John Bartram's (1699-1777) Botanic Garden Today

John Bartram's House

Bartram’s Garden is located on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in an area historically known as Kingsessing. The site of one of the earliest botanic gardens in North America, the Bartram house & garden are located on a natural terrace, rising 45' to 50' above the Schuylkill River. The well-watered terrace slopes downward toward the river, & has a southeasterly exposure overlooking a large area of floodplain. Within a small area of roughly eight to ten acres, the garden itself is bounded by low hills to the north & the south, which provided a variety of exposures. Portions of the garden soil are a deep sandy or silty loam, while others are poorly drained, dry, or even rocky. Historically, tidal flats & marshes were located to the north & south of the garden site, & several fresh-water springs & small streams were present in the garden & its near vicinity. John Bartram utilized a spring in the lower garden to cool a milk house & feed a small fresh water pond. The garden was the site of an historic river fishery that exploited the yearly runs of shad & other anadromous fish.

The source of this rich physical environment is the convergence of the Coastal Plain (or Inner Coastal Plain) & the Piedmont. The low, generally sandbased soils of the coastal plain butt up against the upland, rock-based soils of the piedmont. A major continental fault, the “Fall Line,” forms the boundary between these two provinces. 

Bartram's Garden Jan 1854

Trending to the northeast, the Fall Line generally marks the limits of tidewater navigation in the rivers of the eastern of North America. At Bartram’s Garden a small portion of the Fall Line is visible in the rock outcrop at the east edge of the garden. The complex interaction between soils from the coastal plain & piedmont results in a number of distinctive soils at Bartram’s Garden. It may well have been the distinctive soils & diverse microenvironments that led John Bartram to choose this site for his garden in 1728. 

Bartram's House c 1870. Photographer Robert Newell

Today's garden site is largely “wooded” at present with a dense canopy of trees & shrubs. A small number of these plants are historic survivors, but most are late 19C or 20C plantings—replacements for known historic trees, & more often as specimens of plants known or thought to have been in the Bartram collection. A number of wild seedlings have also become established, particularly in the borders of the park property, & in the northern meadow tract. 

Bartram's Mansion c 1870. Photographer Robert Newell

The present collection of plants is heavily biased toward trees & large shrubs, plants most adapted to survive neglect. Very few of the tender plants—annuals, biennials, & perennial herbaceous plants, & food & fruit plants that once made up the Bartram collection are now represented at the site.

Historic American Landscapes Survey - John Bartram House and Garden by Joel T. Fry

1746 Botanist John Bartram (1699-1777) compares a native American Specimen with an English Counterpart

The Pennsylvania Gazette, March 11, 1746

"Mr. John Bartram, Botanist, informs us, that he has had two fair Specimens of the English ash-colour’d Ground-Liverwort, sent him by Dr. Dillenius, Chief Professor of Botany at Oxford; which appears to be exactly the same Species with ours in Pennsylvania, and the Places and Manner of their Growth near alike. It grows, he says, flat and spreading on the Ground, as broad as the Palm of one’s Hand, in divided Lobes, in shady, poor, cold, clayey, or gravelly Ground; the upper Side is of an Ash Colour, the other is whitish, thick set with fibrous Roots by which it adheres close to the Ground. It is sufficiently plenty in many Parts of the Country."

John Bartram (1699-1777) & William Bartram (1739-1823) - 1728-1850 Bartram's Botanic Garden

William Bartram (1739-1823) by Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827)

Bartram’s Garden is the oldest surviving botanic garden in the United States. John Bartram (1699-1777), the well-known early American botanist, explorer, & plant collector founded the garden in September 1728,  when he purchased a 102-acre farm in Kingsessing Township, Philadelphia County.

John Bartram’s garden began as a personal landscape, but with a lifelong devotion to plants grew to become a systematic collection as he devoted more time to exploration & the discovery of new North American species & examples. Its evolution over time both reflected & fostered Bartram’s vital scientific achievements & important intellectual exchange. Although not the first botanic collection in North America, by the middle of 18C Bartram’s Garden contained the most varied collection of North American plants in the world, & placed John Bartram at the center of a lucrative business centered on the transatlantic transfer of plants. 

Following the American Revolution, Bartram’s sons John Bartram, Jr. (1743–1812) & William Bartram (1739–1823), continued the international trade in plants & expanded the family’s botanic garden & nursery business. Following his father’s lead, William became an important naturalist, artist, & author in his own right, & under his influence the garden became an educational center that aided in training a new generation of natural scientists & explorers. William’s Travels, published in 1791, chronicled his own exploration efforts & remains a milestone in American literature. 

After 1812, Ann Bartram Carr (1779-1858), a daughter of John Bartram, Jr., maintained the family garden & business with her husband Colonel Robert Carr (1778-1866) & his son John Bartram Carr (1804-1839). Their commercial activities remained focused on international trade in native North American plants, although domestic demand also grew under their management,  In 1850, financial difficulties led to the historic garden’s sale outside the family to Andrew M. Eastwick (1811–1879), who preserved it as a private park for his estate. 

Historic American Landscapes Survey - John Bartram House and Garden by Joel T. Fry

Is this an Image of Botanist John Bartram? (1699-1777)

Some researchers speculate that this oil is probably of John Bartram in midlife, but the Bartram Association is skeptical.

John Bartram Born: 23-Mar-1699
Birthplace: Darby, PA
Died: 22-Sep-1777
Location of death: Philadelphia, PA
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Darby Friends Cemetery, Darby, PA

Gender: Male
Religion: Quaker
Occupation: Botanist

Colonial American botanist John Bartram was raised in a successful farming family, & developed a strong interest in agriculture as a child. In his adolescence he purchased books to learn about plants, & in his late 20s he purchased 107 acres near Philadelphia, where he built a stone house & established a botanical garden still tended & toured today. His expeditions collecting & cataloguing plant life in the Blue Ridge Mountains (1738), the Lake Ontario region (1751), the Catskills (1755), & the Carolinas (1760) brought him some contemporary respect, & in 1765 he was named Botanist to King George III.

He was a key supplier of seeds from the New World to Europe, a trade facilitated through decades of mailed packages & correspondence with English merchant Peter Collinson (1694-1768). His work as seed supplier led numerous members of European royalty to support Bartram with "subscriptions" -- financial support in exchange for seeds, bulbs, & cuttings. Among the plant species popularized through this work were Kalmias, Rhododendrons, & Magnolias. He was the 1st American to hybridize plants, & visitors to his home included George Washington & Thomas Jefferson. He was described by Carolus Linnaeus as "the greatest natural botanist in the world," while noted naturalist Cadwallader Colden was of a contrary opinion, & saw Bartram as merely a collector, not a true scientist, because Bartram eschewed systematic cataloguing of botanical information.

As a young man he owned several slaves, but he later had a radical change of heart, freeing his slaves & becoming an outspoken abolitionist. In 1758, Bartram was formally expelled from his Quaker congregation; after he refused to claim the divinity of Jesus Christ, but despite the church action Bartram continued attending Quaker services. His son, William Bartram, became a noted naturalist in his own right, & together the two Bartrams discovered the Franklinia flower, named for their friend Benjamin Franklin. The elder Bartram was a founding member of Franklin's American Philosophical Society.

