Tryon Reakirt (April 21, 1844 – after 1871) was an American businessman 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 ...
. He wrote several papers on butterflies and showed great promise in his field. However his career was cut short when financial and legal difficulties forced him to flee the country.
Tryon Reakirt was born in Philadelphia on April 21, 1844, the son of John Reakirt and Elizabeth Catherine (Tryon) Reakirt. He attended
Central High School of Philadelphia and then joined his father in the family business, the import and distribution of pharmaceuticals. In 1868 he invested in a new business, the Delaware Lead Works which manufactured
white lead
White lead is the basic lead carbonate 2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2. It is a complex Salt (chemistry), salt, containing both carbonate and hydroxide ions. White lead occurs naturally as a mineral, in which context it is known as hydrocerussite, a hydrate of ...
and other lead products.
Reakirt joined the
American Entomological Society of Philadelphia in 1863 at the age of nineteen. He became well known for his studies of the butterflies of the American tropics and the Asia Pacific region. In his career as an entomologist, Reakirt described many butterflies for the first time; for example, Reakirt described the ''
Callophrys xami'' butterfly, commonly referred to as the xami hairstreak or the green hairstreak, in 1867. In 1866 he also wrote a summary of the butterflies of the Rocky Mountains. In all, he published nine articles in the ''Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia'' and a tenth in the ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'', the last appearing in 1868.
William Henry Edwards
William Henry Edwards (March 15, 1822 – April 2, 1909) was an American businessman and entomologist. He was an industrial pioneer in the coalfields of West Virginia, opening some of the earliest mines in the southern part of the state. He was ...
regarded him as one of the most competent North American specialists in his field.
Additional details of his life are known from correspondence which he exchanged with
Herman Strecker
Ferdinand Heinrich Herman Strecker (March 24, 1836 – November 30, 1901) was an American entomologist specialising in butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera).
Strecker was born in Philadelphia to Ferdinand and Anna (''née'' Kern) who had emigrated ...
, a fellow entomologist and a dealer in insect collections. They became acquainted around 1866 and Reakirt hired Strecker to mount a large shipment of Philippine butterflies he had purchased from
Pierre Joseph Michel Lorquin. In August 1868, Reakirt tried to sell his collection via Strecker to the New York Lyceum (today
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
) for $1800. When the Lyceum turned down the offer, he tried to sell it to the
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
Natural History Society for $1400. But there too, the discussions failed. Strecker then purchased the collection for $1400 and they agreed to a schedule of payments which Strecker subsequently failed to meet.
Meanwhile Reakirt was in serious financial and legal difficulties. At the beginning of 1871, he left the United States for
Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
, Peru to avoid a charge that he had forged documents and stolen $110,000 from pharmaceutical companies. In February his company and his father's company were forced into involuntary bankruptcy. In June, using the name Theodore Rand, Reakirt began a new series of correspondence with Strecker. Eleven letters to Strecker have been preserved. In them he inquires about a passport application under an assumed name; he asks for information about countries without an extradition agreement with the United States; and he sets up a system that enables Strecker to invest in the stock market on Reakirt's behalf.
The letters also contained hints that Reakirt might move to Rio de Janeiro and reported that he was ill with dysentery. The last evidence of correspondence from Reakirt is an empty envelope with a postal date of November 1872. No further news of Reakirt has ever been uncovered.
The Reakirt collection, incorporated with the Strecker collection, was purchased in 1908 by the
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...
in Chicago.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reakirt, Tryon
1844 births
Year of death unknown
American lepidopterists
Scientists from Philadelphia
Businesspeople from Philadelphia