A leading botanist and especially agrostologist, who travelled widely, collecting and documenting a huge number of grasses and other species, from the Americas and other parts of the world.
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The detail of his parentage, birth and adoption is the subject of some speculation - see Research Notes.
Living at home with parents[1].
Albert goes to Iowa to attend school. In 1884, he was the youngest (19) of his class to graduate from Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University of Science and Technology) with a B.S. in agriculture. He was hired as an assistant in chemistry the next year and while earning his master's degree he pursued his interest in botany under the tutelage of Professor Charles E. Bessey, who was a pioneer in the study of plant morphology in the United States. During the summer months, Albert returned to Ames to botanize the region. After receiving his M.S. in chemistry in 1886, at just 21 years old, he served as instructor in chemistry at Iowa State University. In 1889 he decided to make botany his full-time occupation. He gave up his chemistry position for a lesser salary in order to work under William Trelease at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, working as an instructor in the Engelmann School of Botany, Washington University, curator of the herbarium, and librarian at the Botanical Garden. While working here he proposed using the type specimen (or holotypes) as the basis for describing a new species, which is the standard methodology used to this day. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Iowa State is located just west of Ames and Rania's family farm is just east of it. While he was at the university or perhaps while he was doing his summertime field work, they meet and he and Rania were married in Story County.
I am uncertain if Rania stayed in Iowa while Albert was in Missouri. The birth of their first child, Horace, occurred in Iowa in 1891. By the winter of 1892, Rania & Albert were settled in Kansas where the birth of the next four children occurred. Albert's parents moved to Kansas with them. His mother died in 1894 and is buried in Sunset Cemetery which is just south of Kansas State in Manhattan, KS.
In 1890 he visited the West Indies for three months with J.T. Rothrock of the University of Pennsylvania, his first botanical expedition outside the United States. His relatively short stay at the Missouri Botanical Garden had a major impact and is remembered to this day; "In 1890, Albert Spear Hitchcock boarded a ship and launched an era of exploration. Traveling to the Caribbean, he became the first Garden staff member directly involved in collecting botanical specimens in the tropics. More than a century later, Hitchcock's adventurous spirit and hunger for knowledge live on through the Garden's global research program.
See more about the Missouri Botanical Garden today at http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/unseengarden/frontier1.shtml (and note the values shared with wikitree-ers! "Collaboration is the hallmark of the Garden's research program. Without exception, work is conducted in partnership with institutions in host nations - the overall goal is to strengthen their institutions and form partnerships that serve the needs of all.")
"I waded through water almost up to my knees, pushed my wheelbarrow, and still managed to keep my collection dry. The mosquitoes were very bad. I had to put on my coat, put cheesecloth around my head and a pair of extra socks on my hands. My shoes had worn through and my feet were blistered.... But, for all the discomforts, the collecting was magnificent, and I felt fully repaid" (Chase 1936).
The fruits of this period's botanical labors were over 80 papers published between 1892 and 1901. The publications included papers on grasses and the flora of Kansas and Experiment Station bulletins and circulars. Albert was among the pioneers to utilize dot distribution maps in many of these papers.[2][3][4][5]
In the 1900 Census, Albert's father is living with the family and appears to be farming with the help of a young man from Kansas. All 5 children are present. The two oldest, Horace and Frank, are already attending school [7].
In 1901 Albert became assistant chief in the United States Department of Agriculture's Division of Agrostology in Washington, D.C. under Frank Lamson-Scribner. Until 1905, most of Albert's work at the USDA was in the economic field of grasses. In 1905 he changed places with Charles Vancouver Piper and took over the newly established Grass Herbarium in order to conduct taxonomic studies. Albert became the systematic agrostologist at the USDA. The USDA made the grass collection a priority, and Albert built upon the work of his predecessors George Vasey (1822–1893) and Frank Lamson-Scribner. Determined to build the grass collection and "insatiably eager to see every part of the earth" (Chase 1936). He increased its collection of grasses to one of the largest and most complete in the world. To build the collection, he visited all parts of the United States and many parts of the rest of the world, usually in the company of his wife and sons who served as his botanical assistants. He collected more than 25,000 numbers, mostly grasses. Using these specimens, he began in 1905 to publish a series of monographs and handbooks on the grasses of many parts of the Americas. From 1905 on he filled 45 field books with notes and published extensively on Gramineae, authoring over 250 works, several jointly with Chase..[2][3][4][5]
The family has moved to Newton Street in Washington D.C. All 5 children are still at home. Albert's father is still living with them. However, for the first time in the 1910 Census, John is listed as "Adoptive father" and Albert lists both of his parent's birthplace as Michigan vs the Tennessee/Massachusetts he has noted in the past [8].
