Misplaced Pages

#427572

67-488: In 1801, New York physician David Hosack created the Elgin Botanic Garden, named for his father's Scottish birthplace. Hosack was among the leading medical practitioners of his time, and was later remembered primarily as the physician who attended the 1804 duel between his friends Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr , and who treated Hamilton's fatal injuries. Elgin was the first public botanical garden in

134-711: A board member of the New York Institution for the Blind at 34th Street and Ninth Avenue (now the New York Institute for Special Education ). He published a collection of poems (1844). This poem, "arguably the best-known verses ever written by an American," was first published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823. It had been given to the paper's editor by Sarah Sackett of Troy, who probably got it from Harriet Butler of Troy,

201-463: A family friend of the Moores. Anonymous or pseudonymous publication of poetry was customary at the time, but as the poem's popularity grew so did curiosity about its author. In response to a query in 1829, Sentinel editor Orville Holley wrote that "We have been given to understand that the author ... belongs by birth and residence to the city of New York, and that he is a gentleman of more merit as

268-485: A medical apprenticeship with Dr. Richard Bayley . While Hosack was studying at New York Hospital in April 1788, a violent crowd formed outside to protest body snatching , the practice of illicitly obtaining cadavers from graveyards for use in medical training. The rioters had gathered after a medical student taunted a group of children by waving a corpse's arm at them from a window, resulting in several days of violence that

335-662: A medical student under Dr. Nicholas Romayne , where he regularly visited homes for the poor and insane, as they were among the few places to offer clinical instruction. In the fall of 1790, Hosack transferred to medical school in Philadelphia , where he wrote a doctoral dissertation on cholera . He married in early 1791, and that spring he received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania . In 1791, Hosack and his wife Catharine moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he opened his first medical practice. They returned

402-610: A merchant from Elgin in Scotland, and his wife Jane Arden. Following the end of the American Revolutionary War , Hosack was sent to New Jersey academies to further his education, first in Newark and then Hackensack. He would go on to attend Columbia College , now a branch of Columbia University , where he began as a student of art, but eventually became fascinated by medicine. At Columbia, Hosack entered into

469-611: A new medical school that he had neither time nor money to continue the garden. In 1808, Hosack was compelled to offer the property for sale, and for several years, he petitioned the New York State Legislature to purchase it and maintain it as an aid in medical education. Ultimately, in March 1810, the State of New York purchased Elgin for $ 75,000, leaving Hosack with a loss of $ 28,000 after his expenses to buy and develop

536-558: A new nation in the Louisiana Territory and Spanish Texas . Hosack loaned Burr money for passage on a ship to Europe, where Burr lived for several years in self-imposed exile to escape his creditors and the notoriety resulting from the trial. Hosack was the creator in 1801 of America's first botanical garden , the Elgin Botanic Garden , which he modeled after gardens he had seen in Scotland and named for

603-590: A permanent institution. The catalogue concluded with a note that "improvements which may hereafter take place in this institution, and the additions which may be made to the collection of plants, will in future be regularly published, as an annual report to the Legislature, and the Regents of the University." Hosack continued to pay the garden's expenses until May 1811, when it was placed under the management of

670-709: A pioneering surgeon who took on much of his father's practice after his death. Hosack was one of the founders of the New-York Historical Society , and its fourth president (1820–1827). He was also a president of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1810, the American Antiquarian Society in 1814, and a Fellow of

737-403: A project indefinitely, and it was suggested that he was so preoccupied with his endeavors in the creation of Rutgers Medical College that he had neither time nor money to continue the garden. The State of New York purchased Elgin from Hosack, pursuant to an 1810 act of the New York State Legislature , for a much lower sum than Hosack had paid for the property. Care of the garden was placed in

SECTION 10

#1732771861428

804-501: A scholar and a writer than many of more noisy pretensions." (Italics his.) In 1837 Moore was finally publicly identified as the author in journalist Charles Fenno Hoffman 's The New-York Book of Poetry , to which Moore had submitted several poems. In 1844, he included "Visit" in Poems , an anthology of his works. His children, for whom he had originally written the piece, encouraged this publication. In 1855, Mary C. Moore Ogden, one of

