Scotland's Mark on America Part 4

IDAHO. John Henry Brady (b. 1862), eighth Governor (1910-11), is of Ulster Scot descent. David P. Thompson, ninth Governor of the state (1874-76), also of Ulster Scot descent, built the first railroad in Oregon, and was twice Mayor of Portland.

SOUTH DAKOTA. Corie Isaac Crawford, sixth Governor (1907-08) is of Ulster Scot descent.

CALIFORNIA. John McDougall (1818-66) was Lieutenant-Governor (1849) and afterwards Governor. Peter Hardeman Burnett (b. 1807) was first Governor of the state (1849-51). Both were of Scottish origin.

OREGON. James s.h.i.+elds, first territorial Governor (1848), was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, of Ulster Scot parentage. George Abernethy (1807-77), territorial Governor (1845-49), was born in New York city of Scottish parentage. "As a governor he was patriotic, efficient, and unselfish."

SCOTS IN THE ARMY

REVOLUTION. Alexander MacDougall (1731-86), born in Islay, successively Colonel, Brigadier-General, and Major-General in the Revolutionary War, and later Delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780 and 1784, was described by Was.h.i.+ngton as "a brave soldier and distinguished patriot." Before the outbreak of the war he was a successful merchant, a leader of the "Sons of Liberty," and was the first American imprisoned for his utterances in behalf of independence. Macdougal Street, New York city, commemorates his name.

Robert Erskine (1735-1780), geographer and Chief of Engineers on the staff of Was.h.i.+ngton, was a son of Rev. Ralph Erskine of Dunfermline.

Was.h.i.+ngton erected a stone over his grave at Ringwood, New Jersey.

Henry Knox (1750-1806), General of Artillery and Secretary of War (1785-95). Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Clough Anderson (1750-1826) was grandson of a Scottish emigrant. General James Ewing (c. 1736-1806), of Ulster Scot descent, served in Braddock's campaign and also during the Revolution. General William Wirt Henry was descended from an Ulster Scot who came between 1718 and 1722 to Ma.s.sachusetts. General Richard Montgomery (1736-75), a descendant of the Montgomeries of Ayrs.h.i.+re, was killed while leading the attack on Quebec; and Major John Macpherson (1754-75), of Scots parentage, killed beside Montgomery, was the first soldier of prominence from Pennsylvania to be killed in the war. Bancroft calls him "the pure-minded, youthful enthusiast for liberty." Colonel Allan McLane (1746-1829), of Scottish origin, repeatedly referred to in Dr. Weir Mitch.e.l.l's "Hugh Wynne,"

was one of the "Rough Riders" who patrolled the country around Philadelphia to prevent provisions reaching the British troops in the city. His flight and escape from the British in one of these raids was the subject of a painting by James Peale. General Hugh Mercer (c.

1725-1777), born in Aberdeen, died of wounds received at the battle of Princeton, also served with distinction in the Braddock and Forbes campaigns in western Pennsylvania. His life was a strenuous one, full of exacting and unselfish work for others, and as Judge Goolrick says in his "Life of Mercer," he "is ent.i.tled to the grat.i.tude of all liberty-loving America." Mercer county, New Jersey, was named in his honor. John Armstrong (1725-95), born in the North of Ireland of Scottish ancestry, served in the French and Indian War (1755-56), was Brigadier-General in the Continental Army (1776-77), and Delegate to the Continental Congress (1778-80, 1787-88). Colonel James Livingston (1747-1832), by his timely shot drove the British wars.h.i.+p "Vulture"

from her anchorage in the North River "thus securing the capture of Andre, effecting the discomfiture of Arnold's treason, and a.s.suring the safety of West Point, the key of the Revolution." James Chrystie (1750-1807), born in or near Edinburgh, joined the Revolutionary Army and served with high reputation till the end of the war. On the discovery of Arnold's plot at West Point he was entrusted with a delicate mission by Was.h.i.+ngton, which he executed successfully. His son, Lieutenant-Colonel James Chrystie, earned a name for himself at the Battle of Queenstown in the war of 1812. William Davidson (1746-1781), born in Pennsylvania of Scottish parentage or descent, was a Brigadier-General in the Revolutionary Army, and was killed in the fight at the ford over Catawba River, January 31, 1781. Congress voted five hundred dollars for a monument to his memory, and Davidson College, North Carolina, is named in his honor. General William Macpherson (1756-1813), born in Philadelphia of Scottish parents, was in the British service at the time of the Revolution, but resigned and joined the colonies, and served faithfully under Was.h.i.+ngton. Major Robert Kirkwood was killed in the battle against the Miami Indians in 1792, the thirty-third time he had risked his life for his country.

