American physician, botanist and teacher in Pennsylvania. Abram P. Garber amassed a comprehensive collection of Pennsylvania plant specimens but is best known for his summer trips to Florida which yielded numerous new species and records for that state. Born and raised on his father's farm 'Floral Retreat' in Lancaster County, PA, Garber was introduced to the study of plants from a young age as both of his parents were keen horticulturalists, dedicated to cultivating interesting species in their greenhouse. Attending the newly founded Normal School at Millersville (1856-1865) he taught in the public schools of Lancaster County during the winter months and even became principal of Catasauqua Seminary near Allentown. At this time Garber probably began to develop a herbarium of local plants and also became a member of the Linnaean Society of Lancaster.
On leaving high school Garber matriculated into Lafayette College in Easton, PA, in order to study under Dr Thomas C. Porter, and graduated in 1868. For the following two years he worked as an assistant in natural history for the Washington Literary Society and during this period undertook numerous collecting trips throughout western Pennsylvania, exploring from the shores of Lake Erie to the Virginia state line though the counties west of the Alleghenies with Thomas P. James. Garber spent the rest of his life as a physician. Training in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (1870-1872), while there he wrote a paper entitled "The Medical Plants of Pennsylvania". On qualifying he became the assistant resident physician at the Harrisburg State Lunatic Hospital and in 1875 resigned to set up his own practice in Pittsburgh.
By this time Garber's health was deteriorating from the effects of consumption and he was soon forced to abandon his medical practice in search of a milder climate. Over the years that followed he spent the winters in Florida. Here he made some valuable findings and published a series of papers on his botanical rambles in various parts of Florida, as well as his work "Ferns in South Florida" (1878). Garber also visited the West Indian islands of St. Thomas and Puerto Rico, collecting there too, but on his return from the latter in 1881 his health deteriorated. Despite seeking relief in the mountains of north-central Pennsylvania, he succumbed to his illness and died before making it home. In 1885 his brother sold his collection to Franklin and Marshall College (the North Museum of Natural History and Science), although his duplicates can be found in numerous herbaria at home and abroad. In honour of his contributions about ten species of Floridian plants have been named after him, as has the thistle genus Garberia which was described by Asa Gray.
Sources:
G.C. Keidel, 1914, "Dr. Abram P. Garber: a biographical sketch", Papers read before the Lancaster County Historical Society, 18(8): 199-220.