871-529: A variety of indigenous and exotic plants, mostly of American origin. By 1805, the garden was home to 1,500 species of plants from all over the world, including some rare specimens contributed by Thomas Jefferson . The following year, Hosack published Hortus Elginensis (1806), a catalogue and visitors' guide, containing an extensive list of the plants under cultivation at Elgin. The grounds were fully enclosed by an imposing stone wall, 7 feet (2.1 m) tall and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (0.76 m) thick. Within

938-543: A year later to New York City. During Hosack's first few years in medical practice, he concluded that the best practitioners had received at least some of their schooling in Europe, and convinced his father to pay his way to Britain in order to obtain such schooling. Upon arriving in the United Kingdom, Hosack matriculated at the University of Edinburgh , where he was reportedly horrified to find his knowledge of botany

1005-565: Is known as Chelsea after his estate. When Moore's maternal grandmother died in 1802 she left four slaves to Moore's parents. In his 1956 biography of Moore, Samuel W. Patterson asserted that the four remained with the Moore family and were not freed until the full abolition of slavery in New York in 1827, and this assertion has been repeated in many other works. It is incorrect. Manumission records show that Benjamin and Charity Moore freed one of

1072-728: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences the following year. In 1821, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences , and in 1827 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. The Great Fire of New York , which began on December 15, 1835, destroyed between 530 and 700 buildings in New York City, covering 13 acres (53,000 m ) in 17 city blocks . Hosack's personal loss of property in

1139-495: The College of Physicians and Surgeons , which had not yet merged with Columbia . The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that laid out the scheme for New York City's future grid of streets and avenues gave names to the carriage road leading to Elgin's garden, which became Sixth Avenue , and to the pathway that fronted Elgin's south-facing greenhouses, which became 50th Street . In April 1814, the New York legislature voted to transfer

1206-517: The French and Indian War . He owned the large Manhattan estate "Chelsea", then in the country north of the developed areas of the city. As a girl, Moore's mother Charity Clarke wrote letters to her English cousins. Preserved at Columbia University, these show her disdain for the policies of the British monarchy and her growing sense of patriotism in pre-Revolutionary days. Moore's grandmother Sarah Fish

1273-657: The Bloomingdale Asylum, and Hosack's library of horticultural texts became part of the collection of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx . The property became known as Columbia's "Upper Estate," and by 1879, twelve acres had been fully developed for residential use, with 298 rowhouses in a then-stylish neighborhood. By the mid-1920s, however, it had deteriorated into "an unseemly collection of boarding houses, nightclubs and speakeasies on

1340-630: The Hudson River between 19th and 24th Streets. Together with carpenter-builder James N. Wells he divided the neighborhood into lots and marketed them to well-heeled New Yorkers. He donated a large block of land to the Episcopal diocese for construction of a seminary, giving them an apple orchard consisting of 66 tracts. Construction began in 1827 for the General Theological Seminary . Based on his knowledge of Hebrew, Moore

1407-419: The Moores' married daughters, painted "illuminations" to go with the first color edition of the poem. Scholars have debated whether Moore was the author of this poem. Professor Donald Foster used textual content analysis and external evidence to argue that Moore could not have been the author. Foster believes that Major Henry Livingston, Jr. , a New Yorker with Dutch and Scottish roots, should be considered

SECTION 20

#1732771861428

1474-543: The State of Virginia (1785) as an "instrument of infidelity" that "debases the negro to an order of creatures lower than those who have a fairer skin and thinner lips." In 1820, Moore helped Trinity Church organize a new parish church, St. Luke in the Fields , on Hudson Street . He later gave 66 tracts of land – the apple orchard from his inherited Chelsea estate – to the Episcopal Diocese of New York to be

1541-532: The United States. It was established with Hosack's purchase of 19 + 3 ⁄ 4 acres (8.0 ha) of "common lands" from the City of New York for approximately $ 4,800, equivalent to $ 112,000 in 2023 dollars. The location, 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (5.6 km) outside of what was then the city limit, is bounded by present-day 47th Street on the south, 51st Street on the north, and Fifth Avenue on

