Gulick, John Thomas

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George John Romanes,(1848–1894), and John Thomas Gulick,(1832-1923),were both evolutionary biologists.

From the guide to the John Thomas Gulick correspondence with George J. Romanes, 1887-1893, 1887-1893, (American Philosophical Society)

John Thomas Gulick was a missionary to China and Japan, a naturalist, and author ("Evolution, Racial and Habitudinal," 1905).

From the description of Papers, 1853-1898. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 122632838

John Thomas Gulick (1832-1923) was born at Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii. The son of Rev. Peter Johnson and Fanny Hinckley (Thomas) Gulick, early American missionaries to Hawaii, he travelled extensively as a missionary and contributed to the early development of evolutionary science, beginning with his study of Hawaiian land snails.

Gulick studied at Punahou Academy in Honolulu and the preparatory department of the University of the City of New York. After a short time in California, where he worked as a miner (1849-1850) he graduated from Williams College in 1859 and the Union Theological Seminary in 1861. In 1862 he travelled to Japan, supporting himself by teaching and photography which trying to convince the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to begin work in the area. From 1864 to 1899 he worked as a Board missionary in various locations, including Peking and Kalgan in China and Kobe and Osaka in Japan. Returning to the United States in 1900, he studied problems related to evolution at Oberlin, Ohio.

Gulick maintained that perfect harmony is possible between science and religion, and that the two major themes of his life – missionary work and evolutionary biology – were perfectly compatible. His son and biographer notes: “The scientist’s psychology would be but half told without the portrayal of the almost mystical religious awe with which great scientific truths were approached. And the development … of a carefully thought philosophy of life would be unaccounted for without an exposition of the scientific concepts that gave an impetus to changing stand-points toward religion and the problems of human conduct. To a singular degree the diversity of Gulick’s achievements sprang out of a unity of personal character and purpose.”

Gulick was twice married. His first wife, Emily de la Cour, died in 1874. With his second wife, Frances A. Stevens, he had two children, Addison and Louise. In 1906 Gulick returned to Hawaii to devote himself to the study of social problems. He died there in 1923, at the age of ninety-one.

From the guide to the John Thomas Gulick papers, 1853-1898, 1853-1898, (American Philosophical Society)

Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873. person
associatedWith American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. corporateBody
associatedWith Dallinger, W. H. (William Henry), 1842-1909 person
associatedWith Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882. person
associatedWith Flower, William Henry, 1831-1899. person
associatedWith Gulick, Edward Leeds, 1862-1931 person
associatedWith Gulick, Peter Johnson 1797- person
correspondedWith Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878 person
associatedWith Hyatt, Alpheus, 1838-1902. person
associatedWith Lawrence, George Newbold, 1806-1895. person
associatedWith Linnean Society of London. corporateBody
associatedWith MacAlister, Donald, 1854-1934 person
associatedWith Moulton, J. Fletcher (John Fletcher), 1844-1921 person
associatedWith Romanes, George John, 1848-1894. person
associatedWith Rowell, Joseph Cummings, 1853-1938. person
associatedWith Swett, Charles E person
associatedWith Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Hawaii
Oregon
San Francisco (Calif.)
Japan
Japan
California
Subject
Evolution
Gold mines and mining
Missions
Mollusks
Mollusks
Natural history
Scientists
Shells
Shells
Occupation
Naturalist
Activity

Person

Birth 1832-03-13

Death 1923-04-14

Americans

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