BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR 
OF 
THE LATE FRANCOIS ANDRE MICHAUX. 
BY ELIAS DURAND. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR 
O F 
TILE LATE FRANCOIS ANDRE MICIIAUX. 
BY ELIAS DURAND. 
\From the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Volume AY., p. xvii. Read Dec. 5, 1856.] 
Francis Andre Michaux, the subject of this memoir, belonged essentially to that class of scientific 
explorers who, by their devotion to science and their energy in promoting the welfare of mankind, may, 
justly, be viewed in the light of benefactors of their race. 
When we consider the noble spirit with which such men enter upon their hazardous enterprises; 
when we Avitness the fortitude Avith Avhicli they encounter the fatigues and inconveniences of their dis- 
tant voyages in regions as yet unexplored, Ave cannot withhold from them the expression of our admi- 
ration. It is not a spirit of egotism that moves them onwards; it is not for their personal gratification, 
nor Avith the vieAV of enriching themselves by their discoveries, that they desert their family-hearth and 
separate themselves from the father-land. Their object is disinterested and of the noblest character. 
They labour for the advancement of science, and, above all, for the benefit and enjoyments of their 
fellow-beings. 
To what toils, to Avhat privations and dangers, must they not necessarily expose themselves in order 
to attain the object they have in view? Behold them Avending their Avay through inextricable forests; 
through pestilential marshes; over grounds untrodden by the human foot—struggling and panting un- 
der the rays of a torrid sun, or shivering under heavy sliOAvers of rain—now clambering over steep 
rocks, and next descending into deep precipices, constantly exposed to dangers of every description. 
To men of this class we already OAYe many of those succulent vegetables which cover our tables; 
those delicious fruits which enrich our gardens and orchards; those fine trees, shrubs and floAvering 
plants which grow by the side of our native trees, ornament our parterres and pleasure grounds, or are 
cultivated in our green-houses. The Peach, the Apricot, the Cherry, the Almond, as well as the 
greater part of our most valuable garden vegetables, Avere obtained from Asia, the cradle of the human 
race; the Walnut came from the Black Sea; the Pear, the Apple, the Chestnut, from the forests of 
Europe; the Orange from India; the sugar-cane from China; the Maize and Potato from South Ame- 
rica, &c. And, ere long, through the perseverant exertions of Francois Michaux, Europeans will en- 
1 2 
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
joy, in their own fields, the refreshing shades of the finest and most useful trees of our native forests, 
of those, especially, which are employed in civil and naval constructions, or in cabinet work. As Ame- 
ricans, we are ourselves under peculiar obligations to him for an accurate knowledge of our forest trees 
and for the good advices which his experience has enabled him to give us on points .of national economy 
connected with arboriculture. 
Francois Andre Michaux was born on the 16th of August, 1770, at S a Cory, a royal domain situated 
in the vicinity of Versailles, which, for several generations, had been intrusted by the Crown to the 
administration and management of his ancestors. He was the only son of Andre Michaux, who, with 
Catesby, Clayton, Bartram, Kalm and Walter, was one of the pioneers of botanical explorations in the 
North American regions. His mother, Cecile Claye, was a daughter of a rich farmer of Beauce. 
She died, eleven months after her marriage, leaving behind her a son, the subject of this notice. 
Of the early life of Francois Andrd Michaux, I have not been able to collect much information. 
It is probable that he was brought up on the farm of Satory, in the practical school of his father and 
of one of his uncles, upon whom devolved, after the departure of the former, the sole management of 
this extensive royal estate. It may be inferred also from his writings and instructive conversation, 
that his collegiate education had not been neglected. 
His father, whose history is inseparably linked with that of his son, had devoted all his life to the 
progress of agriculture and the sciences; his main ambition had been to effect something that might 
redound to the advantage of his native country, and, with this view, he had early turned his attention 
to agriculture, the advancement of which, he had soon perceived, could not be more securely attained, 
than by enriching its domain with such products of foreign climes as were unknown to his own country, 
and susceptible of acclimation. In order to accomplish his object, he determined to visit new regions, 
possessing climates similar to that of France, and to bring back thence such of their productions as 
might prove of advantage to his native land. 
To effect that purpose, he prepared himself by a proper course of studies, and by devoting his par- 
ticular attention to the science of Botany, under the great Bernard de Jussieu. He first visited Eng- 
land; he next made several explorations in the mountains of Auvergne, and in the Pyrcnnees; then in 
Spain, and embarked afterwards for Persia, in the capacity of Secretary to the French Consul at Is- 
pahan ; but, in reality, for the sole purpose of exploring that country, then almost unknown to scienti- 
fic men. From 1782 to 1785, he surveyed the whole of the Persian provinces, between the river Ti- 
gris and the Euphrates, and returned to France, with an extensive collection of specimens, and a large 
quantity of seeds of every kind. 
