Description

William Saunders (1822-1900) was a botanist and landscape architect. Born in Saint Andrews, Scotland, he served as the first Master (President) of the National Grange, and became the U. S. Department of Agriculture's first botanist and landscape architect. Saunders designed the park system in Washington, D.C., and oversaw the planting of 80,000 trees in the city. He was a founder of the Grange Order of Patrons of Husbandry. He also aided in the introduction of the Navel Orange to California agriculture. An ardent botanist, he designed the cemetery at Gettysburg, for which the Gettysburg Address was written by President Lincoln as a dedication ode to those interred there. Saunders had been previously appointed to Superintendent of the Propagating Gardens in the Department of Agriculture, where he developed hundreds of plants, trees and shrubs that are grown throughout the United States. His works include: Catalogue of Plants, Bulbs, Tubers, etc. for Distribution from U. S. Propagating Garden (1862), Tea-Culture as a Probable American Industry (1879) and Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (1891).