Lucien Marcus Underwood

Lucien Marcus Underwood
Born(1853-10-26)October 26, 1853
DiedNovember 16, 1907(1907-11-16) (aged 54)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSyracuse University
Scientific career
FieldsBotany, Mycology, Pteridology
InstitutionsSyracuse University
ThesisThe geological formations crossed by the Syracuse and Chenango Valley Railroad (1879)
Doctoral advisorAlexander Winchell
Author abbrev. (botany)Underw.

Lucien Marcus Underwood (October 26, 1853 – November 16, 1907) was an American botanist and mycologist of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Early life and career

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He was born in New Woodstock, New York.[1] He enrolled at Syracuse University in 1873 and graduated in 1877. He earned his masters in 1878[2] and finally and completed his PhD in 1879 under Alexander Winchell.[3][4] During his graduate school, he taught at Cazenovia Seminary for two years.[2][5]

After a year's teaching at Hedding College, in 1880 he was appointed professor of geology and botany in Illinois Wesleyan University. In 1883, he was appointed professor of geology, botany, and zoology at Syracuse.[4] In 1890, he accepted the Morgan Fellowship at Harvard University to study the Sullivant and Taylor collection of hepatics.[6] In 1891 he became professor of botany in De Pauw University. In 1896, after one year stint as a biology professor at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn),[7] Underwood became a professor of botany at Columbia University and joined the staff of the New York Botanical Garden in 1907.[8][9]

Works

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Underwood published numerous papers in botanical journals, and was the author of Our Native Ferns and how to study them (Bloomington, Ill., 1881; 4th ed., 1893), Descriptive Catalogue of North American Hepaticae (New York, 1884) and “Hepaticae” in Gray's Manual of Botany. He also prepared the exsiccata work An Illustrated Century of Fungi with 100 specimens (1889), and together with Orator F. Cook the exsiccata work Hepaticae Americanae with 160 specimens (1887–93) and Hepaticae Americanae with 200 specimens (1887–99).[8][9][10][11]

Underwood's papers are maintained at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York Botanical Garden.[6]

Personal life

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After losing large amounts of money on Wall Street in the Panic of 1907, Underwood attempted to murder his wife and daughter before committing suicide at the family's home in Redding, Connecticut.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ New Woodstock, N.Y. is in Madison County. Woodstock, New York is in Ulster County.
  2. ^ a b Haynes, Caroline Coventry (1908). "Lucien Marcus Underwood". The Bryologist. 11 (3): 40–44. doi:10.1639/0007-2745(1908)11[41:LMU]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0007-2745. JSTOR 3238210. S2CID 83989284. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  3. ^ "History of the College of Arts and Sciences". Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b Merriam, Daniel Francis (1978). A Brief History Of The Department Of Geology At Syracuse University (PDF). Syracuse, N.Y.: New York State Geological Association. p. 42. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Underwood, Lucien Marcus, 1853-1907". Smithsonian Institution Archives. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Lucien Marcus Underwood Papers (PP) Underwood, Lucien Marcus, 1853-1907". www.nybg.org. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Montgomery Advertiser: June 12, 1896".[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ a b Curtis CC. (1908). "A Biographical Sketch of Lucien Marcus Underwood". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 35 (1): 1–12. doi:10.2307/2479036. JSTOR 2479036.
  9. ^ a b Howe, Marshall Avery (1908). "Lucien Marcus Underwood: A Memorial Tribute". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 35 (1): 13–16. doi:10.2307/2479037. JSTOR 2479037.
  10. ^ "Lucien Marcus Underwood". Botanical Gazette. 45 (4): 268–269. 1 April 1908. doi:10.1086/329531. ISSN 0006-8071. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  11. ^ Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae. – Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.
  12. ^ "PROF. UNDERWOOD COMMITS SUICIDE". The New York Times. 1907-11-17. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-01. Famous Botanist and Columbia Lecturer Tries to Kill Wife and Daughter. HIS WIFE IS BADLY HURT Losses in Wall Street in the Recent Flurry Had Worried Him for Weeks.
  13. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Underw.
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