ARTHUR P. SAUNDERS
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NYS Historic
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Education, People, Science
- 6909 College Hill Rd, Clinton, NY 13323, USA
- 43.050160830538, -75.404620316076
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Hamilton College
ARTHUR P. SAUNDERS
Inscription
ARTHUR P. SAUNDERS1869 – 1953
“FATHER OF THE MODERN PEONY”
HAMILTON COLLEGE DEAN &
CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR. DEVELOPED
HUNDREDS OF PEONY HYBRIDS.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2024
Born in 1869, Arthur P. Saunders would become known as the “Father of the Modern Peony” due to his work with the flower, developing hundreds of hybrids throughout his life.
The son of the Director of the Central Experiments Farm in Ottawa, Dr. William Saunders, and brother of Harvard physicist, Frederick A. Saunders, his career trajectory and interests certainly make sense. Arthur received his PhD from John Hopkins in 1894 and shortly after, he was appointed as a professor of chemistry at Hamilton College in 1900. In 1906 he joined the American Peony Society. From 1909 until his death, he served as a Director of the Society.
Throughout his career Arthur served as both a Hamilton College Dean and Chemistry Professor. Though he is most remembered for his work hybridizing the peony, Arthur was involved in other notable breakthroughs. Early in his career he and his brother developed the Marquis wheat of Canada, which matures 10 days earlier than its competitors and extended the area where wheat could grow in Canada, according to an obituary published on August 15th, 1953, in the Holyoke Daily Transcript and the Holyoke Telegram.
Still, it was his work with the peony that provided him with national acclaim during a time when interest in the flower was growing rapidly. According to the American Peony Society, “A. P. Saunders, who revolutionized peony hybridizing by combining multiple species, took a scientific approach, carefully selecting varieties to cross and keeping detailed notes that spanned multiple generations of crosses.” (See the link below for more information and the source of this quote.)
In an article published in the Rome, NY, Daily Sentinel on March 10th, 1948, titled, “Hamilton Professor Wins Fame for Growing Peonies,” it states:
“For almost 40 years a member of the Hamilton College’s chemistry department staff, Professor Emeritus Arthur P. Saunders has achieved fame through raising peonies…he has won prizes consistently for many years. Dr. Saunders values an award won recently, the Arthur Scott award, given for the development of peonies. He has developed a strain entirely his own.”
Along with the historical marker commemorating his story in front of the Elihu Root House on the Hamilton College Campus, Arthur’s legacy can be seen in the nearby Grant Garden, which contains the College’s collection of peonies hybridized by the “Father of the Modern Peony.”
