André Michaux

André Michaux (<small>' → ahn- mee-</small>; sometimes anglicised as Andrew Michaud; 8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specimens in England, Spain, France, and even Persia. His work was part of a larger European effort to gather knowledge about the natural world. Michaux's contributions include Histoire des chênes de l'Amérique (1801; "The Oaks of North America") and Flora Boreali-Americana (1803; "The Flora of North America") which continued to be botanical references well into the 19th century. His son, François André Michaux, also became an authoritative botanist.

Biography

thumb|left|Historical marker off Aviation Ave in [[North Charleston, South Carolina]]

Michaux was born in Satory, part of Versailles, Yvelines, where his father managed farmland on the king's estate. Michaux was trained in the agricultural sciences in anticipation of his one-day assuming his father's duties, and received a basic classical 18th century education, including Latin and some Greek, until he was fourteen. In 1769, he married Cecil Claye, the daughter of a prosperous farmer; she died a year later giving birth to their son, François André. Michaux then took up the study of botany and became a student of Bernard de Jussieu. In 1779 he spent time studying botany in England, and in 1780 he explored Auvergne, the Pyrenees and northern Spain. In 1782 he was sent by the French government as secretary to the French consul on a botanical mission to Persia. His journey began unfavourably, as he was robbed of all his equipment except his books; but he gained influential support in Persia after curing the shah of a dangerous illness. After two years he returned to France with a fine herbarium, and also introduced numerous Eastern plants into the botanical gardens of France.

thumb|right|Title page of Flora Boreali-Americana: sistens characteres plantarum, Volume 1

André Michaux was appointed by Louis XVI as Royal botanist under the General Director of the Bâtiments du Roi and sent to the United States in 1785 with an annual salary of 2000 livres, to make the first organized investigation of plants that could be of value in French building and carpentry, medicine and agriculture. He traveled with his son François André Michaux (1770–1855) through Canada and the United States. In 1786, Michaux attempted to establish a horticultural garden of thirty acres in Bergen's Wood on the Hudson Palisades in North Bergen, New Jersey. The garden, overseen by Pierre-Paul Saunier from the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, who had emigrated with Michaux, failed because of the harsh winters. In 1787, Michaux established and maintained for a decade a botanical garden of 111 acres near what is now Aviation Avenue in North Charleston, South Carolina, from which he made many expeditions to various parts of North America.

Michaux described and named many North American species during this time. Between 1785 and 1791 he shipped ninety cases of plants and many seeds to France. At the same time he introduced many species to America from various parts of the world, including Camellia, tea-olive, and crepe myrtle.

Proposed North American expedition

thumb|Brachystemum miticum by Pierre-Joseph Redouté from Flora Boreali-Americana

After the collapse of the French monarchy, Michaux, who was a royal botanist, lost his source of income. He solicited support for an American-funded exploration under the auspices of the American Philosophical Society.

In 1793, a decade before the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with no federal funding available, David Rittenhouse (1732–1796), President of the American Philosophical Society asked Thomas Jefferson to draft a "subscription list" to raise funds to explore the interior of North America, from the Mississippi River along the Missouri, and westward to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson personally drew it up and secured 30 signatures, himself included, of influential, wealthy supporters, pledging various amounts to finance it:

U.S. President George Washington (1789–1797)
Vice President John Adams (1797–1801)
U.S. Senator from North Carolina Benjamin Hawkins (1754–1816)
U.S. Senator from South Carolina Ralph Izard (1741–1804)
Former U.S. Senator from North Carolina James Johnston (1742–1805)
U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Robert Morris (1734–1806)
U.S. Senator from Maryland John Henry (Maryland politician) (1750–1798)
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts George Cabot (1751–1823)
U.S. Senator from New Jersey John Rutherford (born around 1760–1840)

Notes

Inline references

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General references

Retrieved August 25, 2024. ; (acid-free paper); (2017 e-book ed.); ; .

Retrieved November 11, 2015. (regular ed.; Vols. 1–11); (Vol. 5); (print).

<div style="margin-left:3em">See Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Hoeniger was a scholar who, among other things, researched this history of natural science, especially 19th century botany and exploration. She was a faculty member of the Department of Microbiology, University of Toronto.</div></ol>

More sources

External links

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden: André Michaux
Biodiversity Heritage Library: books by André Michaux