William Conklin Cusick
| William Conklin Cusick | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 21, 1842 Adams County, Illinois |
| Died | October 7, 1922 (aged 80) Union, Oregon |
| Nationality | U.S. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Influences | Asa Gray, Sereno Watson, Charles Vancouver Piper |
William Conklin Cusick (February 21, 1842 – October 7, 1922) was an American botanist who specialized in the flora of the Pacific Northwest. His botanical knowledge was largely self-taught and he is considered one of the top three self-taught botanists of his era for the Pacific Northwest; the other two being Thomas Jefferson Howell and Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf.
Cusick was born to Robert George and Sarah H. Cusick on February 21, 1842 in Adams County, Illinois. He was named after his father’s grandfather and was the oldest child.
Cusick’s father and mother were of Scottish-Irish ancestry. His grandfather, Henry Cusick, immigrated to the United States from northern Ireland sometime after the Revolutionary War.
Cusick lived in Illinois with his family until 1853 when his family, including an aunt and uncle, cousins, and his grandmother, joined the westward emigration to Oregon on the Oregon Trail. His family settled on a 320 acres (130 ha) tract of land near Kingston in Linn County, Oregon.
Even though his father was a farmer, Cusick received a good education, attending a country school in Illinois from age four to eleven. When his family moved Kingston, he continued his education at the public school there. At age 20, he was enrolled at La Creole Academy in Dallas, Oregon where he continued his education for a year and a half. He then spent two years teaching school. In 1864, he returned to school and went to Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He was enrolled as a junior and studied mathematics (including higher algebra), physics, and geology.
After finishing the year at college, Cusick volunteered in the Union Army. He served as a sergeant in the 1st Oregon Infantry stationed at Fort Lapwai, Idaho as part of the Quartermaster Corps. His unit was tasked with monitoring the Nez Perce Native Americans. During this time, because there were no disturbances from the Natives, Cusick was able to devote time to studying Asa Gray’s First Lessons in Botany, his first introduction to botany. During his stint in the Army, he was also stationed for a time at Ukiah, Oregon and Camp Polk near Sisters, Oregon. After he was discharged from the Army in 1866, he settled near Salem, Oregon and returned to teaching. This did not last long because his hearing began to fail and he could no longer effectively teach.
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