James Watson Robbins (November 18, 1801 – January 10, 1879) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. Robbins, son of Ammi R. and Salome Robbing, of

Colebrook, Connecticut Colebrook is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,361 at the 2020 census. Colebrook was named after Colebrooke in the English county of Devon; the reason is now unknown. Geography Colebrook is in northeas ...

, and grandson of Rev. Ammi R. Robbins, of

Norfolk, Connecticut Norfolk () is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,588 at the 2020 census. The urban center of the town is the Norfolk census-designated place, with a population of 553 at the 2010 census. Norfolk is per ...

, was born in Colebrook, November 18, 1801. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1822. For a few months after graduation he taught in

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Longm ...

, and then went to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, where he was similarly employed for some three years, in the family of Hon. Wm. L. Brent, and in the Peyton family at Warrenton, and at Arlington, where

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

, afterwards general-in-chief of the

Confederate army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, was prepared by him for West Point. Returning to

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

in the latter part of 1825, he began the study of medicine, graduating from Yale Medical School in 1828. He spent six months of the year 1829 in a botanical exploration of the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

states; and in this way formed the acquaintance of Dr. George Willard, of

Uxbridge, Massachusetts Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, MA, Mendon, and named for the Marquess of Anglesey, Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located south ...

, who induced him to settle in that town. He practiced medicine in Uxbridge (at first in partnership with Dr. Willard) for thirty years, until 1859, when he accepted an appointment as physician and surgeon of several copper mining companies near Portage Lake,

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. During his professional life he had devoted himself largely to botany, gathering a valuable library, second, it is believed, to no private botanical library in the country; and in the four years of his residence near Lake Superior, he made extensive botanical researches, and these were followed by a tour in 1863-4 down the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, which resulted in very valuable collections. He then returned to Uxbridge, where he spent the remainder of his life, mostly retired from medical practice and devoting his leisure to his favorite pursuit. He died there, January 10, 1879, in his 78th year, of a disease of the kidneys, caused by the presence of '' trichinae''. He was unmarried.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, James Watson Physicians from Massachusetts American botanists 1801 births 1879 deaths People from Colebrook, Connecticut Yale School of Medicine alumni People from Enfield, Connecticut People from Fauquier County, Virginia People from Arlington County, Virginia Scientists from Virginia Yale College alumni