Frances Theodora Parsons (December 5, 1861 – June 10, 1952), who initially published as Mrs. William Starr Dana, was an American naturalist and author active in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She wrote a number of books, including a popular guide to American wildflowers.

Early life and education

Frances Theodora Smith was born in New York in 1861 to Denton Smith, a tea merchant, and Harriet Shelton Smith. She had a sister, Alice Josephine (1859–1909), who became an artist and later illustrated two of her books. She was educated privately at Miss Comstock’s School. She is said to have gained her love of botany during summers spent with her grandparents in rural New York state. Her first husband, William Starr Dana, whom she married in 1884, was a naval officer. He died in an 1890 flu epidemic, and six years later she married James Russell Parsons, an educator and administrator in the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and later a diplomat. They had a son, Russell and a daughter, Dorothea, who died as a toddler. James himself died in 1905 in an automobile accident in Mexico City.Met Instant Death
in the ''Buffalo Commercial Advertiser''; published December 6, 1905; via Newspapers.com Following James's death, Parsons moved to New York City, where she was an active supporter of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

as well as the Progressive Party. She served in various official capacities on party committees, and she managed

Fiorello H. La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from ...

's successful campaign to become president of New York's Board of Aldermen. She was also an advocate of women's suffrage.

Career

Following the loss of her first husband, Parsons' sought solace in long walks with her friend the illustrator

Marion Satterlee Marion Satterlee (8 January 1868 – 9 June 1965) was an American botanical artist who in 1893 illustrated the first field guide to North American wildflowers. Artwork Marion Satterlee was a friend of the naturalist and author Frances Theodor ...

. These outings prompted her first and most important botanical work, ''How to Know the Wild Flowers'' (1893), which was the first

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the "field" or local area where such objects exi ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n wildflowers. The book was quite successful, with the first printing selling out in five days. ''How to Know the Wild Flowers'' garnered favorable responses from Theodore Roosevelt and Rudyard Kipling, among others. The work went through several editions in Parsons's lifetime and has remained in print into the 21st century. It was organized by flower colors and illustrated with 48 full-page color plates by

Elsie Louise Shaw Elsie Louise Shaw was a naturalist and botanical artist many of whose watercolors are now in the collection of the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University. Biography As an illustrator, Shaw provided 48 full-page color plates for Frances Theodora Par ...

(missing from later editions) and 110 full-page black-and-white illustrations by Satterlee. Parsons' second book, ''According to Season'' (1894), was a compendium of nature writing that she had previously published in ''The New York Tribune''. Her third book, '' Plants and Their Children'' (1896), was intended for children and was listed as one of the 50 best children’s books of its day. In 1899, Parsons published ''How to Know the Ferns'', a companion to her first guidebook. The writing of this book was largely prompted by her husband's financial difficulties. After her fourth book, Parsons stopped writing for several decades. In 1952, at the age of 90, she published a memoir, ''Perchance Some Day''.

Books

Writing as Mrs. William Starr Dana

* ''How to Know the Wildflowers'' (1893). New York: Charles Scribner's Son's. Illustrations by Marion Satterlee and (in 1st edition) Elsie Louise Shaw. Published under name Mrs. William Starr Dana * ''According to Season'' (1894). Illustrated by Elsie Louise Shaw. * ''Plants and Their Children'' (1896). Illustrations by Alice Josephine Smith.

Writing as Frances Theodora Parsons

* '' How to Know the Ferns'' (1899). Illustrated by Marion Satterlee and Alice Josephine Smith. The first printing by Toronto: The Publisher's Syndicate Limited; at least seven more printings, 1899-1925 by New York: Charles Scribner's Son's; at least two printings by New York: Dover Books; and one printing, 2005, by Kessinger Publishing. * ''Perchance Some Day'' (1951). Autobiography, privately printed.

References

External links

* * *
''Who is Mrs. William Starr Dana?''
by Mary Finger, accessed 4 May 2006.
Listing on ipni.org
accessed 4 May 2006.

��Project Gutenberg, has short biography, thumbnail photo of Parsons
Works by Parsons
��Biodiversity Heritage Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Frances American botanists American naturalists American women botanists 1861 births 1952 deaths People from Katonah, New York Scientists from New York (state)