194“trouble you for a few Bermuda Cedars”: DH to Augustus Harvey, 13 August 1809, DH-LB, 33r.
194“the application of the Ice”: CWP to Caspar Wistar, 13 November 1804, SPCWP, vol. 2, 780–81.
195soon reporting to Wistar: CWP to Caspar Wistar, 23 June 1806, SPCWP, vol. 2, 972–73.
195“I readily detached the artery”: DH to ARD, 9 April 1808, DH-LB, 13r.
195“I certainly look with very different eyes”: DH to Amos Eaton, 30 August 1810.
195“my young gentlemen”: DH to BR, 5 December 1809, DH-LB, 51v.
196native New Yorkers: Hosack 1806.
196“cost me”: Francis 1858, 31; quoted by Robbins 1964, 72.
196down at the harbor: Entry of Merchandise, 8 October 1806, MS 71, NYAM.
196NYBG herbarium: Thiers et al. 2016.
196Festuca fasciculata: some botanists now classify this species as Diplachne fusca (L.) P. Beauv. subsp. fascicularis (Lam.); see Peterson et al. 2012.
197gentlemen in Cambridge: Boston Repertory, 17 May 1805.
197Rush was having as little luck: On 6 January 1806, he was informed by Dr. John Syng Dorsey, “a member of the committee appointed by the legislature,” that “as regards the Botanic Garden I have little hope—the present legislature are not exactly the giving kind” (quoted by Ewan and Ewan 2007, 553).
197sent his new Elgin catalogue to President Jefferson: DH to TJ, 10 September 1806, LC-TJ.
198“rich in vegetable productions”: DH to TJ, 10 September 1806, LC-TJ.
198Bartram and Barton declined: Flores, ed., 1984, 57, 59.
198“a Cross and bad man”: quoted by Flores, ed., 1984, 194.
199“the gentlemen who are at present”: DH to TJ, 10 September 1806, LC-TJ.
199“compliments to Mr. Hosack”: TJ to DH, 18 September 1806, LC-TJ.
199“arrival of myself”: quoted by Ambrose 2005, 406.
199“penitrated the Continent”: quoted by Ambrose 2005, 406.
199“unspeakable joy”: quoted by Ambrose 2005, 417.
200“Robinson Crusoes”: New-York Herald, 29 October 1806. On Lewis’s reception in Washington, see esp. Ambrose 2005, 417–23.
200“I long to see Captain Lewis”: CWP to TJ, 10 February 1807, SPCWP, vol. 2, 1001.
200“I have animals”: quoted by Ambrose 2005, 433.
200Lewis and Clark plant specimens: TJ to McMahon, 22 March 1807, quoted by Wulf 2011, 169.
201“young man boarding”: McMahon to Lewis, 5 April 1807, quoted by Cutright 1969, 359.
201Pursh worked for Barton: Ewan and Ewan 2007, xxiv.
201TJ and Barton: Ewan 1952, 606.
201Lewis works with Pursh: Ambrose 2005, 433.
201around one hundred fifty specimens: Pursh 1814, xi. For plants discovered by Lewis and Clark, see Cutright 1969, Appendix A.
202Silliman on Pursh: quoted by Ewan and Ewan 2007, xiii.
202“if he dont die drunk”: quoted by Ewan and Ewan 2007, 46.
202Lewis left Philadelphia in July 1807: Ambrose 2005, 441.
202McMahon worried about Pursh: e.g., McMahon to TJ, 24 December 1809, FO-TJ.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: “Strange Noises, Low Spirits”
203“everything that concerns New York”: 8 April 1807, MH to CWB, APS-CWB.
203Eliza Hamilton and orphanage: Longworth 1807; Chernow 2004, 728–29.
204Mitchill’s guidebook: Mitchill 1807.
204descriptions of environs: Mitchill 1807, 180–87.
204Gotham nickname: Burrows and Wallace 1998, 416.
205“gods and goddesses”: [no author] “The Stranger at Home; Or, a Tour in Broadway,” Salmagundi, 24 June 1807, 268.
205Irving and Knickerbocker: Irving 1809.
205“Botanic Garden”: Delile 1807, n.p.
205“at Dr. Hosack’s, N.Y.”: ARD to TJ, 10 May 1807, LC-TJ.
205“the objects which will employ him”: TJ to ARD, 24 May 1807, LC-TJ.
205By Hosack’s estimate: Hosack 1811c, 6.
206charter and garden: CU-CPS TM, 12 March 1807, 52.
206DH dual positions: Robbins 1964, 77.