1608-466: The University of Auckland, a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and an expert in authorship attribution using statistical techniques. He evaluated every argument using modern computational stylistics, including one never used before – statistical analysis of phonemes – and found, in his opinion, that in every test that Livingston was the more likely author. Moore's estate, named Chelsea,

1675-507: The belief that medical education should be easily accessible. One of Hosack's earlier victories was the merger of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Columbia University . He successfully pursued an alliance with Rutgers College, bringing his group of colleagues to New Brunswick, New Jersey . Medical instruction at Rutgers began on November 6, 1826; however, as quickly as the medical college came into existence, opposition surfaced from

1742-402: The branch of Geneva College in New York City. In 1801, Hosack created the Elgin Botanic Garden , named for his father's Scottish birthplace. It was the first public botanical garden in the United States, established with his purchase of twenty acres of rural land on the outskirts of New York City for just under $ 5,000, equivalent to $ 112,000 in 2023 dollars. The location, 3½ miles from what

1809-770: The chief candidate for authorship. This view was long espoused by the Livingston family. Livingston was distantly related to Moore's wife. In response to Foster's claim, Stephen Nissenbaum , professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, wrote in 2001 that, based on his research, Moore was the author. In his article, "There Arose Such a Clatter: Who Really Wrote 'The Night before Christmas'? (And Why Does It Matter?)", Nissenbaum confirmed Moore's authorship, "I believe he did, and I think I have marshaled an array of good evidence to prove [it]". Foster's claim has also been countered by document dealer and historian Seth Kaller, who once owned one of Moore's original manuscripts of

1876-471: The deeds of sale created a planned neighborhood, specifying what could be built on the land as well as architectural details of the buildings. Stables, manufacturing and commercial uses were forbidden in the development. Moore was appointed to the Columbia College board of trustees in 1813 and served until 1857. He was clerk of the board from 1815 to 1850. From 1840 to 1850, Moore also served as

1943-409: The east, reaching nearly to Sixth Avenue on the west. It is now the site of Rockefeller Center . The entire property "was intended by Professor Hosack for a botanical garden, the prime object of which was to be the collection and cultivation of native plants of this country, especially such as possess medicinal properties or are otherwise useful." At his own expense, Hosack landscaped the garden with

2010-576: The estate in 1802, and several years later they deeded it to him. When the government of New York City decided on a street grid in Manhattan, based on the Commissioner's Plan of 1811 , the new Ninth Avenue was projected to go through the middle of the Chelsea estate. In 1818, Moore wrote and published a pamphlet calling on other "Proprietors of Real Estate" to oppose the manner in which the city

2077-621: The expansion of medical knowledge and education, as well as the training of doctors in caring for women and children. Hosack became an advocate for the betterment of lives of the poor, which led him to become a founder of the Humane Society. Close to two years after his first wife died, Hosack married a Philadelphia woman, Mary Eddy, a sister of Thomas Eddy , a prominent Philadelphia philanthropist and prison reformer. David and Mary Hosack had nine children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. These included Alexander Eddy Hosack (1805–1871),

Elgin Botanic Garden - Misplaced Pages Continue

2144-480: The facility any longer. The institution continued to exist on paper as a charitable society for several decades after Hosack's death, ultimately merging in 1890 with an obstetrical dispensary that became part of New York Hospital, now NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital . Hosack and his former teacher, Dr. Nicholas Romayne , both at various times sought academic sponsorship from colleges in order to found new medical schools at those colleges. They were early proponents of

2211-600: The fatal injuries of Alexander Hamilton after his duel with Aaron Burr in July 1804, and who had similarly tended to Hamilton's son Philip after his fatal 1801 duel with George Eacker . He established several institutions including Elgin Botanic Garden and a medical school at Rutgers University . Hosack was born in New York City , the first of seven children of Alexander Hossack [ sic ],

2278-408: The fire was valued at $ 300,000, equivalent to $ 9,400,000 in 2023 dollars. Hosack died of a stroke one week afterward, on December 22, 1835, and was buried at New York Marble Cemetery . In 1888, Hosack's descendants had him reinterred at Trinity Church Cemetery , where Alexander Hamilton is also buried. Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863)