During the absence of the elder Michaux, the French government had been agitating the important 
question of introducing into the forests of France, such exotic trees as would be calculated to increase 
the national resources, with respect to naval constructions. The information which had been received 
from the United States in this regard, had been exceedingly encouraging, and Michaux, who had just 
returned from Asia, was chosen for that particular errand, with instructions to procure, for the royal 
nurseries, all the young trees, shrubs and seeds he could possibly send. In consequence, he made all 
proper dispositions, and embarked at Lorient, on the 25th of August, 1785, taking with him his son, 
then only fifteen years of age, and a journeyman gardener of the name of Paul Saulnier, of whom I 
shall speak hereafter. They landed at New York on the first of October following. 
At this remote period of time, I am altogether without record as to the movements of young Michaux, 
immediately after his landing on our shores. The only source where I expected, naturally, to obtain 
information, was the manuscript journal in which his father was in the habit of registering the daily 
incidents of his eventful life, and which had been deposited by his son in the library of the American 
Philosophical Society. Unfortunately, this journal has become incomplete, through the absence of BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
3 
three of its fasciculi, containing the years 1785, 1786 and 1790, which were lost in the shipwreck of 
the elder Michaux on the coast of Holland. In the fasciculus of 1787, young Michaux’s name ap- 
pears for the first time on the date of May 6th, as accompanying his father in his exploration to the 
sources of the Keovee river. In the next spring, he is seen again with him, journeying into the in- 
terior of Florida. He is, afterwards, mentioned several times, as being retained at the Charleston Nur- 
sery, either on account of ill health, or intrusted with the management of the plantation, during the 
journeys of his indefatigable and ever-moving father. 
In the further perusal of the manuscript, I learn, at the date of the 20th of September, 1789, that, 
on that day, his son walking along the road, was hit by a man shooting at partridges, and that a grain 
of shot had penetrated his left eye, below the pupil. From that date to December following, he occa- 
sionally speaks of the state of his son, of the treatment applied to his case, and, especially, of the great 
despondency of mind in which the patient had fallen, from the apprehension of losing his eye. But, 
here again we arrive at the third lost fasciculus, and I cannot ascertain the final result of the accident, 
nor at what time, precisely, young Michaux returned to France. 
His return must have taken place in the first three months of 1790, for, in the manuscript of the 
following year, on the 17th of January, the elder Michaux acknowledges the receipt of a letter from 
his son, dated Paris, April, 1790, but nothing more is said about the wounded eye. To that accident, 
which is not generally known, may be attributed the partial deprivation of sight with which Michaux 
was afflicted. 
Young Michaux, therefore, reached his country at the very outbreak of the French revolution, in 
which he is said to have warmly sympathized with the republican party. Such a course was not, per- 
haps, expected from one who had been brought up on a royal domain, and was, to a certain degree, 
indebted to royal munificence. But, on the other hand, how could the feelings of this generous and 
impressible young man be otherwise enlisted? His exalted patriotism, his ambition to serve his coun- 
try, his frank and bold temper; his love of liberty, which he had imbibed in this free and happy land 
—all these together must have raised his spirits to a high pitch, in conjunction with the vexation he 
experienced when, on his return, he scarcely found a few remnants of the several hundred thousand 
young trees, which his father and himself had reared, in their American nurseries, and sent home for 
the particular benefit of his country. One half of these had been given away by the Queen to her im- 
perial father of Austria; the rest had been squandered among the minions of the court, to embellish 
their grounds, or shamefully neglected in the royal nurseries of Rambouillet. 
In the mean time, the elder Michaux was continuing his explorations in North America. He tra- 
velled in all directions, over more than three thousand miles, during the eleven years which he spent 
on this side of the Atlantic. While thus actively engaged, the political storm, raging in his country, 
had brought on immense changes in his situation. France, ruined by royal profligacy; invaded by fa- 
mine; deluged with the blood of her best citizens; convulsed by civil war and fighting, single-handed, 
with the whole of Europe, could no longer afford to pay her naturalists abroad. Consequently, Michaux 
was forgotten, and ceased gradually to receive his salary. After having borrowed money on his own 
account; after having sacrificed a portion of his own, and of his son’s fortunes, he found himself under 
the necessity of returning to his country. Unfortunately, he was shipwrecked on the coast of Holland, 
and, after having lost the best part of his immense collections, he arrived in Paris on the 26th of De- 
cember, 1796, after an absence of eleven years and four months. 
On his arrival in his native land, the elder Michaux occupied his time in the cultivation of the ve- 
getable treasures which he had forwarded from the United States, and in arranging his materials for 
the history of the North American Oaks, and for his Flora Boreali Americana. In these various la- 
bours, he was assisted by his son, who, in the meantime, was studying medicine under the celebrated 4 
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
Corvisart, and attending the clinical lectures of Ddsault, chief surgeon of the Hotel Dieu, with the view 
of returning to the United States, and devoting himself to the practice of medicine; but such was not 
his destiny! 
Neither the retired habits of a student, nor the easy and monotonous life of a Parisian abode suited 
temperaments like those of the two Michaux. Such men needed activity and change of scenes, even 
with toils and perils. Both were animated with the same spirit of enterprise, with the same convic- 
tion that their efforts, employed in other directions, could afford more benefit to their country; hence, 
they were endeavouring, through the influence of their numerous friends, to infuse their views and pro- 
jects into the minds of their fellow members of the Central Society of Agriculture, and of the minis- 
ters of Napoleon, then First Consul of the French Republic. 
