William Brewster was an American ornithologist. He co-founded the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and was an early naturalist and conservationist.
Biography
William Brewster was born 17 June 1852 in South Redding, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States to John Brewster (1813-1886) and Rebecca Parker Noyes (1814-1874) and died 11 July 1919 Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States of unspecified causes. He married Caroline Freeman Kettell (1846-1924) 9 February 1878 in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Childhood
William Brewster was born on July 5, 1851, in South Reading (now Wakefield), Massachusetts, the youngest of four children born to John Brewster, a successful Boston banker, and Rebecca Parker (Noyes). The couple settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1845. Brewster's sister and older brothers died in early childhood, inspiring Longfellow, a close neighbor, to write the poem The Open Window.[2]
Brewster attended Cambridge public schools, Washington Grammar School and Cambridge High School, taking a preparatory course to enter Harvard. He suffered eyesight problems as a youth and into adulthood. He was often unable to read or study, sometimes for extended periods. During his last year of high school, he was unable to read so his mother read his lessons to him.[2][3] His vision problems prevented him from entering Harvard.[4]
Early bird study
At about the age of 10, Brewster became close friends with a boy his age, Daniel French. French's father was a hunter and amateur taxidermist who displayed his skill in cases in his home.[2] Brewster's father gave him a gun and taught him to shoot, providing a means of collecting birds to study. In the nineteenth century, shooting was the usual way of collecting specimens. Binoculars were not generally available until the early twentieth century.[4] In his book, Birds of the Cambridge Region, Brewster himself wrote, "On January 1, 1862, my friend Mr. Daniel C. French called at our house to give me my first lesson in taxidermy, an art known in those days to but very few persons save the professional bird stuffers." By 1865, Brewster had several cases of mounted birds and a collection of nests and eggs. A few years later, he learned to make skins and gave up mounting stuffed birds.[2]
Brewster kept detailed records of his observations and continued to do so for the rest of his life.[2][4] To encourage his interests, his father presented him with the five volumes of Audubon’s Ornithological Biography.[4]
Career and accomplishments
In 1880, he became assistant in charge of the collection of birds and mammals in the Boston Society of Natural History, and in 1885 became curator of mammals and birds at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, where he served until his death, though after 1900 he cared for birds alone, and he left his position at the Boston Society of Natural History in 1887.[3][4][5] He also devoted substantial time to his own private museum of ornithology.[3]
Brewster was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1876 became president of the Nuttall Ornithological Club of Cambridge,[5] of which he was the founder in 1873.[6] He was a co-founder, with Elliott Coues and Joel Asaph Allen, of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) in 1883[7] and served as its president from 1895 to 1898.[2]
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| John Brewster (1843-1848) | |||
| Frank Brewster (1845-1848) | |||
| William Brewster (1852-1919) | 17 June 1852 South Redding, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States | 11 July 1919 Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States | Caroline Freeman Kettell (1846-1924) |
Residences
References
- wikipedia:en:William Brewster (ornithologist) - Wikipedia
- The Brewster Genealogy, 1566-1907 - a record of the descendants of William Brewster of the "Mayflower," ruling elder of the Pilgrim church which founded Hampshire colony in 1620;2 Volumes Paperback – September 7, 2010 by Emma C. Brewster Jones (Author). This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.
- Brewster in Middlesex County, Massachusetts - first families
- William Brewster - disambiguation