William Bartram (1739 - 1823)

William Bartram, born in 1739 and the fifth of nine children of John and Ann Bartram, showed an early interest in the natural sciences and a talent for botanical illustration, accompanying his father on plant collecting trips as his “little botanist.” After unsuccessful attempts at business and farming, he gained the sponsorship of Dr. John Fothergill of London in 1773 for an expedition through the deep South. During his four-year journey, he encountered alligators, Indians, and international intrigue as the colonies prepared for war. In 1791, his vivid and detailed account of the trip was published as Travels, which became a classic of early American literature, quickly appeared in several foreign editions, and remains in print. He spent the rest of his life quietly at the garden with his brother John’s family, tending the plant collection, making botanical illustrations, encouraging young naturalists such as Alexander Wilson, Thomas Say, and Thomas Nuttall, and was elected to the American Philosophical Society and the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States