1860 - James J. H. Gregory - Seedsman, Marblehead, Massachusetts

Marblehead, watercolor by Maurice Prendergast,

A New England seedsman, James Gregory introduced some great vegetables, first among them is my favorite, Hubbard Squash!  I didn't realize I hadn't posted much about him until I checked the Seedsman Index last night to add a link to a photo of his Marblehead seed farm workers.  

Another reason I like Gregory is that he took cabbage seriously.  I love engravings of cabbage, and I crave cabbage as a coleslaw. I don't cook it EVER as my husband hates it.

(Ah, well, he is worth the compromise.)

First, here is a brief biography from Liberty Hyde Bailey's The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, Vol. 3 -

Gregory, James J. H., farmer, seedsman, and author, was born at Marblehead, Massachusetts, November 7, 1827, and died February 20, 1910.  

He was educated in the public schools at Marblehead, two years at Middlebury College, and graduated from Amherst College in 1850. He taught in Marblehead, Hingham and Lunenberg.  

The starting of the seed business was almost an accident. He was reading the"New England Farmer" and saw the request for a good winter squash, and as his father had recently raised some splendid squashes from seed that "Old Marm Hubbard" had given him, he sent the inquirer some of this seed. 

The man was so well pleased that he wrote articles for several papers extolling these squashes, and soon the Gregory Seed Business was thriving, sending Hubbard squash seed to all parts of the United States.  

Naturally the business started in the home, the attic being used for the purpose; in a very short time it was necessary to move to larger quarters. He branched out with other seed, both vegetable and flower, and at the time of his death was carrying on one of the largest seed establishments in the country.  

During his career he introduced many new varieties of vegetables, several of which are the standards in the market today. His seed-farms comprised over 400 acres where he grew pedigreed stock; he always felt that by growing his own seeds he was less liable to mistakes and could, himself, select the most perfect types. His reputation for choice varieties was so renowned that the firm became the headquarters for stock seeds for other well-known concerns. 

He wrote and distributed many thousands of copies of treatises on various agricultural subjects, such as: 

"Onion Raising," 1865; "Squashes: How to Grow Them," 1867; "Cabbages and Cauliflower," 1870; "Carrots, Mangold Wurtzels and Sugar Beets," 1877; "Fertilizers," 1885. 

In his early life he lectured extensively on agricultural and horticultural subjects. 

Mr. Gregory was a philanthropist of renown. He gave large sums of money for the establishment of southern schools and colleges, the Gregory Institute of Wilmington, North Carolina, being founded by him. He served his native town in many responsible capacities and filled many public offices. 

- Edgar Gregory.