Albert continues with the "biologically accurate" Michigan through his final enumeration in 1930. One must wonder if Albert has discovered the information about his adoption while supplying paperwork for his job with the U.S. government or if John has recently told Albert of this fact.
John passes away sometime between 1910 and 1920. I have yet to locate any documentation on the actual date or burial information.
Albert & Rania purchase the house at 1867 Park Road in D.C. which will be their permanent residence. The house is just 3.5 miles almost due north of the National Mall which must have made for an easy commute for Albert! See the photo; the house is currently undergoing major restoration/renovation.
It is during this time period that Albert and Rania's eldest son, Horace, began his less than savory business practices. He included (duped?) his two younger brothers, Frank & Albert, into the scheme. This portion of the family tale will be told in their individual profiles.
Albert's relationship with the Smithsonian dates back to October 10, 1912, when he was made custodian of grasses, Section of Grasses, Division of Plants, United States National Museum. Apparently, though the USDA herbarium was transferred to the Smithsonian and merged with the Smithsonian collections in 1896 (see description of the Hunt Institute collection 105), the grass section of the herbarium remained with the USDA and was not transferred until later, possibly in 1912 when Albert held joint positions with the USDA and the Smithsonian. He remained custodian (without remuneration) of the Section of Grasses until his death. Enriched by the hundreds of thousands of specimens acquired by Hitchcock and Chase* throughout their collaborative careers, the grass herbarium increased to become the largest and most complete collection of its kind in the world. Some of his publications from this period: A Text-Book of Grasses (1914) and monographs of the American species of Agrostis (1905), Leptochloa (1903), Panicum (1910 with Chase).[2][3][4][5]
Albert & Rania are settled into their house, and 3 of the 5 children are still at home[9]. Horace and Elizabeth are married and on their own. The early 1920's must have been a difficult period for Albert & Rania with their 3 sons facing criminal charges which were splashed about on many newspapers.
Albert pressed on with his work, however. He received an Sc.D. from Iowa State College in 1920. In 1928 he was promoted to principal botanist in charge of systematic agrostology in the USDA.
He was very much interested in nomenclature and helped educate botanists throughout the world on the advantages of basing specimen names on the type method rather than on previous authority. His practical views which often contributed to agreement on divisive subjects, writings and support for the Fourth International Botanical Congress project on nomenclature reunion at Ithaca, New York, in 1926, helped lay the foundation for an international agreement on nomenclature at the Congress meeting held at Cambridge in 1930. [10]
He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Research Council, the Botanical Society of America, the Organization Committee for Biological Research of the National Research Council and the Executive Committee of the Institute for Research in Tropical America (called the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute from 1946). Because he was deeply concerned over the rapid disappearance of tropical forests and jungles, as chairman (1920–26) of the latter organization, he originated and pushed the idea of preserving part of the tropical jungle in the "Canal Zone" during the construction of the Panama Canal. As a result Barro Colorado Island[11] in Panama was turned into a permanent biological preserve. (See STRI records, Record Units 134 and 135, for a history of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.)
Albert (often with Rania) traveled widely collecting botanical specimens, including the entire United States, most of Latin America, and parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. See [12] for a few publicly accessible photos from China, Japan, Macao, Peru, Ecuador & Bolivia. In 1929 he was the botanist representative from the United States at the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting held in South Africa. Some of his publications during this time; The Genera of the Grasses of the United States (1920), Methods of Descriptive Systematic Botany (1925) and a monograph on Aristida (1924).[2][3][4][5]
In May 1921 they sailed (not literally) from San Francisco to Honolulu - an example of Albert and Rania's trips together. [13]
Albert & Rania have the big house to themselves[14], as all 5 children are now married and on their own. Several grandbabies are added to the family. Albert apparently has no desire for retirement and continues with his career. In 1934 he was awarded an honorary D.Sc. degree from Kansas State College. Some of his publications from this period include Manual of the Grasses of the United States (1935), and Manual of the Grasses of the West Indies (1936).