Father: William Bartram (d. 22-Sep-1711 Indian attack)
Mother: Eliza Hunt Bartram (m. 24-Mar-1696, d. 21-Aug-1701 childbirth)
Brother: James Bartram (b. 6-Aug-1701)
Stepmother: Elizabeth Smith Bartram (stepmother, m. William Bartram 1707)
Half Sister: Elizabeth Bartram (stepsister, b. 30-Dec-1709)
Half Brother: William Bartram (stepbrother, b. 3-Apr-1711)
Stepfather: John Smith (stepfather, m. Elizabeth Smith Bartram 15-Sep-1715)

1st Wife: Mary Maris (or Morris) Bartram (b. 1703, m. 1723, d. Apr-1727, two sons)
Son: Richard Bartram (b. 24-May-1724, d. 19-Nov-1727)
Son: Isaac Bartram (chemist, b. 17-Sep-1725, d. Jun-1801)
2nd Wife: Ann Mendenhall Bartram (b. 22-Sep-1703, m. 11-Oct-1727, d. 29-Jan-1789, 5 sons, 4 daughters)
Son: James Bartram (farmer, b. 25-Jun-1730, d. 6-Jan-1824)
Son: Moses Bartram (b. 16-Jun-1732)
Daughter: Elizabeth Bartram (b. 27-Aug-1834, d. circa 1735)
Daughter: Mary Bartram Bonsall (b. 21-Sep-1736)
Son: William Bartram (naturalist, twin, b. 9-Feb-1739, d. 22-Jul-1823)
Daughter: Elizabeth Bartram Wright (twin, b. 9-Feb-1739)
Daughter: Ann Bartramborn Bartram (b. 24-Jun-1742)
Son: John Bartram, Jr. (naturalist, b. 24-Aug-1743)
Son: Benjamin Bartram (b. 6-Jul-1748)

    "Royal Botanist" to King George III (1765-76)

    Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Foreign Member (1769)

    American Philosophical Society Founding member (1743)

   Collected seeds and plant specimens, establishing a trans­Atlantic hub of plant exploration through his exchanges with London merchant Peter Collinson

    Gathered the most varied collection of North American plants in the world

Writings:
Diary of a Journey through the Carolinas, Georgia & Florida (1742)
Observations on the Inhabitants, Climate, Soil, Rivers, Productions, Animals, & Other Matters Worthy of Notice ... from Pensilvania [sic] to Onondago, Oswego & the Lake Ontario, in Canada... (1751)
Description of East Florida, with a Journal (1769)

Profile Outline here.

1760-63 Gardener & Botanist Martha Logan's (1704-1779) Letters to John Bartram (1699-1777)

 John Bartram (1699-1777) wrote "her garden is her delight..."

Martha Daniell Logan was born in 1704, in Charleston, the daughter of Robert Daniell & Martha Wainwright. Logan’s father owned 48,000 acres & was appointed to 2 terms as the colony’s lieutenant governor. Receiving a traditional girl’s education, Logan became intrigued with her father’s nursery business & learned how to cultivate plants.

When her father died in 1718, 13 year-old Logan inherited his vast Wando River property, probably including his nursery. Almost immediately after receiving her large inheritance, when she was only 14, she married George Logan, Jr., in 1719. The couple had 8 children. The next 30 years of their marriage apparently saw financial setbacks, & Martha Logan tutored & boarded students at her Wando River house. She placed advertisements describing her services in the South-Carolina Gazette, until a 1749 announced Martha Logan’s house & properties for sale. In the early 1750s Logan’s family moved to town, & she secured employment at a Charleston boarding school. 

The South Carolina Gazette carried advertisements in November 1753 of "seeds, flower roots, & fruit stones" for sale at her house "on the Green, near Trotts point." Her "Gardners Kalender" has appeared in a number of Almanacs. 

Mrs. Logan carried on a lively exchange of letters & seeds with John Bartram (1699-1777), the noted Pennsylvania botanist, who in a letter to English botanist Peter Collinson (1694-1768) in May 1761, wrote of "the favor of a elderly widow Lady who spares no pains or cost to oblige me; her garden is her delight & she has a fine one: I was with her about 4 minutes in her company yet we contracted such a mutual correspondence that one silk bag of seed hath repast several times." Bartram visited Charleston 3 times. 

The Logans moved from their Wandon home to a plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, and began her botanical collections in nearby woods.  After her husband died in 1742, Martha experienced financial difficulties. 

In that year, Martha placed an advertisement in the South Carolina Gazette, offering to board children to teach them to read and write. Her son Robert began to advertise for sale imported seeds, flower roots, and fruit stones. 

In 1751, Martha wrote a column titled "Gardener's Kalendar" for the South Carolina Gazette.  Though further financial trouble caused her to have to sell her plantation in 1753. Martha moved to Charleston and sold rare seeds and roots and continued her study of botany. The South Carolina Gazette carried advertisements in November 1753 of "seeds, flower roots, and fruit stones" for sale at her house "on the Green, near Trotts point." She continued to collect plants, & seeds and began to correspond extensively with the Philadelphia botanist John Bartram. They exchanged samples and communicated regularly.

 Mrs. Logan carried on a lively exchange of letters and seeds with John

 Bartram, the noted botanist, who in a letter to Peter Collinson in May 1761,

 wrote of "the favor of a elderly widow Lady who spares no pains or cost to

 oblige me; her garden is her delight and she has a fine one: I was with her

 about 4 minutes in her company yet we contracted such a mutual correspond

 ence that one silk bag of seed hath repast several times."  

Bartram visited Charleston 3 times, contracting a close friendship with Thomas Lambo, Dr.  Alexander Garden, and Dr. Lionel Chalmers as well as with Mrs. Logan.

Letters- Sr
 I Recived yours Dated Id March with with the Seeds Enclosed and
 am much ObHgd for them. I hope for better success with these then
 those before, having never a Seed of the Sweet Sultaine or the Humble
 plant that Came up. The roots and Seeds you Mention will be Very
 Exceptable, and if the Crocusts are blue I shall Like them Still better,
 as I have 2 roots of yellow allready.

 You may Sertinly Depend on my Sending the Holly berries and
 Seeds of the Savana Locust you saw in Mr. Rapers Garden as soon as
 they are ripe. I will doe my Endeaviour to gett a root of the Starry
 Hyacinth of Mrs. Wragg but doe not know of any Other person that
 has it in Charlestown. The yellow Wood bears no Seeds and grows
 Wilde. When its Propogated, tis only from its Slips. Wherefore have
 Sent you Some in a box of Earth (though tis Rather late to move it)
 but as tis not Difficult to grow, hope they Will Live. If not, I Can with
 Ease Send you some more Next Winter.

 In the same box you have 2 roots of another kinde of Starry
 Hyacinth and Some fue Other things of which you have a list at Last,
 as aliso a list of many things Which I Coulde with Ease furnish you with
 If I knew what woulde be Exceptable. Wheirfore [I] begg you will
 without Serimony tell me What to Send thee, for am Sure no person will
 moore readyly Comply with your Requests. I am with Respect Sr Your
 Well wisher and Humble Servnt
 Martha Logan

 A list of things which may be Sent: 6
 Trees and flowering Shrubs
 OHander, Sweet shrub, Cassena
 Double flowered Pumgranat.
 Dwarfe Pumgranet, Nut meg mirtles
 Scorpesene (a shrub)
 the Catalpa. One with white and other reed flowrs.
 Canary Shrub (Purple flowrs)
 flowering bays and Laurels
 Enghsh Honey Suckles
 Chine Indigo
 Pasion flower
 the feathered leaf. One with Scarlet flowrs.
 Snaile flower
 Rose Cassia
 Turkey Balm
 aUoways?two Sorts. One that flowrs Constantly, the other very
 Seldom (if Ever).
 Ice plant
 White Crocusts
 grape Hyacinth (blue)
 Chine and Turkey pinks, Caldonian Iris
 Gause Narsses, Double white Sweet-sented Cyprus narses, Tuby roses
 A Hst [of] whats Sent in the box:
 6 Plants of yeUow Wood. 2 D[itt]o HoUy, 2 D[itt]o the tree in Rapers
 garden.
 1 Turff of Striped grass (much Esteemed hear). Several roots of a SmaU
 purple flower you See in Mrs. Bees garden, the which you liked.
 1 Plant of Ittihan Jessimine.
 2 Starry Hyacinth but not of Bulbas kinde.

 PS When you Send or Wright to me againe, be pleased to Direct for
 me to the Caire of John Logan, Merchant in Charles Town, for
 Dr. Garden has so much business he has not time to Think of me.
 Wheirefore your Letters have Some times layen a good While and
 I never known of them.   Capt. North here is the Person brings your box. Will be a Safe
 hand when you f aviour me with the roots and seeds you mentioned.

