(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

John Donnell Smith

Baltimore, 1829 - 1928

BiographyCaptain John Donnell Smith (June 5, 1829 – December 2, 1928)[1] of Baltimore, Maryland was a biologist and taxonomist. He was also an officer in the Confederate army.

He was a graduate of Yale in 1847, where he was a member of Skull and Bones.[1][2]

In January 1906, he presented his herbarium consisting of more than 100,000 mounted specimens and his botanical library of over 1600 bound volumes to the Smithsonian Institution. The books pertain mostly to the systematic botany of Mexico and Central America and remain in Baltimore. The herbarium now forms part of the U.S. National Herbarium reference.

Botanical Researcher; trustee of Peabody Institute in Baltimore (1888–1915); Captain in the Confederate Army; Commander of Battery A, 10th Battalion (Huger's Battalion) of Virginia Artillery (known as the Bedford Light Artillery); Served in every campaign and battle of the Army of Northern Virginia; Severely wounded at Gettysburg; present at the surrender at Appomattox in April 1865

He died at age 99. In his last years he was celebrated as the oldest living graduate of Yale.[2]

References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b "Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University 1928–1929" (PDF). Yale University. November 1, 1929. p. 3. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b "J.D. SMITH, 99, DIES; OLDEST YALE MAN: Graduated in 1847--Never at Reunion--A Botanist and Confederate Veteran". New York Times. 3 Dec 1928. p. 27.
Jump up ^ IPNI. Donn. Sm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Donnell_Smith I.S. 1/8/2018

the Smithsonian Institution his herbarium, containing over 1oo,ooo mounted
specimens, and his botanical library, containing about i6aa bound volumes.
The herbarium has been placed in the U. S. National Museum; but for the
present the library is to remain in Baltimore. The collection of books is chiefly
taxonomic, and is especially rich in the literature of the floras of Mexico and
Central America. This valuable collection has been placed freely at the disposal
of botanists, and a very complete and handsome author catalogue has been
issued by the Smithsonian Institution as a special publications in addition to
the regular edition (Contrib. Nat. Herb. Vol. XII. part i). This disposition of
his exceedingly valuable herbarium and library emphasizes not only the generosity
but also the scientific spirit of the donor.-J. M. C.
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/329729 I.S. 1/8/2018

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Last Updated8/7/24

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