2345-482: The first lying-in hospital in New York, a maternity clinic where he could offer health care to poor pregnant women. He raised funds from subscribers, including Alexander Hamilton, to purchase a house on Cedar Street where the Lying-In Hospital opened in 1799. In 1801, the Lying-In Hospital moved into space rented from New York Hospital, but ceased operations in 1827 when New York Hospital refused to host

2412-498: The four, Charles Smith, in 1803. In the 1810 U.S. Census Benjamin Moore is listed as having two slaves in his household, who according to manumission records were subsequently freed in 1811 and 1813 and did not have the same names as the inherited slaves. In the 1820 Census , Clement Moore's first as a head of household, he is listed as having no slaves. In 1813, Moore married Catherine Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of William Taylor and Elizabeth (née Van Cortlandt) Taylor. William Taylor

2479-461: The garden in his father’s birthplace. One of Hosack's most distinguished students was a celebrated New York City physician, John Franklin Gray , who later became the first practitioner of homeopathy in the United States. Gray's embrace of homeopathy, a pseudoscientific discipline, resulted in the loss of Hosack's friendship. In 1798, following a yellow fever epidemic, Hosack proposed opening

2546-470: The garden with a variety of indigenous and exotic plants, mostly of American origin. By 1805, after Hosack had spent $ 75,000 on the effort, the garden was home to 1,500 species of plants from all over the world, including some rare specimens contributed by Thomas Jefferson. The following year, Hosack published a catalogue and visitors' guide, containing an extensive list of the plants under cultivation at Elgin. Hosack's funds were insufficient to support such

2613-602: The hands of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York , which then gave it to Columbia College in 1814. Columbia had no interest in continuing with the costly project. Elgin Botanic Garden was abandoned and eventually fell into decay, and Columbia ultimately leased the land to John D. Rockefeller Jr. in the 1920s for the construction of Rockefeller Center . Early in 1791, shortly before receiving his medical degree, Hosack married Catharine Warner, whom he had met while studying at Princeton. Their son Alexander

2680-410: The land to Columbia College , with the provision that the college would be moved to the site, although Columbia successfully lobbied for the removal of that condition in 1819. Columbia had no interest in continuing to maintain the costly botanical garden, and turned over responsibility for the gardens to Clement Clarke Moore , best known as a writer and light poet. Beginning in March 1817, the property

2747-546: The medical establishment in New York. Hosack came under attack by the County Medical Society of New York for "unjustifiable interference in the medical concerns of the state and disregard for the provisions of the laws of the state regarding medical education." After the defeat, Hosack traveled to upstate New York and succeeded in gaining the sponsorship of Geneva College in Geneva, New York . Soon after,

Elgin Botanic Garden - Misplaced Pages Continue

2814-530: The medical school previously established in New Jersey at Rutgers transferred its allegiance to Geneva. The trustees of that college voted on October 30, 1827, to establish the medical faculty. Hosack's adversaries filed suit in The People v. The Trustees of Geneva College , in which the court ruled that the college did not have the power to operate or appoint a faculty at any place but Geneva, invalidating

2881-452: The northern boundary of New York's theater district." In late 1928, Columbia University agreed to lease a three-block portion of the land to John D. Rockefeller Jr. for the construction of Rockefeller Center , in return for approximately $ 3.5 million annual rent until 1952, followed by options for three 21-year renewals. Rockefeller subsequently acquired additional lots from Columbia, as well as surrounding properties. The original property

2948-429: The original copy of the poem that was sent to The Sentinel, the names of Santa's last two reindeer were Dunder and Blixem, instead of Donder (later Donner) and Blitzen, as printed. The changes in spelling are attributed to a printing error and/or correcting Moore's spelling inaccuracies, as he did not speak Dutch. In 2016, the matter was discussed by MacDonald P. Jackson , an emeritus professor of English literature at

3015-414: The poem. Kaller has offered a point-by-point rebuttal of both Foster's linguistic analysis and external findings, buttressed by the work of autograph expert James Lowe and Dr. Joe Nickell , author of Pen, Ink and Evidence . There is no evidence that Livingston ever claimed authorship, nor has any record ever been found of any printing of the poem with Livingston's name attached to it. But, according to