Lachlan McIntosh (1727-1806), of the family of MacIntosh of Borlum, was born in Badenoch, Inverness-s.h.i.+re, and came to America with his father who settled in Georgia. He volunteered his services on the outbreak of the Revolution, becoming General in 1776. He was second in command at Savannah and took part in the defence of Charleston.

McIntosh county, Georgia, is named after his family, "whose members have ill.u.s.trated the state, in both field and forum, since the days of Oglethorpe." William Moultrie (1731-1805), born in England or South Carolina, son of the Scottish physician, Dr. John Moultrie, ancestor of the Moultries of South Carolina, repulsed the attack on Sullivan's Island in 1776 and defended Charleston in 1779. Fort Moultrie was named in his honor. Andrew Pickens (1739-1817), of Scottish parentage, was noted as a partizan commander in South Carolina (1779-81), served with distinction at Cowpens in 1781, and captured Atlanta, Georgia, in the same year. Pickens county, Georgia, bears his name. John Stark (1728-1822), one of the most noted Generals of the Revolution, serving with distinction in several campaigns, was a member of the Court Martial which condemned Major Andre. Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818), born at Thurso, Caithness, took part in many battles of the Revolution, was President of Congress in 1787, and Governor of the Northwest Territory (1789-1802). William Alexander (1726-83), t.i.tular Lord Stirling, born in Albany of Scottish parentage, commanded a Brigade at the Battle of Long Island, and also served at Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. John Paterson (1744-1808), grandson of a Dumfriess.h.i.+re emigrant, took part in many battles of the Revolution, commissioned Major-General in 1783, the youngest one of that rank in the army, and was one of the organizers of the Society of Cincinnati. General Daniel Stewart was another patriot of the Revolution. A county in Georgia is named in his honor.

MEXICAN WAR. Winfield Scott (1786-1866), grandson of a Scot who fought at Culloden, was born in Virginia, and entered the army in 1808. He served with great ability in the War of 1812, later became Major-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Army in 1841. During the war with Mexico he held chief command of the Army, and became Lieutenant-General in 1847. John Munroe (c. 1796-1861), born in Ross-s.h.i.+re, entered the United States Army, saw service against the Florida Indians, became Chief of Artillery under General Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War, and was subsequently Military and Civil Governor of New Mexico (1849-50). James Bowie (1795-1836), of Scottish descent and of "Bowie-knife" celebrity, took part in the Texan Revolution and was killed at the Alamo in 1836. Bowie county and the town of Bowie in Montague county, Texas, perpetuate his name. The Bowies were a prominent family in Maryland, occupying high positions in politics, jurisprudence, and society.

CIVIL WAR. General David Bell Birney (1825-64), son of James Gillespie Birney, served with distinction in the Army of the Potomac. General Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-81), later Governor of Rhode Island (1867-69), and United States Senator (1875-81), was grandson of a Scot who emigrated to South Carolina at end of the eighteenth century.

Samuel Wylie Crawford (1829-92), of Scottish ancestry, was brevetted Major-General of Volunteers for conspicuous gallantry, and wrote "Genesis of the Civil War" (1887). Major-General Thomas Ewing (1829-96), was descendant of Thomas Ewing who emigrated to New Jersey in 1715. James Lorraine Geddes (1829-87), born in Edinburgh, brevetted Brigadier-General for his services, was also a poet, and wrote "The Soldier's Battle Prayer," "The Stars and Stripes," etc. John Brown Gordon (1832-1904), Lieutenant-General in the Confederate Army and later Governor of Georgia, was descendant of John George Gordon and his wife Mary Chapman, emigrants from Scotland. General Charles Smith Hamilton (1822-96), of Scottish descent, also served with distinction in the Mexican War. General Grant ascribed the success of the repulse at Corinth to him. Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824-63), "Stonewall Jackson," the noted Confederate General, was of Ulster Scot descent.

John Alexander Logan (1826-86), of Ulster Scot parentage, was later unsuccessful candidate for the Vice-Presidency in 1884, United States Senator (1871-77, 1879-86), and author of "The Great Conflict" (1866).

Major-General Robert McAllister (1813-91), great-grandson of Archibald McAllister from Scotland, 1732. Charles Lafayette McArthur (1824-98), soldier, politician, and journalist, was of Scots parentage. General Arthur McArthur (1845-1912), of Scots parentage, son of Arthur McArthur the Jurist, later served in the Philippines, became in 1906 Lieutenant-General, being the twelfth officer in the history of the Army to attain that rank. Described as "our best read and best informed soldier." His son, Douglas, served with distinction in the Great War. John McArthur, born in Erskine, Scotland, in 1826, emigrated to United States in 1849, was brevetted Major-General for gallantry. General George Archibald McCall (1802-68), served in the Florida and Mexican Wars, and also rendered distinguished service in the Civil War. Daniel Craig McCallum (1815-78), born in Renfrews.h.i.+re, Superintendent of the Erie Railroad (1855-56), was Director of Military Roads in the United States (1862-65), and became Major-General in 1866. "He introduced the inflexible arched truss, which has probably been in more general use in the United States than any other system of timber bridges." The McCooks, of Scottish descent, two Ohio families with a remarkable military record, often distinguished as the "Tribe of Dan" and "Tribe of John" from their respective heads--two brothers, Major Daniel and Dr. John McCook. All the sons, fourteen in number, served either in the Army or Navy, and all but one were commanding officers. Clinton Dugald McDougal (b.

