Thomas Conrad Porter (1822–1901) was an American botanist and theologian known as an expert on the flora of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Biography

Porter was born in

Alexandria, Pennsylvania Alexandria is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 388 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , all of it land. Demographics As of th ...

on January 22, 1822. He attended Harrisburg Academy before enrolling in

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

at the age of 14. He graduated in 1840, and returned home to Alexandria and began to collect plants near

Tussey Mountain Tussey Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending east of the Bald Eagle, Brush, Dunning and Evitts Mountain ridges. Its southern foot just crosses the Mason–Dixon line near Flintstone, Maryland, run ...

. He went on to attend

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

, graduating in 1844. He moved down to

Monticello, Georgia Monticello is the largest city and the county seat of Jasper County, Georgia, United States. The city includes historic buildings such as the Jasper County Courthouse, Monticello High School and the Monticello Historic District. The populati ...

for a year as part of a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

. Here he collected at places such as

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state o ...

and

Toccoa Falls Toccoa Falls is a waterfall with a vertical drop of on the campus of Toccoa Falls College in Stephens County, Georgia. ''Toccoa'' comes from the Cherokee word "Tagwâ′hĭ", meaning "Catawba place" or "beautiful". Legend The land around ...

, and began collaborating with Asa Gray. He discovered '' Gymnolomia porteri'' during his time at Stone Mountain. In 1849, Porter was brought on as a professor of natural sciences at Marshall College. He stayed at the institution until 1866. He then moved to Lafayette College as a professor of botany and zoology, staying until his retirement in 1897. Between 1869 and 1875, Porter worked under

Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Ar ...

as part of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

. In 1864, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. He was personally interested in Germanic literature and scholarly arts, and published several critiques in the field. He died in 1901.

Legacy

Poter's herbarium was preserved as part of the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading nat ...

. A small number of his collections are held in Australasian herbaria, including the

National Herbarium of Victoria The National Herbarium of Victoria (Index Herbariorum code: MEL) is one of Australia's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.5 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known a ...

at the

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanic gardens across two sites–Melbourne and Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land was reserved on the south side of the Yarra River for a new botanic garden. It extends across ...

, and the

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Auckl ...

Herbarium. The genera '' Porterella'' and '' Porteranthus'' were named for him, as well as the species '' Aster porteri'', '' Calamagrostis porteri'', and '' Muhlenbergia porteri''.

Selected publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Thomas Conrad 1822 births 1901 deaths 19th-century American botanists