George Thurber (

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 ...

, September 2, 1821 –

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...

, April 2, 1890) was a United States naturalist and writer. He had a special interest in grasses of the United States.

Biography

He was mainly self-educated, though he did spend time at the Union Classical and Engineering School at Providence. He became a pharmacist, and lectured on chemistry at the Franklin Society in Providence. In 1850, he secured an appointment as botanist, quartermaster and commissary on a survey of the boundary between the United States and Mexico. He made an important collection of plants, and on his return to Providence was given the degree of A.M. by

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. He secured an appointment in the Assay Office in New York, lectured on botany in

Cooper Institute The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

and on botany and materia medica in the New York College of Pharmacy. Later he occupied the chair of botany and horticulture in the Michigan College of Agriculture but returned again to New York and to lecture at the College of Pharmacy and in 1863 became editor of the ''American Agriculturist'', where he worked for 24 years. In 1880 he visited Europe. He was life member of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

, life member of the

American Pomological Society The American Pomological Society was founded by Marshall Pinckney Wilder in 1848, to foster the growing of fruit and the development of new varieties, and is the oldest fruit organization in North America. Publications The organization's primary ...

, an active member of the

New York Academy of Sciences 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 ...

and corresponding member of the Philadelphia Academy. From 1873 to 1880, he was the

Torrey Botanical Club Torrey Botanical Society (formerly Torrey Botanical Club) was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas. The Society promotes the exploration and study of plant life, with particular ...

's president. His collection of plants from the western United States is in the

Gray Herbarium The Harvard University Herbaria and Botanical Museum are institutions located on the grounds of Harvard University at 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Botanical Museum is one of three which comprise the Harvard Museum of Natural ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Awards and honors

Thurber was awarded an honorary degree from

in 1865.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurber, George 1821 births 1890 deaths American botanists American pharmacists American agriculturalists Brown University alumni