John Cassin (September 6, 1813 – January 10, 1869) was an American

ornithologist 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 ...

from Pennsylvania. He worked as

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

and Vice President at the

Philadelphia 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 ...

and focused on the systemic classification of the Academy's extensive collection of birds. He was one of the founders of the Delaware County Institute of Science and published several books describing 194 new species of birds. Five species of North American birds, a cicada and a mineral are named in his honor.

Early life and education

Cassin was born in Upper Providence Township, Pennsylvania on September 6, 1813. He was educated at the

Westtown School Westtown School is a Quaker, coeducational, college preparatory day and boarding school for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, 20 miles west of Philadelphia. Founded in 1799 b ...

Westtown, Pennsylvania Westtown Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,827 at the 2010 census. History County Bridge No. 148 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Geography Accordin ...

. His great Uncle,

John Cassin John Cassin (September 6, 1813 – January 10, 1869) was an American ornithologist from Pennsylvania. He worked as curator and Vice President at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and focused on the systemic classification of the Acad ...

, was a commodore in the U.S. Navy and served in the War of 1812. He served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and was held prisoner in the infamous Confederate

Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army. It gained an infamous reputation for the overcrowded and harsh conditions. Priso ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

Career

Cassin moved to Philadelphia in 1834 and became the head of a lithographing business in which many of his illustrations of birds were later printed. He served for a brief time in the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

. He was a member of the Zoological Society, 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 ...

and the

Pennsylvania Historical Society The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

. In 1833, Cassin, along with 4 colleagues, founded the Delaware County Institute of Science in

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolita ...

. In 1842, he was elected curator of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. From 1846 to 1850,

Thomas Bellerby Wilson Thomas Bellerby Wilson (1807–1865) was an American naturalist. Wilson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and educated first at a Quaker school there, then in Darlington, England, and then at the University of Paris, France and Trinity Coll ...

, a wealthy patron of the Academy, became interested in the department of ornithology and procured a collection of over 25,000 birds. The Academy had the largest ornithological collection in the United States at the time and included an extensive collection of non-North American species. This exceptional collection of birds allowed Cassin to become the leading ornithological

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

in the world. Cassin worked almost exclusively at the Academy, focused on research and the systematic classification of species rather than field work. He described 194 new species of birds and revised a number of families in the Academy's publications. His publications include ''Birds of California'', with descriptions and colored engravings of fifty species; ''Synopsis of the Birds of North America''; ''Ornithology of the United States Exploring Expedition''; ''Ornithology of the Japan Expedition''; ''Ornithology of Gillis's Astronomical Expedition to Chile''; and chapters on raptorial birds and waders in ''Ornithology of the Pacific Railroad Explorations and Surveys''. He also co-authored ''Birds of North America'' (1860) with

Spencer Fullerton Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He ...

and

George Newbold Lawrence George Newbold Lawrence (October 20, 1806 – January 17, 1895) was an American businessman and amateur ornithologist. Early life Lawrence was born in the city of New York on October 20, 1806. From his youth, Lawrence was a lover of birds and s ...

Specimens collected from the

Pacific Railroad Surveys The Pacific Railroad Surveys (1853–1855) were of a series of explorations of the American West designed to find and document possible routes for a transcontinental railroad across North America. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and ...

and the Mexican Boundary Surveys were sent to the Academy and further supplemented the collection. Cassin helped revise the publications that arose from these surveys. Martha Maxwell was a student of Cassin at the Academy of Natural Sciences from 1862 to 1869. Cassin was elected Vice President of the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1864. He died in 1869 of

arsenic poisoning Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, bu ...

caused by his handling of bird skins preserved with arsenic. His collection of 4,300 birds was purchased for $500 by John Whipple Potter Jenks for

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

's museum of natural history. He is buried at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

in Philadelphia.

Legacy

Five birds from North America are named in his honor: the

Cassin's auklet Cassin's auklet (''Ptychoramphus aleuticus'') is a small, chunky seabird that ranges widely in the North Pacific. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Ptychoramphus''. It nests in small burrows and because of its presence on well studied ...

Cassin's kingbird Cassin's kingbird (''Tyrannus vociferans'') is a large tyrant flycatcher native to western North America. The name of this bird commemorates the American ornithologist John Cassin. Taxonomy Cassin's kingbird was formally described in 1826 by En ...

, Cassin's vireo,

Cassin's sparrow Cassin's sparrow (''Peucaea cassinii'') is a medium-sized sparrow. This passerine bird's range is from western Nebraska to north-central Mexico. Taxonomy The first Cassin's sparrow was described in 1852 by Samuel W. Woodhouse from a specimen c ...

, and

Cassin's finch Cassin's finch (''Haemorhous cassinii'') is a bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are placed in the genus ''Haemorhous''. Description Measurements: * Length: 6.3 in (16 cm) * Weight: 0.8-1 ...

. The periodic cicada ''

Magicicada cassini ''Magicicada cassini'' (originally spelled ''cassinii'' ), known as the 17-year cicada, Cassin's periodical cicada or the dwarf periodical cicada, is a species of periodical cicada. It is endemic to North America. It has a 17-year life cycle bu ...

'' and the mineral Orthoclase Variety Cassinite are also named for him. In 1901, the journal of the

Delaware Valley Ornithological Club The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) is the one of the oldest ornithology organizations in the United States. Founded in 1890, the club has held regular meetings at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for over 125 years, and ...

was renamed Cassinia in his honor.

Bibliography

Catalogue of the caprimulgidae in the Collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1851 *
Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British, and Russian America
'. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1856 *
United States Exploring Expedition. During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. Under the Command of Charles Wilkins, U.S.N.
', Philadelphia, C. Sherman & Son, 1858

Citations

References

* * *

External links

Works of John Cassin at the Biodiversity Heritage Library
* Cassin's Sparrow blog a
CassinsSparrow.org
– Long-running science blog that explores the history of Cassin's Sparrow's discovery, what we've learned about the species since, and why it matters. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassin, John 1813 births 1869 deaths 19th-century American zoologists American bird artists American ornithologists Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Deaths by poisoning Members of the American Philosophical Society People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Philadelphia City Council members Scientists from Philadelphia Westtown School alumni 19th-century American politicians