206Elgin plants advertisement: Commercial Advertiser, 4 June 1807.
206“grisly Bears”: SLM to Catherine Mitchill, 9 November 1807, SLM Papers, Clements Library, University of Michigan; on the bears, see also Meacham 2012, 411; Sellers 1980, 207.
207Clinton and deposition: American Citizen, 28 April 1806.
207“electrical shock”: quoted by Toll 2008, 279.
207Fort Jay name: Yocum 2005, xix.
207Hosack in the military: Jones 1805, 89.
208effect on imports and exports: Burrows and Wallace 1998, 411.
208“Not a box, bale, cask”: quoted by Burrows and Wallace 1998, 411.
208“Our embargo”: quoted by Meacham 2012, 431; see also Beckert 2015, 158–59.
208useful Elgin plants: species from Hosack 1806.
209“I will not be neglected”: Hosack to Romayne, 10 February 1808, Stookey 1967, 589–90.
209DH resigned: Robbins 1964, 78–79.
209Clinton visits to Elgin: e.g., DC Diary (July 1, 1802–November 6, 1810), N-YHS, entry for 24 August 1809.
209Clinton’s efforts and “mortifying”: DC to John Stevens, 29 February 1808, CU-DC.
209“highly honourable”: quoted by Hosack 1811d, 16.
210“great medical school”: DH to John Warren, 22 June 1808, DH-LB, 16r.
210“I wish every gentleman”: DH to William Darlington, 27 June 1808, Jane Loring Gray Autograph Collection, Harvard University.
210monument completed: American Citizen, 16 October 1806.
211AB on ship: he left New York on 9 June 1808 and arrived in London in mid-July (Isenberg 2007, 371).
211on AB’s political activities and arrest: see esp. Chernow 2004, 720; Isenberg 2007, 307–16; Stewart 2011, 193–203; Lomask 1982.
211“afflicting as unexpected”: TB to Dr. William Eustis, 3 October 1808, FCAB.
212“Amongst a collection”: CWP to John Isaac Hawkins, 28 March 1807, SPCWP, vol. 2, 1010.
212prolapsed uterus: TB to Eustis, 3 October 1808, FCAB. Unless otherwise noted, subsequent quotations on TB’s health are from this memorandum.
213DH advice to TB of May 1808: TB to Eustis, 3 October 1808, FCAB.
213“general state of her health”: DH to Alston, 12 June 1808, DH-LB, 12r.
213“spring waters”: AB to TB, undated, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 12.
213AB on DH: In an undated note from AB to TB written shortly before he left New York for Europe, he told her to “order Dr. Hosack to be with you this evening” (AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 13).
213DH lent AB money: Lamb 1880, vol. 2, 540; Brown 1908, 4.
213Bentham’s hospitality: AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 3–4.
213“dear little creature”: Bentham quoted by AB in AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 5.
213AB on WH: AB to “Mr. Gram,” 17 September 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 307.
214TB to Ballston: DH to Alston, 12 June 1808, DH-LB, 12r.
214“Our atmosphere”: DH to William Currie, 13 July 1808, DH-LB, 16v.
214“let me have”: DH to TB, 20 August 1808, DH-LB, 28r.
214TB turned elsewhere: TB writes from Ballston Spa to Eustis in Boston, 20 July 1808, FCAB. TB’s appeal to Eustis thus predates DH’s letter to TB of 20 August 1808. See also TB to AB, 1 February 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 159: “You may recollect that I gave Hosack’s preparation a trial. He is ignorant of my application to Eustis (so let him remain, I entreat), and advises me to continue taking his medicine.”
214AB and Eustis: Isenberg 2007, 162.
214TB waiting: see TB to Eustis, 5 October 1808, FCAB.
214“the cruelty”: TB to AB, 31 May 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 243.
214“constant source of distress”: AB to “Mrs. Prevost,” 19 November 1808, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 97.
215Lettsom: AB spelled it “Lettsome” in his letters and journal.
215“Show this letter”: AB to DH, 10 November 1808, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 81.
215“Favour me also”: AB to DH, 10 November 1808, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 81.
215Tower of London: 27 November 1808, AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 20.
215“What a feast”: TB to AB, 31 May 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 242.
215“friend Bentham”: AB to TB, 21 November 1808, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 100.
216“American savages”: AB to “Mr. Gram,” 17 September 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 307.
216“Moheigungk”: AB to Bentham, 23 January 1809, AB Journal Davis vol. 1, 167.
