Robert Kennicott
Encyclopedia
Robert Kennicott was an American
naturalist
.
), Illinois
, a town in the prairie north of the then nascent city of Chicago
.
In 1853, Kennicott began collecting and cataloguing for the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington DC when he began to correspond with Spencer Fullerton Baird
. During 1855 he surveyed and collected on the Illinois Central Railroad
Survey. In 1856, he named one of his new snake discoveries Regina kirtlandii (today Clonophis kirtlandii) after noted naturalist Jared P. Kirtland. He also helped found the Chicago Academy of Sciences in 1856 and the Northwestern University
natural history museum in 1857.
In April 1859 he set off on an expedition to collect natural history specimens in the subarctic
boreal forests of northwestern Canada
in what is now the Mackenzie
and Yukon
river valleys and in the Arctic
tundra
beyond. Kenicott became popular with Hudson's Bay Company
fur trade
rs in the area and encouraged them to collect and send natural history specimens and First Nations
artifacts to the Smithsonian. He returned to Washington at the end on 1862.
From 1862 to 1864, Kennicott became part of the Megatherium Club
a group of young naturalists guided by Spencer Fullerton Baird
and William Stimpson
. Robert and his younger brother lived in the Smithsonian Castle during the American Civil War along with Edward Drinker Cope
and other noted naturalists.
While working at the Smithsonian Institution under Assistant Secretary Spencer F. Baird
, Robert Kennicott wrote the original descriptions of many new snake taxa brought back by expeditions to the American West.
In 1864 the Western Union Telegraph Expedition was mounted to find a possible route for a telegraph line between North America and Russia
by way of the Bering Sea
. Kennicott was selected as the scientist for this expedition, and the party of naturalists sent to assist him included W.H. Dall.
The expedition arrived in San Francisco in April 1865, but disagreements between its leaders meant that little was achieved. The party moved north to Vancouver
where Kennicott suffered a period of ill health. After his recovery they moved north again to Alaska
in August 1865. Kennicott died in May 1866, likely of congestive heart failure, while traveling up the Yukon River
. To commemorate his efforts on behalf of science Kennicott Glacier
, Kennicott Valley, MV Kennicott, and the Kennicott River were named after him.
Some of his papers are maintained at Northwestern University
, others at his family home where his grave remains in the Kennicott Family plot in Glenview, Illinois at The Grove
, which is a National Historic Landmark
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
.
Biography
Kennicott was born in New Orleans and grew up in "West Northfield" (now GlenviewGlenview
Glenview as a place name may refer to:Republic of Ireland* Glenview, TallaghtNew Zealand* Glenview, New Zealand, a suburb of Hamilton, New ZealandUnited States* Glenview, California ** Glenview, Lake County, California...
), Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, a town in the prairie north of the then nascent city of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
In 1853, Kennicott began collecting and cataloguing for the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington DC when he began to correspond with Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
. During 1855 he surveyed and collected on the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
Survey. In 1856, he named one of his new snake discoveries Regina kirtlandii (today Clonophis kirtlandii) after noted naturalist Jared P. Kirtland. He also helped found the Chicago Academy of Sciences in 1856 and the Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
natural history museum in 1857.
Subarctic
The Subarctic is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic and covering much of Alaska, Canada, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and northern Mongolia...
boreal forests of northwestern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in what is now the Mackenzie
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
and Yukon
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
river valleys and in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
beyond. Kenicott became popular with Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
rs in the area and encouraged them to collect and send natural history specimens and First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
artifacts to the Smithsonian. He returned to Washington at the end on 1862.
From 1862 to 1864, Kennicott became part of the Megatherium Club
Megatherium Club
The Megatherium Club was founded by William Stimpson. It was a group of Washington, D.C.-based scientists who were attracted to that city by the Smithsonian Institution's rapidly growing collection, from 1857 to 1866....
a group of young naturalists guided by Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
and William Stimpson
William Stimpson
William Stimpson was a noted American scientist.- Biography :Stimpson was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Herbert Hathorne Stimpson and Mary Ann Devereau Brewer. The Stimpsons were of the old colonial and Revolutionary stock of Massachusetts, the earliest known member of the family being James...
. Robert and his younger brother lived in the Smithsonian Castle during the American Civil War along with Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...
and other noted naturalists.
While working at the Smithsonian Institution under Assistant Secretary Spencer F. Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird
Spencer Fullerton Baird was an American ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist. Starting in 1850 he was assistant-secretary and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C...
, Robert Kennicott wrote the original descriptions of many new snake taxa brought back by expeditions to the American West.
In 1864 the Western Union Telegraph Expedition was mounted to find a possible route for a telegraph line between North America and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
by way of the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
. Kennicott was selected as the scientist for this expedition, and the party of naturalists sent to assist him included W.H. Dall.
The expedition arrived in San Francisco in April 1865, but disagreements between its leaders meant that little was achieved. The party moved north to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
where Kennicott suffered a period of ill health. After his recovery they moved north again to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in August 1865. Kennicott died in May 1866, likely of congestive heart failure, while traveling up the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
. To commemorate his efforts on behalf of science Kennicott Glacier
Kennicott Glacier
Kennicott Glacier is a glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It trends southeast 43 km from Mount Blackburn to its terminus at the head of the Kennicott River in the Wrangell Mountains. It is located in the middle of Wrangell-St...
, Kennicott Valley, MV Kennicott, and the Kennicott River were named after him.
Some of his papers are maintained at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, others at his family home where his grave remains in the Kennicott Family plot in Glenview, Illinois at The Grove
Kennicott Grove
Kennicott Grove was the home of Robert Kennicott. Kennicott founded the Chicago Academy of Sciences.It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.It is located at Milwaukee and Lake Avenues, in Glenview....
, which is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
External links
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History page "Robert Kennicott (1835-1866): Early Smithsonian Scientific Explorer and Collector"
- Biography of Kennicott at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Division of Fishes page on Naturalist Collectors
- Robert Kennicott and Henry M. Bannister Papers, Northwestern University Archives, Evanston, Illinois
- Robert Kennicott's Letters to Spencer F. Baird, 1853-1865