PRINTER'S NO. 3377
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
220
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY SAPPEY, HOHENSTEIN, MILLARD, SANCHEZ, KINSEY,
DALEY AND D. WILLIAMS, JULY 8, 2022
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS,
JULY 8, 2022
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Honoring the life and accomplishments of Humphry Marshall on
October 10, 2022, on the 300th anniversary of his birth in
this Commonwealth.
WHEREAS, Humphry Marshall was a renowned botanist from
Chester County, who helped shape American botanical practice
during the 18th and early 19th centuries; and
WHEREAS, His parents were English Quaker immigrants who
established a farm near the west branch of the Brandywine Creek,
located in Chester County; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Marshall, also a Quaker, spent his early life
working in agriculture and later became an apprentice to a stone
mason before assuming responsibility for his family's farm
around 1748; and
WHEREAS, Soon after, Mr. Marshall began making foraging trips
to gather plants and seeds for a small botanical garden that he
developed on his family's property; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Marshall also began collecting seeds for his
cousin John Bartram, a botanist, horticulturalist and explorer
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who established the Bartram Botanic Garden and Nursery near
Philadelphia in the early 1730s; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Bartram made significant contributions to the
collection, study and international dissemination of North
American flora and fauna and was a pioneer in the importation
and cultivation of non-native plants; and
WHEREAS, With his cousin's encouragement and advice, Mr.
Marshall developed considerable skills as a practical botanist
by the early 1740s; and
WHEREAS, Through his association with fellow Quaker botanists
of Chester County, Mr. Marshall was noticed by the Anglo-
American scientific community as a collector and supplier of
native plant and animal specimens; and
WHEREAS, As his reputation grew, so did his circle of clients
and correspondents, which included leading botanists such as
Benjamin Franklin, George Logan, Timothy Pickering, John
Dickinson, Caspar Wistar, Hector St. Jean de Crèvecoeur and
Johannes Fredericus Gronovius; and
WHEREAS, In 1764, due to his growing success, Mr. Marshall
constructed a conservatory on his farm for the culture of rare
plants; and
WHEREAS, In 1767, with the inheritance that he received upon
the death of his father, Mr. Marshall was able to turn his full
attention to the pursuit of botany; and
WHEREAS, On April 8, 1768, Mr. Marshall was elected as a
corresponding member of the American Society, now known as the
American Philosophical Society, which was founded by Benjamin
Franklin to promote knowledge in the sciences and humanities
through research, meetings, publications, library resource and
community outreach; and
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WHEREAS, Although Mr. Marshall never attended a meeting of
the American Society, he remained in regular communication with
it until his death; and
WHEREAS, By 1772, Mr. Marshall's estate had become an export-
oriented botanical garden, which was stocked with herbaceous and
arboreal representatives of local flora and as many exotic
plants as could be obtained both domestically and abroad in
Europe; and
WHEREAS, Although the transatlantic trade of plants suffered
during the American Revolution, it did not cease, and Mr.
Marshall's business escaped relatively unscathed; and
WHEREAS, As a Quaker, Mr. Marshall was not active in the
American Revolution, but he sympathized with the cause for
independence and was a fervent supporter of the nonimportation
movement, which was a boycott of the importation of goods from
England; and
WHEREAS, While Mr. Marshall's scientific publications were
few, his most important writing, the "Abrustrum Americanum," was
published in 1785 and dedicated to Benjamin Franklin and the
other members of the American Society; and
WHEREAS, Although this publication was not specifically
devoted to plant life in the southeastern region of the United
States, it provided an important contribution to the botanical
study of that region; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Marshall's extensive study of plants acquired on
expeditions in this region and also by local suppliers located
in the Carolinas provided the basis for this publication; and
WHEREAS, The "Abrustrum Americanum" provided an exhaustive
list of tree and shrub species native to the United States and
served as a catalogue for botanical clients, as well as to
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promote the importance and value of American flora and science;
and
WHEREAS, Although Mr. Marshall died in 1801, the present-day
village and historic district of Marshallton, located in West
Bradford Township, Chester County, bears the surname of the
Marshall family and serves as a reminder of the important
botanical contributions that Mr. Marshall made to the scientific
world; therefore be it
RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
honor the life and accomplishments of Humphry Marshall on
October 10, 2022, on the 300th anniversary of his birth in this
Commonwealth.
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