Physician and botanist, born near Darby, PA, on the 23rd of March 1699; died at Kingsessing, PA, on the 22nd of September 1777. Linnaeus called him the “greatest natural botanist in the world.” On the Schuylkill River, at the place called Kingsessing, he laid out a botanical garden which was the first of the kind in America. He traveled to make botanical collections, wrote accounts of his excursions, and received the honorary appointment of American botanist to George III. His homestead was purchased for an herbarium and garden by the city of Philadelphia.
