Benjamin Dann Walsh
| Benjamin Dann Walsh | |
|---|---|
Benjamin Dann Walsh
|
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| Born |
21 September 1808 Hackney Middlesex, England |
| Died | 18 November 1869 (aged 61) Rock Island, Illinois |
| Nationality | USA |
| Fields | Entomology |
Benjamin Dann Walsh (September 21, 1808 – November 18, 1869) was an English-born American entomologist who served as the first official state entomologist in Illinois. He was a leading influence during a time of significant transition in American entomology. Walsh championed the application of scientific methods to control agricultural pests. He was a proponent of biological control as an effective means to manage insects. He was also one of the first American scientists to support Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and was instrumental in securing its broad acceptance in the entomological community.
Walsh was born in Hackney, which was then a small village outside of London. The son of Benjamin Walsh and Mary Bidwell Clarke, he was the fifth of thirteen children. When Walsh was a boy, his father, a member of parliament, was charged with embezzlement and caught attempting to flee to America without his wife and children. He was jailed at Newgate and saved from hanging by a royal pardon issued in 1812.
After graduation from St. Paul's School in 1827, Walsh entered Trinity College, Cambridge, receiving a B.A. degree in 1831 and a master's degree three years later. In 1833 he became a fellow of Trinity, where he resided for 12 years with the intention of entering the Anglican ministry. A scholar of classic languages and literature, Walsh wrote The Comedies of Aristophanes, Translated into Corresponding English Metres (the first of an intended three volumes). In addition he showed an interest in journalism and wrote numerous articles for newspapers and periodicals.
While at Cambridge, Walsh developed a great dislike for religion and in particular came to despise the clergy as hypocrites and fools. He was also critical of university policies and wrote a pamphlet in 1837, A Historical Account of the University of Cambridge and its Colleges, proposing changes that were considered radical at the time. Eventually he became disillusioned with his career and left Cambridge.
Walsh married Rebecca Finn in 1838 and the couple emigrated to the United States. They settled in the remote and sparsely populated Henry County, Illinois, twenty miles from the nearest village. For the next twelve years, Walsh and his wife lived in a mud-plastered log cabin and farmed their 300-acre property. His desire to live the solitary life of a philosopher-farmer came to an end when new settlements in the region brought about an outbreak of malaria. Worried for his health, Walsh moved to Rock Island, Illinois in 1850 and started a successful lumber business.
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