3082-602: The property. Responsibility for the property was given to the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York , and in the 1811 second edition of the Hortus Elginensis catalogue, a frontispiece identified Elgin as "the Botanic Garden of the State of New-York". In a preface dated March 1811, Hosack wrote that Elgin had "been purchased by the State for the benefit of the Medical Schools of New-York", and projected his expectation that it would remain

3149-615: The residential neighborhood of Chelsea. He also served for 44 years as a member of the board of trustees of Columbia College (later University), and was a board member of the New York Society Library and the New York Institution for the Blind . " A Visit from St. Nicholas ," which later became widely known by its opening line, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," was first published anonymously in 1823. Moore publicly claimed authorship in 1837, and this

3216-608: The resort town of Sharon Springs, New York , in 1848, the acerbic diarist George Templeton Strong described the unmarried Moore children as, "the sons a compound of imbecility deep beyond all fathoming, with an appetite for chambermaids beyond all precedent—the two Miss M’s very nice indeed." In the 1850s, Moore began summering in Newport, Rhode Island, together with his daughters Terry and Mary, and Mary's family. He died on July 10, 1863, at his summer residence on Catherine Street in Newport, five days before his 84th birthday. His funeral

3283-401: The river to the dockside home of William Bayard Jr. , where Hamilton died the next day. Hosack had also treated Hamilton's son Philip after he was fatally shot by George Eacker in a duel at the same location in 1801. At Alexander Hamilton's funeral, Hosack was one of the pallbearers. Three years after the duel, Burr was tried and acquitted on a charge of treason for a conspiracy to form

3350-554: The site of the General Theological Seminary . Based likely on this donation, and on the publication of his Hebrew and English Lexicon in 1809, Moore was appointed as professor of Biblical learning at the Seminary. He held this post until 1850. After the seminary was built, Moore began the residential development of his Chelsea estate in the 1820s with the help of James N. Wells , dividing it into lots along Ninth Avenue and selling them to well-heeled New Yorkers. Covenants in

3417-411: The walls, a spacious greenhouse flanked by two hothouses presented a 180-foot (55 m) frontage running west from present-day Fifth Avenue, and encircled by what Hosack called a "belt of forest trees and shrubs judiciously chequered and mingled." Hosack's funds were insufficient to support such a project indefinitely, and it was suggested that he was so preoccupied with his endeavors in the creation of

SECTION 50

#1732771861428

3484-470: The years that followed, Hosack gained a reputation as a confirmed family man, and for living well. Hosack was the family doctor of Alexander Hamilton and his family, and is perhaps best known as the doctor present during Hamilton's duel with Aaron Burr in Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804. Hosack, a friend to both Hamilton and Burr, treated Hamilton after Burr fired, and accompanied him across

3551-425: Was a New Jersey lawyer who had served as chief justice of Jamaica. Elizabeth Van Cortlandt was a direct descendant of Stephanus Van Cortlandt , the first native-born mayor of New York City and first patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor , as well as the niece by marriage of Sir Edward Buller, 1st Baronet . Together, Catherine and Clement Moore were the parents of nine children: After spending a month in their company in

3618-465: Was a descendant of Elizabeth Fones and Joris Woolsey, one of the earlier settlers of Manhattan. Moore's parents inherited the Chelsea estate, and deeded it to him in 1813. He earned great wealth by subdividing and developing it in the 19th century. Moore received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College as valedictorian of the class of 1798, a Master of Arts in 1801, and an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) in 1829. One of Moore's earliest known works

3685-815: Was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas ", which first named each of Santa Claus's reindeer . Moore was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, as well as Divinity and Biblical Learning, at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church , in New York City. The seminary was developed on land donated by Moore and it continues on this site at Ninth Avenue between 20th and 21st streets, in an area known as Chelsea Square. Moore gained considerable wealth by subdividing and developing other parts of his large inherited estate in what became known as

3752-552: Was an anonymous pro- Federalist pamphlet published prior to the 1804 presidential election , attacking the religious and racial views of Thomas Jefferson (the incumbent president and Democratic-Republican candidate). His polemic, titled in full "Observations upon Certain Passages in Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, which Appear to Have a Tendency to Subvert Religion, and Establish a False Philosophy," depicted Jefferson's Notes on