In this they both succeeded finally. The elder Michaux accepted a commission of naturalist in the 
scientific expedition led by Captain Baudin, and bound to the Australian seas, on condition, however, 
that he would be permitted to remain at the Isle of France, if he desired so to do. Disgusted with 
Baudin’s haughty manners and want of courtesy to the scientific corps, Andre Michaux abandoned 
the expedition at Mauritius, where he remained six months, and thence started for the island of Ma- 
dagascar, which, he thought, would afford him better opportunities of advancing the science of Botany, 
and making himself more useful to his country. ' 
After sundry explorations along the coast, he established a botanical garden at Tamctave, in which 
he planted all the trees and plants which might be objects of usefulness or curiosity. The climate, 
unfortunately, was exceedingly unhealthy, and trusting too much to his good constitution, and habits 
of exposure, he neglected the proper precautions, was taken sick with fever, and died at the end of 
December, 1803. 
Francois Andrd Michaux, on his own account, had not remained inactive. Aroused by the example 
of his father, and now fully arrived at manhood, he could not look back to the unfinished work of his 
father in the United States, without becoming alive to the most ardent desire to achieve the object 
which they had both in view. Conversant with several States of the Union, confident in his own ex- 
perience and abilities further to serve his country, he was, on his side, earnestly soliciting a commission 
to the United States. 
This opportunity was at last afforded to him through the celebrated De Chaptal, then Minister of 
the Interior, who feeling dissatisfied with the result of the nurseries of New Jersey and Charleston, 
since the departure of the elder Michaux, and thinking more benefit would accrue from the appoint- 
ment of native correspondents in the principal seaports of the Union, consulted Frangois A. Michaux 
in the matter, and appointed him to effect those objects. He gave him instructions, at the same time, 
to sell the properties, when he should have forwarded home all the trees and shrubs remaining in the 
two French nurseries above mentioned. 
Michaux, highly gratified, set out immediately for Bourdeaux, at which port he embarked for 
Charleston, with the same Captain, and on the same vessel that had brought him home thence, some ten 
years previous. After a short and pleasant passage, he landed at his place of destination, on the 
ninth of October, 1801. He occupied himself almost immediately, and during the following winter, in 
sending to France the trees and shrubs of the nursery, and this part of his instructions being fulfilled, 
he embarked for New York on the same errand. 
As soon as the season became favourable, he began his herborizations in New Jersey, and along the 
banks of North River. In these explorations, he discovered several new species of Oaks and Hicko- 
ries, the acorns and nuts of which he sent to France in abundance. lie had also the opportunity of 
determining with more accuracy, the botanical characters of the Black Oak (quereus tinctorial) one of 
the largest trees of the American forests, and, also, one of the most valuable for the good quality of 
its wood, as well as for its dyeing properties. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
5 
lie next visited Philadelphia, where he had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with some of her 
most celebrated men, among whom he mentions the Rev. Dr. Collin, Dr. Benj. S. Barton, Messrs. 
Vaughan, Peale, Wm. Bartram, &c. He visited with great satisfaction, the botanical garden of the 
latter gentleman, and the magnificent green houses of Mr. Wm. Hamilton, which contained a rich col- 
lection of exotics, principally New7 Holland plants. Ilis attention was more particularly attracted by 
the hitter gentleman’s romantic grounds, called Woodland, wholly planted with every American tree 
and shrub that could withstand the severity of a Philadelphia winter. Then, finding he had a few 
months to dispose of, he took advantage of this circumstance to visit the states of Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, about which he had so frequently heard his father speak in the most enthusiastic terms. 
Accordingly, he set out from Philadelphia, on the 27th of June, 1802; passed through Lancaster, 
Columbia, York, Carlisle and Shippensburgh; then crossing the Allegheny mountains, he reached Pitts- 
burgh in ten days, travelling alternately in stage, on horse-back or on foot. He left Pittsburgh on 
the 14th of July, on foot, for Wheeling, and there purchased a canoe to descend the Ohio river, in com- 
pany with an American officer of the name of Craff. In three days, they reached Marietta, and, on 
the tenth day, they landed at Limestone, now Maysville. From that place, he travelled alone to Lex- 
ington, which he left on the 10th of August for Nashville. 
Michaux remained in Nashville four weeks, which were employed, principally, in herborizations 
around the town and along the banks of the Cumberland river. On the fifth of September, he set out 
on his journey back to Charleston, by way of Fort Blunt, West Point and Knoxville, which latter 
place he reached on the 17th, after stopping several days at the Falls of Roaring River, to explore the 
beautiful country around. From Knoxville he travelled to Greenville, and thence to Jonesborough, 
the last town of Tennessee. On the 21st he began crossing the high ridge which divides the State of 
Tennessee from North Carolina, and after turn days of the most toilsome journey through the mountains, 
he reached the farm of old Davenport, who had been formerly his father’s guide in that rugged re- 
gion.—There he remained a week, for the double purpose of resting and conversing with him about his 
dear father, who, shortly after, on the inhospitable coast of Madagascar, died a victim to the climate 
and to his zeal for the progress of science. On the second of October, Michaux reached Morgantown, 
twro hundred and eighty miles from Charleston, and arrived in the latter city, on the 18th, by wTay 
of Lincolntown, Chester, Winnsborough and Columbus, after having travelled over eighteen hundred 
miles in three months and a half. 
