The John Van Cleve Herbarium

John Whitten Van Cleve was born in Dayton in 1801.  His father Benjamin was one of the first settlers of Dayton.  John was an enthusiastic student of the sciences, language, and the arts.  He was admitted to the bar in 1826.  He became involved in a rather amazing number of endeavors including 3 terms as mayor of Dayton, City Engineer, owner of a drug store, founder of Woodland Cemetery, and accomplishments in local geology and botany.

John's botany book with notes

Perhaps John's fascination with botany began in 1832 when he purchased a copy of Torrey's Compendium of the Flora of the Northern and Middle States for $1.25.  He filled the margins of the book with field notes about specimens he found near Dayton.  This book can be observed in the special collections of the Dayton Public Library.  He also corresponded with Mr. Torrey, and sent him specimens that he could not identify.  Two of these, Oligoneuron riddellii and Oligoneuron ohioensis came from fen habitat near to Dayton, and became the type specimens for these species.

Starting in the early 1830's Van Cleve made a remarkable book of pressed specimens of native plants he found growing near Dayton.  The collection contains 207 species, and were obviously mounted with care and skill.  They emphasize showy flowering plants, especially those associated with prairies and fens.

The Van Cleve Herbarium

Canada Burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis)

Label in Van Cleve's hand

Tall Larkspur (Delphinium exaltatum)

Royal Catchfly (Silene regia)

Pale Indian Plantain (Arnoglossum atriplicifolium)

Whorled rosinweed (Silphium trifoliatum)

Sweet Scented Indian Plantain (Hasteola suavolens)

Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid (Platanthera psycodes)

 Upon his death Van Cleve had made arrangements to donate his herbarium to the Cooper Female Academy, which occurred in 1858.  There is received little attention or care until the school closed in 1886.  At that time it appeared the herbarium was acquired by noted botany teacher at Dayton Central High School, William B. Werthner, who donated it to the Dayton Museum of Natural History (now the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery).   There the herbarium was forgotten until 1967, when botanist Larry Morse was regorganizing the museum collections.  He was intrigued by the age and quality of the specimens and tracked down most of the history I have related to this point.  Larry made a presentation to the Ohio Academy of Sciences about the herbarium in 1967, and wrote two short articles about it.  Larry Morse passed in 2012 after a great career.  Here is a part of his obituary:

Larry enjoyed a nearly 30-year career in plant conservation that included serving as a botanist for the Maryland Natural Heritage Program that led to roles as chief botanist at The Nature Conservancy and then NatureServe until his retirement in 2006.  He was a walking encyclopedia of information about plant identification and conservation as well as the cultural uses, historical relevance, and colological contributions of plants.  

I took the photos displayed here nearly 10 years ago, and have not looked at the Van Cleve Herbarium since.  It was crumbling then and needed care to preserve it.  There were a few attempts cooperating with the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery staff to acquire grant funds to restore it, but these were not successful.  At the least it should be completely and properly photographed.  Perhaps that will be a retirement project!