- Ephraim Wales Bull
Ephraim Wales Bull (
March 4 ,1806 –September 26 ,1895 ) was the inventor of the Concord grape. Born inBoston, Massachusetts , Bull moved to Concord in 1836, settling with his wife on a farm next door toAmos Bronson Alcott .In 1843, Bull began the deliberate process of breeding a grape that could thrive in the cold
New England climate. By 1849, having planted 22,000 seedlings, he had created a large, sweet variety from a native species. By 1853, the grapes were for sale, but within several years, competing growers had begun raising their own crops of Concord grapes, purchased from Bull for $5 per vine. Bull saw little profit from the strain after the initial sales.Ephraim Bull was elected to the
Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1855. In 1893, after a fall, he ended up in theConcord Home for the Aged . He died in 1895. Hisepitaph reads, "He Sowed Others Reaped."References
* Collins, Paul. "Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change The World". Picador USA, 2001.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=eQJETLkbZ5UC&dq=Ancient+Middlesex&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 "Ancient Middlesex with Brief Biographical Sketches"] [http://books.google.com/books?id=eQJETLkbZ5UC&pg=PA24&dq=Ancient+Middlesex&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0#PPA37,M1 Ephraim Wales Bull article] on page 37.
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