Charles Torrey Simpson (June 3, 1846 in Tiskilwa, Illinois – December 17, 1932 in Lemon City, Miami, Florida) was an American botanist, malacologist, and conservationist. He retired to Florida where he became known for conservation.
Scientific work
His initial scientific interesting concerned collecting shells and he began as a conchologist. Although he had little more than a high school education he became well regarded in the field and in 1889 was hired by the Smithsonian Institution. He went on to work at the National Museum of Natural History from 1899 to 1902. He was interested mainly in freshwater bivalves and also in land snails of Florida.
Life in Florida
In Florida Simpson gained the nickname "The Sage of Biscayne Bay" and wrote several books about tropical plant life around Miami. His backyard contained a tropical hardwood hammock, which he estimated he showed to approximately 50,000 people. Though he tended to avoid controversy regarding development, in Ornamental Gardening in Florida, he wrote, "Mankind everywhere has an insane desire to waste and destroy the good and beautiful things this nature has lavished upon him". In 1927 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Miami. Simpson Park Hammock near Downtown Miami is named in his honor.
Bibliography
(incomplete) 1916. Ornamental gardening in Florida. (self published), Little River, Florida. 198 pp. 1920. In lower Florida wilds; a naturalist's observations on the life, physical geography, and geology of the more tropical part of the state. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London. 404 pp. 1923. Out of Doors in Florida. E. B. Douglas, Miami. 412 pp. 1932. Florida Wild Life. Macmillan, New York. 199 pp.