John and William Bartram

John Bartram owned a farm near the Schuylkill and was famous for collecting and making observations about the natural world. William Bartram, his son, was also a noted observor of the natural world and is famous for the drawings he made of plants and wildlife. Many of the plants discovered by John and William Bartram can still be seen at Bartram's garden: their 18th century farm still exists and is open to the public. It even has a wetland!
In 1773, William Bartram journeyed throughout the Southern states drawing and recording what he saw. Many times, he was the first explorer to draw a plant or animal. He carefully observed different plants and animals in different ecosystems and recorded their characteristics so that other people could identify them You can learn to observe and draw plants and animals and places in your neighborhood just as as Bartram drew them in colonial America.