FITZPATRICK, Thomas Jefferson & Mary Frances (LINDER)

FITZPATRICK, LINDER, FORSCUTT, PENCE, JEFFERSON, SMITH, BROWN

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 1/12/2016 at 14:01:55

Biographies of T. J. [Thomas Jefferson] and Mary F. (Linder) Fitzpatrick
Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa

Thomas Jefferson Fitzpatrick was born at Centerville, Iowa, on April 2, 1868. He attended the State University of Iowa, where he received a Bachelor of Science in 1893 and a Master of Science in 1895. He served as Professor of Mathematics and Botany at Graceland College from 1895 to 1899 and again from 1908 to 1912. He also worked as a field collector for the Iowa State Historical Society from 1903 to 1907.

On July 10, 1895, Professor Fitzpatrick became the first person hired to teach at Graceland, working as a member of the college's three-person faculty when classes opened on September 17, 1895, and were held at the France Building uptown Lamoni while the administration building on campus was being completed. A quiet and unassuming man, Professor Fitzpatrick taught math, botony, and geology. He is credited as founding the Graceland library and serving as its first librarian. He was given the title of "senior professor" or "chairman of the faculty," essentially performing the work of a college president when Graceland's classes opened. He continuted to offer scientific work with the development of a qualitive analysis course. Astronomy was offered in the spring of 1896.

Professor Fitzpatrick continued to act as Graceland's top administrator until Mark Forscutt assumed those duties in the role of dean in 1896.

Due to economic hardship suffered by Graceland during its early years, Professor Fitzpatrick and J. T. Pence were released. Professor Fitzpatrick left Graceland in November 1898, and obtained his M.S. at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1900. He returned to Graceland's faculty and library in 1908 and served until leaving in 1912.

Professor Fitzpatrick came to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1913 to serve as Professor of Science at Cotner College, a position he held until 1918. He became Assistant Professor of Botany and Curator of the Herbarium at the University of Nebraska in 1918, a position he held until his retirement in 1949 [some sources state 1945]. During his career at the University of Nebraska he also served as librarian for the Botany and Mathematics Departments.

A history buff and an avid book collector, Professor Fitzpatrick was a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and owned many books that had belonged to the U. S. President. Professor Fitzpatrick died in Lincoln, Nebraska, on 28 March 1952.

Professor Fitzpatrick was married to Mary Frances Linder who was the daughter of Anton Linder who emigrated to the United States around the year 1840 and settled in Iowa City, Iowa. The Professor and Mary were noted for being one half of the first Graceland faculty couple. Mary taught Modern Languages [German and French] at Graceland from 1897 to 1900 and again from 1908 to 1912. Mary's Master's thesis, "A Brief Description of Nine Species of Hepaticae Found in the Vicinity of Iowa City" was published in 1887, University of Iowa, and comprised 66 pages of handwritten text and 21 plates of pencil line drawings. It is housed in the University of Iowa Library's Special Collections.

Thomas Jefferson and Mary Frances (Linder) Fitzpatrick's son, Frederick Linder Fitzpatrick, was born in Iowa City, Iowa, on May 6, 1900. He married on July 17, 1923 Margaret Carolyn Smith of Granger, Iowa, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Channing G. Smith. They became the parents of a son, Frederick M. Fitzpatrick, born in 1931 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Frederick Linder Fitzpatrick obtained his B.A. degree in 1919, his M.A. degree in 1921, and his Ph.D. in 1924, all from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. He served as the Head of Science Education Department and was a professor at the Teachers College of Columbia University.

Professor T. J. Fitzpatrick authored the following books:

The Ferns and Their Allies of Iowa (Patriot Books. Lamoni IA. 1896.);

Manuarl of The Flowering Plants of Iowa, A Thesis. (privately published. Lamoni IA. 1899.);
The Iowa naturalist (University of Iowa. Iowa City IA. year unknown.);

The Ranunculaceae of Iowa (University of Iowa. Iowa City IA. 1901), with Mary F. Linder Fitzpatrick;

The Juglandaceae of Iowa; Betulaceae of Iowa; The Fagaceae of Iowa (B. Murphy. Des Moines IA. 1901.), with Mary F. Linder Fitzpatrick;

The Melanthaceae of Iowa (State Historical Society of Iowa. Iowa City IA. 1905.);
The Iowa Gentians (University of Iowa. [Iowa City IA. 1906.);

Bibliography of the Iowa territorial documents (State Historical Society of Iowa. Iowa City IA. 1907.);

The Liliales of Iowa (State Historical Society of Iowa. Iowa City IA. 1907.);

Rafinesque: A Sketch of His Life, with Bibliography (Historical Dept. of Iowa. Des Moines IA. 1911.).

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Iowa Native Plant Society Newsletter
Department of Botany, Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
Vol. 9, Issue 3, Page 2. October 2003

Leaves from the President's Notebook
As plant enthusiasts we are indebted to the work of early botanists such as Thomas Jefferson Fitzpatrick and his wife, Mary Frances Linder Fitzpatrick. Part Creek Indian who also traced his ancestry to Thomas Jefferson, T. J . was born in a log cabin in Centerville, Iowa in 1868. He received his undergraduate and Master's degrees from the University of Iowa. His wife had a Ph.D . degree in botany. From 1895 -1899, while T.J. taught at Graceland College in Lamoni, the Fitzpatricks collected plants extensively in southern Iowa. They also wrote numerous articles based upon their field trips and collections.

