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, Assistant 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 Institution of Washington 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 Canal, was born in Perthshire. He was later Assistant 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 Mitchell (1818-89), daughter of William Mitchell (1791-1868), also an astronomer, became Professor of Astronomy in Vassar 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, Dumfriesshire, 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 Washington, D.C., the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, etc. William Macmillan, born in Nairnshire, laid out the public parks of Buffalo, and William R. Smith, a native of Haddingtonshire, was for many years Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens at Washington. 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 Washington 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 Argyllshire, 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 Washington, 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 participant 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 practitioner. 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 Wigtownshire 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 class 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 classical 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 Mitchell (1793-1858), poet, botanist, and eminent physician of Philadelphia, was son of Dr. Alexander Mitchell who came from Scotland in 1786. His son, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, 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, Argyllshire, "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 Argyllshire. 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 passed 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, Aberdeenshire, 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 space 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 principal 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 Dickinson 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 Middlesex, 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 classical 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 class records now used in all American universities. Isabella Graham (1742-1814), born in Lanarkshire, 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 Washington College (now Washington 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, Aberdeenshire, 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, Aberdeenshire, became Professor of Mathematics in Columbia University. He "had an important influence in moulding the views of De Witt Clinton on topics of internal improvement and national policy." John Brown (1763-1842), Professor of Logic and Moral Philosophy in the University of South Carolina, was afterwards third President of the University of Georgia. Joseph Caldwell (1773-1835) was Founder and President of the University of North Carolina. Jesse Mercer (1769-1841), Founder of Mercer University, was the grandson of a Scottish emigrant to Virginia. Robert Finley (1772-1817), Trustee of the College of New Jersey (1807-17) and fourth President of the University of Georgia, was of Scottish parentage. John Mitchell Mason (1770-1829), fourth President of Dickinson College and for several years Foreign Secretary of the American Bible Society, was the son of Dr. John Mason, born in Linlithgow. Both were ministers of the Associate Church in New York. Archibald Alexander (1772-1851), fourth President of Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia (1796-1806), and Professor in Princeton Theological Seminary (1812-51), was of Scottish parentage. James Waddell Alexander (1804-59), Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres at Princeton (1833-44) and of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in Princeton Theological Seminary (1844-51) was his son. Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-60), Orientalist and Biblical critic, was another son of Archibald Alexander. Moses Waddell (1770-1840), born in Iredell county, North Carolina, of Scottish parentage, fifth President of the University of Georgia, was one of the foremost teachers of his day. Samuel Brown Wylie (1773-1852), Vice-Provost of the University of Pennsylvania (1834-45), was born in Antrim of Scottish parents and educated in Glasgow. Joseph McKean (1776-1818), Boyleston Professor of Rhetoric in Harvard University (1809-18) was of Scottish parentage. Charles Macalister (1798-1873), born in Philadelphia of Scottish parentage, intimate friend of five Presidents, Government Director of the United States Bank, was founder of Macalister College, Minneapolis. John Dempster (1794-1863), President of the Illinois Wesleyan University, was of Scottish parentage. Daniel Curry (1809-87) was President of De Pauw University (1855-59). Andrew Harvie, born in Scotland before 1810, became Principal of the Tecumseh branch of the State University of Michigan (1839-40), Master of Chancery (1848), State Senator (1850-51). Described as a "man of ability and thorough culture." Nathaniel Macon Crawford (1811-71), fourth President of Mercer University and afterwards President of Georgetown College, Kentucky, was a son of William H. Crawford the statesman. John Forsyth (1811-86), clergyman, author, and Professor of Latin in Rutgers College, was of Scottish parentage, and received his education in Edinburgh and