3819-413: Was appointed as its first professor of Oriental Languages, serving until 1850. The seminary continues to operate on the same site, taking up most of the block between 20th and 21st streets and Ninth and Tenth avenues. Ten years later, Moore gave land at 20th Street and Ninth, east of the avenue, to the diocese for construction of St. Peter's Episcopal Church . The contemporary Manhattan neighborhood

3886-483: Was assistant rector of Trinity Church in Manhattan. He later became rector of Trinity and bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, also serving as acting president of Kings College in 1775 and 1776 and president of the renamed Columbia College (now Columbia University) from 1801 to 1811. Moore's maternal grandfather was Major Thomas Clarke, an English officer who stayed in the colony after fighting in

3953-543: Was being developed. He thought it was a conspiracy designed to increase political patronage and appease the city's working class, and argued that making landowners bear the costs of the streets laid through their property was "a tyranny no monarch in Europe would dare to exercise." He also criticized the grid plan and the flattening of hills as ill-advised. Despite his protests, Moore was already preparing to develop Chelsea, acquiring adjacent plots of land from relatives and neighbors until he owned everything from Eighth Avenue to

4020-528: Was born in Virginia in June 1792, after which the family moved back to New York City. Shortly after Hosack returned from Scotland to America, his son died. Catharine died soon after, in 1796, giving birth to a second child who also died. These personal tragedies, along with epidemics of yellow fever that hit Philadelphia in 1793 and New York in 1795 and 1798, led Hosack to devote much of his life thereafter towards

4087-418: Was later called the doctors' riot . While trying to protect the laboratory from a mob that broke into the hospital, Hosack was hit on the head with a heavy stone. Soon afterward, Hosack left Columbia and transferred to Princeton (then known as the College of New Jersey). Hosack graduated from Princeton with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1789. In 1789, after graduating from Princeton, Hosack enrolled as

SECTION 60

#1732771861428

4154-426: Was leased to a series of individual tenants paying little or no rent, in return for obligations to maintain the grounds, while repeated applications from Hosack for a lease (in 1819, 1825, and 1828) were denied. By 1823, the property had sunk "into utter decrepitude", and the abandoned botanical gardens eventually fell into decay. Surviving plant specimens were shipped to Morningside Heights where they were replanted at

4221-437: Was not disputed during his lifetime, but a rival claimant emerged later and scholars now debate the identity of the author, calling on textual and handwriting analysis as well as other historical sources. Moore was born on July 15, 1779, in New York City at "Chelsea", his mother's family estate. He was the son of Benjamin Moore (1748–1816) and Charity (née Clarke) Moore (1747–1838). At the time of Clement's birth Benjamin Moore

4288-685: Was on the west side of the island of Manhattan north of Greenwich Village . It was mostly open countryside before the 1820s. It had been purchased in 1750 by his maternal grandfather Maj. Thomas Clarke, a retired British veteran of the French and Indian War (the North American front of the Seven Years' War ). Clarke named his house for the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London that served war veterans. Moore's parents inherited

4355-429: Was sorely lacking. Well received by some of the leading scientific minds of the period, Hosack spent much of his time in their botanical gardens and lecture halls. He ultimately became one of the leading American scholars of botany. Hosack returned to America by 1796 and established a practice in New York City. A good deal of Hosack's clinical work was as a family practitioner, including pediatric and obstetric care. In

4422-404: Was still owned by Columbia until 1985, when it was sold for $ 400 million. 40°45′31″N 73°58′44″W  /  40.7586°N 73.9788°W  / 40.7586; -73.9788 David Hosack David Hosack FRS FRSE FLS (August 31, 1769 – December 22, 1835) was an American physician, botanist, and educator. He remains widely known as the doctor who tended to

4489-513: Was then the city limit, is now bounded by 47th Street on the south, 51st Street on the north, and Fifth Avenue on the east, reaching nearly to Sixth Avenue on the west. It is the present site of Rockefeller Center . The entire property "was intended by Professor Hosack for a botanical garden, the prime object of which was to be the collection and cultivation of native plants of this country, especially such as possess medicinal properties or are otherwise useful." At his own expense, Hosack landscaped

#427572