John William Weidemeyer (b. in

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond, Virginia, R ...

, 26 April 1819; d. in

Amityville, New York Amityville () is a Political subdivisions of New York State#Village, village in the Babylon (town), New York, Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in New York ...

, 18 January 1896) was a writer and

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Biography

In Germany, his father had been an officer in the bodyguards of

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon, Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), Kingdom of Westphalia, King of Westphal ...

, king of Westphalia. When John was still young, the family moved to New York City. Among his first teachers was Alexander T. Stewart, and he completed his education at the Columbia College grammar school. For several years he taught at various seminaries in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, but subsequently settled in New York City, where he entered on a business career. He made collections of

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

, including a western North American species that was named in his honor, '' Limenitis weidemeyerii'' (Weidemeyer's Admiral). His large collection was purchased by the museum in

Ratisbon Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state. With m ...

, Germany. In connection with the study of

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, he published ''Catalogue of North-American Butterflies'' (Philadelphia, 1864).

Writings

He contributed to the ''Christian Inquirer'' and the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'', and prepared political articles for various journals. In 1841 he wrote a play entitled ''The Vagabonds'', which was produced at the Franklin Theatre in New York City and the Arch Street Theatre in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and at one point he was preparing ''Cæsar and Cleopatra'', an acting drama. Weidemeyer also published ''Real and Ideal: a Collection of Metrical Compositions by John W. Montclair'' (Philadelphia, 1865); ''Themes and Translations'' (New York, 1867); ''American Fish, and how to catch Them'' (1885); and ''From Alpha to Omega'' (1889).

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weidemeyer, John William 1819 births 1896 deaths American entomologists American male writers