Such was Francois Andrd Michaux’s exploring journey to the Western states, of which he published 
a very detailed account, two years afterwards, in a work entitled “ Voyage a V Ouest des Monts Alle- 
gheny, $e. tfc.” During this journey, he did not merely devote his attention to botanical pursuits; but, 
with his usual habits of observation and extraordinary sagacity of mind, he diligently inquired into the 
state and modes of agriculture; the nature of the different soils; their particular vegetable productions, 
and the commercial relations existing between those remote regions and the Atlantic cities. lie al- 
ways felt, afterwards, a considerable pleasure in relating the episodes of this long and toilsome journey 
through these regions, then but thinly settled, and yet the abode of the roving Indian tribes. 
He spoke with enthusiasm and in terms of unreserved gratitude, of attentions of which he was the 
object; his name was a passport which insured to him a most hearty welcome, and every assistance 
from those who had known his father, and had received from him seeds for planting, or instructions in 
farming. To the new settlers, he was always provided with letters of introduction, which procured 
him the same good reception. Every where he was hailed with manifestations of respect for the me- 
mory of his father, and with unanimous expressions of a desire to be useful to the son in any way with- 
in their power. 
Michaux remained in Charleston until the first of March, 1804, when he embarked again for France, 6 
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
in the same vessel on board of Avhich be had sailed from the port of Bordeaux, eighteen months before, 
and landed at that port on the 26th of the same month. On his arrival in Paris, he made every effort 
in hastening the publication of his father’s “ Histoire des dienes d’Amerique,” which had been printed 
in 1801, but the plates of which had not yet been completed. He attended also to the publication of 
the “jFlora Boreali Americana,” under the supervision of Claude Richard, an eminent botanist and 
a superior writer. Both these works were finally announced to the scientific world in the years 1803 
and 1804, and were eagerly expected by those wdio took an interest in the vegetable productions of 
North America. 
In the latter year, Michaux published his “Journey to the West of the Allegheny Mountains,” and 
the following year his memoir “ Sur la Naturalisation des Arbres Foresticrs de TAmerique du Nord.” 
In this memoir, addressed to the Central Society of Agriculture of Paris, of which he wTas a prominent 
member, he endeavoured to prove the great advantage which might accrue to Prance from the accli- 
mation of better trees than those which her native forests actually possess, and of such, principally, as 
might well succeed in soils too poor for any of the French trees to thrive therein. In support of his 
opinion, he pointed out the svvampv lands of France, as producing no wood of any value, whilst simi- 
lar lands in America are covered over with noble and valuable trees, such as the Red Elm, Willow 
Oak, white Cedar, white and black Cypress, &c. He, likewise, pointed at the sandy, and certain cre- 
taceous soils of France, as giving growth to nothing but dwarfish and insignificant pines, while the 
equally arid lands of the southern states produce an abundance of the live Oak, a tree exceedingly 
valuable in naval architecture, and which might also well succeed in the sandy maritime soils of the 
southern departments of France. 
Besides these advantages, Michaux proposed to increase the number of forest trees which, in Franco, 
is limited to thirty-six, attaining the height of thirty feet; eighteen of which form the bulk of the fo- 
rests, and seven only are employed in civil and naval constructions—whilst he alone had observed in 
the North American forests as many as one hundred and forty species of similar height and utility. 
The means proposed by Michaux to attain these desiderata, were simply “ to send a naturalist to 
the United States, with the mission to collect seeds and young trees, and to forward the same to the 
national nurseries of France.” His propositions were forcibly supported in a report made to the Cen- 
tral Society of Agriculture by Messrs. He Perthuis, Correa de Serra and Cels, and he was, finally, in- 
trusted with this mission, under the special patronage of the Duke De Gaete, then minister of Finance 
and for the account of the Administration of the Forests. 
He, subsequently, embarked at Bourdeaux, on the 5th of February, 1806, in a vessel bound to 
Charleston. After being three days at sea, they were boarded by the British man of war Leander, Com- 
mander Witheby, who, suspecting the vessel to be laden for the account of French merchants, sent her 
to Halifax, there to be disposed of by the court of Admiralty, which would decide whether she was 
a legitimate prize, or should be liberated. Of all the passengers, Michaux was the only one ordered 
onboard the Leander, where he remained during a cruise of forty-three days, after which they reached 
the Bermuda Islands. While in port, he was permitted freely to go ashore, and had thus the op- 
portunity to make some interesting observations, the details of which he addressed to the Professors 
of the Paris Museum of Natural History, in a memoir entitled “Notice sur les lies Bermudes, et, par- 
ticulibrement, sur St. Georges.” 