1839), Major-General and later Member of Congress (1872-77), was born in Scotland. Irvin McDowell (1818-85), served in the Mexican War, in the Civil War had command of the Army of the Potomac, Major-General in 1872, was descendant of emigrant from Londonderry shortly after the siege in which his ancestor took part. General John Bankhead Magruder (1810-71) and Commander George Magruder of the Confederate Army were said to be "direct descendants of the ill.u.s.trious Rob Roy McGregor."

Alexander Mackenzie (b. 1844), Chief of Engineers, was of Scots parentage. David McMurtrie Gregg (b. 1833), served with distinction in battles of the Wilderness, and was afterwards Auditor-General of Pennsylvania. John McNeil (1813-91), Brigadier-General, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, of Scots parentage. General James Birdseye Macpherson (1828-64), of Ulster Scot descent, took a most prominent part in many battles. General Grant said at his death: "The country has lost one of its best soldiers, and I have lost my best friend."

William Macrae (1834-82), of Scottish descent, Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army was afterwards General Superintendent of the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad. William Addison Phillips (1824-93), soldier, statesman, and author, born in Paisley, refused to leave his command to accept the nomination for Governor of his state (Kansas). He was author of "Labor, Land, and Law" (1886). John Robertson (1814-87), born in Banffs.h.i.+re, was Adjutant-General of Michigan from 1861 to 1887. He was author of "The Flags of Michigan,"

"Michigan in the War," etc. James Alexander Walker (1832-1901), descendant of John Walker who came from Wigtown (c. 1730), was also Member of Congress (1895-99) and Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (1877).

SCOTS IN THE NAVY

John Paul Jones (1747-92), perhaps the most famous Scottish name in the annals of the American Navy, was the son of a Scottish gardener, and was born at Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrights.h.i.+re. The details of his naval career are so well known that there is little use of repeating them here. James Craig (1735-1800), a Scot, Was appointed by Congress a Commissioner of naval stores in 1776. He was owner of a number of armed privateering vessels, took several prizes, and also aided in fitting out several other vessels as privateers. The Nicholson family, of Scottish parentage, was famous in the naval annals of the United States for three generations, from the Revolution to the Civil War.

Alexander Murray (1755-1821), grandson of a Scot, took an active part in the naval battles of the Revolution and commanded a squadron against the Barbary pirates in 1820. John Rodgers (1771-1838), of Scottish parentage, had a distinguished part in the war against Tripoli, the government of which he compelled to sign a treaty abolis.h.i.+ng slavery of Christians and the levying of tribute on European powers. In the war of 1812 he fired the first gun, June 23, 1812, at the British frigate "Belvidere." He was afterwards offered, but declined, the office of Secretary of the Navy. George Campbell Read (c. 1788-1862), Admiral, of Ulster Scot descent, took part in the fight between the "Const.i.tution" and "Guerriere" in 1812. Isaac McKeever (1794-1856), Commodore and Commandant of the Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, was of Scottish parentage. John Berrien Montgomery (1794-1873), descended from William Montgomery of Bridgend, Ayrs.h.i.+re (1701), served in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and while too old for active service in the Civil War, was in charge of Boston Navy Yard, then one of the most important supply stations of the navy.

Rear Admiral Andrew Bryson (1822-1892), of Scottish descent, took part in Civil War, and retired after forty-three years' continuous service.

John McIntosh Kell (1823-1900), Executive Officer of the Confederate Cruiser "Alabama" and author of "Cruise and Combats of the 'Alabama'"

was of Scottish origin. Rear Admiral Alexander Colden Rhind (1821-97), who served in the Mexican and Civil Wars, was also of Scottish descent. William Penn McCann (1830-1906), a descendant of John McKeand, a native of Whithorn, Wigtowns.h.i.+re, who settled here before the Revolution, was called "Father of the White Squadron" from his having the wars.h.i.+ps painted white. Francis Munroe Ramsay (1835-1914), Rear Admiral and Chief of the Bureau of Navigation (1889), Member of the Court of Inquiry which investigated the conduct of Rear Admiral Schley during the war with Spain, was a grandson of Patrick Ramsay who came from Scotland, c. 1750. Frederick Vallete McNair (1839-1900), Superintendent of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, was descended from Samuel McNair (1732). Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville (1841-1912), who saw considerable service in the Civil War and later achieved world wide fame as an Arctic explorer, was the grandson of a Scot from Stirling; and Admiral John Donaldson Ford (1840-1917), who fought in the Civil War and took a prominent part in the capture of Manila and destruction of the batteries at Cavite during the Spanish-American War, was of Scottish parentage.