Mr. John Bartram, Botanists in Philadelphia
 With a Box of Earth and Plants. These
 Sr
 I have Last weak Recived boath your faveours with the Seeds theirin
 mentioned, for which am much Obliged, and wish you Woulde bein so
 kinde to Lett me known what we have that woulde bein most Exceptable
 to you; but as you did not, have sent in Closed the Littel Bagg which
 Containe Some Varity but fue of a kinde, (as you Requested). The
 middle Division is flouring Srubes, trees, and Vines, which we Esteem
 and wish they may be New to you. I Doubt not you have many things
 which I Shoulde be glade of, as I am particularly fond of Double flowers.
 And if you Coulde Send me a fue Seeds of white Stock gilly flours and
 yellow Wall flours which woulde Produce the Double flours, or any of
 the Sweet or Other pease of the Like Kinds, they woulde be Much
 Esteemed; or a fue fine Carnations, as I have only the Comon kind.
 I was so unluckey this Last Summer to Loose all the Roots of my
 Ranunculists, anemoneys, Tulips, and fine Double Hyacinths, by Laying
 them in a Closet to Dry affter they weire taken up, for the mice Devoured
 them before I had a thought of it. If these Seed with you and Canbe
 Spaire them, I shoulde be Vastly glade to make the[e] any Return for
 a fue, Ither roots or Seeds. Wee have Several Sorts of Bulbas roots and
 I Coulde Easely Convey them to the[e] if They woulde be any Adision
 to your Collection of floures. I shoulde be Likewise glade of your kinds
 of hesperis as they may Differ from mine.
 aliso a littel Double Chine asster Seeds

 I doe againe assure you of the truth of my assertion Relating to the
 Striped Stock gilly flours. And If the Seed Should Produce you flours
 of a plaine Seed, I Begg yould not be Discouraged but make a Second
 tryal the Next Season, by which I am perswaided you Will be Convinced
 of the truth. - - The Seeds I sent you by the Names of Virgin Stock was
 the Same Littel flour you so much Admired in my Garden and hope
 they have Succeeded with [you] but have againe Sent a fue more for
 fear of Any Accidents and am with greatest Sincerity Sr yr assured
 friend and Humble Servant   Martha Logan
 Charlestown 20 December 1760
 My good Wishes attend yr family.
 To Mr John Bartram
 To the care of Philip Bennezet Mercht. In Philadelphia
 P Capt. Noarth

 Sr
 I rote you Some Littel time Since Requesting your Instructions in
 my flour Garden which I hope you will grant. I make no Doubt you
 have Recived the Seeds I Sent by Doctr Gardens Conveyance and Wish
 they may Succeed to the Uttermost of your Desires. And If tis in my
 Power to ObHdge the[e] with anything in this Province, Only Lett me
 know and you Shall finde no Person moore Ready.

 When you favour me againe with a line, Pray be so kinde to tell
 me Whither the following Roots are to be Purchased with you. As the
 Passage is so much Shorter, I Should Chuse it.

 England for them? Such as Tulips, Ranunculists, Anemonyes, Narsisses,
 Hyacinths, and Horsenecks. The Lasst named, and a littel Seed or SHps
 of the Tree you Call the Snowball, is what I am particularly Desirous
 of. And they are not to be had from England for I have Sent for them
 In Several of my Lissts but Never got one, and I find they Doe very
 well with us, for Doctr Garden has a good many roots Now bluming.
 If the afore mentioned are to be purchased (and yould give me
 Leave) Shall trouble you with a Short List by the time yr Seeds are
 ripe, and roots Out of the ground. In the Meantime I remain, with true
 Reguard Sr, your assured friend and Humble Servt.
 Martha Logan
 February 20 1761

Sr
 I have the Pleasure of yours by Capt North and am much Obliged
 for the Roots theirein Promised. They will be quite Acceptable. If you
 have any Sweet or other Peas of the Double kinds, [I] Shoulde be Very
 glade of a fue.

 I am Sorry the Holley Did not Prove what you Wanted but Shall
 make Inquirey after the trees in Mrs. Wraggs and by Mr. Rapers garden,
 and Send you Some of theire Berryes as Soon Ripe. As Likewise all the
 Other things you Mention in theire Season for Removing. I doe not
 know if the Scarlet floured Vine I have be what you ... heard
 what I call Cannary Vine, Saide to be Lylass. Perhaps you may know
 it by this. How Ever, Shall Send boath with the Others and hope they
 will be an adision to yr Collections.

 I have bein a Httle unluckey in the Seeds though hast be so kinde
 to Send. Several never Come up, amoungst which Weire the Sweet
 Sultains, Purple Molly, and Sibera Rocket. If thee are well Stocked
 with Seeds, I Shall be glade to try them once moore. Pray lett me
 know how yr Stock gilly flours turned out and thou wilt much Oblige
 Sr your assured friend and Humble Servent
 Martha Logan
 June 6 1761
 To Mr John Bartram Botanists In Philidelphia
 Pr. faviour Capt North These

Madm
 I Recived your favour by Capt. North and am much Obligd for
 taking the trouble of Answering Mine in Mr. Bartrams Absence. I hope
 he is by this Returned to his family and well. Pray give My Respts to
 him and tell him I Shoulde be Very glade if he would tell mr Ratlive
 what the Andromed on the road he mentioned to me is, and I will
 Most Sertinly gett it and Send at a proper Season but I Cannot finde it
 Out from Doctr Garden. Mr Ratlive is my Nighbour and will Enforme
 me better than any Letter Can.

 I hearwith Send him Some roots of the Indian, or Worm Pink, as
 the Seeds weire all fallen before I had yrs about them. In the Same
 Tub is Some Slips of Mrs Bees Littel flower, Least the Seeds Shoulde
 faile. The Berryes on the Tree are not yett Ripe Enough but If I live,
 yr Spouse may Sertinly Expect them with the Other things. I am with
 great [t]ruth your well wisher and friend
 Octr 18 1761 Martha Logan

Turn Over
 Since I rotte the foregoing part I had A Cupple Slips of a Shrub
 and the Cashion rose Sent me. As they weire out of the grownd and
 roome Enough for them in Tub, thought they might be Exceptable to
 the[e]. The Shrub is a native of this Province, and the beauty not in
 its flowers but in its Seeds, which are Very Curious and appear Like
 Scarlet flowers which Cover it in the fall of the year. I also have put
 2 roots of the flowring alloway, but tis only once a year that tis in
 bloom. The Enclosed is Seeds of the Same Shrub in the tub. When Mr.
 Bartram Sends the Shrubs he was so kinde to Promise, pray begg the
 favour he will Lett me know which are of a large kind and which Small,
 that I may Plant them Properly.

Sr
 I Recived your faviour by Capt North with the Box and things
 theirein mentioned, for which am much Oblidged. I have now Sent you
 the under written in your Own Box and hope you will have them ...
 The tree in Mr Glens garden is the Same with that of Rapers, of which
 I have Sent you a plant and Some Seeds. The Latter Comes in a Smale
 Bagg.

 If the Season is Proper I Shoulde be very glade of a yr Kelmia
 and Leelass of Diffring Kinds from Our, for we have none Other but
 the Purplish-reed floured Leelass and reed and whitte Kellmia,11 which
 blowes in Bunches, but I finde from Mrs. Hopton you have 4 or 5 Sorts.
 The mozeennan Shrub and a root or two of Pieonei seeds I Shoulde
 be Very thankfull for. Mr. Ratlive Brought of this latter for him Self
 by Land and they Seem quite aLive and Springing. I have filled the
 Earth in the box with Seeds as I finde you take Caire of it and Wish
 you Better Success with them. The Snaile flouer will not Bear our
 Winters without gaurding it by Shelters M aide Over their roots, so that
 yours will require to be moved in the fall into a green house, for they
 will not flour till the Second year. If we have any thing Else you Desire
 pray lett me know and will doe my Endeavour to gett them. In the
 meantime Conclude me your assured friend and weU Wisher
 Martha Logan
 PS My Respects attend your Spouse and family.
 Febuary 13 1762
 Memorand on Plants in the Box:
 1 Plant from Mr. Rapers tree, with a talley on it
 2 Dwarf Pumgranets, 1 OHve, I Sweet Shrub, 6 yeUow wood
 4 Lobloly bays, 3 Slips Bouncing besses, 3 Mrs Bees flouer
 2 Nutts of OHve in the Earth in box
 When you have any Cyclans to Spaire, Shall be Very glade of a root [of]
 Each Sort of them.
 Mrs Hopton Just Enformed me you was desirous of a root of Our Wilde
 Lilly, which is Called the golden, also the Wragged Lilly. Wheirefore
 have put 3 or 4 roots of Each in the Box with 3 roots of the fox taile

 Hyacinth which She Sends thee, aliso 1 hyacinth (Perue) and 4 plants
 Pride of Chine. The Hyacinths are Planted in Box.
 two roots of Ivy or calmia
 dwarf double rose
 flowering rasbery
 dwarf plum, a prety shrub
 crategus from new england flowering
 one tree box [illegible] of white lychnis
 Several root of striped Peonea

To Mr. John Bartram
 Sr
 I have the Pleasure of yrs 9th of November and hartly Congratulate
 yr Safe return to yr family, which I hope you found well. I am much
 Oblig'd for the Enclosed Seeds and Promised Roots, which will be quite
 Exceptable.

