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Sarah Paxon Moore Cooper

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Sarah Paxon Moore Cooper (1824–1908) was an American botanist and botanical collector, known for her specialization in ferns. She was among the pioneering women in the field of botany during the late 19th century, active primarily in Santa Barbara, California. She was the first female botanist to have a plant named in her honor, Myriopteris cooperae, or Mrs. Cooper's Lip Fern.

Early life and marriage

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Sarah Paxon Moore was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on September 18, 1824.[1][2] She was raised as an orthodox Quaker.[2] She attended West Town Boarding School near West Chester, Pennsylvania. After graduating school, she married Ellwood Cooper on August 4, 1853, during a Quaker meeting in Philadelphia.[1][3] Two years later, the couple moved to Port au Prince, Haiti where they spent nearly ten years. In 1865, they moved to Brooklyn, New York.[2] In 1870, they moved to Goleta, California, where she would stay until her death.[2][4] In California, she was the head of the Board of Trustees for Santa Barbara College, a boarding primary and secondary school run from 1873 to 1882 before it was converted to the Ellwood Hotel and subsequently demolished in 1914.[2][5][6]

Botanical work

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Cooper became a well-known active botanical collector in California in the late 1800s, particularly focusing on ferns.[7] She was one of approximately 1,400 women from the United States and Canada known to have a deep interest in plants before 1900, 99 of whom were based in California.[7] In 1880, she was listed as one of only 140 botanists in California in the Cassino Naturalist's Directory, a national directory of botanists.[8] It was reported that Cooper was "well known by most of the botanists in the United States."[4]

She was a founding member and the first Vice President of the Santa Barbara Society of Natural History.[9] As an initial member of the California Botanical Society in 1891, Cooper worked alongside notable figures such as Katherine Brandegee and Dr. Harkness at the California Academy of Sciences.[8] Her contributions to botany extended beyond her personal collections, as she played a vital role in the development of the state's botanical knowledge. She also worked with Joseph Sexton to collect seeds in California.[10]

Cooper cared for a large home garden at the Cooper Ranch in Santa Barbara which spanned approximately four acres and containing about 1,000 types of plants. Her garden was a "must-see" attraction for visitors to the region.[11][12][13] One article states "no other ranch or farm in America" was as well known as Cooper Ranch.[2] She is credited with introducing multiple exotic plants into the Santa Barbara area, including bamboo (Bambusa textilis 'gracilis') from the Himalayas and lychee (then named Nephilium litchi) from China.[14] She is also attributed with bringing one of the first dragon trees to California and possibly the United States.[15][14]

Cooper co-led the creation of the Santa Barbara Herbarium exhibit at the Chicago World Fair in 1892.[16][17]

Legacy and contributions

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Photo of a green fern frond in the sun.
Mrs. Cooper's Lip Fern, Myriopteris cooperae, was named after Cooper in 1875.

Her botanical specimens are still held in esteemed institutions, including over 100 specimens at the New York Botanical Garden Steere Herbarium under the name "S. P. Cooper",[18] around 60 specimens the Harvard University Herbarium from 21 plant families under the name "Mrs. Ellwood Cooper".[19] She was referred to as a "noted pioneer" by the Santa Barbara Historical Society for her contributions to the region's botanical history.[20]

The fern Myriopteris cooperae, or Mrs. Cooper's Lip Fern, is named after Cooper by D. C. Eaton, described in 1875. According to Eaton, this was the first plant named for a female botanist.[21] Eaton named many other plants after her.[2]

Personal life and death

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Sarah Paxon Moore Cooper and her husband, Ellwood Cooper, had three children: Henry, Ellen, and Fannie.[3] She died on March 13, 1908,[22] leaving behind a legacy of scientific achievement and botanical exploration.[3][23]

References

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  1. ^ a b Passmore, John Andrew Moore (1897). Ancestors and Descendants of Andrew Moore, 1612-1897. Wickersham printing Company. p. 417. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Morning Press 29 March 1908 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  3. ^ a b c "Ellwood Cooper: In His Own Words by Santa Barbara Historical Museum - Issuu". issuu.com. 1993-06-30. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  4. ^ a b "Morning Press 14 March 1908 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  5. ^ "San Luis Obispo Tribune (Weekly) 21 August 1875 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  6. ^ "Cook, I.N. - Ellwood Hotel | Santa Barbara Historical Museum". sbhistorical.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  7. ^ a b Rudolph, Emanuel D. (1990). "Women Who Studied Plants in the Pre-Twentieth Century United States and Canada". Taxon. 39 (2): 151–205. doi:10.2307/1223016. ISSN 0040-0262.
  8. ^ a b Ewan, Joseph (1987). "Roots of the California Botanical Society". Madroño. 34 (1): 1–17. ISSN 0024-9637.
  9. ^ "Santa Barbara Weekly Press 2 December 1876 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  10. ^ "Tangible memories : Californians and their gardens, 1800-1950 | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  11. ^ Modugno, Tom (2014-10-19). "Who's Ellwood?". Goleta History. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  12. ^ "Ellwood Station: A Historical Landmark of California's Railroad and Agricultural Heritage - South Coast Railroad Museum at the Historic Goleta Depot". 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  13. ^ Yamamura, Jean (2021-12-18). "Goleta Historian Worries over Fate of the 'Ellwood Queen'". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  14. ^ a b Franceschi, F. (1895). Santa Barbara Exotic Flora: A Handbook of Plants from Foreign Countries Grown at Santa Barbara. Verlag nicht ermittelbar.
  15. ^ "San Marcos Growers: Big Dracaena draco in Santa Barbara". www.smgrowers.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  16. ^ "Dr Yates made herbarium for Chicago's world fair". The Morning Press. 1892-09-03. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  17. ^ "Morning Press 8 June 1892 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  18. ^ "Specimen List". The William & Lynda Steere Herbarium. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  19. ^ "Index of Botanical Specimens with collectorid 30814". Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
  20. ^ "Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Issue by Santa Barbara Historical Museum - Issuu". issuu.com. 1965-03-31. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  21. ^ Eaton, D.C. (1875). "New or Little-Known Ferns of the United States". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 6 (5): 33
  22. ^ "Morning Press 14 March 1908 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  23. ^ "Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries". kiki.huh.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
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