Anna Murray Vail (January 7, 1863 – December 18, 1955) was an American

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and the first librarian of the

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

. She was a student and collaborator of botanist and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

Nathaniel Lord Britton Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859 – 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York (state), New York. Early life Britton was born on the 15 of January 1859 at New Dorp, Staten Island ...

, with whom she helped to found the New York Botanical Garden.

Early life

Anna was born in New York's east side, the first child of David Olyphant Vail and Cornelia Georgina (Nina) Van Rensselear.W. W. Spooner, "The Van Rensselaer Family", ''American Historical Magazine'', vol 2 # 1, 1907. On her mother's side, she is descended from two of New York's elite Dutch families, the Van Rensselears and Van Cortlandts. Her great-great-grandfather was General Robert Van Rensselaer, who fought at

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York. It was constructed between October 1755 and 1757 by French-Canadian ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

under the orders of his mother's brother in law, General

Philip Schuyler Philip John Schuyler (; November 20, 1733 - November 18, 1804) was an American general in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War and a United States Senate, United States Senator from New York (state), New York. He is usually known as ...

. Her younger sister, Cornelia, married the painter Henry Golden Dearth. Vail's father, David Olyphant Vail, was the son of Benjamin C. and Eliza Ann (née Archer) Vail. David O. Vail's connection to the Olyphant family is through his maternal grandmother, Ann Mckenzie (1782 – November 5, 1857). Her first husband was Zeno Archer, whom she married in 1803. Their daughter was Eliza Ann who married Benjamin Vail. Following Zeno's death, Ann McKenzie Archer married David W.C. Olyphant. David O. Vail is listed as a "merchant" on an 1862 ship manifest and in a Van Rensselaer family history is described as "...resident partner of the house of Olyphant & Company at

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China." His death notice describes him as being "...lately of China...", but it is not clear where or of what he died in 1865 at age 32. His middle name, Olyphant, and the fact that he worked for Olyphant & Company reflect his connection to that family on his mother's side. Olyphant and Company, founded in 1827 by David WC Olyphant and Charles N. Talbot, was one of the pioneers of the

Old China Trade The Old China Trade () was the early commerce between the Qing Empire and the United States under the Canton System, spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844. The Old China T ...

Professional activities

Vail's early education was in Europe, but by 1895 she had returned to the United States, where she worked at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with

, who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden with his wife

Elizabeth Gertrude Britton Elizabeth Gertrude Britton (née Knight) (January 9, 1858 – February 25, 1934) was an American botanist, bryologist, and educator. She and her husband, Nathaniel Lord Britton, played a significant role in the fundraising and creation of the New ...

. In January 1900, Vail became the first librarian of the New York Botanical Garden library, a post she held until September 1907. While in New York, she authored over a dozen scientific papers. Her notes, preserved in the Archives and Manuscripts collection of the New York Botanical Garden, include sketches of some of the plants she studied. In 1898, botanist

Henry Hurd Rusby Henry Hurd Rusby (1855–1940) was an American botanist, pharmacist and explorer. He discovered several new species of plants and played a significant role in founding the New York Botanical Garden and developing research and exploration progra ...

published ''

Vailia ''Vailia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apocynaceae. It just contains one species, ''Vailia mucronata'' Rusby It is native to Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The genus name of ''Vailia'' is in honour of Anna Murra ...

'', which is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s belonging to the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

and named in Anna Murray Vail's honor. In 1903, Vail traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, for an auction of the botanical literature of the late Professor

Claude Thomas Alexis Jordan Claude Thomas Alexis Jordan (29 October 1814 in Lyon – 7 February 1897 in Lyon) was a French botanist and taxonomist. Life and work Jordan was in Lyons where his father César was from a wealthy business family and his mother Jeanne-Mari ...

. She obtained over 400 items, including ten volumes of

John Sibthorp John Sibthorp (28 October 1758 – 8 February 1796) was an English botanist. Education Sibthorp graduated from the University of Oxford in 1777 where he was an undergraduate student at Lincoln College, Oxford. He subsequently studied medi ...

's ''

Flora graeca ''Flora Graeca'' is a publication of the plants of Greece in the late 18th century, resulting from a survey by John Sibthorp and Ferdinand Bauer. The botanical descriptions and illustrations became highly valued by the English audience; the fine ...

''. Vail wrote on numerous botanical topics; for example, her 1898 co-authored work (with Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, among others), details "New or Rare Mosses," such as '' Anacamptodon Splachnoides''. An account in the records of the New York Botanical Garden presents Vail's resignation from the Garden's Library as resulting from her indignation of being accused of smoking cigarettes in the library. However, this account is disputed by a letter in the files of Nathaniel Lord Britton dated September 28, 1907, which mentions her departure as being due to an extended separation from her mother, who was living in France. In 1911, Vail moved to France. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, she became active in the American Fund for French Wounded, eventually becoming its treasurer. A letter to the head of organization, Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, was published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. An excerpt from the letter reads:

Every department of the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
has borrowed nurses and aids, and we of the American Fund have given everything we had for the emergency. If it gets worse, I shall offer my own services, for I can make beds and clean up, and no part of the work will terrify me, even if I am not a trained nurse.

Later life and death

While living in France, Vail acquired a house in

Héricy Héricy () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Population Inhabitants are called ''Héricéens'' in French. See also *Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department The following ...

, where she lived for the rest of her life continuing her work as a librarian until

blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

forced her to retire. She died in Vieux Logis on December 18, 1955, and is buried in the municipal cemetery at Héricy.

Taxonomy

Bibliography

References

External links

Portrait of Anna Murray Vail
by Herbert Denman, at

The Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

.
Vail Collection Information at the New York Botanical Garden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vail, Anna Murray American taxonomists 1863 births 1955 deaths American women botanists Women taxonomists New York Botanical Garden Torrey Botanical Society members Scientists from New York (state) 19th-century American botanists 20th-century American botanists 20th-century American women scientists 19th-century American women scientists Columbia University alumni