 I hearewith Send you a box which Containe the Underwritten Plants
 and in the Earth Several Roots (with out Tops) of ... of Diffiring
 kinds which hope will be Such as yould like ... being the best
 I Could gett. Aliso in Same Case is a tin [containing] Seeds, and a fue
 young Stock gilly flowers which weire ... the Critical time in
 Septr to Stripe them; and begg yould Pl[ant them] out at Same time in
 March in order to see if they will bloom with you, for they Never faile
 with me.

 I am Very Sorry tis not in my Power to Send you any Seeds of the
 Ice plant. It died Last Summer with Out Seeding, but will Endeavour
 to Gett Some for you. The Seeds of Mrs Bees flowers are most all fallen
 before I received yrs so have Sent you a very fue of them, but will
 Remember it another year. I have Sent a large Pod of the Shrub you
 See beyond the quarter House,14 and aliso 4 young Evergreen which I
 hope is the Pandus you mentioned in yr last. It is Called with us
 Oliander, a Very Pretty flowring Shrub; Like wise 2 Slips of OHve as I
 coulde not gett them with Roots, and we frequently have these grow
 with us. Shoulde they faile, I make no Doubt the Nutts I Send will Sup
 ply you, as they are of the Last Summers growth and weire well Rippned.
 The Spung tree is a Native of Jamica and will not bear much Colde but
 is a Delightfull Sweet flowring Shrub and well worth a Place [in a gr]een
 house. In the Same Case is 2 Loblolly bays and a fue roots of Mrs
 ... and hope they will Succeed with you. My Best wishes attend
... and am Very Sincerely your friend and Humble Servant
 Martha Logan
 ... 25 1763
 PS
 Wee have had Several Vessels from yr Poart since I Received the
 above mentioned Letter from you, but have not had a line on the roots,
 which makes me feare the French or Spanyards has Disappointed me of
 them. There is two Other Trees in the Case which is not a Evergreen
 but I think it a Prittey Shrub, and the Lillyes, I make no doubt, will
 doe with great Ease for they grow wilde with u

See:  Letters of Martha Logan to John Bartram, 1760-1763
Author(s): Martha Logan and ed. Mary Barbot Prior
Source: The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Jan., 1958), pp. 38-46  Published by: South Carolina Historical Society

1728 John Bartram (1699-1777) Buys Pennsylvania Garden & Begins Collecting Plants

Quaker John Bartram (1699-1777) started America's 1st & most famous botanical garden on the Schuylkill River just below Philadelphia. Hailed as "the father of American Botany," Bartram sent more than 320 species of plants to England. In 1759, the Pennsylvania Quaker sent this plan of his garden to London merchant Peter Collinson (1694–1768). 

John Bartram founded his botanical Garden in the autumn of 1728, when the elder Bartram purchased an improved farm of a little over 100 acres on the lower Schuylkill. This farm had been part of a much larger plantation on the west bank of the Schuylkill known as Aronameck, 1st occupied in 1648, during the Swedish colonial settlement of the Delaware Valley. Bartram, a third-generation Pennsylvania Quaker, from nearby Darby, began the construction of a stone farmhouse soon after the purchase, whose initial manifestation was completed by 1731. Bartram probably 1st planted a kitchen garden at the site in 1729.

Bartram may have chosen the site with the intention of establishing a large garden, & the location remains well suited to the cultivation of plants today. The initial garden was probably laid out at six or seven acres, & expanded to as large as ten acres in succeeding generations. Additional space was set aside for an orchard, greenhouses & framing, & nursery beds, which totaled as much as twelve acres at the peak of the garden in the 1830s.  

Bartram’s garden began as a personal garden, but grew to a systematic collection of native & exotic plants as Bartram devoted more time to exploration & discovery. Exchanges of plants & seeds from gardens in North America & abroad also fueled the collection. Although not the first botanic collection in North America, by the middle of the 18C, Bartram’s Garden contained the most varied collection of North American plants in the world.

Around 1733, in an event important to the general history of horticulture & natural science, John Bartram introduced himself via letter to London merchant Peter Collinson (1694–1768), & the two began a lifelong correspondence. Collinson, a member of the Royal Society, & like Bartram a Quaker & an enthusiastic gardener, became the middleman to a scientific trade in seeds, plants, & natural history specimens. Plants from Bartram’s Philadelphia garden were exchanged with a range of botanists, gardeners, & nurserymen in London & throughout Europe. Collinson also arranged funding from patrons among the British elite, which allowed Bartram to leave his farm & go plant hunting. 

During his career John Bartram traveled widely throughout the British colonies in North America—plant collecting began in the Mid-Atlantic colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, & Maryland. In time, Bartram traveled north to New York & New England, & south to Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia & Florida, exploring a region spanning from Lake Ontario in New York to the St. John’s River in Florida, & from the Atlantic coast to the Ohio valley.

Historic American Landscapes Survey - John Bartram House and Garden by Joel T. Fry

1796 William Bartram (1739-1823) & William Hamilton (1745-1813) Neighbors & Botanists

Portrait of William Bartram by Charles Wilson Peale, 1808 (Image: Independence National Historical Park)

JAN. 17, 2018 FROM BARTRAM'S GARDEN BY STARR HERR-CARDILLO

Introducing the Two Williams
Did you know that William Hamilton of The Woodlands and William Bartram of Bartram’s Garden were contemporaries and friends? The two shared a love of plant collecting and botany, were neighbors, and were involved in many of the same local institutions...

Picturing the banks of the tidal Schuylkill as a lush, pastoral landscape takes a bit of imagination these days. But long before it was home to manufacturing plants and oil refineries, the stretch of the River running through Philadelphia to the Delaware was considered one of the most beautiful scenic landscapes in the country...The Woodlands and Bartram’s Garden were both prominent 18th century estates and hubs for the early study of botany and horticulture, separated by just over a mile along the Lower Schuylkill...

The Woodlands and Bartram’s Garden shown on an 1808 map surveyed and published by John Hills. (Image: Philageohistory.org)

William Bartram (1739-1823), son of John Bartram and William Hamilton of The Woodlands (1745-1813). The two men were friends and contemporaries (and...both were both lifelong bachelors) passionate about botany and horticulture in distinct yet complementary ways.

William Hamilton’s mansion as seen from across the river depicted by James Peller Malcom ca. 1792. (Image: Dietrich American Foundation)

William Bartram was a gifted naturalist and a very skilled botanical and ornithological artist. Growing up, he accompanied his father on many of his travels and gradually took over the maintenance of the family garden. Later, William spent the years 1773-1776 traveling the southern Colonies studying and collecting plants and animals. He interacted with local Native American tribes and made copious notes and drawings, writing extensively about his findings which were published as Bartram’s Travels in Philadelphia in 1791. Upon returning from his excursion in 1777, William resumed his work maintaining and caring for the family garden and business at Bartram’s with his younger brother John, Jr.

