Harbison, T. G. (Thomas Grant), 1862-1936

Thomas Grant Harbison was born in Union County, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1862. He had an unconventional education that included correspondence courses offered by the University of the City of New York. He earned a B.S. and an A.M. and a Ph.D. from the National University (Chicago) in 1888. During Harbison's youth, he set out on walking tour of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. While visiting Highlands, North Carolina, on this trip, he was said to have been quite fond of the area’s natural beauty that he accepted a position as principal at Highlands Academy in August 1886. In 1896 he married Jessamine Cobb. The following year, George W. Vanderbilt employed Harbison as collector of plants for the Biltmore Herbarium. The herbarium closed in 1903, and in 1905, Harbison began two decades of work for Harvard University as a field botanist for Arnold Arboretum. He traveled extensively between the period of 1905 and 1926 collecting and writing. In 1933 Harbison helped establish a herbarium at the University of North Carolina. The following year, he was named curator of the herbarium where he remained until his death in 1936.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_247_pid_EACP244

Thomas Grant Harbison (1862-1936) was a field botanist who came to Highlands, N.C., in 1866. He later studied botany and forestry in Europe and became a collector for George Vanderbilt's Biltmore herbarium in western North Carolina. He was subsequently engaged by Harvard University as southern field botanist for the Arnold Arboretum. At the same time he collected material for Charles Sprague Sargent's Manual of Trees of North America and brought to light about 100 unknown or little-known species of trees.

Charles Sprague Sargeant (1841-1927) was an arboriculturist and director of the Harvard Botanical Garden, 1872-1879, and Arnold Arboretum, 1873-1927, at Harvard University. He was an editor and author of botanical works including Manual of Trees of North America .

From the guide to the T. G. Harbison Letters, ., 1905-1926, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)