Katherine Agnes Chandler (May 1865 – June 24, 1930) was a botanist and writer, known as "The Wildflower Lady of California".

Biography

Katherine Agnes Chandler was born in San Francisco in 1865, the daughter of William Sylvester Chandler (1829–1898), of London, and Catherine Agnes Comerford (1847–1912). She had four brothers, Albert E. Chandler, William Sylvester Chandler (1867–1913), Joseph Francis Chandler (1869–1959), and George E. Chandler (1879–1887) and one sister, Mabel G. Chandler (1875-1958). She was a librarian associated with the Pacific Northwest and California (she contributed articles for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

''); she published books for 2nd and 3rd grade schoolchildren about California wildflowers (''Habits of California Plants'', 1903, and ''As California wild flowers grow: suggestions to nature lovers'', 1922), Native folktales (''In the reign of Coyote: folklore from the Pacific coast'', 1905), Sacagawea (''The Bird-Woman of the Lewis and Clark Expedition''), and William Clark's servant York. The Garden of Shakespearean Flowers in

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

was originated by Alice Eastwood and carried out by Chandler. In 1903 Chandler credited Eastwood in her ''Habits of California Plants''. Another of her ventures was The Deer Park Springs Hotel, near Lake Tahoe, constructed by John Brown Scott in 1880 who sold it to Chandler in 1905. She added tennis and croquet grounds to the resort. In 1908 Chandler recut the trail from Deer Park into the famous Hell Hole, a trail that had been lost for many years. In 1909

Emily Williams Emily Williams (born 8 October 1984) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in 2005 on the third season of ''Australian Idol'' and became the runner-up of the competition. After ''Idol'', Williams signed with Sony BM ...

remodeled Deer Park Inn for Chandler. Emily probably met Chandler in Pacific Grove, California, where Chandler frequently rented a cottage. Both women were friends of

Etta Belle Lloyd Etta Belle Lloyd (1860 – January 6, 1929) was one of the most prominent and influential figures in the civic life of Pacific Grove, California. Early life Etta Belle Lloyd was born in Utica, New York, in 1860, the daughter of David W. Lloyd (1831 ...

, a Pacific Grove businesswoman who ran an insurance agency and managed several commercial properties that had been owned by her father David. In 1905, Chandler compiled, for the Library Association of California, a list of California periodicals issued before the 1861 completion of the transcontinental telegraph. Katherine Chandler died in 1930 in Los Gatos, California, and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Katherine 1865 births 1930 deaths 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists People from Pacific Grove, California