John Howard Redfield (July 10, 1815 – February 27, 1895) was an American

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

conchologist Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...

, and businessman. He was a founder of the Botany section of the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 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 his chief botanical works include "Geographical Distribution of the Ferns of North America" and ''Flora of Mount Desert Island, Maine''. Redfield was born in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

, the eldest son of meteorologist William C. Redfield, who served as first president of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, and his first wife Abigail Wilcox. His mother died in 1819, and the Redfield family moved to New York City in 1827. In 1843 he married Mary Jane Whitney, daughter of manufacturer

Asa Whitney Asa Whitney (1797–1872) was a highly successful dry-goods merchant and transcontinental railroad promoter. He was one of the first backers of an American transcontinental railway. A trip to China in 1842–44 impressed upon Whitney the need ...

, and with her had four children. He worked as an agent of the Swiftsure line of propellers and barges in New York and later with his father-in-law in Philadelphia, retiring from active business in 1885. He became a member of the

New York Lyceum of Natural History The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...

in 1836 and befriended Dr.

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

. At the Lyceum he developed an interest in conchology and published several conchological articles in the Lyceum's ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'', as well as an article on fossil fishes.'''' He became a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia as early as 1846. He removed to Philadelphia in 1861 and in 1870 was made a member of the Academy's council and conservator of its Botanical Section, where he oversaw the herbaria.'''' He made occasional botanical excursions with Gray and others. In his later years he spent summers in

Mount Desert Island Mount Desert Island (MDI; french: Île des Monts Déserts) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous ...

, Maine, where he produced with his friend Edward L. Rand a catalogue of plants from it and neighboring islands, published in 1894 as ''Flora of Mount Desert Island, Maine.'' He died in Philadelphia in 1895 after several weeks of illness.'''' He produced over 50 scientific works,'''' as well as a genealogy of the Redfield family and an autobiography, posthumously published in 1900. The grass genus ''

Redfieldia ''Redfieldia'', known as blowout grass, is a monotypic genus in the grass family (Poaceae). The sole species, ''Redfieldia flexuosa'', is native to sandhills in the western and central United States. The plants grow in small clusters, protecting ...

'' was named in his honor, and the fossil fish '' Redfieldius'' named after him and his father. Of his children, son Robert Stuart Redfield achieved note as a photographer, becoming president of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia and a founding member of the

Photo-Secession The Photo-Secession was an early 20th century movement that promoted photography as a fine art in general and photographic pictorialism in particular. A group of photographers, led by Alfred Stieglitz and F. Holland Day in the early 20th centur ...

movement.

Books

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References

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Redfield, John Howard 1815 births 1895 deaths 19th-century American botanists Conchologists People from Middletown, Connecticut Scientists from Pennsylvania