Dr. William Marbury Carpenter (25 June 1811, Feliciana Parish, Louisiana – 4 October 1848), a noted

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Education

He was educated through private tutoring and attended the

U.S. Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, in West Point, New York (Class of 1833), but resigned his appointment due to ill health.Conrad, pp. 153-154. He then studied medicine at the Medical College of Louisiana, graduating a Doctor of Medicine in 1836.

Physician and Naturalist

He went into medical practice at Jackson,

East Feliciana Parish East Feliciana Parish (french: Paroisse de Feliciana Est, es, Parroquia de East Feliciana) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 20,267, and 19,531 in 2020. The parish seat is Clinton. Est ...

, Louisiana and continued to pursue an interest in the

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

s. In 1838, he published a study of a submerged forest he discovered near Port Hudson,

East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 at the 2020 census. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, Lou ...

. In 1842, he was a professor of " materia medica" at the University of Louisiana, where he was appointed dean in 1845. In 1844, he published a study on the habit of dirt eating among Negro

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, and he published several other significant studies. He was a leading proponent of research into disease transportability and transmission as related to importation of disease and outbreak of epidemics. He joined the faculty of the Medical College of Louisiana as Professor of Botany and Geology, and from 1845-1846 he was Dean of the Tulane University School of Medicine. From 1846 through 1848, he was editor of the ''New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal''. In early 1846, he met Sir Charles Lyell, who said of him: "His knowledge of botany and geology, as well as his amiable manners, made him a most useful and agreeable companion". His botanical collections were published posthumously and several plants were named in his honor, including the rare flowering California Bush Anemone, ''

Carpenteria californica ''Carpenteria'' , the tree anemone or bush anemone, is a genus of flowering plants in the hydrangea family Hydrangeaceae. It is closely related to the similar genus ''Philadelphus'' and is monotypic, being represented by the single specie ...

'', which was "named in honour of Professor William M. Carpenter (1811-48), a physician from Louisiana, by its discoverer, Major General John Charles Fremont, who collected it on one of his four journeys of exploration in the extreme west of the United States between 1842 and 1848." Carpenter's Groundcherry (''

Physalis carpenteri ''Calliphysalis carpenteri'', or Carpenter's groundcherry, is a perennial plant in the family Solanaceae, the "nightshade" plants.Per Axel Rydberg. 1896. The North American species of ''Physalis'' and related genera. '' Memoirs of the Torrey Bot ...

'' Riddell, 1853 ''ex'' Rydberg, 1896), a plant in the

nightshade The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...

family indigenous to Louisiana, and Carpenter's Oak, ''Quercus carpenteri'' Riddell, 1853, also indigenous to Louisiana, were named in his honor by fellow naturalist John Leonard Riddell.

Personal

William Marbury Carpenter was descended from the New England Rehoboth Carpenter family.Terry L. Carpenter. 1984. "Richard Carpenter, Pioneer Merchant of British West Florida and the Natchez District of Spanish West Florida" in ''The National Genealogical Society Quarterly'', Vol. 72, No. 1, March 1984, pp. 51-62. He married first on November 21, 1837 in

East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana East Feliciana Parish (french: Paroisse de Feliciana Est, es, Parroquia de East Feliciana) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 20,267, and 19,531 in 2020. The parish seat is Clinton. Est ...

to Matilda King, who was born in

St. Landry Parish, Louisiana St. Landry Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Landry) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 83,384. The parish seat is Opelousas. The parish was established in 1807. St. Landry Parish com ...

in 1818 and died in 1848, eldest child of Valentine and Nancy (King) King, and second to Eliza King, who was born in 1826 and died in 1863, sister of Matilda. By his first wife, Dr. Carpenter had four children.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, William Marbury American naturalists 1811 births 1848 deaths United States Military Academy alumni Tulane University alumni Physicians from Louisiana