Charles Torrey Simpson (June 3, 1846 – December 17, 1932) was an American botanist, malacologist, and conservationist. He retired to Florida where he became known for conservation.
Scientific work
His initial scientific interests included collecting shells, and he began as a conchologist. Although he had little more than a high school education he became well regarded in the field and in 1889 was hired by the Smithsonian Institution. He went on to work at the National Museum of Natural History from 1899 to 1902. He was interested mainly in freshwater bivalves and also in land snails of Florida.
Life in Florida
In Florida Simpson gained the nickname "The Sage of Biscayne Bay" and wrote several books about tropical plant life around Miami. His backyard contained a tropical hardwood hammock, which he estimated he showed to approximately 50,000people. Though he tended to avoid controversy regarding development, in Ornamental Gardening in Florida, he wrote, "Mankind everywhere has an insane desire to waste and destroy the good and beautiful things this nature has lavished upon him". In 1927 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Miami. Simpson Park Hammock near Downtown Miami is named in his honor.
1887. "Contributions to the Mollusca of Florida". Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences5: 45-72.
1888. "Notes on some Indian Territory shells". Proceedings of the United States National Museum11: 449-454.
1889. "Contributions to the Mollusca of Florida". Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences5: 63-72.
1891. "On the means of distribution of Unionidae in the Southeastern United States". Nautilus5(2): 15-17.
1891. "Notes on Unionidae". Nautilus5(8): 86-88.
1892. "On a revision of the American Unionidae". Nautilus6(7): 78-80.
1892. "Notes on the Unionidae of Florida and the southeastern states". Proceedings of the United States National Museum15(911): 405-436 + 26 plates.
1893. "On the relationships and distribution of the North American Unionidae, with notes on the West Coast species". American Naturalist27(316): 353-358.
1893. "A review of Von Ihering's classification of the Unionidae and Mutelidae". Nautilus7(2):17-21.
1893. "A reply to professor Wheeler". Nautilus7(2): 22-23.
1893. "On some fossil unios and other fresh-water shells from the drift at Toronto, Canada: With a review of the distribution of the Unionidae of northeastern North America". Proceedings of the United States National Museum16(952): 591-595.
1894. "Types of Anodonta dejecta rediscovered". Nautilus8(5): 52.
1895. "On the validity of the genus Margaritana". American Naturalist29(340): 336-344.
1896. "On the Mississippi Valley Unionidae found in the St. Lawrence and Atlantic drainage areas". American Naturalist30(353): 379-384.
1896. "The mussel scars of Unios". Nautilus10(3): 29-30.
1896. "Notes on the parvus group of Unionidae and its allies". Nautilus10(5): 57-59.
1896. "The classification and geographical distribution of the pearly fresh-water mussels". Proceedings of the United States National Museum18(1068): 295-343 + 1 map.
1896. "Description of four new Triassic unios from the Staked Plains of Texas". Proceedings of the United States National Museum18(1072): 381-385.
1897. "Notes on the classification of the Unios". Nautilus11(2): 18-23.
1899. "The pearly fresh-water mussels of the United States; their habits, enemies, and diseases, with suggestions for their protection". Bulletin of the U.S. Fish Commission. [Issued separately as U.S. Bureau of Fisheries Document 413]. 18(1898): 279-288.
1900. "Unionidae of Indiana". (Review). Nautilus14(8): 95-96.
1900. "New and unfigured Unionidae". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia52(1900): 74-86 + 5 plates.
↑La Plante, Leah (1995), "The Sage of Biscayne Bay: Charles Torrey Simpson's Love Affair with South Florida", Tequesta, No. LV, p.61–82.Archived December 26, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
Johnson, R. I. (1975). "Simpson's unionid types and miscellaneous unionid types in the National Museum of Natural History". Special Occasional Papers, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 4: 1-56 + 3 plates.
Malone R. J. (October 1996) "Reviewed work(s): Florida's Pioneer Naturalist: The Life of Charles Torrey Simpson by Elizabeth Ogren Rothra". Environmental History1(4): 98.