216TB and DH hadn’t received AB’s letters: see TB to AB, 1 February 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 158: “Your letters to the 24th November reached me two days ago. A voyage to join you at any season, and through any danger, would be a most delightful party of pleasure to me; but it is now impracticable.”
216DH visits TB daily: TB to AB, 3 January 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 129.
216“I will not”: TB to AB, 1 February 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 159.
216AB on mercury: AB to TB, 15 February 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 175.
216late January: see TB to AB, 1 February 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 158: “Your letters to the 24th November reached me two days ago.”
216“I presume”: DH quoted by TB to AB, 31 May 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 240. (AB appears not to have received this letter until much later; see Bentham to AB, 19 January 1811, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 436.)
216“ignorant of my application”: AB to TB, 1 February 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 159.
216okra and benne: TB to AB, 19 February [1809], AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 163.
217“Pray show”: AB to TB, 5 May 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 239.
217“Many medicinal articles”: Hosack 1811d, 18.
217“with pain”: Hosack 1811d, 16.
217unfair to his family: Hosack 1811d, 25.
217available organizational models: Johnson and Powell 2017. Chaplin (2003, 83) argues that the political structure of the new nation “guaranteed the slow development in the sciences” because of “the lack of wealthy and prestigious patrons for scientific enterprises, and the federal nature of American politics and society.”
217“first establishment of its kind”: Hosack 1811d, 19.
218“increase in value”: Hosack 1811d, 19.
218“erroneous impressions”: Hosack 1811d, 22.
218“public animosity”: quoted by Robbins 1964, 81, note 11.
CHAPTER TWELVE: “Such a Piece of Downright Imposture”
219“ornament of Manhattan”: Medical Repository, April 1809, 400.
219anxious letter: McMahon to TJ, 17 January 1809, LC-TJ.
219Pursh’s situation: McMahon to TJ, 17 January 1809 and 24 December 1809, LC-TJ; Pursh to Benjamin Smith Barton, 13 December 1808, Barton-Delafield Papers, APS. See also Cox 2004, 124.
220“rash work”: CWP to Rembrandt Peale, 17 November 1809, SPCWP, vol. 2, 1238.
220“I never yet”: McMahon to TJ, 24 December 1809, LC-TJ.
220“bring us closer together”: DH to BR, 3 November 1809, DH-LB, 51v; see also DH to Noah Webster, 29 August 1809, DH-LB, 36r.
221“troublesome correspondent”: DH to Thomas Dancer, 9 September 1809, DH-LB, 42r.
221“purity of the atmosphere”: DH to Thomas Schley, 19 July 1809, DH-LB, 31r.
221wild pigeon, fish, and succotash: N-YHS Minutes, 4 September 1809, 24.
221“our Dutch ancestors”: DH quoted by Vail 1954, 366. On New Amsterdam, see Shorto 2004.
221“an Indian cornfield”: quoted by Vail 1954, 366.
221“sensations of regret”: Hosack 1811d, 22.
222“botanic garden”: quoted by Hosack 1811d, 23.
222statement of support: Hosack 1811d, 25.
222“If we suffer”: Hosack 1811d, 30.
222“pulse feeling”: DH to [no first name] Inskeep, 30 November 1809, DH-LB, 54r.
222AB’s expulsion announced in South Carolina papers: e.g., Carolina Gazette, 7 July 1809.
222“remained stupified”: TB to AB, 1 August 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 283.
223early May: AB entry 6 May 1809, AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 105.
223“perfectly wild and picturesque”: AB entry 3 August 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 254.
223“New-York to Harlem”: AB to TB, 13 October 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 316.
223Afzelius demonstrator at Botanic Garden: Skuncke 2014, 212.
223Thunberg’s travels: Skuncke 2014, 15. AB called him “Turnberg” in many journal entries.
223“excited my curiosity”: AB entry 12 August 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 261.
223“ten thousand things” and following quotations: AB entry 12 August 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 260–61.
223“grown from a nut”: AB entry 22 August 1809, AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 206.
223Linnaeus’s house and garden: AB entry 16 August 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 264.
224“Where have I laid”: AB entry 29 August 1809, AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 221.
224Views of Nature: Wulf 2015, 132–33.
224AB hoped to meet Humboldt: Isenberg 2007, 382.
224“threw off my coat”: AB entry 8 September 1809, AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 232.
224AB to meet Humboldt: AB to “Mr. Hauterive,” 10 September 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 305.
224“to see the people”: AB to “Mr. Hauterive,” 10 September 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 305.