Michaux was finally released, and permitted to sail for the United States, which he reached towards 
the end of May. Beginning his explorations at the district of Maine, where the winter is as rigorous 
as in Sweden, though ten degrees farther south, lie travelled over all the Atlantic States as far as 
Georgia, where the heat, during six months of the year, is as great as in the West Indies. Besides a 
journey of 1800 miles from north-cast to south-west, he made five explorations into the interior of the BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
7 
country.—The first, along the rivers Kennebeek and Sandy; the second, from Boston to lake Cham- 
plain, crossing the States of New Hampshire and Vermont; the third, from New York to lakes Ontario 
and Erie; the fourth, from Philadelphia to the rivers Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio; the fifth, from 
Charleston to the sources of the Savannah and Oconee rivers. In travelling along the sea-coast, he 
visited the principal dock-yards, with the view to examine the timber employed in ship-building; lie 
also entered in all the work-shops where wood was worked into forms. As the knowledge of which he 
was in need, was, principally, in the possession of artisans, he, accordingly, consulted .the most skilful 
workmen, and by means of a series of questions, previously prepared, he collected a mass of valuable 
information. 
In his different journeys into the interior, he paid a particular attention to the trees that formed the 
bulk of the forests, with reference to the nature and uses of their woods, or as objects of commerce 
between the different states, or of exportation abroad. He ascertained the sources of the different 
barks employed in tanning; inquired into the quality and price of the various woods used for fuel, and 
formed a complete collection of polished specimens of the species employed in cabinet work or other- 
wise. In a word, the range of his observations was unlimited, and could not fail to interest exceed- 
ingly the people of the United States, as well as Europeans, and to become one of the main points of 
the splendid work which he published, almost immediately, after his return. 
Michaux remained nearly three years in the United States, diligently employed in his arduous task. 
During his residence, he formed many valuable acquaintances. Besides the late Muhlenberg, Hamil- 
ton, Barton, Hosack, Alex. Wilson, Eddy, &c., he was on terms of friendship Avitli others still living, among 
whom I may mention Dr. John Francis of New York and Major Leconte. Michaux was elected a 
Member of the American Philosophical Society on the 21st of April, 1809; and we have a proof of the 
value in which he held this honour, by the handsome provision made in favour of this institution, in 
his testament, bearing date of May 30th, 1852. 
I should fail in my duty towards one, who was the companion and helpmate of the two Michaux, if 
I omitted here to mention his name. This is the humble Paul Saulnier, the same journeyman gardener 
who, in 1785, had accompanied them to this country, and was intrusted with the care of the New 
Jersey nursery. Frangois Michaux never spoke of him but with feelings of respect and affection. 
“Originally of France,” says Dr. Francis in his eloquent discourse on the Natural Sciences, “his 
early life was absorbed in practical horticulture, as an experimenter in vegetable physiology, and as 
one of the subordinates of the Jardin des Plantes. Here, he had instilled into him the principles of 
ordines naturales, by their author, de Jussieu. Shortly after, he was selected for his botanical attain- 
ments, to accompany the elder Michaux to this country. He proved serviceable as a collector. By 
royal means, Louis XVI., by whose patronage Michaux was authorized to procure American produc- 
tions, a plot of ground in New Jersey was appropriated as a suitable garden for rearing and preserving 
plants and trees, mainly designed for the institutions of France. 
In this sequestered place, Paul, with the exception of occasional excursions to New York and to parts 
adjacent, passed the remainder of his days. Here he was visited by the younger Michaux, Pursh, 
Douglas, Bradbury and other foreign naturalists who reached our shores. Poor Wilson, the Ornitho- 
logist, often found shelter within his humble dwelling from the lowering sky and tempestuous storms, 
and often I have heard Michaux enlarge on the refreshing enjoyment of Paul’s hospitality. Paul was 
a sort of Sir Oracle with them; and his responses were heeded by all who sought practical knowledge 
in natural history. Paul, I believe, may be estimated the first, as to time, who without much preten- 
sion, inculcated among us the classification of Jussieu, and the arboriculturist may perhaps be now, for 
the first time, informed that to him arc we to assign the introduction into this country of the Lombar- 
dy poplar. Paul holds a place in the progress of botanical pursuits not unlike that enjoyed so long by 8 
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
the venerable \V m. Bartram, though I should be reluctant to assign to him a place as conspicuous as 
that of our philosophical traveller. 
Let Michaux speak of the goodness of his heart and of his disinterested philanthropy: “Paul was so 
exclusive in his attentions to his avocations, that hardly any other subject than trees and plants ever 
found entrance into his mind. To the day of his death, he considered his little circumscribed residence 
as still the property of his royal master; and ignorant of the vicissitudes of political revolution, reluc- 
tantly gave credence to the fact of the decapitation of his bountiful, but unfortunate King. Paul now 
lies in the Hackensac churchyard; his tomb-stone records not half his excellence.” 
