Massey, W. F. (Wilbur Fisk), 1839-1923

Horticulturist, educator and agricultural journalist. Massey was born in Onancock, Virginia. He attended Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He went west in the late 1850s to work on railroads. Upon his return to Virginia he served in the Civil War. After the war Massey became an administrator in the Kent County, Maryland, school system and developed a nursery and florist business. In 1884 he went to the Miller School near Charlottesville, Virginia as a professor of horticulture. He joined the first faculty of North Carolina State Universityand remained on the faculty from 1889 to1901. He also served as the horticulturist of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Massey left North Carolina to become an editor for the Practical Farmer published in Philadelphia. He continued his career in agricultural journalism with publications such as the Southern Planter, Southern Farm Gazette, Market Grower's Journal, Southern Agriculturalist, and the Progressive Farmer.

From the description of Wilbur Fisk Massey Papers, 1857-2000 [manuscript] (North Carolina State University). WorldCat record id: 493285002

Wilbur Fisk Massey was a horticulturist, educator and agricultural journalist. He was born in Onancock, Virginia, in 1839. He attended Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He went west in the late 1850s to work on railroads and upon his return to Virginia, he served in the Civil War. After the war, Massey became an administrator in the Kent County, Maryland school system and developed a nursery and florist business. In 1884, he went to the Miller School near Charlottesville, Virginia as a professor of horticulture. He joined the first faculty of North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (later North Carolina State University), 1889-1901, and served as the horticulturist of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Massey left North Carolina to become an editor for the Practical Farmer, published in Philadelphia. He continued his career in agricultural journalism with publications such as: the Southern Planter, Southern Farm Gazette, Market Grower's Journal, Southern Agriculturalist, and the Progressive Farmer .

From the guide to the Wilbur Fisk Massey Papers, 1857 - 2000, (Special Collections Research Center)