Adam Seybert
Adam Seybert | |
---|---|
Member of theUnited States House of Representativesfor Pennsylvania's1stcongressional district | |
In office 1809-1815 | |
Preceded by | Benjamin Say |
Succeeded by | William Milnor |
In office 1817-1819 | |
Preceded by | William Milnor |
Succeeded by | Thomas Forrest |
Personal details | |
Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,U.S. | May 16, 1773
Died | May 2, 1825 Paris, France | (aged 51)
Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Adam Seybert(May 16, 1773 – May 2, 1825) was an American politician who served as aDemocratic-Republicanmember of theU.S. House of RepresentativesforPennsylvania's 1st congressional districtfrom 1809 to 1815 and 1817 to 1819. He was a faculty member at theUniversity of Pennsylvaniaand amineralogistwho organized the first mineralogy collection in the United States in the 1790s.
Early life and education
[edit]Seybert was born on May 16, 1773, inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.He graduated in 1793 with a degree in medicine from theUniversity of Pennsylvania.He continued his studies inEurope,and attended schools inEdinburgh,Göttingen,andParis.[1]He studied mineralogy at theEcole des Minesand was the first American to study mineralogy in Germany.[2]He returned to Philadelphia with a collection of minerals[3]and worked as a physician for a short time before establishing himself as a "druggist, chemist and apothecary".[2]He was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania.[4]He was elected as a member of theAmerican Philosophical Societyin 1797,[5]and a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciencesin 1824.[6]
Political career
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Adam_Seybert_tombstone.jpg/220px-Adam_Seybert_tombstone.jpg)
In 1809, Seybert was elected to the11th United States Congressas a Democratic-Republican representative forPennsylvania's 1st congressional district[7]to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofBenjamin Say.He was reelected to theTwelfthandThirteenthCongresses. He was chairman of theUnited States House Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Businessduring the Twelfth Congress. He was again elected to theFifteenthCongress[1]and served from 1817 to 1819.[7]He visited Europe from 1819 to 1821 and again in 1824 and settled in Paris, France, where he died May 2, 1825. He was originally interred atPère Lachaise Cemeteryin Paris[1]and re-interred toLaurel Hill Cemeteryin Philadelphia.[8][9]
Mineralogy
[edit]Seybert established the first mineralogy collection in the United States in the 1790s. The collection contained over 1,725 crystals and rocks. The noted mineralogist,Benjamin Silliman,was known to have traveled to Philadelphia to view the collection,[10]and have Seybert analyze minerals from Silliman's collection.[3]In 1812, Seybert sold his mineralogy collection to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.[11]His political career took priority over his interest in mineralogy, and whenParker Cleavelandwrote to him in December of 1813 with questions on mineralogy, he replied that he had lost interest in the science.[11]
Legacy
[edit]After Seyberts' death, his mineralogy collection was put on display at the Free Natural History Museum of theAcademy of Natural Sciencesin Philadelphia.[10]
The University of Pennsylvania philosophy department named a chair in the department the Adam Seybert Professor in Moral and Intellectual Philosophy. The chair was funded by Adam's son, Henry Seybert. The duties of the chair included hosting the Adam Seybert committee which investigated the possibility of thespirit world.The committee met from 1883 to 1887 but was unable to discover any evidence and subsequent holders of the chair were freed from continuing the investigations.[4]
Publications
[edit]- Experiments and Observations on Land and Sea Air,Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1799
- An Inaugural Dissertation: Being an Attempt to Disprove the Doctrine of the Putrefaction of the Blood of Living Animals.,Philadelphia: T. Dobson, 1793
- Statistical Annals: Embracing Views of the Population, Commerce, Navigation, Fisheries, Public Lands, Post-Office Establishment, Revenues, Mint, Military and Naval Establishments, Expenditures, Public Debt and Sinking Fund of the United States of America,Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson & Son, 1818
References
[edit]Citations
- ^abc"Seybert, Adam 1773-1825".bioguide.congress.gov.Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^abGreene 1969,p. 286.
- ^abGordon, Samuel G. (1922).The Mineralogy of Pennsylvania.Philadelphia: Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. p. 5.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^ab"Department History".philosophy.sas.upenn.edu.The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^"APS Member History".search.amphilsoc.org.American Philosophical Society.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^"Adam Seybert".www.amacad.org.American Academy of Arts & Sciences.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^abKestenbaum, Lawrence."Sewards to Seymore".politicalgraveyard.com.The Political Graveyard.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^Robinson, Moncure (March 1883)."Obituary Notice of Henry Seybert".Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.21(114): 260–261.JSTOR982384.Retrieved3 April2024.
- ^"Adam Seybert".www.remembermyjourney.com.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^ab"The Adam Seybert Mineral Collection".Science.83(2142): 49. 17 Jan 1936.doi:10.1126/science.83.2142.49.Retrieved2 April2024.
- ^abGreene 1969,p. 288.
Sources
- Greene, John C. (1969).The Development of Mineralogy in Philadelphia, 1780-1820.The American Philosophical Society.ISBN9781422371428.
External links
[edit]- 1773 births
- 1825 deaths
- 18th-century American physicians
- Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
- American mineralogists
- 19th-century American pharmacists
- Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
- Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
- Chemists from Pennsylvania
- Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Members of the American Philosophical Society
- Mines Paris - PSL alumni
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni
- Politicians from Philadelphia
- Scientists from Philadelphia
- University of Pennsylvania faculty
- Pharmacists from Pennsylvania