which occurred in 1805. Captain Alexander Ross was a grandson of Alexander Ross, laird of Balnagown, Ross-shire, Scotland, who descended in a direct line from Hugh Ross, of Rariches, second son of Hugh, the sixth and last Earl of Ross, of the old family. Dr. Ross’s grandmother, on his father’s side, was Hannah Prudence Williams, a descendant of Roger Williams (1595–1683), the famous liberal preacher, and apostle of freedom, of Rhode Island. His mother, Frederika Grant, was the youngest daughter of John Grant of the British army, who died from wounds received at Niagara, in the war of 1812–1814. His maternal grandmother was Mary Jenks, a daughter of Joseph Jenks, colonial governor of Rhode Island. Governor Jenks has left a famous record of public services. He was speaker of the House of Representatives of Rhode Island, from Oct., 1698, to 1708; deputy governor from May, 1715, to May, 1727; governor from May, 1727, to May, 1732. He was a staunch and persistent friend and advocate of political and religious liberty. In his boyhood Dr. Ross made his way to New York city, and after struggling with many adversities, became a compositor in the office of the Evening Post, then edited and owned by William Cullen Bryant, the poet. Mr. Bryant became much interested in young Ross, and ever after remained his steadfast friend. It was during this period that he became acquainted with General Garibaldi, who at that time was a resident of New York, and employed in making candles. This acquaintance soon ripened into a warm friendship, which continued unbroken down to Garibaldi’s death in 1882. It was through Dr. Ross’s efforts in 1874 that Garibaldi obtained his pension from the Italian government. In 1851 Dr. Ross began the study of medicine, under the direction of the eminent Dr. Valentine Mott, and subsequently under Dr. Trall, the celebrated hygienic physician. After four years of unremitting toil, working as compositor during the day and studying medicine at night, he received his degree of M.D. in 1855, and shortly after received the appointment of surgeon in the army of Nicaragua, then commanded by General William Walker. He subsequently became actively and earnestly engaged in the anti-slavery struggle in the United States, which culminated in the liberation from bondage of four millions of slaves. Dr. Ross was a personal friend and co-worker of Captain John Brown, the martyr. Although Dr. Ross’s sphere of labour in that great struggle for human freedom was less public than that of many other workers in the cause, it was not less important, and required the exercise of greater caution, courage and determination, and also involved greater personal risks. Senator Wade, vice-president of the United States, said, in speaking of the abolitionists:—“Never in the history of the world did the same number of men perform so great an amount of good for the human race and for their country as the once despised abolitionists, and it is my duty to add that no one of their number submitted to greater privations, perils or sacrifices, or did more in the great and noble work than Alexander Ross.” He has received the benediction of the philanthropist and poet, Whittier, in the following noble words, which find their echo in the hearts of thousands:—
DR. A. M. ROSS.
For his steadfast strength and courage
In a dark and evil time,
When the Golden Rule was treason,
And to feed the hungry, crime.
For the poor slave’s hope and refuge,
When the hound was on his track,
And saint and sinner, state and church,
Joined hands to send him back.
Blessings upon him!—What he did
For each sad, suffering one,
Chained, hunted, scourged and bleeding,
Unto our Lord was done.
John G. Whittier,
Secretary of the Convention in 1833,
which formed the American Anti-Slavery Society.
The sincere radical abolitionists, with whom Dr. Ross was labouring, were despised, hated and ostracised by the rich, the powerful and the so-called higher classes; but Dr. Ross always possessed the courage of his opinions, and prefers the approval of his own conscience to the smiles or favours of men. During the Southern rebellion he was employed by President Lincoln as confidential correspondent in Canada, and rendered very important services to the United States government. For this he received the special thanks of President Lincoln and Secretary Seward. When the war ended, with the downfall of the Confederacy, Dr. Ross offered his services to President Juarez, of Mexico, and received the appointment of surgeon in the Republican army. The capture of Maximilian, and the speedy overthrow of the empire, rendered Dr. Ross’s services unnecessary, and he returned to Canada and to the congenial and more peaceful pursuits of a naturalist. The object of his ambition now was to collect and classify the fauna and flora of his native country, a labour never before attempted by a Canadian. He has collected and classified five hundred and seventy species of birds that regularly or occasionally visit the Dominion of Canada; two hundred and forty species of eggs of birds that breed in Canada; two hundred and forty-seven species of mammals, reptiles, and fresh water fish; three thousand four hundred species of insects; and two thousand species of Canadian flora. The Montreal Herald of August 19, 1884, says:—“Dr. Ross has been a member of the British Association of Science for the last fourteen years, and of the French and American Associations for the past ten years. The following brief sketch will, therefore, prove doubly interesting in view of the approaching gathering of scientific men (meeting of the British Association, Sept., 1884), in this city. He has devoted special attention to the ornithology, ichthyology, botany and entomology of Canada; has personally made large and valuable collections of the fauna and flora of Canada; has enriched by his contributions the natural history museums of Paris, St. Petersburg, Vienna, Rome, Athens, Dresden, Lisbon, Teheran and Cairo, with collections of Canadian fauna and flora. He is author of “Birds of Canada” (1872), “Butterflies and Moths of Canada” (1873), “Flora of Canada” (1873), “Forest Trees of Canada” (1874), “Mammals, Reptiles, and Fresh water Fishes of Canada” (1878), “Recollections of an Abolitionist” (1867), “Ferns and Wild Flowers of Canada” (1877), “Friendly Words to Boys and Young Men” (1884), “Vaccination a Medical Delusion” (1885), and “Natural Diet of Man” (1886). He received the degrees of M.D. (1855), and M.A. (1867); and was knighted by the Emperor of Russia (1876), King of Italy (1876), King of Greece (1876), King of Portugal (1877), King of Saxony (1876), and received the Medal of Merit from the Shah of Persia (1884), the decoration of honour from the Khedive of Egypt (1884), and the decoration of the Académie Française from the government of France (1879). He was offered (and declined) the title of baron by the King of Bavaria, in recognition of his labours as a naturalist, and was appointed consul to Canada by the King of Belgium and the King of Denmark. Dr. Ross was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Linnean and Zoological Societies of England; the Royal Societies of Antiquaries of Denmark and Greece; the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Russia; the Imperial Botanical and Zoological Society of Austria; the Royal Academy of Science of Palermo, Italy; a member of the Entomological Societies of Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Bohemia and Wurtemburg; member of the Hygienic Societies of France, Germany and Switzerland; honorary member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and member of the European Congress of Ornithology. For several years past Dr. Ross has laboured with his characteristic zeal and energy in behalf of moral and physical reform. He is the founder (1880) of the Canadian Society for the Diffusion of Physiological Knowledge, and enlisted the sympathy and active support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Earl Shaftesbury, the Archbishop of Toronto, and two hundred and forty clergymen of different denominations, and three hundred Canadian school-teachers in the work of distributing his tracts on “The Evils Arising from Unphysiological Habits in Youth”; over one million copies of these tracts were distributed among the youth of Britain and Canada, calling forth thousands of letters expressing gratitude from parents and friends of the young. Dr. Ross is one of the founders of the St. Louis Hygienic College of Physicians and Surgeons, in which he is professor of hygiene, sanitation and physiology. He is always