From Portrait of William Hamilton and his niece Ann Hamilton Lyle. (Image: Historical Society of Pennsylvania)

Just up the river, William Hamilton (grandson of prominent Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton, whose defense of John Peter Zenger established freedom of the press) established his estate, The Woodlands, in the style of an English country house. Hamilton inherited the estate from his father in 1747 when he was just two years old and had, over the course of his adult life, parceled together roughly 500 acres along the western bank, including much of what is now the campuses of Penn and Drexel. Hamilton was an Anglophile and an enthusiastic amateur botanist and plant collector. An extended visit to England in the mid-1780s inspired the neoclassical remodel of his Philadelphia estate, recognized as the earliest example of Federal architecture in the country, and heavily influenced his approach to landscape design. Thomas Jefferson, who was a frequent visitor to both Bartram’s Garden and The Woodlands, once remarked that Hamilton’s estate was “the only rival which I have known in America to what may be seen in England.” Hamilton was particularly interested in collecting rare and exotic plants, introducing a number of exotic species to the U.S. through his massive greenhouse complex which is believed to have housed upwards of 9,000 species.

The Woodlands and Bartram’s Garden formed the nexus of the country’s early botany scene and helped spur a regional horticultural economy that persisted for generations. Prominent naturalists, politicians, and members of the gentry would often stop at one or both gardens when traveling into the city. The two Williams frequently connected over their shared interest in plants and botany, often exchanging letters, plants, seeds and services. This relationship is best illustrated in their correspondence, which was frequent and familiar and often involved arranging the viewing, sharing, and trading of plant material.

A photograph of the Gingko at Bartram’s Garden from 1924 captioned “Oldest Gingko in America.” After William Hamilton imported the first Gingko biloba into the country, he kept two on his property at The Woodlands and sent the third as a gift to William Bartram. The two at The Woodlands no longer stand, but the impressive Gingko at Bartram’s still does and is recognized as the oldest living example in North America. (Photo: John Bowman Bartram Special Collections Library)

In a letter[1] to William Bartram on November 7, 1796 Hamilton wrote:
Dear Sir
I must beg the favor of you to make a sketch of the Senecio nova, floribunda as it now blooms in my Hot House. For this obligation I will make you any compensation in my power. After this day it cannot be done this Season as its beauty is already on the decline.
I have moreover in my Hands at this moment, just arrived from England near 100 coloured plates mostly of new plants (some of them from Botany Bay) which you ought not to lose the opportunity of viewing & they are immediately to be return’d to the gentleman who left them here. I hope therefore you will oblige yourself as well as me by coming here as soon as you can after receiving this & that you will come prepared to make the sketch I have required, in which I am more interested for the Honor of American gardening than you are aware of. I have seen a figure & description of this plant as it flower’d last season for the first time in Europe, under the name of Senecio Chrysanthemum by which I find it flower’d with me before it was known in Europe.
                              I am dear Sir truly, Your Friend & humble Servt. W Hamilton

Both Williams also had connections to the University of Pennsylvania, then known as the College of Philadelphia, particularly to Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton, chair of Materia Medica and the sole professor of botany at the university. Bartram’s Garden and The Woodlands functioned as outdoor laboratories to supplement lectures and William Bartram often lent his services as a botanical illustrator to assist Barton. The relationship between the three ensured the university’s position as the best place in the country for the study of botany and both Hamilton and Bartram assisted in procuring and sharing noteworthy and interesting plant specimens. In the following letter, William Bartram writes Dr. Barton about the first blue hydrangea imported to America, on display at William Hamilton’s garden at the Woodlands:

An Illustration from Frank H. Taylor ca. 1922 showing the Woodlands mansion and John Bartram’s house as examples of country mansions from “a time when the unpolluted tide-water Schuylkill River was bordered by fine country seats.” (Image: Library Company of Philadelphia)

Hamilton frequently entertained guests at The Woodlands and his dinners and his gatherings, more often than not, involved lengthy discussions about plants and botany supplemented by demonstrations of species from his greenhouse. These were sometimes even coordinated around significant bloom times of his most impressive rare species, which would be brought in to the house to be observed and appreciated throughout the meal. In the following letter,[3] Hamilton requests a sample of a particular variety of grape from Bartram to serve the dual purpose of botany and dessert at an upcoming dinner:

My dear Sir
Mr Pursh tells me that he was at your house yesterday & that you shewed him a white grape which you called Blands grape—From what I have heard you say, I have always supposed it a dark fruit & my curiosity is exited to understand the Business. I will therefore thank you to send me a specimen of the fruit by the bearer. If it is ripe & you can spare them, you will oblige me by sending as many as will fill a plate as if the fruit good, it would serve as an interesting part of our Desert [sic] at dinner to day for Mr. & Mrs. Merry whom I expect will be here—
                                                                                          —I am most sincerely Your Friend, W.H.                                               
By Starr Herr-Cardillo

[1] William Hamilton to William Bartram, November 7, 1796, Gray Herbarium Autographs 3:17a, Harvard University.

[2] William Bartram to Benjamin Smith Barton, July 16, 1800, Barton Delafield Collection, American Philosophical Society.

[3] William Hamilton to William Bartram, circa 1803-1805, Bartram Papers 4:49b, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

1765 John Bartram (1699-1777) visited by Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur (1735-1813)

Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur (Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur) (1735-1813), the French traveler and author, visited Bartram sometime between 1765 and 1770. He fashioned a somewhat fictionalized account of his visit for Letters from an American Farmer, published in London in 1782. Crèvecoeur had Bartram recount the origin of his intellectual interest in

botany.

1782 Letters From an American Farmer : Letter XI - From Mr. IW--N AL--Z, A Russian Gentleman; Describing the Visit He Paid at My Request To Mr. John Bertram, The Celebrated Pennsylvanian Botanist

Examine this flourishing province, in whatever light you will, the eyes as well as the mind of an European traveller are equally delighted; because a diffusive happiness appears in every part: happiness which is established on the broadest basis. The wisdom of Lycurgus and Solon never conferred on man one half of the blessings and uninterrupted prosperity which the Pennsylvanians now possess: the name of Penn, that simple but illustrious citizen, does more honour to the English nation than those of many of their kings.

In order to convince you that I have not bestowed undeserved praises in my former letters on this celebrated government; and that either nature or the climate seems to be more favourable here to the arts and sciences, than to any other American province; let us together, agreeable to your desire, pay a visit to Mr. John Bertram, the first botanist, in this new hemisphere: become such by a native impulse of disposition. It is to this simple man that America is indebted for several useful discoveries, and the knowledge of many new plants. I had been greatly prepossessed in his favour by the extensive correspondence which I knew he held with the most eminent Scotch and French botanists; I knew also that he had been honoured with that of Queen Ulrica of Sweden.

His house is small, but decent; there was something peculiar in its first appearance, which seemed to distinguish it from those of his neighbours: a small tower in the middle of it, not only helped to strengthen it but afforded convenient room for a staircase. Every disposition of the fields, fences, and trees, seemed to bear the marks of perfect order and regularity, which in rural affairs, always indicate a prosperous industry.