SCOTS AS SCIENTISTS

Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), born in Paisley, the first naturalist to study American birds in their native haunts, and author of "American Ornithology" (1803-13), was also distinguished as a poet. David Hosack (1769-1835), one of the most distinguished surgeons and scientists of his day, fourth President of the New York Historical Society, was son of a native of Morays.h.i.+re. Samuel Guthrie (1782-1848), physician and chemist, was descendant of John Guthrie, who came to America in 1661.

He was one of the pioneers who introduced vaccination, produced the first successful percussion powder (after many experiments), invented the "punch lock" which superseded the flint-lock musket, and, in 1831, discovered the anaesthetic chloroform. Hugh Williamson (1735-1819), statesman and scientist, born in Pennsylvania and educated in Edinburgh. He studied theology and was licensed but never preached, was Professor of Mathematics in the College of Philadelphia (1760-63), studied medicine in Edinburgh and Utrecht, practised successfully, served as surgeon in the Revolutionary War, delegate to the Convention that framed the Const.i.tution of the United States (1787), and was afterwards Member of the first Congress. John McLean (1771-1814), born in Glasgow, became Professor of Chemistry in Princeton (1775) and later Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry in William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. His son, John, became President of Princeton. Dr. William Watson (d. 1828), a Scot, was physician and friend of Chancellor Livingston, and one of the early promoters of scientific agriculture in America. He was founder of the Farmers' Club of Dutchess and Columbia Counties, the pioneer of Agricultural Societies in New York. James Renwick (1790-1862), born in Liverpool of Scottish parents, was Professor of Physics in Columbia University, author of several scientific works, and one of the Commissioners who laid out the early boundary line of the Province of New Brunswick. His mother was the Jeannie Jaffray of several of Burns's poems. James Renwick, the architect, was his son. Other gifted sons were Edward Sabine Renwick and Henry Brevoort Renwick. Joseph Henry (1797-1878), the "Nestor of American Science," and organizer of the American Academy of Sciences otherwise the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution in Was.h.i.+ngton, was of Scottish' origin. His paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated from Scotland together and are said to have landed the day before the Battle of Bunker Hill. The McAllisters of Philadelphia (father and son) were famous as makers of optical and mathematical instruments, and the son was the first to study and fit astigmatic lenses, and was also the introducer of the system of numbering buildings according to the numbers of the streets, a.s.signing one hundred numbers to each block. Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-87), Naturalist and Secretary of the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution, was also of Scottish origin. His works, including scientific papers, number over one thousand t.i.tles. Carlile Pollock Patterson (1816-81) did much to develop the United States Coast Survey. William Paterson Turnbull (1830-71), ornithologist, author of the "Birds of East Pennsylvania and New Jersey," a model of patient and accurate research, was born at Fala, near Edinburgh. Edward Duncan Montgomery, biologist and philosopher, was born in Edinburgh in 1835. Marshall MacDonald (1835-95), ichthyologist, pisciculturist, and inventor, engineer in charge of the siege of Vicksburg during the Civil War, and inventor of automatic hatching jars, was the grandson of a Scottish immigrant.

Peter Smith Michie (1839-1901), soldier and scientist, born in Brechin, Forfars.h.i.+re, graduated from West Point in 1863, served as Engineer in the Federal Army, and was afterwards Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at West Point. William Healey Dall (b.

1845), palaeontologist to the United States Geological Survey, author of "Alaska and Its Resources," and author of hundreds of articles on Natural History subjects, was a grandson of William Dall of Forfars.h.i.+re. Thomas Harrison Montgomery (1873-1912), specialist in zoology and embryology, was of Scottish origin. Robert Gibson Eccles, physician and chemist, born in Kilmaurs, Ayrs.h.i.+re, in 1848, discovered that benzoic acid and the benzoates are excellent preservatives of food. He has been Chemist of the Department of Indian Affairs, Professor of Chemistry in the New York School of Social Economics, President of the New York Pharmaceutical a.s.sociation, etc., and has written largely on philosophy and science. Stephen Alfred Forbes (b.

1844), naturalist, educator, and writer on entomology and zoology, is of Scottish origin. Thomas Craig (1853-1900), Mathematician and Editor of the American Journal of Mathematics, was of Scottish parentage.

