George Ord, Jr. (March 4, 1781 – January 24, 1866) was an American

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

who specialized in North American

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and

mammalogy In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part o ...

. Based in part on specimens collected by

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

in the North American interior, Ord's article "Zoology of North America''"'' (1815), which was published in the second American edition of William Guthrie's ''Geographical, Historical, and Commercial Grammar'' (Johnson and Warner), has been recognized as the "first systematic zoology of America by an American". Ord (1815) published the first scientific descriptions of

Pronghorn antelope The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...

(''Antilocapra americana''),

Grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

(''Ursus arctos horribilis'')'',''

Meadow vole The eastern meadow vole (''Microtus pennsylvanicus''), sometimes called the field mouse or meadow mouse, is a North American vole found in eastern Canada and the United States. Its range extends farther south along the Atlantic coast. The west ...

(''Microtus pennsylvanicus''),

Bushy-tailed woodrat The bushy-tailed woodrat, or packrat (''Neotoma cinerea'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae found in Canada and the United States. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, temperate forests, dry savanna, temperate shrubland, and t ...

(''Neotoma cinerea''),

Eastern gray squirrel The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...

(''Sciurus carolinensis pennsylvanicus''),

Columbian ground squirrel The Columbian ground squirrel (''Urocitellus columbianus'') is a species of rodent common in certain regions of Canada and the northwestern United States. It is the second largest member of the genus ''Urocitellus'', which is part of the tribe M ...

(''Urocitellus columbianus''), Black-tailed prairie-dog (''Cynomys ludovicianus''),

Bonaparte's gull Bonaparte's gull (''Chroicocephalus philadelphia'') is a member of the gull family Laridae found mainly in northern North America. At in length, it is one of the smallest species of gull. Its plumage is mainly white with grey upperparts. During ...

(''Chroicocephalus philadelphia''),

Ring-billed Gull The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''delawarensis'' refers to the Delaware River. Description ...

(''Larus delawarensis''),

Tundra swan The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and th ...

(''Cygnus columbianus''), and

Columbian sharp-tailed grouse The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (''Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus'') is a subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse native to the Western United States and British Columbia. Description Out of the seven subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse, the ...

(''Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus''). Ord is widely known for challenging the works of

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

Early life

Ord was born and died at the same residence, 784 Front St., in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. His father,

Captain George Ord, Sr. Captain George Ord Sr. (May 26, 1741 – October 13, 1806) was an sea captain during the American Revolution, and a privateer who worked on behalf of Philadelphia merchants, who later started a rope-making and ship-chandler business in Philadel ...

(1741–1806), a celebrated naval captain during the American Revolution, was the proprietor of a rope-making business and served as Warden of the

Port of Philadelphia The Port of Philadelphia is located on the Delaware River in Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Generally the term applies to the publicly owned marine terminals located within Philadelphia city limits along west bank of the river. Th ...

. Ord joined the family business and continued it after his father's death.

''American Ornithology''

Ord met Alexander Wilson in the summer of 1811, and accompanied him on two collecting expeditions (each four weeks duration) to

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May is a city located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations, and part of th ...

, during the spring migration seasons of May 1812 and May 1813. During the 1812 trip, Ord collected a bird that neither he nor Wilson could identify. Wilson illustrated Ord's specimen and named it "Cape May Warbler / ''Sylvia maritima''" in volume 6 of ''American Ornithology'' (1812), writing:

"This new and beautiful little species was discovered in a maple swamp, in Cape May county, not far from the coast, by Mr. George Ord of this city, who accompanied me on a shooting excursion to that quarter in the month of May last. Through the zeal and activity of this gentleman I succeeded in procuring many rare and elegant birds among the sea islands and extensive salt marshes that border that part of the Atlantic ; and much interesting information relative to their nests, eggs, and particular habits. I have also at various times been favored with specimens of other birds from the same friend, for all which I return my grateful acknowledgments."

The letter-press for volume 8 of ''American Ornithology'' (1814) was complete by August 1813, but Wilson's "great anxiety to conclude the work, condemned him to an excess of toil, which, inflexible as was his mind, his bodily frame was unable to bear." Wilson died of complications from

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

on August 23, 1813; one week earlier, he named Ord an executor of his "

last Will and testament A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distributio ...

". After Wilson's death, Ord completed the publishing and distribution, and compiled Wilson's unpublished writings for a final (9th) volume which contained an extended "Biographical sketch of Alexander Wilson". Ord published a second edition of ''American Ornithology'' in 1824–25. The first 6 volumes were faithful reprints of the originals, confusingly so because they bear the dates of the first editions on their title pages (1808–12). In contrast, volumes 7–9 were revised and expanded by Ord and included a much larger version of his "Life of Wilson" (198 pp., versus 36 pages in the original 1814 version).

