was chief cashier. He died in West Chester in 1863, and was interred in Oaklands Cemetery.[13]
References
- ^ Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press Company, Library of Congress Card Number 61-18435
- ^ a b "DARLINGTON, William, (1782 - 1863)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
- ^ a b c Wilson, James Grant; John Fiske (1900). Appleton's cyclopaedia of American biography. New York: D. Appleton. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
- ^ Moore, Paul (Spring 2002). "The West Chester Railroad Company". The High Line. 18 (1): 5, 10.
- ^ Cope, Gilbert; Ashmead, Henry Graham (1904). Historic Homes and Institutions, and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania. New York: Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 107–110.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ "Agricultural botany [microform] : An enumeration and description of useful plants and weeds, which merit the notice, or require the attention, of American agriculturists". 1847.
- JSTOR 3238779.
- JSTOR 2479639. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Rice, Barry. "Darlingtonia: the cobra lily; The Carnivorous Plant FAQ v. 11.5". The International Carnivorous Plant Society. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
- ^ "Mid-Atlantic Herbaria". midatlanticherbaria.org. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Hooker, William Jackson (1850). "Review of Memorials of John Bartram and Humphry Marshall; with notices of their Botanical Contemporaries by William Darlington". Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. II: 62–65. (See John Bartram & Humphry Marshall.)
- ^ Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Darlington-Butler family of West Chester, Pennsylvania". www.politicalgraveyard.com. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Darl.
Sources
- daguerreotype
- Lansing, Dorothy I. That Magnificent Cestrian: Dr. William Darlington, 1782-1863, Being a Short Introductory Biography. Paoli, Pennsylvania: Serpentine Press, 1985.
- Author:William Darlington wikisource