Alexander Crombie Humphreys, born in Edinburgh in 1851, became President of Stevens Inst.i.tute of Technology, Hoboken, in 1902.

Anstruther Davidson, born in Caithness in 1860, a.s.sociate Professor of Dermatology in the University of Southern California, is also distinguished as a botanist and entomologist.

William Maclure (1763-1840), the "Father of American Geology," was born in Ayr, Scotland, and after acquiring a fortune in London, he came in 1796 to the United States. Having studied geology in Europe he was attracted by the imposing scale of the geological structure of his adopted country, and in the course of some years made many journeys across the eastern states. He recorded his geological observations on a map, and in 1809 communicated his researches to the American Philosophical Society. In 1817, having extended his knowledge during the intervening eight years he presented his map to the Society, and it was then published. This was the first geological survey of the United States, and it was carried out unsustained by government aid or patronage. It was also chiefly through Maclure's aid that the new Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia was built and endowed. Dr.

Archibald Bruce (1777-1818), the first scientific mineralogist in America, and founder of the _American Mineralogical Magazine_ (1810), was born in New York city, son of Dr. William Bruce, head of the medical department of the British Armies. Henry Darwin Rogers (1808-66), born in Philadelphia of Ulster Scot parentage, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in the University of Pennsylvania, State Geologist of Pennsylvania, published important works on the geology of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He removed to Edinburgh in 1855 and three years later became Professor of Natural History in the University of Glasgow. His elder brother, William Barton Rogers (1804-1882), was also a distinguished physicist and geologist. David Dale Owen (1807-60), born in Lanarks.h.i.+re, was brought to the United States by his father in 1823. In 1848 he took charge of the Geological Survey of Wisconsin and Iowa, and that of Minnesota in 1852. His brother, Richard Owen (1810-90), also born in Lanarks.h.i.+re, had a distinguished career in this country as a geologist. J. Peter Lesley (1819-1903), also of Scottish descent, was another distinguished geologist who by his researches and surveys in Pennsylvania, vastly aided in the economic development of that state. Persifor Frazer (1844-1909), son of John Fries Frazer and great-grandson of Lieutenant-Colonel Persifor Frazer of Revolutionary times, was author of the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania (5 vols.) William John McGee (1853-1912), geologist and anthropologist, claimed descent from the MacGregors. He was Geologist of the United States Geological Survey from 1883 to 1893, Ethnologist in Charge of the Bureau of Ethnology from 1893 to 1903, and in 1907 was appointed a Member of the Inland Waterways Commission. Was.h.i.+ngton Carruthers Kerr (1827-85), educator and scientist of Ulster Scot parentage, was State Geologist of North Carolina (1866-82), and published many papers and reports on his subject. John Muir (1838-1914), geologist, explorer, naturalist, and author, was born in Dunbar. "No man since Th.o.r.eau ever had keener sympathy with nature, a quicker vision for her mysteries, or a surer speech for their interpretation." The establishment of the Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks and the great Sierra Forest Reservation are due to his writings. The famous Muir Glacier in Alaska, discovered by him in 1879, will forever blazon his name. Other distinguished geologists who may be briefly mentioned are: Samuel Calvin (1840-1911), Professor of Geology in the University of Iowa, born in Wigtowns.h.i.+re; John James Stevenson (b. 1841), educator and geologist, of Scottish parentage; Erwin Hinckly Barbour (b. 1856), professor of Geology in the University of Nebraska; and William Berryman Scott (b. 1858), the distinguished geologist and palaeontologist of Princeton University.

Asa Gray (1810-88), the greatest of American botanists, was a descendant of one of the Ulster Scot settlers of 1718. Dr. Alexander Garden (1728-92), famous as a physician and botanist, was Professor of Botany in King's College (now Columbia University). His son was a distinguished Revolutionary officer. Thomas Huston Macbride (b. 1848), President Emeritus of the State University of Iowa, who has written much of value on botany, is of Scottish ancestry. Beverly Thomas Galloway (b. 1863), descended from John Galloway, an emigrant from Scotland in 1680, Chief of the Division of Plant Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture, a.s.sistant Secretary of Agriculture in 1913-14, is the author of several works on plant diseases. David Trembly Macdougal (b. 1865), Director of the Botanical Research Department of the Carnegie Inst.i.tution of Was.h.i.+ngton since 1905, is the grandson of a Scottish immigrant. His studies relate especially to plant physiology, heredity, and organic evolution.