Academic life

In 1815, Ord was elected to the

Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

of Philadelphia (ANSP), where he would later serve as vice president from (1816–34) and president (1851–58). He became a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1817, and later served as secretary (1820–27), vice president (1832–35), councilor (1839), treasurer (1842–47), and librarian (1842–48). In 1817, he joined the "first private, museum sponsored exploration in the United States", when he,

Thomas Say Thomas Say (June 27, 1787 – October 10, 1834) was an American entomologist, conchologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. His studies of insects and shells, numerous contributions to scientific journals, and scientific expeditions to Florida, Ge ...

, Titian Ramsay Peale and

William Maclure William Maclure (27 October 176323 March 1840) was an Americanized Scottish geologist, cartographer and philanthropist. He is known as the 'father of American geology'. As a social experimenter on new types of community life, he collaborated ...

went on a collecting expedition to Georgia and Florida, sponsored by the ANSP. Ord, a supporter of scientific

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

, frequently served on ANSP publications committees, reviewing the work of his peers.Archives of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. Collection 292: Publication Committee. Papers, 1821–1939. https://ansp.org/research/library/archives/0200-0299/coll0292/ He was a reviewer of three influential papers authored by

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

in 1824 and 1825, which included the original taxonomic descriptions of

Wilson's Storm Petrel Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...

(''Procellaria Wilsonii'') in 1824, and

Transvolcanic Jay The jay (''Aphelocoma ultramarina'') is a bird endemic to Mexico. Description It is a medium-large (~120 g) passerine bird similar in size to most other jays, with a blue head, blue-gray mantle, blue wings and tail, gray breast and underparts. ...

(''Aphelocoma ultramarina''), and Yellow-winged Cacique (''Cassiculus melanicterus'') in 1825. In 1829 he retired from the rope-making business to devote more time to science. Ord authored peer-reviewed articles on a wide variety of topics including feather molt, the mating behavior of the

Eastern Box Turtle The eastern box turtle (''Terrapene carolina carolina'') is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles normally called box turtles. ''T. c. carolina'' is native to the eastern part of the United States. The eastern box turtl ...

(''Terrapene carolina carolina''), and the taxonomy of the

Florida Scrub Jay The Florida scrub jay (''Aphelocoma coerulescens'') is one of the species of Aphelocoma, scrub jay native to North America. It is the only species of bird Endemism in birds, endemic to the U.S. state of Florida and one of only 15 species endemic ...

(''Aphelocoma coerulescens''). His publication about "An account of an American species of the genus ''Tantalus'' or Ibis" (1817) was the first account of the

Glossy Ibis The glossy ibis (''Plegadis falcinellus'') is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'' and Latin, ''falcis'', both meaning "sickle" a ...

(''Plegadis falcinellus'') in the United States, as noted by Bonaparte in his quasi-continuation of Wilson's ''American Ornithology'' (1833):

"The credit of having added this beautiful species 'Plegadis falcinellus''to the fauna of the United States is due to Mr. Ord, the well known friend and biographer of Wilson, who several years ago gave a good history and minute description of it in the Journal of the Academy of Philadelphia, under the name ''Tantalus mexicanus''? His excellent memoir would have been sufficient to establish its identity with the species found so extensively in the old world, even if the specimen itself, carefully preserved in the Philadelphia Museum, did not place this beyond the possibility of doubt."

Ord was a vocal opponent of

. He also wrote biographical memoirs of

Charles Alexandre Lesueur Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1 January 1778 in Le Havre – 12 December 1846 in Le Havre) was a French Natural history, naturalist, artist, and explorer. He was a prolific natural-history collector, gathering many type specimens in Australia, ...

, published in 1849, and

, published in 1859, that have been valuable sources of information for modern scholars.

Death and Burial

Ord died on January 23, 1866, and is buried in a family plot at Gloria Dei Church cemetery.

Published works

* Ord, G. 1817. Account of a North American quadruped, supposed to belong to the genus Ovis. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(1), 8–12. * Ord, G. 1817. An account of an American species of the genus ''Tantalus'' or Ibis. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(4), 53–57.
BHL link
* Ord, G. 1818. Observations on two species of the genus ''Gracula'' of Latham. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(7), 253–260. (Read May 19, 1818)
BHL link
* Ord, G. 1818. An account of the Florida Jay of Bartram. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1(7), 345–347. (Read May 26, 1818)
BHL link
* Ord, G. 1828. ''Sketch of the life of Alexander Wilson, author of the American Ornithology''. Harrison Hall, Philadelphia. (Google Books link) * Ord, G. 1830. Some observations on the moulting of birds. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society new series 3, 292–299. (Read March 7, 1828)
BHL link

References

External links

* Reprint from Southwark Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Ord, George 1781 births 1866 deaths American ornithologists Writers from Philadelphia Members of the American Philosophical Society Burials at Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church