McCarthy, Michael Gerald (M. Gerald or Gerald)

Did not use his first name of Michael. Born at Ottowa, IL; deafened at age 15 by meningitis; graduated Illinois School for the deaf, 1880; B.S. (1887) and honorary D.Sc. (1904) from Gallaudet College. Married Adeline Dixon (hearing). Worked at the Agricultural Experiment Station (Raleigh, NC) and was considered the South Carolina State Botanist, 1887-1897. Wrote Wilmington Flora: A List of Plants Growing about Wilmington, North Carolina (1887); thereafter, lived in IL. In 1892, seriously injured by a train in NC while collecting botanical specimens; his injury eventually cost him his job, and he moved to ME for his health. In his last years, did writing and editing, and altered the spelling of his last name to MacCarthy. Died in and is buried at Skowhegan, ME. Major biography is Gerald McCarthy, Botanist by Elizabeth M. Ehrenfeld (1998).