William Bartram: First Scientist of Alabama

William Bartram left the comforts of home to venture into what was then the mythic wilderness of the Alabama region where he would illuminate in% words and drawings the uncharted enchantment of the South.

This world, as a glorious apartment of the boundless palace of the sovereign Creator, is furnished with an infinite variety of animated scenes, inexpressibly beautiful and pleasing, equally free to the inspection and enjoyment of all his creatures. -William Bartram

ON THE EVE OF THE AMERICAN Revolution, William Bartram left behind his home and his business failures in Philadelphia to journey to the Southeast, a mythic frontier of uncharted rivers, unknown flora, and exotic tribes. His three-year journey to study the region established Bartram, then in his midthirties, as among the young nation's greatest scientists. he became an eloquent witness to her natural wonders and native inhabitants. His book, commonly referred to as Bartram's Travels, has endured as one of the most important documents of American science and the first book of Alabama natural history.

William Bartram came from a family of American Quakers. His father, John Bartram, ran a successful nursery business from his Schuylkill River farm near Philadelphia. A self-taught botanist, he sold seeds and cuttings to his English Quaker colleagues, most notably Peter Collinson, a prominent and well-connected London businessman, supporter of English natural history, and leader in the emerging English enthusiasm for more natural gardening. Through John Bartram, Collinson was able to supply his contemporaries with exotic plants from America, and through Collinson and his contemporaries, John Bartram enjoyed an international reputation. The lauded Swedish scientist, Linnaeus, recognizing his selftaught, energetic abilities, reportedly hailed him as "the greatest natural botanist in the world." In 1743, along with lifelong friend Benjamin Franklin, the elder Bartram became one of the founders of the American Philosophical Society, America's first scientific society.

John Bartram took care to nourish his son's interests, for they meshed easily with his own. William was sent to the Philadelphia Academy, where he excelled at natural history. By age fourteen he was already distinguishing himself as an artist, and his drawings and paintings were circulating in Europe. But this was a day when science was still a hobby, and John was concerned to set William up in a career. He even proposed an apprenticeship in Franklin's print shop. John complained to Collinson:

My son William is just turned sixteen. It is now time to propose some way for him to get his living by. I don't want him to be what is commonly called a gentleman. . . . I am afraid that botany and drawing will not afford him one, and hard labor don't agree with him.

In 1765, after the French and Indian War, Collinson arranged to have the elder Bartram appointed King's Botanist to explore the newly won French territories. William Bartram accompanied his father on a lengthy exploratory trip to Florida and Georgia. Dazzled by what he saw, the young Bartram borrowed against his inheritance to set himself up as a planter in Florida. But even with help from his father and from family friend Henry Laurens in Charleston, the result was a disaster. His location was isolated with poor soil, he was ill, and mostly, his heart just was not in it. In a letter to John, Laurens described Bartram's situation, "In fact... no colouring can do justice to the forlorn state of poor Billy Bartram."

Bartram gave up farming and began seeking natural history art commissions through his father's Quaker contacts. After several years, he contacted Dr. John Fothergill, an English physician and natural history enthusiast, who in 1772 agreed to sponsor him on an extended trip into the Southeast to draw and collect plants. At age thirty-three, William Bartram was a professional botanist at last.

During his travels, Bartram worked his wide circle of friends and family for introductions and support. Traveling alone and with friends and traders, he made extended trips into Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, separated by periods of town life where he could work on his paintings and package seeds and cuttings for Fothergill. Over the next three years, he sent his sponsor 209 dried plant specimens and fifty-nine natural history drawings, plus a lengthy report on the first years of his travels.

He found himself intrigued by north central Florida, especially the Alachua Prairie near present-day Gainesville. He got along particularly well with Gowkeeper, a Lower Creek chief, who perceived his good intentions and, to Bartram's lasting delight, dubbed him Puc Puggy, or Flower Hunter. He also spent time with Long Warrior, a powerful and impressive warrior from Cuscowilla. Years later, Bartram drew his portrait as a frontispiece for Travels. Despite his close association with Indians, he never drew another Indian portrait.

Reading Bartram's Travels gives the impression that the author was living out in the woods with the Indians. In fact, he was living and writing in Charleston and Savannah during the beginnings of the American Revolution. The coming revolution bitterly divided the South, and it was by no means clear which side to join. In Charleston, Bartram visited the home of John Stuart, the Royal Superintendent of Indian Affairs. One of Bartram's closest advisors was prominent Loyalist physician Dr. Lionel Chalmers, who also served as Dr. Fothergill's financial agent. He also had numerous friends on the other side. His old family friend Henry Laurens became president of the Continental Congress. George Galphin, the prominent Augusta Indian trader and revolutionary, had served both John and William as their entree to the Lower Creeks. While Bartram's family inclined toward revolution, British sponsors were paying for his travels.