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The Mt. Adams Sun, Bingen, WA., July 5, 1956, page 1

WILHELM SUKSDORF'S WORK IS SUBJECT OF RESEARCH BULLETIN

Local residents are much interested in a recent publication devoted to the life of Wilhelm (William) Suksdorf, one of the most distinguished citizens this area has ever known. His fame was international in scope.
Four times a year the State College of Washington in Pullman publishes a Research Studies, devoted each time to a different distinguished work in the fields of pure art and science. The December issue, 1955, is devoted to Wilhelm Nicholas Suksdorf, his biography and scientific study in the field of botany. The author, Dr. Harold St. John formerly at the State College of Washington Herbarium and presently Senior Professor of Botany at the University of Hawaii, knew William Suksdorf well and honored his careful and extensive research in botany.
The shy somewhat retiring scientist was not well known in his own locality; the depth of his research was little appreciated by those who were nearest to him.
The Suksdorf family came from the countryside about 20 miles southwest of Kiel, Germany. Detlev Hinrich Suksdorf and Louise Schroder were married in this coastal area near the Baltic Sea and here were born their nine children. The sixth, Wilhelm, was born in 1850. There were seven sons and two daughters, both of whom died before 1860. The sons all lived to be old men.
When Wilhelm was 8 years old the family moved to America and settled in the rich farming lands of Iowa near relatives who had come there earlier. Wilhelm's first love of gathering flowers flourished here while driving the cows to and from the pasture. He was a small and sickly child and suffered from nervous headaches. His health was never strong.
Schooling was rather incidental in those pioneer days but the Common school, as it was then called, was made available to the Suksdorf children. Wilhelm attended the classes given and was found to be a faithful student. His work, even as a child, was characterized by careful and diligent attention to precise detail, though perhaps not brilliant. For four winters he and his younger brother Theodor attended a German private school. Through-out his life he felt at home with the German language and preferred it when writing though he spoke and wrote impeccable English as well. One winter he attended Griswold College in nearby Davenport and during of the school year 1870-71 he attended Grinnell College at Grinell.
In 1872 two of his brothers, Frederick and Hinrich, left home to go west. They were fascinated by the region around the Columbia and wrote glowing accounts of the beautiful countryside. It reminded them of their beloved Rhine River in Germany. It is was from these accounts that the family decided to pull up stakes and make the move to the banks of the Columbia. Wilhelm came in advance of the rest of his family so he might attend classes at the University of California in the fall of 1874. During the summer vacation of 1875 he traveled by steamer from San Francisco to Portland and by steamer again up the Columbia to White Salmon. Although he returned to Berkeley for another year of study he again joined his family during his summer vacation.
By this time he was thoroughly aware of his interest in Botany, undefiled. He never attempted to combine it with Agricultural experiments or branch out into other scientific aspects. Farm work was a chore to him which he did out of a sense of duty to earn his keep. He was born with a love of flowers and his mind sought the knowledge of each additional kind of plant he saw. He had the instincts of a collector and gathered and pressed and dried specimens whenever he could. He was pioneering a new absorbing a phase of botany. He constantly sought to improve his collections, to advance his knowledge. This flora of the Northwest had been studied but very slightly at this time.
Through letters he became acquainted with the famous Dr. Asa Gray of Harvard University, world known authority in botany. He began sending specimens to the learned scientist for identification and consultation. He took long and lonely trips, often with only a horse and some simple food supplies, into the region around Mt. Adams collecting new plants. Occasionally he sold botanical specimens but this was neither a profound love of his, nor a remunerative enterprise.
The first offer which Dr. Gray tendered him to become his assistant, Suksdorf refused, pledging poor health. Later he accepted on a temporary basis. From 1886 to 1889 he worked at Cambridge with Dr. Gray and others in the Harvard Herbarium. But the love of the west and life among the forest appealed more to him than a professorship in a great University.
Until his tragic death he continued to make trips into the mountains, to gather flowers, classify and preserve them. He lived alone among his plants. Often he shared the board of his brothers but for the most of his life he lived in a small house of his own, the upper story of which was devoted to storage for his flowers.
The State College of Washington conferred upon him in 1928 at the nomination of Dr. St. John an honorary degree of Master of Science in Botany. Dr. St. John and others fully expected that he would refuse to accept and fail to appear. They made elaborate plans to come to Bingen by auto and kidnap him for the ceremonies but fortunately they did not have to go to this extreme. Suksdorf appeared on time, dressed in fine new clothes.
His death was sudden, violent and tragic. As he was flagging down the early morning train, west bound out of Bingen on October 3, 1932 he was struck by the engine and thrown out against the depot walls. He died instantly.