Again, traveling with Rania, this arrival at New York[15] was likely the return trip (out of London) from the 5th International Botanical Congress held in Cambridge England in August of that year.[10]
Albert died on board the steamer City of Norfolk, bound for Baltimore[16]. After a heart attack on the 14th the end came quietly, his wife beside him, on the morning of December 16.[17] He and Rania were homeward bound from Europe after celebrating his 70th birthday, attending the International Botanical Congress at Amsterdam where Albert and many of the botanists enjoyed a large birthday cake prepared by Rania, [18] and visiting the grass collections of several large herbaria in preparation for a work on the grass genera of the world.
His remains were first interred at the Abbey Mausoleum, Arlington, Virginia, but were later transferred to the National Memorial Park, Falls Church, Fairfax, Virginia (plot: Court of Christ 2 Columbarium)[19].
Albert was held in high esteem by his peers and colleagues. Below are a few quotes from a few of the articles published after his death.
"[H]e was a lovable and unassuming man. To the student of systematic botany who knew only his work, he was a tireless and productive student of a technically difficult and to many botanists quite uninteresting group of plants, the grasses. His contribution to our understanding of this economically most important family of plants has been unequalled in America".[20]
"[His] field work was not perfunctory...and he set a rare example in the intimacy with which he penetrated the private life of the plants he studied. At the same time, his love of the grasses was so spontaneous and so strong that he never wasted an opportunity to extend his knowledge of them".[21]
I have already quoted from his long time partner Mary Agnes Chase's 1936 eulogy several times. See the full transcript here:[22]
As you will note further in the records, John S. Hitchcock is listed as the "Adoptive Father" of Albert. I've done what I can with the sources available to me to add some potential leads for any direct descendants wishing to dig deeper into their biological ancestry. Until someone is able to locate Alice's possible death record, Elizabeth & John's marriage record and/or the actual adoption papers, this is the best I can put together. Since I can only supply speculation on the birth parents, I will be listing John & Elizabeth as Albert's parents here.
From the book One Hundred and One Botanists by Duane Isely: “A.S. Hitchcock was born in Michigan to Albert and Alice Jennings and was subsequently adopted by J.S. Hitchcock and his wife. The time and the circumstances of the adoption are not given in references I have seen.”
So far, I've been unable to locate their 1880 Census.
Available records indicate this couple as a high possibility for Albert's birth parents:
Albert and Alice then had the child, Albert, in 1865. Between 1865 and 1870, I believe Alice died (could have divorced- but very unlikely). Albert is very young when he is adopted by John & Elizabeth Hitchcock by the summer of 1870 where he is shown as 4 years old[1]. Pure speculation--but I think there is a high probability that Alice died during or shortly after Albert's birth and that he was adopted very soon thereafter. It would seem that his adoptive parents were involved in giving him his name; Albert for his birth father and Spear for his adoptive mother's maiden name.
This is a possible biological father who may have later remarried. However, I have looked into this Albert Jennings and he became a relatively prominent man in Michigan. None of his biographies mention anything about an earlier wife passing away, divorce or adoption.
If it is the same Albert Jennings, he started a new family with another son named Albert:
I've found a couple of other sources. These sources don't add any clarity to Albert's ancestry. In fact, they may muddy the waters. However, until absolute documentation is found, I feel all possiblilities have to be reviewed.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830904893.html -Joseph Ewan wrote; "Hitchcock became the leading agrostologist in the United States and was acknowledged around the world. The son of Albert Hitchcock and Alice Martin Jennings, he was adopted by the J. Seabury Hitchcocks of St. Joseph, Missouri." Unfortunately, there are no sources noted for this data.
http://1925triptowashington.wordpress.com/page/9/ -An interesting webpage written by the great granddaughter of Hattie Griffing. A little wonky navigating-find 'Sidebar 5'. "Prof. Albert S. Hitchcock was born at Owosso, MI, September 4, 1865. His father, named Hughes, died when Albert was less than two years old, and his mother, Elizabeth S. Spear, remarried John S. Hitchcock" (Again, no sources)
See also:
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Albert is 24 degrees from Herbert Adair, 23 degrees from Richard Adams, 15 degrees from Mel Blanc, 27 degrees from Dick Bruna, 22 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 31 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 20 degrees from Sam Edwards, 19 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 23 degrees from Marty Krofft, 19 degrees from Junius Matthews, 18 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 20 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
H > Hitchcock > Albert Spear Hitchcock
Categories: National Memorial Park, Falls Church, Virginia | Botanists | Featured Connections Archive 2022
We are featuring this profile in the Connection Finder this week. Between now and Wednesday is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can.
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Abby