Humphry Marshall

Humphry Marshall (October 10, 1722 – November 5, 1801) was an American botanist and plant dealer. Biography Humphry Marshall was born at Derbydown Homestead in the village of Marshallton, Pennsylvania (within West Bradford Township) on October 10, 1722. He was the cousin of botanists John Bartram and William Bartram. Like many early American botanists, he was a Quaker. Marshall received the rudiments of an English education, and was apprenticed to the business of a stonemason, which trade he subsequently followed. Soon after his marriage in 1748 to Sarah Pennock he took charge of his father's farm. His first book, A Few Observations Concerning Christ, in 1755. He began to devote his attention to astronomy and natural history, building a small observatory in one corner of his residence. He specialized early in native plants, after gaining his enthusiasm for botany from John Bartram. In 1767 he came into the possession of the family estate, and in 1773 he created a botanical garden at Marshallton with both native and exotic plants. This was the second botanical garden in the United States, the first having been established by John Bartram. As late as 1849, many of the plants still survived, although neglect had turned the garden into a wilderness.