Stephen Alexander (1806-83), son of a native of Scotland, wrote much on astronomy, and was chief of the expedition to the coast of Labrador to observe the solar eclipse in August, 1869. James Ferguson (1797-1867), an Engineer employed on the construction of the Erie Ca.n.a.l, was born in Perths.h.i.+re. He was later a.s.sistant Astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory, and discovered three asteroids, for which he received medals from the French Academy of Sciences.

Ormsby McKnight Mitchel (1810-62), who was Director of the Cincinnati Observatory (1845) and later of the Dudley Observatory (1859), inventor of the chronograph and other astronomical apparatus, and became a General in the Civil War, was probably also of Scottish origin. Maria Mitch.e.l.l (1818-89), daughter of William Mitch.e.l.l (1791-1868), also an astronomer, became Professor of Astronomy in Va.s.sar College, LL.D. of Columbia University (1887), and was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Sciences. Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816-92), one of the most distinguished astronomers on the American Continent, obtained important results in astronomical photography, and by means of a ruling engine, designed by him in 1870, constructed the finest diffraction-gratings which had, up to that time, been made, was of Scottish ancestry. George Davidson (1825-1911), born in England of Scottish parentage, geodetist and astronomer, one of the founders of the Geographical Society of the Pacific, Regent of the University of California, was retired after fifty years' active field service of incalculable value to the cause of science. William Harkness (1837-1903), born in Ecclefechan, Dumfriess.h.i.+re, was executive officer of the Transit of Venus Commission (1882). The task of reducing the observations and the hundreds of photographs was successfully undertaken by him although declared impossible by eminent British and German astronomers. He was later Astronomical Director of the Naval Observatory and in 1897 made head of the Nautical Almanac. Williamina (Mina) Paton Fleming (1857-1911), born in Dundee, discovered many new stars and wrote much of permanent value on her subject. William Wallace Campbell (b. 1862), of Scottish ancestry, has been Director of Lick Observatory since 1901, and has written much on astronomy.

The most interesting Scot in connection with horticulture in the United States is Grant Thorburn (1773-1861), who was born in Dalkeith and left his native country for political reasons in 1794. After trying a number of occupations he finally established himself as a seed merchant in New York, and the business is still carried on under his name. Under the pen name of "Lawrie Todd" he contributed to the _Knickerbocker Magazine_ and other New York periodicals, and supplied John Galt, the novelist, with much of the information incorporated in his "Lawrie Todd; or, Settlers in the New World." Thorburn also published two volumes of reminiscences, "Forty Years' Residence in America," and "Fifty Years' Reminiscences of New York." William Adair, born near Glasgow in 1815, developed a profitable business as gardener and horticulturist in Michigan, and served as State Senator from 1861 to 1865, 1869-70. Peter Henderson (1822-90), born at Pathhead near Edinburgh, founded the firm of Peter Henderson and Co., horticulturists and seedsmen, one of the largest firms of its kind in existence. William Saunders (1822-1900), born in St. Andrews, planted and laid out several large estates, beautified Fairmount and Hunting Parks in Philadelphia, and the park and garden system of Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, etc. William Macmillan, born in Nairns.h.i.+re, laid out the public parks of Buffalo, and William R. Smith, a native of Haddingtons.h.i.+re, was for many years Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens at Was.h.i.+ngton. Robert Buist (1805-80), born in Edinburgh, was also one of the greatest horticulturists in the United States.

SCOTS AS PHYSICIANS

A prominent physician of early colonial times was Dr. Gustavus Brown (1689-1765), born in Dalkeith, and died in Maryland. Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown (1747-1804), born in Maryland and educated at Edinburgh University, his son, also made a reputation for himself as a physician of ability. Dr. Gustavus Brown (1744-1801), grandson of the first named, was summoned to attend President Was.h.i.+ngton in his last illness. Dr. John Lining (1708-1760), born in Scotland, settled in Charleston, S.C., in 1730, gained a large practice through his skill as a physician, and a distinguished reputation in Europe as a scientist from his experiments in electricity, etc. His meteorological observations were probably the first ever published. In 1751 he issued his "History of the Yellow Fever," "which was the first that had been given to the public from the American continent." Dr. Lionel Chalmers (1715-1777), born in Argylls.h.i.+re, practised in South Carolina for more than forty years, and was the first to treat of the soil, climate, weather, and diseases of that state. He "left behind him the name of a skilful, humane physician." Dr. James Craik (1731-1814), physician-general of the United States Army, was born at Arbigland, near Dumfries, and for nearly forty years was the intimate friend of Was.h.i.+ngton, and his physician in his last illness. One of the earliest introducers of vaccination into America and an original investigator into the cause of disease was Dr. John Crawford (1746-1813), of Ulster Scots birth. As early as 1790 he had conceived what is now known as the germ theory of disease. Dr. Adam Stephen, born in Scotland, died at Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1791, took part in the French and Indian wars and was an active partic.i.p.ant in the Revolutionary War on the side of the colonists. The town of Martinsburg in Berkeley County was laid out by him. Dr. George Buchanan (1763-1808), founder of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, was a grandson of George Buchanan, the Scot who laid out Baltimore town in 1730. Dr. John Spence (1766-1829), born in Scotland, educated at Edinburgh University, settled in Virginia in 1791, and obtained a high reputation as a judicious and successful pract.i.tioner. The "father of ovariotomy," Dr. Ephraim McDowell (1771-1830), was born in Virginia of Scots ancestry and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

