St Louis College of Pharmacy - Prescripto Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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?---a Dlsfscullivro s------- a stock of cutlery, he went up the river to St. Louis where he arrived on May Srd. He found that the second lloor of a building was to be had at a modest rental and here he established both his business and his home, for the same room served for the display of his wares and for sleeping and cooking. He was an energetic young man, for his business expanded and flourished to such an extent that only twenty years later he had acquired what in those days was a splendid fortune, and 'in 1840, he sold his business. lVisely he devoted the first term of his retirement l r r to travel, making an extended tour of Europe. In 1842 he was traveling again, remaining abroad for about three years, and going as far as Constantinople and Egypt. In 1851 the first International Exhibition was held in London, and attracted by this, Henry Shaw again went abroad. His visit to England was a momentous one for it was, according to his own statement while walking through the grounds of Chatsworth, the magnificent seat of the Duke of Devonshire, that he tirst con- ceived the idea of establishing a garden of his own, if on a smaller scale, which should not be for his delectation onlyg but also for that of the lovers of flowers in general. Gn his return to St. Louis, Mr. Shaw was occupied with the construction of his town house on Seventh and Locust Streets, the mansion at Tower Grove, at that time a, country home in the strict sense of the term, having been completed in 1849. But the thought which had germinatedfat Chatsworth continued with him, and in 1857 he commissioned Dr. George Engelmann, who was at that time in Europe, to make a survey of the great European botanical gardens and obtain and transmit such suggestions as he might think pertinent to the subject that occu- pied Mr. Shaw's mind. In the same year the preliminary operations of surveying, entrenching, and so on were begun, and a correspondence was carried on with Sir Williaiii Hooker, who was then director of the Botanical Gardens at Kew, in England. In one of his letters, Sir Williaiii called attention to the importance of a library and economic museum in connection with the garden, a point which Mr. Shaw adopted and which resulted in the construction of a library and museum building in the following year. Books were selected with the guidance of Dr. Engelmann, Hooker, Decaisne, Brown, and other botanists, but Dr. Engelmann had the good fortune to secure for the garden the large herbarium of Professor Bernhardi of Erfurt, who had recently died. Another plan in Mr. Shaw's mind at the time was the establishment of a school of botany in connection with the Garden. This was to be an elaborate institution, with library, laboratories, and residences for the members of the faculty. Dr. Asa Gray, who appears to have been consulted about the matter, did not, however, think the time ripe for an enterprise of such vast dimensions, but suggested that it might be begun in a small way. Mr. Shaw, therefore, abandoned the plan for the time, but his dream was realized in 1885 when he established the Henry Shaw School of Botany as a department of Washington University and in conjunction with the Garden. X ' L... sq 3, 2 I DQ .ff 1.-2 Page Eighty

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-----'a Dnliscnlnro 1e---- The Missouri Botanical Garden 'tv l ' 1 ni., , w- , ' .l ,. If V The life of Henry Shaw is written in his work. A modest, cultured gentle- man, he never obtruded himself upon public notice. The ephemeral reputation of blustering nobodies who proclaim their imagined excellence from their own mouths, hoping thereby tof occupy a niche in some future Hall of Fame, never severed him from his chosen life of retirement. It may be doubted that he ever thought or cared that his naine should survive in connection with his great crea- tion-the Gardeng he himself designated that it be known as The Missouri Botanical Garden. But the public for whom he labored has not been ungrate- ful, and in their thoughts and words, it is f'ShaW's Garden. The title implies a sentiment of reve1'ence for the man as well as his work, even though few know the details of his personal history. Henry Shaw was born july 24, 1800, in Sheffield, England, where his father originally from Leicester, was a manufacturer of fire-grates, iron and other similar domestic implements. Henry was the oldest of four children and his primary education was obtained at the village of Thorne, not far f1'01'l'l Sheffield. A few years later he was sent to Mill Hill, some twenty miles from London, where was maintained one of the best private schools in England. Here he gained a sound knowledge of the classics and mathematics as did every English school- boy of those days, and he also became proficient in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. It is said that mathematics was for many years a favorite subject with him, and that, after his removal to the United States, he was one of the best mathematicians in St. Louis. From early childhood he was an intense lover of plants and plant-life, a trait that was a determining factor in forming his later career. Wheii he finished school he assisted his father for a year in his business and in 1818 came with him to Canada. It seems that his father was anxious that he familiarize himself with the growing of cotton and for that purpose sent him to New Orleans. The young man, however, did not find the South congenial, the climate, particularly, being to his distaste, and in 1819, supplying himself with Page SeventyfNme

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--d DIQESCDIDTO S1 v,' wif ,J rx f- l .IAP-' ff . - ' !.IV,+AI Ll ' jf: I WI -4 ,N ,YJ Courtesy of Misxouri Botanical Garden HENRY SHAW, 1885 9, -T w I' DA ...i 3 Q T... Q 0 Page Eightyfone