Peter D. Knieskern and John Torrey correspondence, 1836-1858

by: Knieskern, Peter D.,1798-1871

Publication date: 1836

Topics: Botanical specimens, Carex, Cyperaceae, Erodium, Lygodium palmatum, Plants, Zoological specimens, Knieskern, Peter D., 1798-1871, Torrey, John, 1796-1873, Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873, Barratt, Joseph, 1796-1882, Batchelder, John P. (John Putnam), 1784-1868, Beck, Theodric Romeyn, 1791-1855, Boott, Francis, 1792-1863, Bradley, Samuel Beach, 1796-1880, Buckley, S. B. (Samuel Botsford), 1809-1884, Carey, John, 1797-1880, Carpenter, William Marbury, 1811-1848, Chapman, A. W. (Alvan Wentworth), 1809-1899, Crawe, I. B. (Ithamar Bingham), 1792-1847, Curtis, M. A. (Moses Ashley), 1808-1872, Darlington, William, 1782-1863, De Kay, James E. (James Ellsworth), 1792-1851, Dewey, Chester, 1784-1867, Drummond, Thomas, -1835, Emmons, Ebenezer, 1799-1863, Engelmann, George, 1809-1884, Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890, Geubel, Heinrich Karl, active 1845-1852, Grant, S. Hastings (Seth Hastings), 1828-1910, Gray, Asa, 1810-1888, Halsted, M. B. (Mina B.), -1860, Holton, Isaac F. (Isaac Farwell), Hooker, William Jackson, Sir, 1785-1865, Houghton, Douglass, 1809-1845, Kunze, Gustav, 1793-1851, Meacham, I. N. (Isaac N.), -1854, Mead, Samuel Barnum, 1798-1880, Oakes, William, 1799-1848, Olney, Stephen T. (Stephen Thayer), 1812-1878, Rowell, Morse, 1816-1886, Sartwell, H. P. (Henry Parker), 1792-1867, Schenck, William Edward, 1819-1903, Torrey, William, 1797-1891, Tuckerman, Edward, 1817-1886, Vasey, George, 1822-1893, West, Charles Edwin, 1809-1900, Willis, Oliver R. (Oliver Rivington), 1815-1902, New York (State). Natural History Survey, Wiley & Putnam

Collection: nybgtorrey; biodiversity; NY_Botanical_Garden

Digitizing sponsor: NEH PW-234827-16

Contributor: New York Botanical Garden, LuEsther T. Mertz Library

Language: English

John Torrey Papers (PP), Archives, The New York Botanical Garden

Correspondence from Peter D. Knieskern to John Torrey, dated 1836-1858. Knieskern's letters to Torrey combine personal news with a running tally of plant specimens being collected and sent, first to Torrey, and later to a great many of their mutual friends and acquaintances in the scientific community. Throughout, Knieskern chronicles his own difficulties in making ends meet as a small town physician, as well as the plight of his patients in factory towns in western New York. Knieskern later moves to New Jersey, becoming involved in the early days of the town of Manchester, and intimately associated with Torrey's brother William, founder of Manchester township. Obsolete and unresolved plant names mentioned include Ceratoschoenus, Dentaria, Diarrhena pumila, Helonias latifolia, Lecontia, Leiophyllum, Oakesia, Oakesia conradii, Phaca neglecta, Pyrola uliginosa, Rhus venenata, Sabbatia corymbosa, and Senecio balsamitae

Digitized under grant #PW-234827-16 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Finding aid for the John Torrey papers available from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden and online

Abstract: Correspondence from Peter D. Knieskern to John Torrey, dated 1836-1858. Knieskern's letters to Torrey combine personal news with a running tally of plant specimens being collected and sent, first to Torrey, and later to a great many of their mutual friends and acquaintances in the scientific community. Throughout, Knieskern chronicles his own difficulties in making ends meet as a small town physician, as well as the plight of his patients in factory towns in western New York. Knieskern later moves to New Jersey, becoming involved in the early days of the town of Manchester, and intimately associated with Torrey's brother William, founder of Manchester township. Obsolete and unresolved plant names mentioned include Ceratoschoenus, Dentaria, Diarrhena pumila, Helonias latifolia, Lecontia, Leiophyllum, Oakesia, Oakesia conradii, Phaca neglecta, Pyrola uliginosa, Rhus venenata, Sabbatia corymbosa, and Senecio balsamitae.