James Brown McCaw (1772-1846), one of the leading surgeons in Virginia for over thirty years, studied medicine in Edinburgh. He was one of the first, if not the first, to tie the external carotid artery, an operation he performed in 1807. He came of a race of doctors, being the great-grandson of James McCaw, a surgeon who emigrated from Wigtowns.h.i.+re in 1771. George McClellan (1796-1847) the eminent surgeon and founder of the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, was of Scottish descent. His son, John Hill Brinton McClellan (1823-74), was professor of anatomy in Pennsylvania Medical College, and his grandson was George McClellan (1849-1913), the eminent Philadelphia anatomist. Dr. Peter Middleton (d. 1781), a native of Scotland, made the first dissection on record in this country before a cla.s.s of students and in 1767 established a Medical School in New York which was subsequently merged in the King's (now Columbia) College. Dr. William Currie (1754-1823), served in the medical service during the Revolutionary War, and was reputed one of the most gifted men of his time as physician and cla.s.sical scholar.

Horatio Gates Jameson (1778-1855), distinguished physician and surgeon, was son of Dr. David Jameson who had emigrated to Charleston in 1740 in company with Dr. (afterwards General) Hugh Mercer.

Granville Sharp Pattison (1791-1851), anatomist, born near Glasgow, held several professional appointments in this country and founded the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York. Dr. John Kearsley Mitch.e.l.l (1793-1858), poet, botanist, and eminent physician of Philadelphia, was son of Dr. Alexander Mitch.e.l.l who came from Scotland in 1786. His son, Dr. Silas Weir Mitch.e.l.l, born in 1829, was distinguished for his researches in toxicology, the nervous system, etc., and as one of the most distinguished of American authors. One of the founders of the City Hospital, Albany, and Surgeon-General of New York State, was Dr. James McNaughton (1796-1874), born at Kenmore, Aberfeldy. Dr. Daniel McRuer (1802-73), born in Knapdale, Argylls.h.i.+re, "a typical Scotchman with a 'burr' in his talk," performed great service in the Civil War as an army Surgeon. Dr. John Watson (1807-1863), organizer of one of the first dispensaries for the treatment of skin diseases and introducer of reforms in the New York Hospital, was an Ulster Scot. John Murray Carnochan (1817-87), one of the most distinguished surgeons of his day, was of Scottish parentage.

Ferdinand Campbell Stuart (b. 1815), inventor of various instruments used in genito-urinary diseases and one of the founders of the New York Academy of Medicine, was grandson of Rev. Archibald Campbell of Argylls.h.i.+re. Dr. David Hayes Agnew (1818-92) was of Scottish descent.

In his work "he attained a degree of eminence which has rarely, if ever, been equaled, and to which our own times and generation furnish no parallel." William Thomas Green Morton (1819-68), the discoverer of anaesthesia, was also of Scottish origin. Dr. Robert Alexander Kinloch (1826-91), of Scottish parentage, was the first American surgeon to resect the knee joint for chronic cases, also the first to treat fractures of the lower jaw and other bones by wiring the fragments, and was also the first in any country to perform a laparotomy for gunshot wounds in the abdomen without protrusion of the viscera. Dr.

George Troup Maxwell (1827-1879), was inventor of the laryngoscope.

James Ridley Taylor (1821-1895), who entered the medical profession after middle life, at the end of a long career pa.s.sed as a mechanical engineer, and achieved success and fame in his profession, was born in Ayr, Scotland. He probably inherited his mechanical skill from his uncle, John Taylor of Dalswinton, who constructed the steam engine along with Symington. James Henry McLean (1829-86), physician and Member of Congress, was born in Scotland. Dr. James Craig (1834-88), obstetrician, born in Glasgow, graduated at the University of the City of New York, attended over four thousand cases without the loss of a mother, was inventor of several surgical appliances, and was the first to demonstrate hydriodic acid as a curative in acute inflammatory rheumatism. Professor Alexander Johnson Chalmers Skene (1837-1900), of Brooklyn, born in Fyvie, Aberdeens.h.i.+re, was perhaps the most famous Gynecologist in America. He was author of many treatises on his special subject. Prof. Charles McBurney (b. 1845), the famous surgeon, was of Scottish ancestry. Neil Jamieson Hepburn, born in Orkney in 1846, oculist and aurist, held many positions of responsibility.

