To Thomas Jefferson from William Darlington, 11 March 1805
From William Darlington
Westchester, Penna. March 11th. 1805
Much Respected Sir/
Knowing your predilection for all subjects which have any relation to, or influence over the welfare of man, I have presumed to obtrude the accompanying sheets upon your view—not in consequence of any thing important contained in them, but because a subject is touched upon which I conceive to have a much greater influence upon mankind, whether considered with respect to health, morals, or government, than they are generally aware of—And of which a philosophical knowledge, and judicious application of the principles, would in my opinion, tend much to promote the Happiness of the human race;—viz. the power of Habit. Another inducement to this intrusion upon your time and pursuits, although perhaps less pertinent, yet not less pleasing, is that I may declare with how much Respect and Esteem I am your sincere (tho’ unknown)
Friend,
W. Darlington
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thos. Jefferson, P.U.S.”; endorsed by TJ as received 21 Mch. and so recorded in SJL. FC (Lucius Wilmerding, Jr., Princeton, 1946); in Darlington’s hand; at head of text: “copy.” Enclosure: William Darlington, A Dissertation on the Mutual Influence of Habits and Disease (Philadelphia, 1804; No. 990).
Physician and botanist William Darlington (1782-1863) began his medical training with an apprenticeship under John Vaughan in Delaware, followed by a degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1804. After a year at sea as a ship’s surgeon, Darlington opened a medical practice in West Chester. He served in the War of 1812 and was then elected as a Republican to the Fourteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Congresses, where he advocated against the expansion of slavery into the territories. Although Darlington enjoyed a successful career in medicine, his botanical pursuits, nurtured in college by teacher Benjamin Smith Barton, were of more lasting interest. He established a natural history society in West Chester, was a member of more than 40 other literary and scientific organizations, and wrote books on regional plant life. Darlington also worked to preserve and publish the letters of major Pennsylvania botanists, including Humphry Marshall, John Bartram, and former classmate and friend William Baldwin. His accomplishments in the field of botany led to honorary degrees at Yale and Dickinson College, and in 1853, John Torrey named the California pitcher plant, or Darlingtonia californica, after him, one of two such honors (; Washington Townsend, “Memorial of William Darlington, M.D.,” Historical Magazine, 7 [Aug. 1863], 235, 237, 241; Charles Lanman, “Our Historical Writers: William Darlington, LL.D.,” Historical Magazine, 3d ser., 1 [Jan. 1872], 33).