Obadiah Brown Hadwen (August 2, 1824 – 1907) was a

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

active in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. Hadwen was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

and spent four years at

Moses Brown School Moses Brown School is an independent Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. It was founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, and is one of the oldest prepara ...

, then a further four years at the Clinton Grove Institute and one term's instruction at the Worcester County Manual Labor School. In 1844, while still a minor, he became owner of a farm in Worcester, which he improved and enlarged over the years. He became a member of the

Worcester County Horticultural Society The Worcester County Horticultural Society is a non-profit American horticulture, horticultural society based in Boylston, Massachusetts, USA, whose stated mission in 2014 was to "inspire the use and appreciation of horticulture to improve lives, e ...

in 1847, and subsequently served as its trustee, vice president, and president. He was also a trustee and chairman of the Agricultural College at Amherst (now the

University of Massachusetts 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 ...

), as well as commissioner of public parks in Worcester. Hadwen bequeathed his arboretum to

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

for the sole purpose of education, with the following words: "Said estate to be forever kept for the purpose of educating students in Agricultural, Historical, and Arboreal knowledge scientific and practical. I adopt this course with the purpose in view of preserving the trees and plants growing thereon, being a portion of my life work, shall be preserved as an Arboretum, and an object lesson to assist students in the education of the science and art of Arboriculture and improving the landscape." He also willed $1000 to Clark University to be invested, with the annual income used "to embellish the University grounds with ornamental trees and plants".

References

* Franklin Pierce Rice, ''Worcester of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-eight'', F.S. Blanchard, 1899, page 641.
Hadwen Arboretum Historical Notes

Arbgarden entry

Stephanie Parent, "Environmental Sustainability in Higher Education: Stakeholder Perceptions and Reported Behavior at Clark University"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadwen, Obadiah 1824 births 1907 deaths People from Providence, Rhode Island People from Worcester, Massachusetts Clark University people Moses Brown School alumni

See also

References