American botanist who served as curator of the herbarium at the Philadephia Academy of Natural Sciences. Brown came from a family of seven sons and two daughters who lived on the edge of Germantown, Pennsylvania, surrounded by unspoilt countryside. Along with his brothers, Brown developed a keen interest in natural history, especially plants and birds, and formed with other friends a natural history association while still a schoolboy.
On leaving school in 1885 he was employed for some years at the Lehigh Valley Railroad in an office position. He continued to pursue his interest in botany, however, becoming a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1891, where he assisted in the herbarium. He also became involved with the newly established Philadelphia Botanical Club, serving as its first secretary and later as president. He became affiliated with other botanical societies, too, such as the Torrey Botanical Club, and made the acquaintance of respected botanists including N.L. Britton.
In about 1898 he began his scientific career proper as assistant curator of the herbarium at the Philadelphia Academy. He continually added to the collection by undertaking fieldwork in parts of North America including the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Florida Keys and the Canadian Rockies, and also made several trips to Bermuda between 1905 and 1914 (with N.L. Britton). In 1910 he accompanied his brother to Jamaica, and in 1911 was employed as botanist on an expedition to Trinidad and Venezuela. He travelled again with Britton in 1915, to Puerto Rico. Thanks to these trips and his dedication to the Philadelphia herbarium he became an expert in exotic plants.
He maintained his interest in ornithology, serving as president of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club from 1913-1915 and always making observations about the birdlife wherever he went to collect plants. His career was sadly cut short by the onset of serious illness in 1913 and his life came to an end following an accident in 1920.
Sources:
N.L. Britton, 1921, "Stewardson Brown", Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, 22: 110-112
W. Stone, 1921, "Stewardson Brown", Cassinia, 24: 1-7.
