Program

NYS Historic

Subject

People

Location

239 Main St, Highland Falls, NY 10928, USA

Lat/Long

41.368996854031, -73.96555530961

Grant Recipient

Town of Highlands Historical Society

Edgar Alexander Mearns was born in Highland Falls, NY, in 1856. From a young age, he displayed an insatiable curiosity for the natural world, beginning a lifelong practice of collecting flora and fauna specimens in his youth.

Mearns’ formal entry into the scientific community occurred in 1878 with the publication of his first ornithological paper, “The Capture of several Rare Birds near West Point, N.Y.” He balanced these interests with his education at the Donald Highland Institute and later the College of Physicians and Surgeons of NY, where he earned his M.D. in 1881.

His personal life mirrored his professional passions; he married Ella Wittich, a fellow natural history enthusiast, with whom he had two children, Louis and Lillian. By 1882, his reputation led to a temporary appointment as a curator of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History, and in 1883, he helped organize the American Ornithologist’s Union.

Mearns was commissioned as an assistant surgeon and First Lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps the same year. Assigned to Fort Verde, Arizona, he utilized the arid landscape to study unique desert species.

His military assignments became a vehicle for unprecedented biological surveys. He was transferred to Fort Snelling, MN in 1888 and directed to act as a medical officer for Mexican-United States International Boundary Commission in 1892. In this position, he established a biological survey from El Paso to San Clemente Island. This massive effort resulted in 30,000 specimens that were transported to the U.S. National Museum. Additionally, between assignments at Fort Myer, Fort Clark, Fort Adams, and Fort Yellowstone, he made significant progress in identifying mammals and composing detailed reports.

During the Spanish-American War, Mearns rose to the rank of Major and served as a brigade and chief surgeon until his honorable discharge in 1899.

Later, between 1903 and 1907, during two tours in the Philippine Islands, He participated in treacherous expeditions to the summits of Mount Apo, Grand Malindang, and Mount Halcon. He discovered 25 new species of mammals, one new genus, and 19 new species of birds during these voyages.

After retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1909, Mearns was hand-selected by Theodore Roosevelt for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition. Roosevelt famously endorsed him, stating, “I know no one who could do it as well.” From 1909 to 1910, Mearns explored British East Africa from Mount Kenya to the West Nile, collecting over 3,000 birds and thousands of plants and small mammals. He concluded his field career with the Childs Frick Expedition to Africa in 1911.

Edgar Mearns passed away on November 1, 1916. His vast collection of meticulously documented specimens were donated to the American Museum of Natural History and the US National Museum (Smithsonian Institution). Mearns contributed greatly to the biological field by authoring 125 publications. Fifty or more species were named in his honor.

Additional information:

https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/auth_per_fbr_eacp7

https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8042&context=auk