On Michaux’s return to Paris, he presented himself before the Central Society of Agriculture, to 
which he was mainly indebted for his mission to the United States, and there gave an account of his 
voyage, of the various tasks he had performed and of the flattering results which had been already ob- 
tained:—From the seeds which he had forwarded during his absence, more than two hundred and fifty 
thousand young trees had already sprung up, which were fairly promising to accomplish, in succeeding 
times, the objects contemplated by him, and confidently expected by his fellow members of the Socie- 
ty of Agriculture, who appointed a committee to report on the success of his voyage. Correa de Serra, 
chairman of that committee, in a most flattering report, highly complimented Michaux on the faithful 
execution of his trust, and for the importance of the services he had rendered to his country, he called 
forth a vote of thanks. 
During the two years following his return, Michaux was actively employed in the publication of his 
great work: “ Ilistoire des Arbres Forestiers de VAmerique du Ford,” so anxiously expected by all who 
took an interest in the Flora of the Lmited States, and in the observations of one so well versed in 
agricultural pursuits. The first volume appeared in 1810; the second, in 1812, and the third, in 1818. 
This magnificent work, illustrated by 144 copper plates, designed by the two Redoute and by Bessa, 
and engraved by such eminent artists as Gabriel, Renard, Boquet, Bessin, and Dubreuil, was translated 
into English by Augustus L. Hillhouse, and published in Paris in four volumes by Charles D’Hautel 
(1817—1819) under the title of “North American Sylva,” with the addition of several plates and some 
new observations by the author. Mr. Wm. Maclure purchased the plates in Paris, and brought them 
to this country. To this circumstance is owing the publication of two American editions, which are 
likely, soon, to be followed by a third. The first, wTas issued at New Harmony, Indiana, in 1842, and 
the second, in this city, in 1852, with notes by J. J. Smith, Esq. Mr. Nuttall, soon after, published, 
on Michaux’s plan, an additional Sylva Americana, describing and illustrating as many as one hun- 
dred and twenty trees, mostly unknown to his predecessor, indigenous to the far west regions, Oregon 
and California included. 
Of this splendid work of Michaux, the author of an article on the botany of the United States, 
published in the 13th Yol. of the North American Review, remarks: “It is the plan of Michaux’s his- 
tory of our forest trees, to unite the advantages of a work strictly botanical and one relating to the 
useful arts; but, especially, to collect all the scattered details which books or experience could furnish 
him, with respect to the application of various kinds of wood to the purposes of life. Botanical de- 
scriptions can easily be made or found; but, in order to ascertain their useful properties, it was neces- 
sary to consult artisans, in almost every branch of practical mechanics, to frequent dock-yards, or work- 
shops in which wood was employed, and in short, to gather information from every attainable source. 
From these inquiries Michaux had obtained a most extensive collection of curious and important facts, 
which rather belonging to the application of botany than to botany itself, are nevertheless essential to the 
complete knowledge of the plants of the United States; for, besides the commercial and practical uses 
of our trees, we have a very perfect account of the inflorescence, fructification, growth and botanical 
habit of them individually considered, as also many interesting facts with regard to them taken toge- 
ther as composing forests.” BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
9 
In a letter, dated October, 1852, addressed through Mr. Isaac Lea, to the President of the American 
Philosophical Society, Michaux expresses himself in the following words, with regard to his Sylva 
Americana: “The science of botany was the principal object of my father’s explorations in North 
America, and the Flora Boreali-Americana, was the result of those explorations. As for me, I took 
another view of the vegetable kingdom, whilst in your country—a view more limited and less scientific, 
it is true; but, perhaps, more generally profitable to the farmer and landholder, as well as to that class 
of society, so numerous in the Northern States of the Union, who employ wood in so many different 
ways. I do not consider my Sylva Americana as complete as it might be; thus, for instance, I have 
omitted several species which grow in lower Louisiana, and in the two Floridas. In the second place 
I have described and figured some trees that are deficient in the flowers and in the fruits. Had cir- 
cumstances permitted, I would have returned to the United States, and, in a new edition, have correct- 
ed the errors, and filled up the omissions. I would thus have been able to present to the American 
nation, a work worthy of her great name, but now that I have arrived at a very advanced age, nearly 
88 years, I can do nothing more, in this respect, than to express my regrets, and the hope that some 
native arboriculturist may complete my researches on the plan which I have adopted. The publica- 
tion of such a work would be attended with much benefit to the country, and afford particular honour 
to him who would undertake it.” 
Since the appearance of his great work, Michaux has devoted all his attention to his favourite pur- 
suits—the cultivation and propagation of trees, presenting a special object of public utility. Intrusted 
with the administration of a large estate belonging to the Central Society of Agriculture; experiment- 
ing largely in sylviculture on the extensive plantations of Mr. Delamarre, and owning himself a coun- 
try place near Pontoise, he never ceased until his death, to be actively employed in experiments on 
arboriculture, either suggested by himself or others. 
Michaux had retained in this country a few'correspondents, who sent him occasionally new supplies 
of seeds, and, through a letter furnished by one of these gentlemen, I had the gratification to become 
acquainted with him, in the autumn of 1824. 
