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Jamin Smith Barton JAMIN SMITH BARTON A n A merican N a tu ralis t B y E'GA R FA H S S M I T H Provost f univers ity of Pe n n sylvan i a ‘ A dd ress dcl ivered before _ T he mum ; o f the Gra dua te S chool ' Febrhi ry 1 0 , 1 9 1 6 B e n j a min S mith B a rto n A S S 'M E that our st a t e (Penn sylvania) r n is dear to ev e y i habitant of it . It is not alone its m a t eri a l wealth whi ch com . _ mands our admiration We cannot fail to glory in its contributions to the great intel hi lectual life of our country . It is the latter w ch led me to cast about for outstanding individuals , sons of the state , with whose lives and work we l . shoul d be fami iar As a student of science, it was but natural that I should search for and emphasi'e men of our soil who towered aloft among their colleagues in this particular domain . Not to occupy too much time in introducing one so prominent among his fell ows as to deserve o ur attention, let me say that he was born in — Lancaster County the most fertile coun ty among all the counties of all the states of our great Union . Writers everywhere have proclaimed it the Garden Spot of the United States . And, tramping over its surface or ga'ing upon its beautiful broad acres from automobile or car o window, we have feasted ur eyes in satisfaction upon its winning attractiveness and beauty . It is a coun ty which makes one envious . It has produced scholars , warriors , statesmen and men I H so much in its favor, for am of the 0 1 — — 'ork a wearer of the White Rose bu personal jealousy fades into absolute n oi ness when the evident superiority of the l of Lancaster looms forth so brilliantly in fc diverse ways , and as we are contending . 1 greatness of the Mother State , county ‘ en ces must and do sink into complete obli — But to the man the hero of this ske ' Benjamin Smith Barton . Why shoul memory be revived ' The answer is sin he was a pioneer in science and a son 0 m splendid commonwealth . He was a pio — natural history a pioneer in medi cal te a — I a nd practice a pioneer in botany . But 1 dilating upon these pioneer activities , 6 refer to his ancestry a nd to those things early life about which everyone likes to concerning men of note . Such knowledge stimul ates renewed effort in better liViI better thought and better action . The re , i then , tell us that our subject was born ' ” ' — n d village of Lancaster tha—t opulent a para tiv ely ancient borough o n the tent o the of February, in the year of ur Lord one - seven hundred and sixty si x. He was 2 several children of Thomas Barton and Esther Rittenhouse , sister of the celebrated astronomer , David Rittenhouse . In passing , be it observed that when the latter was struggling heroically with his mathematical studies , Thomas Barton was a young parson , dropping in upon the Ritten i house fam ly not infrequently , and through Miss Esther learned of her remarkable brother , David , to whom he gave unstintedly of his knowledge and experiences in mathematical subjects . This is just a digression . In time the Rev . Thomas Barton and Miss Esther were married and lived happily ever after on the banks of the Conestoga, where their own delightful home was shared with an interest ing group of little people . The father was rector of the Episcopal parish in Lancaster . Ever since I ’ ve been acquainted with the name Benjamin Smith Barton, I have been very curious ' ” in regard to the intermediate portion Smith . What is its significance' I have asked time and ' time again , but no one seemed able to enlighten me . Recently, my inquisitiveness has been gratified . This is not a matter of moment , I i s concede, but it interesting . It seems that the Rev . Thomas Barton was an intimate friend and ardent admirer of the Rev . Dr . William 3 Smith, the first Provost of the University of n s0 ' he r Pennsylva ia, and int oduced Smith between the names Benjamin and Barton . ' Further, the learned Provost bapti ed the little Benj ami n . Facts gleaned from the life of the Rev . Thomas he Barton , tutor in t University of Pennsylvani a 1 753—1 754 from , indicate that he was an ardent studen t of nature—that he was intensely fond of botany and of mineralogy, and that upon even the youngest members of hi s family his stu dies made a deep impression , so that the little folks acquired a real taste for natural hi story, includ ing plants and minerals . Benjamin especially s howed a predilection for these particular sub e ct s . j How sad that at the age of eight years , s h r he should lose hi mother, who , like e husband, was intensely interested in the infusion of knowl -n edge into the minds of her little ones . At four teen years of age his father also was taken from; him and Benjamin became an orphan i while friends cared for the ch ldren , but Benjamin and one of hi s brothers went to Pennsylvania, where they attended an aca conducted by Dr . J ohn Andrews , who became Provost of the Uni versity vania . Benjamin proved an exceedingly dilige and in terestin g student . He was very apt in hi s Whi all studies . le devoted to natural science wi . objects , he had great familiarity th the classics w He loved them intensely . This is clearly sho n hi s i i hi s in a letter addressed to Brother W ll am , i sen or . It is recorded in several places that Benjamin qui te early in lif e exhi bited an exceed i ngly fine abili ty in drawing . Some writers have said that his first lessons were received n from the famous Major A dre, who was a prisoner at Lancaster . These instructions may have been i ' n cont nued in ork , because it is well k own that n Major Andre was the guest of Dr . A drews for l i r qu te a whi e, it being the desi e of the good Doctor to have the stern old Whigs of that V ni k ici ty learn to now the Major, hoping thereby to make hi s puni shment lighter or perhaps even gaining his freedom . Barton ’ s friends and intimates knew that he O i delighted in drawing . nce , when work ng in un the western part of Pennsylvania with his cle, h David Ritten ouse , he said in a letter to his cousin , Tell H s‘he may depend upon the promi se I made her to draw her a landscape and probably some other pictur e . I have already taken drawings of several cur ious and beautiful fl l owers , together wi th one of the fal s of the ' river oub . This last I wi ll sen d her as soon as safe opportuni ty offers . ' hi s Besides extreme naturalness , faithfuln ess li r and truth in the de neation of natu al objects, more particularly of plants , by the pencil, he acqui red great adroitness in the beautiful art of hi ” etc ng on copper . f ' A ter two years at the old academy in ork, i he went to l ve with his brother in Phil adelphi a . This was Brother William , and during hi s stay in the City of Brotherly Love carried on his collegiate work in the University of Penn syl ’ but did not receive his Bachelor s degree ; prob ' ably , because he had become in terested in medi cine un der the supervision of the renowned Dr . hi . William S ppen Then, too , his Uncle desired hi s company on the expedition had in view fixin g the western boun daries n e state . O may imagine the delight hi Benjamin had on t s trip , for it brou intimately in contact with the great p r wa s of the state . Fu ther, he thrown in ' ” the savage natives of this coun try . He n hi s his attention to their man ers , their their medicines , so that what he afterwar in regard to them has commanded great resp among the learned . ras soon There is a delightful little side - light whi ch ust find place here . Those interested in David se will welcome it . It shows how that gifted soul entered intimately into the ves of those about hi m . Hear what Benjamin m ' ith Barton said of his uncle, To me he was eculia rly dear . The most happy and profitable my life were spent in hi s society . I his footsteps in the wilderness of our where he was the first to carry the and to mark the motions and positions anets . In the bosom of his family I to his lessons as an humble disciple of or Plato ; but to me he was more than and preceptor ' he was a father and u orter . He laid the fo ndation for what l ul prosperity in ife I enjoy, and if it sho d ' be my fortune, either by labor or by eal , dv a n ce the progress of science or to reflect n honor upon my cou try , I should be the t ungrateful of men if I di d not acknowledge wish it to be kn own that it was David ouse who enabled me to be useful .
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