Frances Theodora Parsons (' Smith, ''formerly'' Dana; December 5, 1861 – June 10, 1952), who initially published as Mrs. William Starr Dana, was an American naturalist and author active in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She wrote a number of books, including a popular guide to American wildflowers.

Early life and education

Frances Theodora Smith was born in New York in 1861 to Denton Smith, a tea merchant, and Harriet ( Shelton) Smith. She had a sister, Alice Josephine (1859–1909), who became an artist and later illustrated two of her books. She was educated privately at Miss Comstock’s School. She is said to have gained her love of botany during summers spent with her grandparents in rural New York state. Her first husband, William Starr Dana, whom she married in 1884, was a naval officer. He died in an 1890 flu epidemic, and six years later she married James Russell Parsons, an educator and administrator in the state of

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and later a diplomat. They had a son, Russell and a daughter, Dorothea, who died as a toddler. James himself died in 1905 in an automobile accident in Mexico City.Met Instant Death
in the ''Buffalo Commercial Advertiser''; published December 6, 1905; via

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Following James's death, Parsons moved to New York City, where she was an active supporter of the Republican Party as well as the Progressive Party. She served in various official capacities on party committees, and she managed Fiorello H. La Guardia's successful campaign to become president of New York's Board of Aldermen. She was also an advocate of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

Career

Following the loss of her first husband, Parsons' sought solace in long walks with her friend the illustrator

Marion Satterlee Marion Satterlee (8 January 1868 – 9 June 1965) was an American botanical artist who in 1893 illustrated the first field guide to North American wildflowers. Artwork Marion Satterlee was a friend of the naturalist and author Frances Theodora ...

. These outings prompted her first and most important botanical work, ''How to Know the Wild Flowers'' (1893), which was the first

field guide A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna or funga) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the " field" or local area where suc ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...

s. The book was quite successful, with the first printing selling out in five days. ''How to Know the Wild Flowers'' garnered favorable responses from

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

and

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

, among others. The work went through several editions in Parsons's lifetime and has remained in print into the 21st century. It was organized by flower colors and illustrated with 48 full-page color plates by

Elsie Louise Shaw Elsie Louise Shaw was a naturalist and botanical artist many of whose watercolors are now in the collection of the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University. Biography As an illustrator, Shaw provided 48 full-page color plates for Frances Theodora P ...

(missing from later editions) and 110 full-page black-and-white illustrations by Satterlee. Parsons' second book, ''According to Season'' (1894), was a compendium of

nature writing Nature writing is nonfiction or fiction prose about the natural environment. It often draws heavily from scientific information and facts while also incorporating philosophical reflection upon various aspects of nature. Works are frequently writte ...

that she had previously published in ''The New York Tribune''. Her third book, '' Plants and Their Children'' (1896), was intended for children and was listed as one of the 50 best children’s books of its day. In 1899, Parsons published ''How to Know the Ferns'', a companion to her first guidebook. The writing of this book was largely prompted by her husband's financial difficulties. After her fourth book, Parsons stopped writing for several decades. In 1952, at the age of 90, she published a memoir, ''Perchance Some Day''.

Books

Parsons's books, with the notable exception of her autobiography, are widely available on the Internet and in library special collections. The below links are from the

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and

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Writing as Mrs. William Starr Dana

* ''How to Know the Wildflowers'' (1893). New York: Charles Scribner's Son's. *
Second edition
(1893) Illustrations by Marion Satterlee. *
"New Edition"
(1923) Expanded with illustrations by Marion Satterlee and additional color illustrations by Elsie Louise Shaw. *
According to Season
' (1894). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Illustrated by Elsie Louise Shaw. *
Plants and Their Children
' (1896). New York: American Book Company. Illustrations by Alice Josephine Smith.

Writing as Frances Theodora Parsons

* '' How to Know the Ferns'' (1899). Illustrated by Marion Satterlee and Alice Josephine Smith. The first printing by Toronto: The Publisher's Syndicate Limited; at least seven more printings, 1899-1925 by New York: Charles Scribner's Son's; at least two printings by New York: Dover Books; and one printing, 2005, by Kessinger Publishing. * ''Perchance Some Day'' (1951). Autobiography, privately printed.

References

External links

*
Who is Mrs. William Starr Dana?
' by Mary Finger, North Carolina Wildflower Preservation Society newsletter, Vol 10 No 2 (Winter 1998); reprinted in Notes of the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society, Vol 7 No 1 (Jan- March 2004) p 4-6; archived at Internet Archive Sept 26, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Frances American botanists American naturalists American women botanists 1861 births 1952 deaths People from Katonah, New York Scientists from New York (state)