Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann

“ In the memoir referred to Professor Sargent, like Dr. Gray, speaks lovingly of the prospect of enduring fame for Dr. Engelmann. He says with reference to future times: “The western plains will still be bright with the yellow rays of Engelmannia, and that splendid spruce, the fairest of them all, will still, it is to be hoped, cover with noble forests the highest slopes of the Rocky mountains, recalling to men, as long as the study of trees occupies their thoughts, the memory of a pure, upright, and laborious life.” ”

“ A more industrious man never lived.
“My high estimate of Dr. Engelmann is only faintly indicated by these brief notes, but I shall always be glad to say or do anything in my power to keep green the memory of that excellent man to whom I feel deeply indebted.”
Professor Sargent has improved several opportunities to honor the memory of Dr. Engelmann. Besides the memoir which he published in “Science,” he dedicated to his friend volume II of his Sylva of North America, and he has added another brief sketch of his life on page 88, volume VIII of the same great work. ”

“ George Engelmann, was a physician in good practice in St. Louis, and so I ventured to address a letter to him, enclosing another for my father's brother Theodor, with a request to forward it. Next I took counsel with the landlord regarding employment, got a number of addresses, including that of the Bavarian consul and the German Emigrant Aid Society, from him and from advertisements in the two German daily papers for help in various occupations, and, thus equipped, began my search for something to do by which I could earn my daily bread. ”

“ As my weekly board-bill was to be only five dollars, I felt quite relieved from immediate anxiety, and sufficiently at ease in mind to look the future straight in the face. I resolved to seek some sort of employment without delay, but, at the same time, I could not feel at all sure of success, and determined to make an appeal for help to my relatives in the West. At home I had become acquainted with several of them — my great-uncle, Theodor Adolf Engelmann, the brother of my step-grandmother, and Johann Scheel, who married one of her sisters. ”

“ Another son, Theodore Charles, physician, b. in Zweibrücken, Germany, 28 Feb., 1828; d. in New York city, 5 March, 1875, came to the United States with his father, when he was seven years old, and received his education from the members of his family. He early developed a fondness for the study of nature, and made collections of western flora for the distinguished botanist, Dr. George Engelmann. Subsequently he studied medicine at the Universities of Heidelberg, Zurich, Vienna, and Berlin, and, on his return to the United States, began the practice of his profession in St. ”

“ It may not be generally known that Dr. Engelmann made much fuller notes on specimens that he studied than most workers do, but such was the fact. Taking up a specimen for study, in the intervals between professional calls, he invariably sketched its characteristic details and noted its peculiarities, using for this purpose the backs of prescription blanks, several pads of which were of course always at hand. These memoranda and sketches are also preserved at the Garden Herbarium. For various reasons they possess unusual value. ”

“ Sometimes I lie stretched on the ground, overcome with fatigue and dying with thirst; sometimes, late in the night, when the moon shines above me, I recline against an aged tree in some sequestered forest to rest my weary limbs, when, exhausted and worn, I sleep till break of day. O Wilhelm! the hermit's cell, his sackcloth, and girdle of thorns would be luxury and indulgence compared with what I suffer. Adieu! I see no end to this wretchedness except the grave. ”

“ Engelman's garden without knowing the names of nine-tenths of the flowers that grew in it. There are still such men to be found in Germany and in England; but, oh! dear me, the older I get the fewer I find there are of them.
The two old friends and partners were waiting for me to join them at their early German supper. Specimens of Mr. Engelman's flowers adorned the table in honor of my arrival. He presented me with a rose from the nosegay when I entered the room.
"And how did you leave dear Mrs. Wagner?" he inquired.
"And how is my boy Fritz?" asked Mr. Keller. ”

“ He was naturally chosen as chairman of the committee on paleontology and geology.
George Engelmann [5] was likewise a practising physician, who found much time for scientific research. He was a recognized authority on botany, and, among other interests, cultivated meteorology, and he was justly regarded as the leading scientist of the west. He was the first president of the academy, was frequently reelected to that office, and stimulated many of its activities. ”

“ Wilhelm, what is the world to our hearts without love? What is a magic-lantern without light? You have but to kindle the flame within, and the brightest figures shine on the white wall; and if love only show us fleeting shadows, we are yet happy, when, like mere children, we behold them, and are transported with the splendid phantoms. I have not been able to see Charlotte to-day. ”

“ I feel it too sensibly,--the heart alone makes our happiness! To be admitted into this most charming family, to be loved by the father as a son, by the children as a father, and by Charlotte!--then the noble Albert, who never disturbs my happiness by any appearance of ill-humour, receiving me with the heartiest affection, and loving me, next to Charlotte, better than all the world! Wilhelm, you would be delighted to hear us in our rambles, and conversations about Charlotte. Nothing in the world can be more absurd than our connection, and yet the thought of it often moves me to tears. ”

“ Otto Engler was a well-dressed, rather elegant man of forty, whose fair beard was well trimmed, whose eyes were full of fire, and who rather prided himself upon being something of a lady-killer. He was in London in connection with an important financial scheme in which his brother and a German merchant in London, named Griesbach, were interested. He and his brother Wilhelm were over on a visit to the merchant, who, he told me, had offices in Coleman Street, and who lived in Lonsdale Road, Barnes. ”

“ It may seem that here are mothers who can have children but do not want them. The only child does not mean this, but that the one came so near costing its mother her life that he to whom she is dearer than even his hope of children can not bear to let her undergo the ordeal again. Dr. Engelmann has referred to the fact that men more often than their wives wish to limit the number of their children. I shall never forget the pathos of the day when K, a boy who had graduated from college and married hardly a year before, came to tell me of the birth of his son. ”

