Henry Shimer (September 21, 1828 – July 28, 1895) was a

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

in Mount Carroll,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He was also a teacher at the

Mount Carroll Seminary The Mount Carroll Seminary was the name of Shimer College from 1853 to 1896. The Seminary was located in Mount Carroll, Illinois, in the United States. A pioneering institution in its time and place, the Mount Carroll Seminary served as a center ...

, which later became

Shimer College Shimer Great Books School ( ) is a Classic_book#University_programs, Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, or ...

; he was the husband of the seminary's founder,

Frances Shimer Frances Shimer (August 21, 1826 – November 10, 1901), born Frances Ann Wood, was an American educator. She was the founder of the Mount Carroll Seminary, which later became Shimer College, in Mount Carroll, Illinois. She was also the sole prop ...

Biography

Early life

Shimer was born on September 21, 1828, in

West Vincent Township, Pennsylvania West Vincent Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,567 at the 2010 census. History The township was named after Sir Mathias Vincent. West Vincent was formed in 1832 when Vincent Township w ...

. He worked as a stone mason in his youth and took up teaching at the age of 18. In March 1854, Shimer left Pennsylvania and traveled west to

Mount Carroll, Illinois Mount Carroll is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,479 at the 2020 census. History Mount Carroll began life as a mill town around 1841. In 1843, a referendum moved the county seat fro ...

after a failed love affair. He may have done work on the construction or expansion of the Mount Carroll Seminary, for which the owners were unable to pay him.

Marriage

On December 22, 1857, Shimer and Frances Ann Wood, the co-principal of the Mount Carroll Seminary, were married. Their union was widely reputed to be a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. Cases whe ...

Vocations

Shimer subsequently left for Chicago to study medicine. He graduated from the

Chicago Medical College Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los ...

on March 1, 1866. Shimer also obtained a Master of Arts from the University of Chicago by examination. He was a prolific entomologist and published widely, describing a number of novel species and genera. He also served for a time as the assistant State Entomologist of Illinois. In addition, he was an expert

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

, and had a collection of over 1000 mounted birds. His collections were provided to the seminary for educational purposes. In the 1880s, Shimer became wealthy by speculating on real estate in Iowa, allegedly inspired by a dream. At the time of his death his estate was worth approximately $200,000.

Travels

Shimer traveled widely within the United States, stopping along the way to work as a

stone mason In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

. He sometimes covered more than a thousand miles on foot. He is said to have worn boots at all times.

Death

On July 28, 1895, Henry Shimer committed suicide, either with a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

or by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

. He had amended his will five days previously to leave his entire fortune to his wife, leaving his mother and sister destitute. In a highly publicized trial, the will was successfully contested.

Published works

*1865, "Description of the Imago and Larva of a New Species of Chrysopa", ''Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia'' *1867, "Description of a New Species of Aleyrodes", ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'

*1867, "Description of a New Species of Cecidomyia", ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'

*1867, "On a New Genus of Aphidae", ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'

*1867, "Notes on the Apple Bark Louse (''Lepidosaphes conchiformis''), with a Description of a supposed new Acarus" *1867, "Notes on ''Micropus (Lygarus) leucopterus'' Say ('The chinch bug')", ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' *1867, "Additional Note on the Chinch-Bug", ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' *1867, "On a new genus in Homoptera (Section Monomera)", ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' *1868, "Descriptions of two Acarians bred from White Maple", ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'' *1868, "Notes on ''Chermes pinicorticis'' (white pine louse)", ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'' *1868, "A Summer's Study of the Hickory Galls, with Descriptions of supposed New Species bred therefrom", ''Transactions of the American Entomological Society'' *1868, "The Wavy-Striped Flea Beetle", ''The American Naturalist'' *1869, "Insects Injurious to the Potato", ''The American Naturalist'' *1872, "Additional Notes on the Striped Squash Beetle", ''The American Naturalist'

*1891, "Consciousness in Protoplasm", ''The Microscope'

References

External links

Guide to Henry Shimer, Epidemic Diseases 1866
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimer, Henry 1828 births 1895 deaths People from Chester County, Pennsylvania People from Mount Carroll, Illinois Shimer College faculty Feinberg School of Medicine alumni University of Chicago alumni American entomologists Writers from Chicago Writers from Pennsylvania 1890s suicides