Their "Flora of Southern Iowa" and "Flora of Southern Iowa, II" published in the Proceedings ofthe Iowa Academy of Sciences, Volumes V and VI (1898 & 1899) are invaluable references for anyone restoring native plant habitats in southern Iowa. Not only do they list all the species collected in this area, but habitat and frequency are also noted . This fall, for example, I wanted to know which foxglove species I could expect to find in my Decatur County oak savanna. Although the Aureolaria grandiflora and the Agalinis gattingeri have become well established here, I've seen only one specimen of Tomanthera auriculata, and a small population ofAgalinis tenuifolia. Referring to "Flora of Southern Iowa, " I learned that all but the A. gattingeri used to be common in open woods of Decatur County. (A. gattingeri was not named until 1903.)

To me it is just as important to know which plants belong here as it is to identify the ones that remain. Work done by the Fitzpatricks serves as a baseline for my restoration efforts. In The Plant World, December 1898, the Fitzpatricks stated that they found Asclespias meadii growing in "prairie soil by the waysides" and in unplowed "fields used as meadows'', (Would that were still so.) An article in the unplowed "fields used as meadows" . (Would that were still so.) An article in the same publication, October 1901, describes their observations of Veratrum woodii, which they concluded was "of frequent occurrence in southern and southeastern Iowa." (I have counted over 250 plants on my property.) ''The Native Oak Groves of Iowa" also published in The Plant World (April , 1901), discusses the composition of the southern Iowa oak savannas as the Fitzpatricks found them. For those of us interested in native plant restoration, documents such as these are invaluable.

A bibliography of T.J.'s publications is located in Special Collections of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln library. Covering 16 pages, the listing includes many more articles of historic interest to Iowa botanists. ''The Orchidaceae of Iowa", ''Notes on the Flora of northeastern Iowa", and ''The Fern Flora of Iowa" are just a few.

~ Sibylla Brown, President
Leon, Iowa

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Iowa's Notable Dead

THOMAS JEFFERSON FITZPATRICK, botanist, educator, civil engineer and publisher, regarded as one of the most eminent botanical authorities of the midwest, died at Lincoln, Nebraska, March 28, 1952; born April 2, 1868, in Centerville, Iowa; acquired his advanced education at Wesleyan University, 1889, State University of Iowa 1889-95, B.Sc. 1893 and M.S. 1895 University of Chicago and University of Nebraska; held position of teacher and curator at University of Nebraska; experienced as a civil engineer and a publisher; was first head of Graceland college at Lamoni, Iowa, and member of the faculty there from 1895 until 1900, when he went to Iowa City, Iowa, to serve as superintendent of the public school system remaining there until 1908, when he returned to Graceland college and rejoined the faculty, remaining until 1912, when he resigned and removed to California for a year, when he was called by the University of Nebraska; owner of the Lamoni Chronicle for a period while a resident there; also helped establish the local library, contributing a large number of books from his private collection which was extensive, once comprising over 30,000 volumes; a member of some thirty scientific and educational associations; was a prolific writer principally along botanical lines, also on. engineering, history, and biography, some articles being published in the ANNALS, and one of his articles, "The Place-Names of Appanoose County, Iowa," being published in American Speech; also others of this series, published in the ANNALS, being "The Place-Names of Des Moines County, Iowa," "The Place-Names of Lee County, Iowa," and "The Place-Names of Van Buren County, Iowa;" a portrait showing his sturdy appearance in his middle years gracing page 12, Vol. XVII, July, 1929, ANNALS OF IOWA.

~ The Annals of Iowa

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Professor Fitzpatrick was a bibliomanic. He began with a solid collection of rare books that were inherited from his illustrious namesake. Only after his death in 1952 was the full extent of his obsession discovered.

Upon his death, Professor Fitzpatrick left Mary with a thirteen-room house and small bungalow that were filled to the rafters, wall-to-wall with books. A lifetime of collecting filled the house so that the couple were living entirely in the kitchen.

When he heard of the sale, Robert Vosper and several of his assistants literally mined through the house. They transported three five-ton truck loads of books on the history of science and American botany to the library of the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

SOURCES:

Goehner, David. “The Graceland College Book of Knowledge: From A To Z.” p. 405. Herald House. Independence MO. 1997.

Edwards, Paul M. "The Hilltop Where. . . An Informal History of Graceland College." Pp. 19-20, 34. Venture Foundation. Lamoni IA. 1972.

archivespec.unl.edu/RG12-07-14-fitzpatrick-unl.html

deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/frederick-linder-fitzpatrick-jrT960BV5q

"Iowa's Notable Dead." The Annals of Iowa. Vol. 31, Issue 7, No. 7, Pp. 13-14. State Historical Society of Iowa. Winter 1953.

liblamp.vm.ku.edu/omeka/items/show/5830
eventful.com/northplatte/events/amazing-library-thomas-jefferson-fitzpatrick-ji-/E0-001-049262515-7

Transcriptions and compilation by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2016

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