- Thomas Meehan
Thomas Meehan (
21 March 1826 Potters Bar , which was inMiddlesex at the time and is now inHertfordshire ,England -19 November 1901 ), was a noted British-born nurseryman, botanist and author. He worked as aKew gardener in 1846-1848, and thereafter he moved toGermantown inPhiladelphia . He was the founder of "Meehan’s Monthly" (1891-1901) and editor of "Gardener’s Monthly" (1859-1888).Meehan grew up on the
Isle of Wight . His interest in plants was sparked by his father, who was a gardener. He published his first botanical contribution at age fourteen, which led to his membership of the Wernernian Society. His knowledge and skills resulted in his securing a position at Kew Gardens from 1846 to 1848, where he was influenced byWilliam Jackson Hooker . His descendants alive and well today include Natalie Meehan, the extremely talented 'stick person' artist who lives in Sussex townBurgess Hill .Meehan travelled to Philadelphia in 1848 and worked for the owner of
Bartram's Garden , who was pioneer locomotive builderAndrew M. Eastwick (1811–1879) and who, withThomas De Kay andJoseph Harrison , had contracted to build the first railroad inRussia . Meehan started a nursery in partnership with William Saunders inGermantown nearPhiladelphia , where he lived with his family for the rest of his life. When his business with Saunders ended, he started Meehan’s Nurseries, which later became Thomas Meehan & Sons. They supplied plants to the USA and Europe for seven decades, expanding to cover 60 hectares in the twentieth century. Meehan’s researches in botany led to his being the editor of "The Gardener’s Monthly" (1859-1888), and then of "Meehans' Monthly" (1891-1902), two horticultural journals with the largest circulation at that time. Meehan wrote his own agriculture columns for five newspapers.Meehan was a member of the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania , the American Association of Nurserymen, the [http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/home/index.html Pennsylvania Horticultural Society] , the [http://americanpomological.org/ American Pomological Society] , theAcademy of Natural Sciences , theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science and theAmerican Philosophical Society . He was also an honorary member of theRoyal Horticultural Society (London). He corresponded with foremost botanistsWilliam Darlington , [http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=46622 Josiah Hoopes] ,William Saunders ,George Engelmann ,John Torrey ,Asa Gray ,Maxwell T. Masters ,Ferdinand von Mueller ,George Nicholson andCharles Darwin .Publications
*'The American Handbook of Ornamental Trees" (Philadelphia, 1853)
*"The Native Flowers and Ferns of the United States" , 4 vols. (1878-1880) Thomas Meehan, Alois Lunzer (1840-?) and lithographed byLouis Prang (1824-1909) (Boston 1879)
*"Wayside Flowers" (1881)
*"Contributions to the Life History of Plants" (16 parts) (Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences, 1887-1902).References
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