Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/239

 BARTON.

BARTRAM.

taining that the British general was quartered at a house on the west side of the island, and taking with him five officers, forty-five privates, and a black servant, he reached the house after dark, secured the sen- tinel, and breaking in the door of the room in which Prescott was sleeping, they took him prisoner. On July 25, 1777, Con- gress presented him with a sword in ac- knowledgment of his services, and in Octo- ber he was given the commission of brevet colonel. In 1778, when

the British retreated

U&Trt^ /^^^jtWWil^ from Warren, Colonel Barton received a ■wound which prevented his taking active part in the military actions of the following year. He was a member of the state committee that adopted the constitution of the United States, a member of the legislature and inspector of customs. Some time after the close of the war he became involved in a lawsuit in Vermont regarding a township in Orleans county, which he claimed to have bought. His title, however, being disputed, he wa,s required to pay the costs, which he refused to do. He was con- sequently held in Danville for fourteen years. He boarded at the hotel, where he was well treated and apparently contented. In 1824, when Lafayette visited this country, he was surprised and shocked to learn that Barton was held a prisoner and at once paid the debt without his knowledge, and Colonel Bai-ton returned to "Warren. He wrote a book entitled " Capture of Richard Prescott " (1777). He died Oct. 22, 1831. BARTON, William Paul Crillon, botanist and physician, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 17, 1786; nephew of Thomas Pennant Barton, and grand-nephew of Benjamin Smith Barton. He thus came of a family of students. He was graduated at Princeton in 1805, and three years later was given an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He practised his profession for a time in liis native citj', but discontinued June 28, 1809, to accept an appointment as surgeon of the United States navy. In this work he was eminently successful, establishing the naval bureau of medicine and surgery, of which he was made the chief. In 1815 he succeeded his uncle in the chair of botany at the University of Pennsylvania, and later became similarly con- nected with Jefferson medical college. Dr. Barton was a scientist of great ability, and his writings

are evidences of his zeal in rendering available knowledge of the medical and general botany of the United States. He was an interesting and magnetic lecturer, and a thorough and suc- cessful teacher. He was a member of the American philosophical society and president of the LinuEean society. He was a feUow of the College of physicians in Philadelphia, and senior surgeon in the navy. Among his published writings are: "Chemical Properties and Exhil- arating Effects of Nitrous Oxide Gas " (1808) ; a translation of Gregory's "Dissertation on the Influence of a Change in CUmate in Curing Dis- eases" (1815) ; " Floree Philadelphia Prodromus " (1815); "Vegetable Materia Medica in the United States" (2 vols., 1817-'25) ; "Plans for Marine Hospital in the United States " (1817) ; " Compendium Florae Philadelphiae " (2 vols., 1818); "Flora of North America" (1821-'23) ; " Letter to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Relative to Introducing the Pro- fessorship of Botany into the Medical Faculty " (1825) ; " Outlines of Lectures on Materia Medica and Botany" (2 vols., 1827-'28) ; "Hints to Naval Officers Cruising in the West Indies " (1830); "Medical Botany"; "Audi Alteram Partem " (1838) ; " Address to Congress Respect- ing the Use of Liquors in the Navy" (1843); and "History of the Navy Hospital Fund" (1843). He died in Philadelphia, Feb. 29, 1856.

BARTRAM, John, botanist, was born at Marple, Delaware county, Pa., March 23, 1699. His first intention was to become a physician, and he devoted some time to studying for that profession, but his natural tastes inclined him toward botany, and he founded, near Philadelphia, the first botanical garden in this country. His suc- cess was so marked that Linna?us called him the most accomplished natural botanist of the world, and in America he became known as ' ' the father of American botany." He made long excursions and collected many valuable speci- mens. He was held in so high esteem abroad, that he was made American botanist to George III. He is the author of " Observations on the Inhabitants, CUmate, Soil, Rivers, Productions, Animals and Other Matters Worthy of Notice, Made by Mr. John Bartram in his Travels from Pennsylvania to Onondaga, Oswego, and the Lake Ontario in Canada " (1751), and he also contributed to several scientific journals, notably a paper on his visit to East Florida in 1765-'66. He died at Kingsessing, Pa., Sept. 22, 1777.

BARTRAM, William, botanist, was born in Kingsessing, near Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 9, 1739; son of John Bartram, the "father of American botany. ' ' Being bred in an atmosphere of natural science, he acquired a taste for botany, and the business life which he first entered was soon