When living in Baltimore, from 1816 to 1824, I formed an intimacy with a French gentleman of 
the name of Leroy, who had known Michaux in this country, and had been since in correspondence 
with him. This Mr. Leroy, who was himself an excellent arboriculturist, having been earnestly soli- 
cited by his friend to send him all the seeds and young trees which he could procure in the vicinity of 
Baltimore, applied to me, as a fellow botanist, to assist him in this undertaking. We, therefore, went 
to work together in earnest, during the autumn of 1819, rambling into the woods with a negro boy, 
climbing and beating Oaks, Maples, and Hickory trees; uprooting the shrubs and young trees that 
fell in our way, and collecting seeds of every sort. The result of our campaign filled up several large 
boxes which were forwarded to Michaux, in the early part of the winter. 
When I visited Europe in 1824, Mr. Leroy favoured me with a letter of introduction to his friend, 
recommending mo as his co-labourer in the collections which had been forwarded to him from Balti- 
more, some years previous. This letter did not fail insuring to me a hearty welcome at the hands of 
Mr. Michaux. I saw him frequently, and breakfasted with him at his winter quarters in Paris, on the 
place St. Michael, which was then a market for garden vegetables and fruits. We seldom sat at the 
breakfast table, without having, previously, taken an inspection round through the stalls where fruits 
and vegetables were sold, and he was pleased to point out to me the rarest and most beautiful with a 
passing notice on their origin. 
Mr. Michaux was extremely desirous to show me, in detail, his fine nurseries, especially those which 
contained his Maryland trees, to “ contemplate ” the result of the troubles and fatigues which they had 
cost me, but the weather was so unfavourable, during the whole season, that I could visit but one of 10 
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
them, which I found wholly planted with Maryland Oaks, and covering an extensive plot of ground. 
Though the young trees, then devoid of their foliage, had suffered much, the second year, from the de- 
predations of a herd of swine that had trespassed upon these grounds, they still appeared vigorous and 
promising, and are, I suspect, the very same trees that are now (as I see by the Paris papers) adorn- 
ing the Quai des Tuilleries, and some of the new boulevards of the French metropolis, under the de- 
nomination of American Oaks thirty-six years old. 
In acknowledgment of the service I had thus rendered him, Mr. Michaux presented me with a copy 
of the French edition of his magnificent work, beautifully bound in three volumes, and containing a 
double set of plates, the plain and the coloured. 
Mr. Michaux’s person was tall, strongly built; but not corpulent. His complexion was fair; he was 
slightly pock-marked, and possessed prominent features. His light blue eyes had a peculiar expression 
which startled me at first. His countenance was stern and cold on first approach; but it smoothed 
off and brightened gradually, as he spoke and became more familiar; his utterance, in the beginning 
somewhat slow and cautious, became rapid and impressive, and his conversation gay and even humo- 
rous. All his manners were quite simple and unaffected, frank and lively—they were altogether those 
of an open-hearted country gentleman, in whose presence, young as I was at the time, I could feel nei- 
ther embarrassment nor shyness. 
I do not think that, since this interview with Michaux, his position and pursuits underwent much 
change. To the very last day of his life, he was fortunate enough to retain his health and remark- 
able activity of body and mind. The main point of his arboricultural experiments!, wTas to turn to ad- 
vantage those lands, called heaths, which, in France alone do not cover less than two millions of acres, and 
were considered as utterly sterile. Through forty years of experiments, performed by him on the 
large demesnes belonging to the Central Society of Agriculture, and to Mr. Delamarre, he has ascer- 
tained that such lands could bo improved and rendered productive by the cultivation of certain resi- 
nous trees, which succeed well in such soils. Of all the American and European pines with which he 
has experimented, Michaux gives the preference to the Russian Pine, Pinus sylvestris, which, in his 
letter to the President of the American Philosophical Society, above mentioned, he recommends warm- 
ly to the particular attention of the agriculturists of the Northern and Middle States of the Union. 
With the view to remedy the scarcity of wood, under which this country is beginning to suffer, 
through the rapid and improvident.destruction of the native forests, Michaux recommends also to the 
American people the cultivation of bushy or spreading trees, producing copses, or Taillis, to which he 
has applied a special mode of culture, more rational and more favourable to the development of vege- 
tation, and, consequently, more profitable to the landholders. 
We are informed by the same letter that Michaux was then preparing for publication a work in 
which he intended, succinctly, to develop his ideas on those interesting subjects, and to lay open the 
results of his observations and practical experience, for the particular benefit of the farmers and land- 
holders of the United States. 