Glasgow. James McCosh (1811-94), born at Carskeoch, Ayrshire, was President of Princeton University from 1868 to 1888, and was the author of many works on philosophy. John Fries Frazer (1812-72), Vice-Provost of the University of Pennsylvania (1858-68), was of Scottish ancestry. Louis Agassiz described him as "the first of American physicists of his time." James Sidney Rollins (1812-88), of Ulster Scot origin, for his efforts on behalf of education in his state was declared by the Curators of the University of Missouri to have won the honorable title of "Pater Universitatis Missouriensis." Daniel Kirkwood (1814-95), mathematician and educator, grandson of Robert Kirkwood who came from Scotland c. 1731, was Professor of Mathematics at Indiana University (1856-86). David Chassel, "of Scotch descent and Scotch characteristics," was tutor to Professor James Hadley, America's greatest Greek scholar. Joshua Hall McIlvaine (1815-97), a distinguished comparative philologist, was President of Evelyn College, Princeton. Alexander Melville Bell (1819-1905), the "Nestor of elocutionary science," inventor of the method of phonetic notation of "visible speech," was born in Edinburgh. Alexander Martin (1822-93), sixth President of De Pauw University, was born in Nairn, Scotland. John Fraser (c. 1823-1878), second Chancellor of the University of Arkansas, was born in Cromarty, Scotland. Malcolm MacVicar, born in Argyllshire in 1829, was famous as an educator, writer of text-books, and inventor of many devices to illustrate principles in arithmetic, astronomy and geography. John Maclean (1798-1886), tenth President of Princeton University, was of Scottish parentage. Matthew Henry Buckham (b. 1832), eleventh President of the University of Vermont, was born in England of Scottish parentage. James Kennedy Patterson (b. 1833), first President of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky (1880-1901), was born in Glasgow. David French Boyd (1834-99), second President of Louisiana State University, and his brother, Thomas Duckett Boyd, also a University President, were descended from John Boyd of Ayrshire, who emigrated to Maryland in 1633. William Henry Scott (b. 1840), third President of Ohio State University and Professor of Philosophy there, was of Scottish ancestry. Neil Gilmour, born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1840, was Superintendent of Public Instruction of New York State; and James MacAlister (1840-1913), born in Glasgow, was the first Superintendent of Schools in Philadelphia, where he introduced many reforms, notably in the Kindergarten and in co-ordination of teaching. In 1891 he became President of the Drexel Institute and was also author of several works on education. Thomas Davidson (1840-1900), philosopher, educator, and author, was born at Deer, Aberdeenshire. John McLaren McBride (b. 1846), of Scottish parentage, was President of the University of South Carolina. Gustavus Richard Glenn (b. 1848) descended from Nicholas Glenn, an emigrant from Scotland, filled several important educational positions and was afterwards President of North Georgia Agricultural College. George Edwin Maclean (b. 1850), a distinguished English and Anglo-Saxon scholar, was fifth Chancellor of the University of Nebraska. William Milligan Sloan (b. 1850), author, educator, and Professor of History in Columbia University, is descended from William Sloane, a native of Ayr, who settled here in the beginning of the nineteenth century. James Cameron Mackenzie (b. 1852), born in Aberdeen, is founder of the Mackenzie School for Boys at Dobbs Ferry (1901) and a frequent contributor to educational publications. James Hervey Hyslop (b. 1854), philosopher, psychologist, and educator, was grandson of George Hyslop of Roxburghshire. He devoted many years to psychical research. James Geddes (b. 1858), philologist and Professor of Romance Languages in Boston University, is of Scottish parentage. Andrew Armstrong Kincannon (1859-1917), Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, was descendant of James Kincannon who came from Scotland c. 1720. Edwin Boone Craighead (b. 1861), Professor of Greek at Wofford College, South Carolina, and afterwards third President of Tulane University, is of Scottish descent. John Huston Finley (b. 1863), President of the College of the City of New York and New York State Commissioner of Education, is a descendant of a brother of Samuel Finley, President of Princeton College. Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin, born in 1861, Professor of American History in the University of Michigan, is the son of a Peebles lawyer. Duncan Black Macdonald, Professor of Semitic Languages at Hartford Theological Seminary, was born in Glasgow in 1863. Richard Cockburn Maclaurin (1870-1920), seventh President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was born in Lindean, Selkirkshire. George Hutcheson Denny (b. 1870), Professor of Latin in Washington and Lee University, and later President of the same institution, and James Gray McAllister (b. 1872), sixteenth President of Hampden-Sidney College, are both of Scottish descent. William Allan Neilson, born in Doune, Perthshire, was Professor of English in Harvard University (1906-17), and is now President of Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. William Douglas Mackenzie, President of Hartford Theological Seminary Foundation, is a son of John Mackenzie of Knockando, Morayshire, and was born in Fauresmith, South Africa, in 1859.