Science, Race, and Religion in the American South: John Bachman and the Charleston Circle of Naturalists, 1815-1895

359 Pages·2000·2.035 MB·English

by  Lester D. Stephens

Science,
Race, and
Religion
in the
American
South

lester d. stephens
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Science, Race, and Religion
in the American South
john bachman and the
charleston circle
of naturalists, 1815–1895
The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill & London
∫ 2000 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
This book was set in Monotype Bulmer
by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Book design by April Leidig-Higgins
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence
and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines
for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Frontispiece: ‘‘Charleston, 1851: View from the Ashley River
at White Point Gardens,’’ by William Hill. Photograph
courtesy of the South Carolina Historical Society.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stephens, Lester D.
Science, race, and religion in the American South: John
Bachman and the Charleston circle of naturalists, 1815–1895
/ by Lester D. Stephens
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8078-2518-2 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Naturalists—South Carolina—Charleston Biography.
2. Natural history—South Carolina—Charleston—History—
19th century. 3. Bachman, John, 1790–1874. I. Title.
qh26.s735 2000 508%.092%2757915—dc21 99-27008 cip
04 03 02 01 00 5 4 3 2 1
contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
Scientific Terms Used in This Work xvii
1 In a Singular Place 1
2 Exalting Two Books 11
3 In the Shadow of Audubon 39
4 Treasures of Earth and Sea 60
5 A Low Class of Animals 78
6 From Alpha to Omega 101
7 Ancient Animals 127
8 Passionate Pursuits 146
9 Hyenas and Hybrids 165
10 The Jawbone of an Ass 195
11 The Broken Circle 218
12 Last Links 239
Epilogue 264
Notes 269
Bibliography 303
Index 327

illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Charleston, 1851 Frontispiece
John Bachman 23
Four species of shrews 29
John James Audubon 40
Edmund Ravenel 68
Fossil echinoderms 72
John Edwards Holbrook 86
Blanding’s turtle 93
Lewis Reeve Gibbes 111
Dwarf waterdog 118
Francis Simmons Holmes 129
Fossil gastropod shells 137
John McCrady 151
Two species of hydromedusae 154
Samuel George Morton 169
Louis Agassiz 175
Josiah Clark Nott 206

preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
By the 1840s the city of Charleston, South Carolina, was gaining
notice as an important center of natural history research in the Old
South, and by the early 1850s no other city in the region matched it in
the number and quality of scientific contributions. In addition, by
midcentury no southern city could boast of a natural history museum
that paralleled the one in Charleston, nor did any equal the productiv-
ity of its scientific society. The only regional rival to Charleston was the
much larger city of New Orleans, which nourished the interests of an
able group of naturalists and its active scientific society and encour-
aged the development of natural history collections. While their e√orts
are notable, however, the naturalists of New Orleans produced fewer
scientific works than their Charleston counterparts, and they enjoyed
less success than their sister-city compatriots in promoting a strong
museum and in advancing the status of their scientific organization.
That Charleston had attained status as the center of natural history
research in the South is also evident from the volume and nature of the
Charleston scientists’ correspondence with leading American and Eu-
ropean naturalists and from the expressions of interest shown by the
great Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz, who visited the city in 1847, soon
after his arrival in the United States, and again every year between 1849
and 1853. Agassiz’s repeated praise of the Charleston naturalists and
the Charleston Museum and his assistance in getting the American
Association for the Advancement of Science to hold its third meeting
in Charleston, in 1850, indicate the national standing of the city in
natural history research.
At that time, only three other cities in the United States—Philadel-
phia, Boston, and New York—exceeded Charleston in natural history
studies. The standing of Charleston in the field is all the more notable
when one compares its size to that of the northeastern cities, each of
which was many times larger in population. Moreover, each of the