March 23, 1699

Marple, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

September 22, 1777

Kingsessing, Pennsylvania

Botanist and gardener

Portrait: John Bartram. Reproduced by permission of The Library of Congress.

John Bartram was "the greatest contemporary 'natural botanist' in the world."

Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus.

John Bartram, an eighteenth-century botanist (a specialist in plant life), was well known in colonial America and Europe. He grew up in Pennsylvania, where he was inspired by the beautiful countryside to study nature. As a young man, Bartram ventured to the nearby city of Philadelphia, one of the scientific centers of colonial America, where he met important scientific figures of the time, including James Logan. He introduced Bartram to the study of botany and, through Logan, Bartram became acquainted with the work of the great Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. Bartram is best known for the five-acre botanical garden, called "the Garden," that he began planting at Kingsessing, Pennsylvania...