McDowell, Silas, 1795-1879

Silas McDowell was a scientific farmer and writer of Franklin, Macon County, N.C.

Silas McDowell (1795-1879) was a tailor, farmer, writer, and scientific observer of Franklin, N.C. He was born in York District, S.C., in 1795, but was raised by his maternal grandfather in Rutherford County, N.C. From 1816 to 1846, McDowell worked as a tailor, first in Morganton and later in Macon County, N.C., where he also served a clerk of the superior court for nearly sixteen years. On his farm near Franklin, he raised and sold apples, fruit tree grafts, and rhododendrons. In addition, he served as a guide to John Lyon, Moses Ashley Curtis, and several other botanists touring and collecting specimens in western North Carolina.

McDowell was largely a self-taught scientist. He wrote extensively on a wide variety of scientific and literary subjects, including botany, horticulture, mineralogy, geology, zoology, and local and state history. He was particularly interested in the phenomenon of thermal belts in western North Carolina.

McDowell died on his farm near Franklin in July 1879.