.
Collection Overview
Title: John and Sara (Plummer) Lemmon papers, 1863-1911

Primary Creator: Lemmon, J. G. (John Gill) (1832-1908)
Other Creators: Lemmon, Sara Plummer (1836-1923)
Extent: 10.0 Linear Feet
Arrangement: Arranged in six series: Series 1, Correspondence; Series 2, Diaries and field books; Series 3, Writings; Series 4, Personal papers; Series 5, Photographs.
Subjects: Andersonville Prison, Botanists - California, Botany - Arizona, Botany - California, Northern, Conifers, Diaries, Lemmon, J. G. (John Gill), United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Imprisonment, Women botanists
Forms of Material: Botanists - California - Archives, Correspondence, Photographs, United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Personal narratives
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The Lemmon Papers document the personal and professional lives of California botanists John Gill and Sara Plummer Lemmon. Additionally the papers contain materials relating to John G. Lemmon's service in the Civil War and Sara Plummer Lemmon's work with the Red Cross and efforts to make the California Poppy the state flower. The papers contain correspondence, diaries and notebooks, published and unpublished writings, personal papers and memorabilia, and photographs. The collection is rich in notes and photographs collected by Lemmon for his research on the Conifers of California and the west.
Collection Historical Note
John Gill Lemmon, pioneer western botanist and Civil War veteran, was born in Lima, Michigan on January 2, 1832. He attended public schools and taught for eight years before enrolling at the University of Michigan which he briefly attending before enlisting in the 4th Michigan Cavalry on June 8, 1862. His unit was involved in 36 engagements in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, including the circuit of Atlanta in August 1865. He was captured near Atlanta in August 1864 and held at Andersonville and Florence prisons. He was freed on March 1, 1865. In October 1866 he moved to Sierraville, California to live with his mother and brothers and recuperate from his incarceration. He taught school from 1870 to 1874 and developed an avid interest in botany while collecting and identifying local plants in Sierraville and the surrounding areas. Plants he could not identify were sent to Henry Bolander at the California Academy of Sciences, who then put Lemmon in contact with Asa Gray at Harvard University as many of the plants found by Lemmon were previously unknown. He became well known as botanist of western North America and with his wife, Sara Plummer Lemmon, developed the Lemmon Herbarium, now part of the University and Jepson Herbaria at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sara Plummer, botanist and artist, was born in New Gloucester, Maine, on September 3, 1836. She attended college in Worcester, Massachusetts and at Cooper Union in New York City. She served as a hospital nurse during the Civil War. In 1869, she moved to Santa Barbara for health reasons and opened a book and stationery shop that became the public library for the town. She was active in the community and the development of the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum and gave lectures on natural history.
John and Sara met when John was visiting Santa Barbara in 1876 on a botanical collecting expedition. He moved to Oakland in 1877 and they corresponded frequently, leading to their marriage in 1880. They established the Lemmon Herbarium on Telegraph Avenue and continued to botanize together, exploring California and Arizona in the 1880s. Their "botanical wedding trip" to Tucson in 1881 led to the discovery of many new Arizonan plants. John Lemmon served as the state botanist for the California State Board of Forestry from 1888 to 1892 and Sara assisted with his work by painting illustrations of conifers. Sara led the movement to have the California Poppy established as the state flower, which became official in a bill signed by Governor George Pardee in 1903.
John Gill Lemmon passed away on Oakland on November 24, 1908 in Oakland. Sara Plummer Lemmon passed away on January 15, 1923 in Stockton. Their herbarium was donated to the University of California at Berkeley.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley
Access Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Use Restrictions:
Copyright has not been assigned to the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University and Jepson Herbaria Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the publisher.
Preferred Citation:
John and Sara (Plummer) Lemmon Papers, University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Correspondence, 1864-1911],
[
Series 2: Diaries and field books, 1872-1906],
[
Series 3: Writings, 1863-1906],
[
Series 4: Personal papers, 1864-1905],
[Series 5: Photographs, 1895-1902, undated],
[
All]
- Series 5: Photographs, 1895-1902, undated

- 250 photographs, primarily of conifers. Photographs of the Lemmons and their house in Oakland are also included.
- Box 1

- Folder 1: Sierra Club Outing to King's River, 1902

- Photographs likely taken by Hugh S. Gibson.
- Item 1: Celebrities at Camp Colby, 1902

- Item 2: Mr. Theo. Hittell, 1902

- Item 3: Jupiter and Juno: Theo. Hittell and Mrs. J. G. Lemmon, 1902

- Item 4: Messrs Keith and Hittell, 1902

- Item 5: Messrs Keith and Hittell, 1902

- Item 6: Mr. Keith, 1902

- Item 7: Camp Sherwood - at the sign of the Silver Fir, 1902

- Item 8: Warner Sherwood, 1902

- Item 9: Avis Sherwood, 1902

- Item 10: May Sherwood, 1902

- Item 11: Hugh Gibson, 1902

- Item 12: Looking down the Cañon, 1902

- Item 13: Down the river from the bridge, 1902

- Item 14: Up the river from the bridge, 1902

- Item 15: Looking up the Cañon, 1902

- Item 16: Looking up the Cañon, 1902

- Item 17: Down the river from the camp - the Grey Rock to the right, 1902

- Item 18: The Sentinel Rock, 1902

- Item 19: The "El Capitan" of King's River Cañon, 1902

- Item 20: Mist Falls, 1902

- Item 21: Roaring River Falls, 1902

- Item 22: "The Sphinx" - view taken on the way to Mist Falls, 1902

- Item 23: From near Zumwalt's camp, 1902

- Item 24: The Cañon from the Copper Mine, 1902

- Item 25: Study of trees, 1902

- Item 26: A group of Sequoias at the Giant Forest

- Item 27: A fallen Sequoia at the Giant Forest, 1902

- Folder 2: Plants, trees, and landscapes

- Additional tree photographs found in Box 5, Mounted photographs of Western Conifers
- Item 1: Castanopsis chrysophylla

- Item 2: Gingko tree

- Item 3: Ginkgo tree chair

- Item 4: Grand Sentinel

- Compiments of J. N. LeConte
- Item 5: Group of suspects at 7800 feet elevation showing foliage

- Item 6: Hesperocallis undulata

- Item 7: Lyonothamnus

- Item 8: Mesquite at Oracle, Arizona

- Item 9: Mixed forest Santa Anita Canyon

- Item 10: Pinus montezuma, near Guadalajara

- Item 11: Planting pine seed on burned area of San Gabriel Mtn.

- Item 12: Psuedotsuga macrocarpa, Mt. Harvard 5000 feet elevation

- Item 13: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, Santa Anita, 3200 feet elevation

- Item 14: Pseudotsgua macrocarpa. All limbs were cut off close to trunk. 1890 foto, shows new growth, 1890

- Item 15: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, very old. Mt. Wilson

- Item 16: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa,roots greatly exposed, tree growing. Fisher or Fishnet Canyon.

- Item 17: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa on Mt. Harvard

- Item 18: Roaring River Falls, 5 miles from main camp., 1902

- Photograph by Helen Lukens Jones, Pasadena, Calif.
- Item 19: The tree on the right-the one in question. The two on left A. concolor

- Item 20: Tillandsia

- Item 21: Trunk of the A. in question

- Item 22: Yucca radiosa, near Oracle, Arizona

- Item 23: Yucca radiosa near Tucson

- Item 24: Unidentified conifer branch

- Item 25: Unidentified conifer branch

- Item 26: Unidentified oak branch

- Item 27: Unidentified shrub

- Item 28: Unidentified tree

- Item 29: Unidentified tree trunk

- Item 30: Alder, Santa Catalina Mountains

- Item 31: Oak tree on Santa Catalina Mountains

- Item 32: Arbutus arizonica, Santa Catalina

- Item 33: Trunk of Pinus arizonica, Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona, Mt. Lemmon

- Item 34: Oaks, Quercus lobata, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, California

- Item 35: Oaks at Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, California

- Item 36: Walnut tree at Elwood, California, Near Santa Barbara

- Item 37: Sycamore trunk showing work of woodpeckers. Elwood, Santa Barbara, California

- Item 38: Quercus lobata, Edna, San Luis Obispo County, Steele Ranch

- Item 39: Arizona Walnut, Santa Catalina

- Item 40: Native Crab-apple tree at M....., Candelaria Dist. Mexico City

- Item 41: Mesquite at Oracle

- Item 42: Quercus emoryi at Oracle, Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona

- Item 43: Palo-verde at University of Arizona, Desert-tree

- Item 44: Experimental Sta. of University of Arizona, Tucson

- Item 45: Native "Hubbah" near Fort Mohave

- Item 46: Plaza at Fort Mohave, Arizona

- Folder 3: People

- Item 1: Sara Lemmon

- Item 2: John Lemmon

- Item 3: Portrait of two unidentified women

- Box 2

- Folder 1: Trees, buildings, and State Board of Forestry exhibit

- Box 3

- Folder 1: John and Sara Lemmon, the Lemmon home and herbarium, and unidentified portraits

- Box 4

- Folder 1: Conifer study plates

- Box 5

- Folder 1: Conifer study plates

- Box 6

- Folder 1: Conifer study plates

- Box 7

- Folder 1: Conifer photographs

- Box 8

- Folder 1: Conifer photographs

- Box 25

- Folder 1: Photographs from forest ranger Roger S. Baldwin

- Folder 2: Photographs

- Item 1: Sara and John Lemmon at base of tree

- Item 2: Sara Lemmon in buggy

- Item 3: A logging scene in northern California : oxen team on corduroy road

- Item 4: Chilopsis linearis near Fort Huachuca

- Item 5: Quercus kelloggii at Eugene, Oregon. Photo of Professor Condon (Thomas Condon) of State University at Eugene.

- Compliments of Francis E. Lloyd.
- Folder 3: Copies of plates (1 of 3)

- Folder 4: Copies of plates (2 of 3)

- Folder 5: Copies of plates (3 of 3)

- Folder 6: Postcards

Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Correspondence, 1864-1911],
[
Series 2: Diaries and field books, 1872-1906],
[
Series 3: Writings, 1863-1906],
[
Series 4: Personal papers, 1864-1905],
[Series 5: Photographs, 1895-1902, undated],
[
All]