Manly Miles (July 20, 1826 – February 15, 1898) was an American zoologist and

agriculturalist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

. Manly Miles was born at

Homer, New York Homer is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States of America. The population was 6,405 at the 2010 census. The name is from the Greek poet Homer. The town of Homer contains a village called Homer. The town is situated on the west bord ...

, the son of Manly Miles, a soldier of the Revolution, and Mary Cushman, a lineal descendant of

Miles Standish Myles Standish (c. 1584 – October 3, 1656) was an English military officer and colonizer. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on ...

. In 1837 his family moved to Flint, Michigan, where he worked on the farm, to his common school education adding reading and study during spare moments. In 1850 he graduated M.D. from

Rush Medical College Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, a ...

, Chicago, and practiced in Flint until 1859, when he was appointed by Governor

Moses Wisner Moses Wisner (June 3, 1815 – January 5, 1863) was the 12th governor of Michigan, a Colonel during the Civil War, and an active supporter of the anti-slavery movement. Early life in New York Wisner was born in Springport, New York, descend ...

assistant state geologist in the department of zoology. In 1860 he was appointed professor of animal physiology and zoology in the

Michigan State Agricultural College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

at Lansing. While in the zoological department of the Geological State Survey he was in constant correspondence with the leading naturalists of the period, as Agassiz, Cope, Lea, and discovered two new shells, two others being named after him by Lea. His catalogue was by far the most complete of any then compiled. In 1864 the duties of "acting superintendent of the farm" were added to his chair while in 1865 he became professor of animal physiology and practical agriculture and also farm superintendent. In 1869 he ceased to teach physiology, devoting his entire time to practical agriculture, being far ahead of his time. In 1875 he resigned to accept the professorship of agriculture in the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. Later he moved to Houghton Farm, near

Mountainville, New York Mountainville is a hamlet in the western section of the town of Cornwall, in Orange County, New York, United States. It is mostly wooded, lightly populated area, located in the narrow valley of Woodbury and Moodna creeks between Schunemunk Moun ...

, and devoted himself entirely to scientific experiments, though afterwards he accepted the professorship of agriculture in the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst (now the University of Massachusetts Amherst). In 1886 he returned to Lansing to investigate, study and write until his death. Among his appointments and memberships were: membership in the Michigan State Medical Society; member of the Buffalo Society of Natural Science; of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; fellow of the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the society gained its ...

, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. R. C. Kedzie, who entered the Agricultural College two years later than Miles, said that he found "Dr. Miles an authority among both professors and students, on birds, beasts, reptiles, stones of the fields and insects of the air." To his death he retained his habits of investigation and study, though his great deafness rendered his public work difficult. Miles was the first professor of practical agriculture in the United States. On February 15, 1851, he married Mary E. Dodge, of Lansing, Michigan, who survived him. Manly Miles died at Lansing, Michigan, February 15, 1898, from fatty degeneration of the heart. He was a constant writer and advisor of the ''

American Agriculturalist ''American Agriculturist'' was an agricultural publication for farm, home, and garden in the United States, published in English and German editions. Its subtitle varied over time: ''for the Farm, Garden, and Household'' (1869), ''for the Househo ...

'' and wrote many books on practical agriculture.

References

External links

*
Index to the Manly Miles Papers (1848–1888)
at Michigan State University
Index to the Manly Miles Papers (1882–1886)
at

UMass Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Manly 1826 births 1898 deaths American agriculturalists American physiologists 19th-century American zoologists People from Flint, Michigan People from Homer, New York Rush Medical College alumni Michigan State University faculty Scientists from New York (state)