“ He looked at her sorrowfully, for the eager, inquiring face troubled him, he scarce knew why.
"The pale faces know what the Great Spirit says about all things. Will the young brave hide this from poor Amoahmeh?" said she with a yet more wistful look.
"Now what is this fellow Pritchard," said Isidore to himself, "or what am I, ay, or what is even Monseigneur the Archbishop for that matter, that we should take upon ourselves to say what a loving Father in His wisdom may choose to do with these red skins after they leave this world?" ”

“ Engelmann 'survived' and became an Academy of Science in himself."
Engelmann, however, was not the kind of man to work indefinitely without closer association with the few other St. Louis men interested in science than was afforded by chance, and on March 10, 1856, after several preliminary meetings, the existing Academy of Science of St. Louis was organized. It is recorded that the men in attendance at the meeting for organization were, in addition to Dr. ”

“ What a misfortune, Wilhelm! My active spirits have degenerated into contented indolence. I cannot be idle, and yet I am unable to set to work. I cannot think: I have no longer any feeling for the beauties of nature, and books are distasteful to me. Once we give ourselves up, we are totally lost. Many a time and oft I wished I were a common labourer; that awakening in the morning, I might have but one prospect, one pursuit, one hope, for the day which has dawned. I often envy Albert when I see him buried in a heap of papers and parchments, and I fancy I should be happy were I in his place. ”

“ When I consider the narrow limits within which our active and inquiring faculties are confined; when I see how all our energies are wasted in providing for mere necessities, which again have no further end than to prolong a wretched existence; and then that all our satisfaction concerning certain subjects of investigation ends in nothing better than a passive resignation, whilst we amuse ourselves painting our prison-walls with bright figures and brilliant landscapes,--when I consider all this, Wilhelm, I am silent. ”

“ Louis "Universe," "drawing from obscurity another German-American botanist, August Fendler." Fendler and he had become acquainted on a governmental expedition to the Rocky Mountains, to which the former was attached as engineer. He was afterward engaged for two years, upon Engelmann's recommendation, in classifying and arranging the Henry Shaw collections of plants. He traveled in the Rocky Mountains, California, Mexico, Central America, and Brazil, and died in the Island of Trinidad in 1882. ”

“ Amoahmeh shrank lack, and clasping her hands together exclaimed, "Alas! what have I said? I did not—I could not know."
There was a painful silence for a minute or two, then laying her hand timidly on Isidore's arm she said, "Oh, forgive me if I have distressed you—you to whom I owe so much—you who first told the poor lonely Indian girl where it is that we may surely hope to see again those whom we loved, and whom God has taken from us. Ah, it is hard to hear; but monsieur knows that if there is one angel less on earth, there is one more in heaven." ”

“ Albeit a clever and industrious workman, Master Engelbrecht had never been able to advance so far as that lowest grade of affluence which had been the reward of Wacht's very earliest undertakings. He had to contend with the worst enemy of life, against which no human power is of any avail ”

“ The train was ready to start and the men were distributing the boxes carefully inside the cars, so as to be able to unload them without loss of time at their respective destinations. And now, at last, Arthur Engelmann came running into the station.
"Hurry up!" called Fighting Dick.
"No, wait a minute! We'll have to take this fellow along," cried Engelmann, pointing to a wounded man, who was being carried by two comrades.
"Put him down! We'll have to be off! We've got plenty of men, but not enough guns." ”

“ The man who was chosen Archbishop of Cologne in 1216 was of the highest birth. It was Engelbert, son of Count Engelbert of Berg. A young nobleman, related by blood to the local powers, lay and ecclesiastic, and destined for Church dignities, would be quickly given benefices. Engelbert received such, and also was appointed Provost of the Cathedral. Strong of body, rich, he led a boisterous martial life, and took a truculent part in the political dissensions which were undoing the German realm. ”

“ As he spoke this in the bitterness of his heart, poor Bibi, who stood by, was melted to tears, and the sturdy woodsman looked half disposed to follow her example; whilst Amoahmeh, who sat a little way apart, yet near enough to catch every word that fell from their visitor's lips, turned away, and bent her head over the work on which she was engaged.
"But, monsieur," said Boulanger at length, "there is surely your uncle, the Baron de Valricour, whom I remember well, and who is the most kind and generous of gentlemen one could possibly desire to have for one's friend—surely he can help you." ”

“ The Great Spirit is a good Spirit, and you may be quite sure that He would not hurt your little brothers. You have found trouble and sorrow enough already in this world to enable you to believe that the poor little fellows may be all the better for being taken out of it."
"Ah, yes!" replied Amoahmeh, looking gratefully up in the young soldier's face, "I was sure the pale face knew where they were. But," she added earnestly, "can he tell me whether I shall see them again?"
"See them again!" rejoined Isidore, apparently somewhat puzzled for the moment. ”

“ Why should I not, Wilhelm? She would have been happier with me than with him. Albert is not the man to satisfy the wishes of such a heart. He wants a certain sensibility; he wants--in short, their hearts do not beat in unison. How often, my dear friend, in reading a passage from some interesting book, when my heart and Charlotte's seemed to meet, and in a hundred other instances when our sentiments were unfolded by the story of some fictitious character, have I felt that we were made for each other! But, dear Wilhelm, he loves her with his whole soul; and what does not such a love deserve? ”

“ I have been too long in Mossamedes, and I will come with you myself. We can take a wagon with a light load of trading stuff, and do some business. I have a lot of Hamburg gin, which I must work off somewhere. But we shall have to be very careful, so that the Englishmen have no suspicion that we are on their spoor."
"Ja," added Engelbrecht, emptying his glass. "We will keep at least two days' trek behind them. I will have a man or two out in front of us, keeping an eye on them. My Hottentot, Stuurman, is a capital fellow for a business like this. ”