224WH and Robinson: AB to “Mr. Gram,” 12 September 1809, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 306.
224Humboldt in Paris: Wulf 2015, 135–43. Humboldt had moved there in December 1807.
224political reasons: Isenberg 2007, 381–82; Lomask 1982, 324–31.
224Goethe and Wilhelm von Humboldt: AB entry 4 January 1810, AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 352.
225“I suffer and freeze”: AB entry 21 February 1810, AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 416.
225ARD sees Humboldt and FAM: ARD to Wistar, 24 November 1808, Caspar Wistar Papers, APS.
225AB sees Humboldt: AB entry 24 April 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 447–48; slightly different language for same date in AB Journal Bixby, vol. 1, 438.
225great lengths: e.g., AB entry 11 August 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 24; AB entry 9 September 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 38.
225mild, wet days: Hosack 1824c, 334.
225“a constant gale”: DH weather observations for January 1810, in Hosack 1824c, 355.
225Fulton’s steamboat launched 1807: Stiles 2010, 42.
225“perfect success”: Hosack 1812b, 196.
226“never ceasing jar”: JE Diary, entry for 30 June 1810, 3.
226“cannot by any means recommend it”: JE Diary, entry for 30 June 1810, 4.
227description of Capitol: Roseberry 1964, 14–19.
227“Mrs. Hosack is recovering”: JWF to DH, 7 February 1810, John W. Francis Papers, NYPL, Reel 2. Emily Hosack was born 31 January 1810.
227botanical garden “inferior”: 27 January 1810, quoted by Robbins 1964, 81.
228description of interior: Wheeler 1993, 98.
228“first establishment of this kind”: Hosack 1811d, 32.
229“relief of Doctor Hosack”: Columbian, 6 October 1810.
229“mere science of hard words”: Columbian, 3 October 1810.
230“monstrum Americanum”: Columbian, 15 October 1810.
231“nothing is more ridiculous”: Columbian, 15 October 1810.
231“vegetable riches”: Columbian, 15 October 1810.
231“valuable vegetables”: Columbian, 15 October 1810.
232Great Apollo: Clinton was known by the Latin version, Magnus Apollo (Cornog 1998, 6).
232DC’s interest in presidency: Cornog 1998, 88.
232Clinton speech: see Hosack 1811d, 33.
232DH on Clinton politics: DH to John Vaughan, 16 March 1811, DH-LB, 82r.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: “You Know, Better Than Any Man”
233clover seed: Hosack 1810b, 216.
233oak and shrubbery: Hosack 1810a, 2.
233appraisal and DH feeling: Hosack 1811d, 43.
234Elgin lottery: Fox 1986.
234hundreds more specimens: the following description of Hosack’s expanded collections is drawn from Hosack 1811a.
236Canada thistle: DH to SLM, 21 July 1810, reprinted in Hosack 1810b.
236the Sharpleses’ visit to Elgin and environs: Sharples 1810–1836 (entries for summer 1810).
237lines quoted by DH: DH to Coleman, 17 August 1804, PAH, vol. 26, 347, note 3. Part of this monument is owned by the New-York Historical Society. A description of the monument published in the New-York Gazette on 2 December 1806 reads: “The Monument is in the form of an obelisk on a pedestal 4 feet square, and nearly 3 feet above the base. The obelisk itself is composed of four pieces of white marble, 8 feet in length, and is surmounted by a flaming urn. . . .” The verse from Horace was inscribed on the back of the monument; on the front were recorded AH’s name, the date of his death, and the notation that the monument was a gift from the St. Andrew’s Society (New-York Gazette, 2 December 1806).
237DH’s membership in the St. Andrew’s Society: Morrison Jr. 1906, 199.
237“Tell Dr. Hosack”: AB to Henry Gahn, 26 March 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 1, 442.
237“style of magnificence”: AB entry 9 August 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 23.
238“useful trees”: AB entry 17 September 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 43.
238“a plant and a tree”: AB entry 17 September 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 43.
238“You know”: AB to DH, 20 December 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 116; the request came to AB via his friend Madame Fenwick, a friend of Calmelet (AB entry 20 December 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 107).
239“estragore”: This misspelling may have been introduced by Davis, editor of AB’s journal, who occasionally made such mistakes (along with some intentional changes to the text meant to protect AB’s reputation). AB to DH, 20 December 1810, AB Journal Davis, vol. 2, 116.
239French merchant: New York Diary or Loudon’s Register, 25 December 1793.
239Hosack and Thouin shipment: Hosack 1811a, addendum, and Francis 1858, 30.
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