Friedrich Lüders

Friedrich Georg Jakob Lüders (English: Frederick George Jacob Lueders; born October 3, 1813 in Hamburg ; † December 21, 1904 in Sauk City ) was a German-American gardener and naturalist.

Live and act

Friedrich Lüders was the son of a Hamburg gardener. He completed his education at a Hamburg private school. He then took courses in botany at the Hamburg Botanical Garden . After graduating, Lüders began to perfect his knowledge in the commercial and seed gardening of Friedrich Adolph Haage in Erfurt . After returning to his hometown, his abilities aroused the interest of the Hamburger Naturforschende Gesellschaft , which offered him a scientific research trip to the United States . In order to improve his knowledge of astronomy and navigation, Lüders then completed an apprenticeship as a seaman, which he completed with the rank of first mate.

It is not known when Lüders arrived in the United States. He stayed on the east coast for a while, and then turned west with a letter of recommendation from Asa Gray . He reached Green Bay in Wisconsin via the Great Lakes . He finally arrived in Sauk City on the boat of a French fur trader . There he spent the rest of the summer gathering plants. Surprised by the early onset of winter, he had to give up his plan to continue to the Mississippi River and worked as a corn husk for the winter. In March 1842, Lüders was able to continue his journey. In St. Louis he met George Engelmann . During the summer of 1842, Lüders collected in the western part of Missouri . In May 1843, he joined a larger group of emigrants heading for Oregon . In September 1843, John Charles Fremont saw Lüders lose all of his collection and equipment when his canoe capsized. Fremont named the place "Luders Bay" in his honor.

After this mishap, Lüders decided to return to his homeland to re-equip himself. He sailed from the mouth of the Columbia River in February 1844 to Hamburg, where he arrived in November 1844. However, the financial circumstances of his family did not allow him to do so. Accompanied by his wife, Lüders was back in the Mississippi area at Christmas 1844. He lived in St. Louis until 1851 when he settled as a farmer and gardener in Sauk City.

For many years Lüders recorded his meteorological observations in detail. In 1884 the University of Wisconsin published its observations of the northern lights .

Herman Frederick Lueders († 1904), one of his sons, was also interested in botanicals.

Fonts (selection)

• The law of interaction in space . JF Richter / Steiger, Hamburg / New York 1870.
• The Northern or Northern Lights as they are and what they are: A statement of facts about the same, and the like. phenomena related to this d. The atmosphere; according to observations in the west d. United. States of North America . JF Richter / Steiger, Hamburg / New York 1870.
• List of 608 Auroras Observed at Sauk City, Wisconsin, from 1859 to 1884 . In: Publications of the Washburn Observatory of the University of Wisconsin . Volume 2, Part 20, Democrat Printing Co., State Printers, Madison 1884, pp. 326-343, (on-line) .
• A Memorial to the Representatives of Physical Astronomy to the Friend of the Progress of this Science . Nelson & North, Printers, Madison 1887.

proof

literature

• Clara T. Runge: Frederick George Jacob Lueders: Naturalist and Philosopher, 1818–1904 . In: The Wisconsin Magazine of History . Volume 15, Number 3, 1932, pp. 350-355, JSTOR 4630880 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Life of John Charles Fremont . Ticknor and Fields, Boston 1856, p. 133, (online)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .