John and Sara (Plummer) Lemmon papers, 1863-1911 | University and Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley

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 The papers contain correspondence, diaries and notebooks, published and unpublished writings, personal papers and memorabilia, and photographs.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 4^th 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

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

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