Biography:

John Bartram (March 23, 1699 – September 22, 1777) was an early American botanist, horticulturist and explorer. Carolus Linnaeus said he was the "greatest natural botanist in the world." Bartram was born into a Quaker farm family in colonial Pennsylvania. He considered himself a plain farmer, with no formal education beyond the local school. He had a lifelong interest in medicine and medicinal plants, and read widely. His botanical career started with a small area of his farm devoted to growing plants he found interesting; later he made contact with European botanists and gardeners interested in North American plants, and developed his hobby into a thriving business. Bartram was married twice, first in 1723 to Mary Maris (d. 1727), who bore him two sons, Richard and Isaac. After her death, he married Ann Mendenhall (1703–1789) in 1729, who gave birth to five boys and four girls. His third son, William Bartram (1739–1823) was to become a famous botanist, natural history artist and ornithologist in his own right, and was the author of Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida,…. Philadelphia, James & Johnson, 1791.