To James Madison from John Quincy Adams, 29 December 1815
From John Quincy Adams
Ealing near London 29 Decr. 1815
Sir
Mr. Frederic Pursh a naturalized citizen of the United States & author of a Flora of North America lately published1 being upon his return to that Country with the object of contributing further to the improvement of Agriculture & the advancement of science by means which will require the assistance and encouragement of persons of influence in different parts of our country I have taken the liberty of giving him this letter of introduction to you being well persuaded that as your countenance will be of the most important service to him in his pursuits so the interest which you take in similar researches & your favorable regard of every thing which can tend to promote the general stock of knowledge & the welfare of our country will apologise for me. I have the honor to be with the highest respect Sir your very humble and obedt Servt.
Letterbook copy (MHi: Adams Papers).
1. Frederick Traugott Pursh (1774–1820) was born in Saxony and educated at the Dresden Royal Botanical Garden. He emigrated to Baltimore in 1799 and worked with William Hamilton and Benjamin Smith Barton. He moved to London, where he published his two-volume Flora Americae Septentrionalis; or, A Systematic Arrangement and Description of the Plants of North America in 1814. By 1816 he had relocated to Quebec, where he died destitute (Joseph Ewan, “Frederick Pursh, 1774–1820, and His Botanical Associates,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 96 [1952]: 599–628).