William Saunders
Encyclopedia
Grange
William Saunders was born in Saint Andrews, ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He served as the first Master (President) of the National Grange. He was a founder of the Grange Order of Patrons of Husbandry. The other founders of the Grange were: Oliver Hudson Kelley
Oliver Hudson Kelley
Oliver Hudson Kelley is considered the "Father" of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.-Biography:In Boston, he moved to the Minnesota frontier in 1849, where he became a farmer...
, Francis M. McDowell, John Trimble
John Trimble
John Trimble was one of the seven founders of the Grange.-Biography:Born in New Jersey, he was a student of the Protestant Episcopal Church, receiving his Doctor of Divinity. Following the American Civil War, he served in the Treasurer Department as agent for the collection of war claims for...
, Aaron B. Grosh
Aaron B. Grosh
Reverend Aaron Burt Grosh , a Universalist minister, was one of the seven founders of the Grange. He had a major part in the design of the Grange ritual and was also responsible for the various songs used during various celebrations of the Grange...
, John R. Thompson
John R. Thompson
John Richardson Thompson was one of the seven founders of the The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.-Biography:...
, William M. Ireland
William M. Ireland
William M. Ireland was one of the seven founders of the Grange.-Biography:He served much of his life as chief clerk in the offices of the U.S. Post Office Department. Also an avid Mason, Ireland added valuable knowledge to organizational systems and methods in the formative period of the Grange...
and Caroline A. Hall
Caroline A. Hall
Caroline Arabella Hall was an early associate of the seven founders of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry.-Biography:She was born in Boston in 1838 to Hepzibah and Nathanial Hall....
.
Botany and design
He was the U.S. Department of Agriculture's first botanist and landscape designer. Saunders had been previously appointed to Superintendent of the Propagating Gardens in the Department of AgricultureUnited States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
, where he developed hundreds of plants, trees and shrubs that are grown throughout the United States.
An ardent botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, he designed the cemetery at Gettysburg, for which the Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
was written by President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
as a dedication ode to those interred there. Saunders designed the park system in Washington, D.C., and oversaw the planting of 80,000 trees in the city.
Navel Orange
He was crucial in the introduction of the seedless Navel Orange to California agriculture, by mailing two trees from Bahia, Brazil in the Department of Agriculture collection to farmer and friend Eliza TibbetsEliza Tibbets
Eliza Tibbets , on her ranch in Riverside, California with husband Luther C. Tibbets, is known as growing the first Washington navel orange and founding the citrus industry and cultural landscape of orange groves in California, United States...
in Riverside County
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
, Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. They were the basis of the state's successful 20th century citrus industry. One of two remaining original trees stands in the Mission Inn
Mission Inn
The Mission Inn, now known as The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, is a historic landmark hotel in downtown Riverside, California. Although a composite of many architectural styles, it is generally considered the largest Mission Revival Style building in the United States.-History:The property began as a...
courtyard in downtown Riverside
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
.
See also
- "William Saunders", The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, (September 14, 1900), p. 6. - The Founders of the Grange