I was received at the door by a woman dressed extremely neat and simple, who without courtesying, or any other ceremonial, asked me, with an air of benignity, who I wanted? I answered, I should be glad to see Mr. Bertram. If thee wilt step in and take a chair, I will send for him. No, I said, I had rather have the pleasure of walking through his farm, I shall easily find him out, with your directions. After a little time I perceived the Schuylkill, winding through delightful meadows, and soon cast my eyes on a new-made bank, which seemed greatly to confine its stream. After having walked on its top a considerable way I at last reached the place where ten men were at work. I asked, if any of them could tell me where Mr. Bertram was? An elderly looking man, with wide trousers and a large leather apron on, looking at me said, "My name is Bertram, dost thee want me?" Sir, I am come on purpose to converse with you, if you can be spared from your labour. "Very easily," he answered, "I direct and advise more than I work." We walked toward the house, where he made me take a chair while he went to put on clean clothes, after which he returned and sat down by me. The fame of your knowledge, said I, in American botany, and your well-known hospitality, have induced me to pay you a visit, which I hope you will not think troublesome: I should be glad to spend a few hours in your garden. "The greatest advantage," replied he, "which I receive from what thee callest my botanical fame, is the pleasure which it often procureth me in receiving the visits of friends and foreigners: but our jaunt into the garden must be postponed for the present, as the bell is ringing for dinner." We entered into a large hall, where there was a long table full of victuals; at the lowest part sat his negroes, his hired men were next, then the family and myself; and at the head, the venerable father and his wife presided. Each reclined his head and said his prayers, divested of the tedious cant of some, and of the ostentatious style of others. "After the luxuries of our cities," observed he, "this plain fare must appear to thee a severe fast." By no means, Mr. Bertram, this honest country dinner convinces me, that you receive me as a friend and an old acquaintance. "I am glad of it, for thee art heartily welcome. I never knew how to use ceremonies; they are insufficient proofs of sincerity; our society, besides, are utterly strangers to what the world calleth polite expressions. We treat others as we treat ourselves. I received yesterday a letter from Philadelphia, by which I understand thee art a Russian; what motives can possibly have induced thee to quit thy native country and to come so far in quest of knowledge or pleasure? Verily it is a great compliment thee payest to this our young province, to think that anything it exhibiteth may be worthy thy attention." I have been most amply repaid for the trouble of the passage. I view the present Americans as the seed of future nations, which will replenish this boundless continent; the Russians may be in some respects compared to you; we likewise are a new people, new I mean in knowledge, arts, and improvements. Who knows what revolutions Russia and America may one day bring about; we are perhaps nearer neighbours than we imagine. I view with peculiar attention all your towns, I examine their situation and the police, for which many are already famous. Though their foundations are now so recent, and so well remembered, yet their origin will puzzle posterity as much as we are now puzzled to ascertain the beginning of those which time has in some measure destroyed. Your new buildings, your streets, put me in mind of those of the city of Pompeia, where I was a few years ago; I attentively examined everything there, particularly the foot-path which runs along the houses. They appeared to have been considerably worn by the great number of people which had once travelled over them. But now how distant; neither builders nor proprietors remain; nothing is known! "Why thee hast been a great traveller for a man of thy years." Few years, Sir, will enable anybody to journey over a great tract of country; but it requires a superior degree of knowledge to gather harvests as we go. Pray, Mr. Bertram, what banks are those which you are making: to what purpose is so much expense and so much labour bestowed? "Friend Iwan, no branch of industry was ever more profitable to any country, as well as to the proprietors; the Schuylkill in its many windings once covered a great extent of ground, though its waters were but shallow even in our highest tides: and though some parts were always dry, yet the whole of this great tract presented to the eye nothing but a putrid swampy soil, useless either for the plough or for the scythe. The proprietors of these grounds are now incorporated; we yearly pay to the treasurer of the company a certain sum, which makes an aggregate, superior to the casualties that generally happen either by inundations or the musk squash. It is owing to this happy contrivance that so many thousand acres of meadows have been rescued from the Schuylkill, which now both enricheth and embellisheth so much of the neighbourhood of our city. Our brethren of Salem in New Jersey have carried the art of banking to a still higher degree of perfection." It is really an admirable contrivance, which greatly redounds to the honour of the parties concerned; and shows a spirit of discernment and perseverance which is highly praiseworthy: if the Virginians would imitate your example, the state of their husbandry would greatly improve. I have not heard of any such association in any other parts of the continent; Pennsylvania hitherto seems to reign the unrivalled queen of these fair provinces. Pray, Sir, what expense are you at e'er these grounds be fit for the scythe? "The expenses are very considerable, particularly when we have land, brooks, trees, and brush to clear away. But such is the excellence of these bottoms and the goodness of the grass for fattening of cattle, that the produce of three years pays all advances." Happy the country where nature has bestowed such rich treasures, treasures superior to mines, said I: if all this fair province is thus cultivated, no wonder it has acquired such reputation for the prosperity and the industry of its inhabitants.

By this time the working part of the family had finished their dinner, and had retired with a decency and silence which pleased me much. Soon after I heard, as I thought, a distant concert of instruments.--However simple and pastoral your fare was, Mr. Bertram, this is the dessert of a prince; pray what is this I hear? "Thee must not be alarmed, it is of a piece with the rest of thy treatment, friend Iwan." Anxious I followed the sound, and by ascending the staircase, found that it was the effect of the wind through the strings of an Eolian harp; an instrument which I had never before seen. After dinner we quaffed an honest bottle of Madeira wine, without the irksome labour of toasts, healths, or sentiments; and then retired into his study.

I was no sooner entered, than I observed a coat of arms in a gilt frame with the name of John Bertram. The novelty of such a decoration, in such a place, struck me; I could not avoid asking, Does the society of Friends take any pride in those armorial bearings, which sometimes serve as marks of distinction between families, and much oftener as food for pride and ostentation? "Thee must know," said he, "that my father was a Frenchman, he brought this piece of painting over with him; I keep it as a piece of family furniture, and as a memorial of his removal hither." From his study we went into the garden, which contained a great variety of curious plants and shrubs; some grew in a greenhouse, over the door of which were written these lines:

"Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, But looks through nature, up to nature's God!"

He informed me that he had often followed General Bouquet to Pittsburgh, with the view of herbalising; that he had made useful collections in Virginia, and that he had been employed by the king of England to visit the two Floridas.

Our walks and botanical observations engrossed so much of our time, that the sun was almost down ere I thought of returning to Philadelphia; I regretted that the day had been so short, as I had not spent so rational a one for a long time before. I wanted to stay, yet was doubtful whether it would not appear improper, being an utter stranger. Knowing, however, that I was visiting the least ceremonious people in the world, I bluntly informed him of the pleasure I had enjoyed, and with the desire I had of staying a few days with him. "Thee art as welcome as if I was thy father; thee art no stranger; thy desire of knowledge, thy being a foreigner besides, entitleth thee to consider my house as thine own, as long as thee pleaseth: use thy time with the most perfect freedom; I too shall do so myself." I thankfully accepted the kind invitation.

We went to view his favourite bank; he showed me the principles and method on which it was erected; and we walked over the grounds which had been already drained. The whole store of nature's kind luxuriance seemed to have been exhausted on these beautiful meadows; he made me count the amazing number of cattle and horses now feeding on solid bottoms, which but a few years before had been covered with water. Thence we rambled through his fields, where the right-angular fences, the heaps of pitched stones, the flourishing clover, announced the best husbandry, as well as the most assiduous attention. His cows were then returning home, deep bellied, short legged, having udders ready to burst; seeking with seeming toil to be delivered from the great exuberance they contained: he next showed me his orchard, formerly planted on a barren sandy soil, but long since converted into one of the richest spots in that vicinage.

