RADFORD
RAFINESQUE
RADFORD, William, naval officer, was born
in Fiucastle, Va., March 1, 1808; son of Harriet
Kennerlj' Radford and stepson of Gen. William
Clark (q.v.). He was warranted midshipman in
the U.S. navy, March 1, 1825; served on the
Brandywine, when that frigate carried the Mar-
quis de Lafayette to France; was attached to
the Mediterranean squadron, 1837-28, and to the
sloop Erie of the West India squadron, 1830-31.
He was promoted passed midshipman, June 4,
1831; served on the John Adams of the Mediter-
ranean squadron in 1835; was promoted lieuten-
ant, Feb. 9, 1837, and served on the Warren of
the Pacific squadron, 1845-47. He was stationed
on the western coast of Mexico, 1847-48; com-
manded the party that cut out a Mexican war
vessel at Mazatlan in 1847, and was attached to
the store ship Lexington, 1853-53. He was pro-
moted commander, Sept. 14, 1855; commanded
the Dacotah of the East India squadron, 1860-61;
was promoted captain, July 16, 1862. and com-
modore, April 24, 1863. He
OS. SLOOP COMBCRLA/SO.
commanded the
Cumberland in
1861, and was
on court-martial
duty at Old
Point Comfort,
when that ship
was attacked by
the ram Merri-
mac. He made
every effort to
reach his ship
before the fight-
ing was over, but did not arrive at Newport News
until the Cumberland was sinking. He was exe-
cutive officer at the Brooklyn navy yard, 1862-64;
commanded the New Ironsides, and the iron-clad
division of Admiral Porter's squadron at Fort
Fisher in December, 1864, and January, 1865.
His ability and services in these two attacks were
recognized and praised by Admiral Porter in his
report to the secretary of the navy. He com-
manded the navy yard at Washington, D.C.,
1866-68; was promoted rear-admiral, July 25,
1868; commanded the Mediterranean squadron,
1869-70, and was retired, March 1, 1870. He was
on special duty in W^ashington, D.C., 1871-72,
and died in that city, Jan. 8, 1890.
RAFINESQUE, Constantine Samuel, botanist, was born in Galatz, a suburb of Constantinople, Turkey, Oct. 22, 1783; son of a French merchant from Marseilles. His mother was born in Greece, but was of German parentage, her family name being Schmaltz. In 1784 his parents visited the ports of Asia and Africa, en route to Marseilles, where Constantine spent his boyhood, becoming devoted to the science of botany and filled with a desire to travel. He began an herbarium at
the age of eleven; the following year published
"Notes on the Apennines," as seen from the back
of a mule on a journey from Leghorn to Genoa,
and through his own efforts acquired an exten-
sive knowledge of classical and modern languages.
Upon the outbreak of the French Revolution,
with his brother Anthony, he came to Philadel-
phia, Pa., 1802, where he first served as a
merchant's clerk, devoting his leisure to botany,
and subsequently traveled on foot through Penn-
sylvania and Virginia, making a collection
of botanical specimens. In 1805 he set sail
for Sicily, where he established himself as a
merchant, and where he discovered the medicinal
squill, shipping 200 pounds before the Sicilians
discovered that he was not using it for dye. In
1815 his son, Charles Linnseus, died and in the
same year his wife, Josephine Vaccaro. left
him, taking with her their only daughter,
Emily, who became a singer in Sicilian opera at
the theatre in Palermo. He then returned to the
United States, and on the voyage lost his entire
collection of valuable specimens, books and
manuscripts in the shipwreck on the coast of
Long Island. He traveled throughout the west-
ern part of the country, and in 1818 became
professor of natural history and modern lan-
guages in Transylvania university, Lexington,
Ky., receiving from there the honorary degree of
A.M. After an extensive lecture tour he
eventually settled in Philadelphia again, and
thei-e became so absorbed in the discovery of new
genera and species, that the scientific value of
his work suffered from an undue proportion of
their description. He also devised the present
arrangement of coupon-bonds, which he called
the " divitial invention; " projected many other
varied schemes which never materialized, such
as steam-ploughs, aquatic railroads, artificial
leather; and founded and edited: TJie Atlantic
Journal and Friend of Knowledge, 1832-33; "'An-
nals," and other serials. He was awarded a gold
medal by the French Geological society, on which
was imprinted his only known portrait. His
writings include: Precis de decouvertes et tra-
vaux somiologigues entre ISOO et 18 14 (1814);
Analyse de la nature {\S\b)\ Antikon Botanikon
(1815-40); Ancient History, or Annals of Ken-
tucky (1824); Medical Flora, etc., of the United
States (1828-30); Alsographia Americana (1838);
Genius and Spirit of the Hebrew Bible (1838). etc.
" The Complete Writings of C. S. Rafinesque on
Recent and Fossil Conchology " were edited by
W^illiam G. Binney and George W. Tryon, Jr.,
in 1864, and a review of his botanical writings by
Asa Gray, was published in Silliman's Journal
in 1841. He left an autobiography. His will,
discovered more than half a century after his
death, left his property, which consisted of in-