Michaux’s last days were thus passed tranquilly, dividing his time between his favourite occupations 
of arboriculture, and the society of a few friends, among whom the most intimate were President Se- 
guier, Messrs. Macarel, D’Andrd and Yilmorin. Louis Philippe himself, who had known him in this 
country, never ceased to show him the greatest esteem and affection. He was always happy to see 
some transatlantic acquaintance. All the Americans, who have seen him in Paris, or at his country 
residence of Vaurdal, can testify to the urbanity of his manners, and to the cordiality with which he 
received his visitors. In conversation with Americans, nothing afforded him more pleasure than the 
subject of this country. He listened with amazement to the wonderful accounts of its progress, of the 
rapid increase of its population, of its wealth and resources, of its success in war and in diplomacy. The BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
11 
namc3 of new cities and innumerable towns, located on sites which, in his time, were still covered with 
the native forests; the mention of the multifarious rail-ways, extending their arms in all directions 
and encircling the whole country in an immense net-work of iron; the speedy steam travelling hy land 
and water, which would have rendered his long and painful journeys so short and so easy; in fine, the 
electro-magnetic telegraph, another offspring of American genius—all these wonderful achievements 
elicited from him the greatest amazement and the most emphatic exclamations: Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu, 
est il possible! 
He felt proud to mention that he had been one of the first steam navigators, and boasted of an early 
acquaintance with Fulton, whom he met at Albany in 1807, under the following circumstances: He 
was then returning to New York city from his exploration to the lakes Ontario and Erie, and intend- 
ed to take passage in a packet boat for New York; but seeing an advertisement of a steamboat to de- 
part the same morning, he had the curiosity to examine her, and he determined to take passage on her. 
Strange to say, he and a Frenchman who accompanied him, were the only passengers on board; it was 
the first trial trip. Fulton was on board, and, as might be supposed, between two such men, speaking 
equally well the French language, an intimate friendship was formed, which continued through life. 
The ardour of this friendship on Michaux’s part, was proved by his devotion to Fulton’s memory. 
Michaux, having found in Paris a model, in clay, of a bust of his friend by Iloudon, bought it and 
caused it to be put in marble by the best artist he could find, at the cost of 1000 francs. He obtained 
permission afterwards from the Government to have it placed in the Marine Department of the Louvre, 
near that of Papin, who had done, himself, so much for steam. 
Michaux’s turn of mind was also literary. Besides his great work on the North American trees, 
his journey to the west of the Allegheny Mountains and the memoirs already mentioned, he published, 
in 1881, an essay on the Planera crenata; in 1852, a memoir on the causes of Yellow Fever in the 
United States, and another one on the culture of the Vine. He may have left also, at his death, some 
unpublished papers, among which is probably the memoir alluded to in his last communication to the 
President of the American Philosophical Society. This communication dated, as I have said above, 
Vaureal near Pontoise, October 21th, 1852, was particularly intended to inform the President and his 
fellow-members that, desirous of giving the American nation a testimonial of his heartfelt gratitude 
for the hospitality and assistance which his father and himself had received in this country, during the 
course of their long and toilsome journeys, he had made testamentary provisions in favour of the So- 
ciety, with the view to afford the means of promoting the progress of the science of Sylviculture in the 
United States. 
This testament which Michaux had intrusted to the care of a gentleman of this city, Mr. Isaac Lea, 
whom he had consulted in the matter, was deposited four years ago in the archives of the Philosophical 
Society; but was not to be opened until after his death. This was done, consequently, on the 20th of 
October last, by the Recorder of Wills of the city of Philadelphia. By this document, he bequeaths 
to the American Philosophical Society, the sum of fourteen thousand dollars, for special purposes con- 
nected with the particular object of his constant aspiration, “The progress of agriculture with refer- 
ence to the propagation of useful forest trees.” By the same instrument, he likewise endows the So- 
ciety of Agriculture and Arts of Boston, with the sum of eight thousand dollars for similar purposes. 
Michaux's demise was made known to the American public by Prof. Asa Gray, in the columns of 
the July number of the American Journal of Sciences and Arts. It had been communicated to his 
lady, by a friend of Mr. Michaux, who thus relates the circumstances of his death: “I have to speak 
to you of the death of our good friend, Mr. Michaux. He was carried off with frightful suddenness by 
a stroke of apoplexy, on the 28d of October, 1855. He had been occupied the whole day, planting 
American trees, and himself directing his journeymen. lie withdrew from his work in good health 12 
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
dined moderately, but with good appetite. He went to bed as usual, and fell asleep. At about one 
o’clock in the morning, his wife heard him move about and calling. She instantly rose from her bed, 
and ran to his apartment. He was still struggling on the floor, when she entered his room; but, on 
reaching him, she found that he had breathed his last. Physicians were called in immediately, but 
all in vain, life was totally extinct. He died at the age of eighty-five years. 
Michaux left no issue. He had lived single to an advanced age, when quite suddenly, he became 
tired of celibacy, and changed abruptly his condition, by marrying a relative of his, who, for a long 
time, had been the manager of his house, his attendant in sickness and companion in his solitude. 
They lived most happily together, and at his death, he left her a comfortable provision for the remain- 
der of her life. Mr. Michaux was in easy circumstances; but by no means rich. To his title of Che- 
valier de la Legion d’Honneur, lie added, those of Correspondent of the French Institute, of Member 
of the American Philosophical Society, of the Central Society of Agriculture of Paris, of the Society 
of Agriculture and Arts of Boston, &c., &c.