"This," said he, "is altogether the fruit of my own contrivance; I purchased some years ago the privilege of a small spring, about a mile and a half from hence, which at a considerable expense I have brought to this reservoir; therein I throw old lime, ashes, horse- dung, etc., and twice a week I let it run, thus impregnated; I regularly spread on this ground in the fall, old hay, straw, and whatever damaged fodder I have about my barn. By these simple means I mow, one year with another, fifty-three hundreds of excellent hay per acre, from a soil, which scarcely produced five-fingers [a small plant resembling strawberries] some years before." This is, Sir, a miracle in husbandry; happy the country which is cultivated by a society of men, whose application and taste lead them to prosecute and accomplish useful works. "I am not the only person who do these things," he said, "wherever water can be had it is always turned to that important use; wherever a farmer can water his meadows, the greatest crops of the best hay and excellent after-grass, are the sure rewards of his labours. With the banks of my meadow ditches, I have greatly enriched my upland fields, those which I intend to rest for a few years, I constantly sow with red clover, which is the greatest meliorator of our lands. For three years after, they yield abundant pasture; when I want to break up my clover fields, I give them a good coat of mud, which hath been exposed to the severities of three or four of our winters. This is the reason that I commonly reap from twenty-eight to thirty-six bushels of wheat an acre; my flax, oats, and Indian corn, I raise in the same proportion. Wouldst thee inform me whether the inhabitants of thy country follow the same methods of husbandry?" No, Sir; in the neighbourhood of our towns, there are indeed some intelligent farmers, who prosecute their rural schemes with attention; but we should be too numerous, too happy, too powerful a people, if it were possible for the whole Russian Empire to be cultivated like the province of Pennsylvania. Our lands are so unequally divided, and so few of our farmers are possessors of the soil they till, that they cannot execute plans of husbandry with the same vigour as you do, who hold yours, as it were from the Master of nature, unencumbered and free. Oh, America! exclaimed I, thou knowest not as yet the whole extent of thy happiness: the foundation of thy civil polity must lead thee in a few years to a degree of population and power which Europe little thinks of! "Long before this happen," answered the good man, "we shall rest beneath the turf; it is vain for mortals to be presumptuous in their conjectures: our country, is, no doubt, the cradle of an extensive future population; the old world is growing weary of its inhabitants, they must come here to flee from the tyranny of the great. But doth not thee imagine, that the great will, in the course of years, come over here also; for it is the misfortune of all societies everywhere to hear of great men, great rulers, and of great tyrants." My dear Sir, I replied, tyranny never can take a strong hold in this country, the land is too widely distributed: it is poverty in Europe that makes slaves. "Friend Iwan, as I make no doubt that thee understandest the Latin tongue, read this kind epistle which the good Queen of Sweden, Ulrica, sent me a few years ago. Good woman! that she should think in her palace at Stockholm of poor John Bertram, on the banks of the Schuylkill, appeareth to me very strange." Not in the least, dear Sir; you are the first man whose name as a botanist hath done honour to America; it is very natural at the same time to imagine, that so extensive a continent must contain many curious plants and trees: is it then surprising to see a princess, fond of useful knowledge, descend sometimes from the throne, to walk in the gardens of Linnaeus? "'Tis to the directions of that learned man," said Mr. Bertram, "that I am indebted for the method which has led me to the knowledge I now possess; the science of botany is so diffusive, that a proper thread is absolutely wanted to conduct the beginner." Pray, Mr. Bertram, when did you imbibe the first wish to cultivate the science of botany; was you regularly bred to it in Philadelphia? "I have never received any other education than barely reading and writing; this small farm was all the patrimony my father left me, certain debts and the want of meadows kept me rather low in the beginning of my life; my wife brought me nothing in money, all her riches consisted in her good temper and great knowledge of housewifery. I scarcely know how to trace my steps in the botanical career; they appear to me now like unto a dream: but thee mayest rely on what I shall relate, though I know that some of our friends have laughed at it." I am not one of those people, Mr. Bertram, who aim at finding out the ridiculous in what is sincerely and honestly averred. "Well, then, I'll tell thee: One day I was very busy in holding my plough (for thee seest that I am but a ploughman) and being weary I ran under the shade of a tree to repose myself. I cast my eyes on a daisy, I plucked it mechanically and viewed it with more curiosity than common country farmers are wont to do; and observed therein very many distinct parts, some perpendicular, some horizontal. What a shame, said my mind, or something that inspired my mind, that thee shouldest have employed so many years in tilling the earth and destroying so many flowers and plants, without being acquainted with their structures and their uses! This seeming inspiration suddenly awakened my curiosity, for these were not thoughts to which I had been accustomed. I returned to my team, but this new desire did not quit my mind; I mentioned it to my wife, who greatly discouraged me from prosecuting my new scheme, as she called it; I was not opulent enough, she said, to dedicate much of my time to studies and labours which might rob me of that portion of it which is the only wealth of the American farmer. However her prudent caution did not discourage me; I thought about it continually, at supper, in bed, and wherever I went. At last I could not resist the impulse; for on the fourth day of the following week, I hired a man to plough for me, and went to Philadelphia. Though I knew not what book to call for, I ingeniously told the bookseller my errand, who provided me with such as he thought best, and a Latin grammar beside. Next I applied to a neighbouring schoolmaster, who in three months taught me Latin enough to understand Linnaeus, which I purchased afterward. Then I began to botanise all over my farm; in a little time I became acquainted with every vegetable that grew in my neighbourhood; and next ventured into Maryland, living among the Friends: in proportion as I thought myself more learned I proceeded farther, and by a steady application of several years I have acquired a pretty general knowledge of every plant and tree to be found in our continent. In process of time I was applied to from the old countries, whither I every year send many collections. Being now made easy in my circumstances, I have ceased to labour, and am never so happy as when I see and converse with my friends. If among the many plants or shrubs I am acquainted with, there are any thee wantest to send to thy native country, I will cheerfully procure them, and give thee moreover whatever directions thee mayest want."

Thus I passed several days in ease, improvement, and pleasure; I observed in all the operations of his farm, as well as in the mutual correspondence between the master and the inferior members of his family, the greatest ease and decorum; not a word like command seemed to exceed the tone of a simple wish. The very negroes themselves appeared to partake of such a decency of behaviour, and modesty of countenance, as I had never before observed. By what means, said I, Mr. Bertram, do you rule your slaves so well, that they seem to do their work with all the cheerfulness of white men? "Though our erroneous prejudices and opinions once induced us to look upon them as fit only for slavery, though ancient custom had very unfortunately taught us to keep them in bondage; yet of late, in consequence of the remonstrances of several Friends, and of the good books they have published on that subject, our society treats them very differently. With us they are now free. I give those whom thee didst see at my table, eighteen pounds a year, with victuals and clothes, and all other privileges which white men enjoy. Our society treats them now as the companions of our labours; and by this management, as well as by means of the education we have given them, they are in general become a new set of beings. Those whom I admit to my table, I have found to be good, trusty, moral men; when they do not what we think they should do, we dismiss them, which is all the punishment we inflict. Other societies of Christians keep them still as slaves, without teaching them any kind of religious principles: what motive beside fear can they have to behave well? In the first settlement of this province, we employed them as slaves, I acknowledge; but when we found that good example, gentle admonition, and religious principles could lead them to subordination and sobriety, we relinquished a method so contrary to the profession of Christianity. We gave them freedom, and yet few have quitted their ancient masters. The women breed in our families; and we become attached to one another. I taught mine to read and write; they love God, and fear his judgments. The oldest person among them transacts my business in Philadelphia, with a punctuality, from which he has never deviated. They constantly attend our meetings, they participate in health and sickness, infancy and old age, in the advantages our society affords. Such are the means we have made use of, to relieve them from that bondage and ignorance in which they were kept before. Thee perhaps hast been surprised to see them at my table, but by elevating them to the rank of freemen, they necessarily acquire that emulation without which we ourselves should fall into debasement and profligate ways." Mr. Bertram, this is the most philosophical treatment of negroes that I have heard of; happy would it be for America would other denominations of Christians imbibe the same principles, and follow the same admirable rules. A great number of men would be relieved from those cruel shackles, under which they now groan; and under this impression, I cannot endure to spend more time in the southern provinces. The method with which they are treated there, the meanness of their food, the severity of their tasks, are spectacles I have not patience to behold. "I am glad to see that thee hast so much compassion; are there any slaves in thy country?" Yes, unfortunately, but they are more properly civil than domestic slaves; they are attached to the soil on which they live; it is the remains of ancient barbarous customs, established in the days of the greatest ignorance and savageness of manners! and preserved notwithstanding the repeated tears of humanity, the loud calls of policy, and the commands of religion. The pride of great men, with the avarice of landholders, make them look on this class as necessary tools of husbandry; as if freemen could not cultivate the ground. "And is it really so, Friend Iwan? To be poor, to be wretched, to be a slave, are hard indeed; existence is not worth enjoying on those terms. I am afraid thy country can never flourish under such impolitic government." I am very much of your opinion, Mr. Bertram, though I am in hopes that the present reign, illustrious by so many acts of the soundest policy, will not expire without this salutary, this necessary emancipation; which would fill the Russian empire with tears of gratitude. "How long hast thee been in this country?" Four years, Sir. "Why thee speakest English almost like a native; what a toil a traveller must undergo to learn various languages, to divest himself of his native prejudices, and to accommodate himself to the customs of all those among whom he chooseth to reside."