Charles Smith Turnbull (b. 1847), oculist and eminent specialist in diseases of the ear, was of Scottish parentage. Alexander Hugh Ferguson (1853-1911), the famous Chicago surgeon of Scottish parentage, was decorated by the King of Portugal for his skill in surgery. Other prominent doctors and surgeons of Scottish origin whom we have only s.p.a.ce to name are: John Barclay Crawford (1828-94); William Smith Forbes (1831-1905), grandson of Dr. David Forbes of Edinburgh; John Minson Gait (d. 1808), and his son Alexander D. Gait (1777-1841); Robert Ramsey Livingston (1827-88), the most prominent of Nebraska's early physicians; and James Macdonald (1803-49), resident physician of Bloomingdale Asylum.

SCOTS IN EDUCATION

The Scots have largely contributed to raise the standard of education and culture in the United States. They furnished most of the princ.i.p.al schoolmasters in the Revolutionary Colonies south of New York, and many of the Revolutionary leaders were trained by them. While Harvard still continued under the charge of a president and tutors and had but one "professor," William and Mary College had had for many years a full faculty of professors, graduates of the Scottish and English universities. The Scots established the "Log College" at Nashaminy, Pennsylvania, Jefferson College, Mercer College, Wabash College, and d.i.c.kinson College; and in many places, before the cabins disappeared from the roadside and the stumps from the fields, a college was founded. The "Log College" was the seed from which Princeton College sprang. The University for North Carolina, founded and nurtured by Scots in 1793, and the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University are indebted to the same source for their present position.

William Gordon and Thomas Gordon, who founded a free school in the county of Middles.e.x, Virginia, in the latter half of the seventeenth century, were Scots; and Hugh Campbell, another Scot, an Attorney-at-law in Norfolk county, Virginia, in 1691, deeded two hundred acres of land in each of the counties of Norfolk, Isle of Wight, and Nansemond, for free schools. James Innes, who came to America from Canisbay, Caithness, in 1734, by his will gave his plantation, a considerable personal estate, his library, and one hundred pounds "for the use of a free school for the benefit of the youth of North Carolina," the first private bequest for education in the state. One of the first public acts of Gabriel Johnston, Provincial Governor of North Carolina (1734-52), was to insist upon the need of making adequate provision for a thorough school system in the colony. Out of the host of names which present themselves in this field of public service we have room only for the following:

James Blair (1656-1743), born in Edinburgh, was the chief founder and first President of William and Mary College, and Mungo Inglis was the first Grammar Master there till 1712. Francis Alison (1705-99), an Ulster Scot educated in Glasgow, was Vice-Provost of the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania. David Rhind, tutor of John Rutledge, "an excellent cla.s.sical scholar, and one of the most successful of the early instructors of youth in Carolina," was of Scottish birth. The tutor of Thomas Jefferson was also a Scot. Samuel Finley (1715-66), born in Armagh of Scots ancestry, S.T.D. of Glasgow University, 1763, was President of the College of New Jersey, and one of the ancestors of Samuel Finley Breese Morse, inventor of the Morse system of telegraphy. In educational work in the eighteenth century no name stands higher than that of William Smith (1727-1803), born in Aberdeen, first Provost of the College of Philadelphia. He was the introducer of the system of cla.s.s records now used in all American universities. Isabella Graham (1742-1814), born in Lanarks.h.i.+re, ranked as one of the most successful teachers in New York at the end of the eighteenth century. James Dunlap (1744-1818), of Scottish descent, was President of Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. William Graham (1745-99), was first President of Was.h.i.+ngton College (now Was.h.i.+ngton and Lee University). Robert Patterson (1743-1824), a Scot of Ulster, was Vice-Provost of the University of Pennsylvania (1810-13), and Director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia (1805-24). His son, Robert M. Patterson, succeeded him as Vice-Provost in 1828. Peter Wilson (1746-1825), born at Ordiquhill, Aberdeens.h.i.+re, published several important text-books on Latin and Greek, was Member of the New Jersey Legislature in 1777, and in 1783 was appointed to revise and codify the laws of the state of New York. Thomas Craighead (1750-1825), first President of Davidson Academy (1785-1809), afterwards the University of Nashville, was great-grandson of Rev.

Robert Craighead who went from Scotland to Donoghmore in Ireland.

Joseph McKeen (1757-1807), first President of Bowdoin College, was of Ulster Scot origin (1718). John Kemp (1763-1812), born at Auchlossan, Aberdeens.h.i.+re, became Professor of Mathematics in Columbia University.