Thus I spent my time with this enlightened botanist--this worthy citizen; who united all the simplicity of rustic manners to the most useful learning. Various and extensive were the conversations that filled the measure of my visit. I accompanied him to his fields, to his barn, to his bank, to his garden, to his study, and at last to the meeting of the society on the Sunday following. It was at the town of Chester, whither the whole family went in two waggons; Mr. Bertram and I on horseback. When I entered the house where the friends were assembled, who might be about two hundred men and women, the involuntary impulse of ancient custom made me pull off my hat; but soon recovering myself, I sat with it on, at the end of a bench. The meeting-house was a square building devoid of any ornament whatever; the whiteness of the walls, the conveniency of seats, that of a large stove, which in cold weather keeps the whole house warm, were the only essential things which I observed. Neither pulpit nor desk, fount nor altar, tabernacle nor organ, were there to be seen; it is merely a spacious room, in which these good people meet every Sunday. A profound silence ensued, which lasted about half an hour; every one had his head reclined, and seemed absorbed in profound meditation, when a female friend arose, and declared with a most engaging modesty, that the spirit moved her to entertain them on the subject she had chosen. She treated it with great propriety, as a moral useful discourse, and delivered it without theological parade or the ostentation of learning. Either she must have been a great adept in public speaking, or had studiously prepared herself; a circumstance that cannot well be supposed, as it is a point, in their profession, to utter nothing but what arises from spontaneous impulse: or else the great spirit of the world, the patronage and influence of which they all came to invoke, must have inspired her with the soundest morality. Her discourse lasted three quarters of an hour. I did not observe one single face turned toward her; never before had I seen a congregation listening with so much attention to a public oration. I observed neither contortions of body, nor any kind of affectation in her face, style, or manner of utterance; everything was natural, and therefore pleasing, and shall I tell you more, she was very handsome, although upward of forty. As soon as she had finished, every one seemed to return to their former meditation for about a quarter of an hour; when they rose up by common consent, and after some general conversation, departed.

How simple their precepts, how unadorned their religious system: how few the ceremonies through which they pass during the course of their lives! At their deaths they are interred by the fraternity, without pomp, without prayers; thinking it then too late to alter the course of God's eternal decrees: and as you well know, without either monument or tombstone. Thus after having lived under the mildest government, after having been guided by the mildest doctrine, they die just as peaceably as those who being educated in more pompous religions, pass through a variety of sacraments, subscribe to complicated creeds, and enjoy the benefits of a church establishment. These good people flatter themselves, with following the doctrines of Jesus Christ, in that simplicity with which they were delivered: an happier system could not have been devised for the use of mankind. It appears to be entirely free from those ornaments and political additions which each country and each government hath fashioned after its own manners.

At the door of this meeting house, I had been invited to spend some days at the houses of some respectable farmers in the neighbourhood. The reception I met with everywhere insensibly led me to spend two months among these good people; and I must say they were the golden days of my riper years. I never shall forget the gratitude I owe them for the innumerable kindnesses they heaped on me; it was to the letter you gave me that I am indebted for the extensive acquaintance I now have throughout Pennsylvania. I must defer thanking you as I ought, until I see you again. Before that time comes, I may perhaps entertain you with more curious anecdotes than this letter affords.- -Farewell. 

John Bartram's (1699-1777) & Humphrey Marshall (1722-1801) Cousins & Quakers & Botanists

The 2nd American botanic garden in Pennsylvania was also near Philadelphia, was established in 1773 by Humphry Marshall, a first cousin of John Bartram &, like him, a Quaker. The old garden has long since passed into a state of decay, but the house, built by Marshall with his own hands in 1773, is still in an excellent state of preservation. Humphry Marshall has the distinction of having written the 1st botanical work ever published in the United States, an account of native trees & shrubs, printed at Philadelphia in the latter part of the year 1785.

The American Philosophical Society tells us that "a younger cousin of John Bartram's, Humphry Marshall (1722-1801) was another of the remarkable circle of Quaker botanists from Chester County, Pa., who helped shape American botanical practice during the 18C & early 19C. His most enduring work, the Arbustrum Americanum was fittingly published only two years after the Peace of Paris had formalized American independence, & is recognized as the first botanical treatise written by a native American on American plants, produced in America.

"The rudimentary education that Marshall received ceased altogether when he was apprenticed to a stone mason at the age of 12. Like Bartram, he displayed an avid interest in natural history from a very early age, & with his cousin's encouragement & advice, developed considerable skill as a practical botanist as early as the 1740s, & like Bartram, he soon came to the notice of the Anglo-American scientific community as a collector & supplier of native plant & animal specimens. During the middle years of the 18th century, Marshall's renown grew steadily. His circle of correspondents & clients swelled, often expanding along the connections provided by family & fellow Friends - the personal & religious acting in the service of the commercial & scientific - & his avocation of providing plants to interested parties soon became a vocation. Eventually, Marshall's correspondents came to include some of the leading botanists in England, America, & the Continent, including Peter Collinson, John Fothergill, Sir Joseph Banks, John Coakley Lettsom, Benjamin Franklin, George Logan, Timothy Pickering, John Dickinson, Caspar Wistar, Hector St. Jean de Crèvecoeur, & Johannes Fredericus Gronovius.

"In 1764, success had encouraged Marshall to construct a conservatory on his farm for the culture of rare plants -- probably the first such structure in Chester County -- & with the inheritance he received upon the death of his father in 1767, he was finally able to turn all of his energies to science. On April 8th of the next year, Marshall was elected a corresponding member of the American Society, one of the organizations that merged to form the modern American Philosophical Society, & although he never attended a meeting, he remained in regular communication with the Society until his death. By 1772, Marshall's estate had become a full fledged export-oriented botanical garden stocked with herbaceous & arboreal representatives of the local flora & as many exotic plants as could be obtained from other parts of the nation & Europe.

"Although the trans-Atlantic traffic in plants inevitably suffered during the American Revolution, it did not altogether cease, & relatively speaking, Marshall's business escaped unscathed. A member of West Bradford Meeting, he was too good a Friend to be active in the revolutionary cause, but he was nevertheless in general sympathy with independence, & was a fervent supporter of the non-importation movement & the later movement supporting domestic manufactures.

"Marshall's scientific publications were few, including contributions on the natural history of tortoises, sunspots, & agriculture, however he is most remembered for his magnum opus, the Abrustrum Americanum (1785), dedicated to Benjamin Franklin & the other members of the American Philosophical Society & framed in the APS tradition of providing "useful knowledge." While not specifically devoted to the botany of the southeastern United States, this work is an important contribution to the botanical study of the region. Having long studied plants acquired on expeditions or by local suppliers in the Carolinas, Marshall was well familiar with the southern flora.

"Intended as an exhaustive list of the tree & shrub "Natives of our United States," as well as a catalogue for botanical clients, the Arbustrum is also a work that implicitly asserts the value of the American flora & American science. Although couched in terms of the utility of plants for medicine, agriculture, & horticulture, & arranged alphabetically to that end, the Arbustrum is a work of advanced science, employing the newest Linnaean taxonomic nomenclature. Marshall hoped, as he claimed in a prospectus for the work, to spur additional research on American botany, claiming that an exhaustive survey of American plants "cannot be compiled at once, or by one man; but it is the duty of every one to contribute what he can towards it." When sending a copy of the work to the APS (and separately to Franklin), he encouraged the Society to organize a scientific expedition to the western reaches of the continent. Not coincidentally, in 1792, his nephew & assistant, Moses Marshall (1758-1813) was approached by Caspar Wistar & Thomas Jefferson to undertake an expedition to the Pacific - an expedition eventually placed under the command of André Michaux & a precursor to the Lewis & Clark expedition of 1803-1805.

"Although the Arbustrum sold only about a dozen copies in the United States during its first 3 months, it attracted interest in European scientific circles & appeared in both French & German translation by 1788. Marshall's description of John Bartram's discovery of Franklinia altamaha -- a plant collected by John & William Bartram, & not recorded in the wild since - surely helped to propagate the legend of that famous plant. When Moses Marshall led an expedition to the Carolinas & Georgia in 1790, he was specifically charged with locating specimens of Franklinia for Sir Joseph Banks, & succeeded in doing so along the banks of Alatamaha River. The last recorded sighting of a Franklinia in the "wild" was in 1803, & all extant specimens of the tree are descended from Bartram cultivars.

"...Although initially keen on continuing in his uncle's botanical footsteps, Moses Marshall's interests began to wane by the mid-1790s, & the press of family demands & business concerns soon caused him to neglect Marshall's garden. By the time of Moses' death in 1813, the garden was in ruins."