Citizenship United States Role Author Nationality United States | Author abbrev. (zoology) Fields Entomology Name Annie Slosson | |
Institutions New York Entomological Society Alma mater Hartford Female Seminary Died 1926, New York City, New York, United States Books Fishin' Jimmy, Story‑tell Lib, A Local Colorist, Dumb foxglove, Seven dreamers | ||
Education Hartford Female Seminary | ||
Annie Trumbull Slosson (18 May 1838 Stonington, Connecticut - 4 October 1926 New York City) was an American author and entomologist.
Contents
Life
She was the daughter of Gurdon Trumbull (1790 - 1875) and Sarah Ann (Swan) Trumbull of Stonington, Connecticut. Her given name was Anna, but she appears to have used Annie consistently. Her father, Gurdon Trumbull was originally from Norwich. He was a merchant and local politician in Stonington, and made a fortune in the whale and seal fisheries active in New England at that time. Annie Trumbull was the ninth of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. In 1852 the family moved to Hartford, where she attended public schools and Hartford Female Seminary. She was married in Hartford on 27 June 1867 (another date given is 6 June) to Edward Slosson (circa 1814 - 1871), a lawyer and politician in New York City. They had no children. Annie Trumbull Slosson died at her home (26 Gramercy Park, New York City) on 4 October 1926 and was buried in Hartford, Connecticut (Leonard, 1914; McAtee et al., 1940; Tolley-Stokes, 2008).
Family members
Several others of her family were notable in literary, scientific, and religious life (McAtee et al., 1940; Tolley-Stokes, 2008):
Works
Slosson is considered a significant author in the "local color" (Regionalism) movement of the late 19th century (Edwin Mellen Press, 2009). Most of her works were short stories, many published in The Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Bazaar. Some were collected into book form. Literary works by Annie Trumbull Slosson include:
Noted angling story teller, Henry Van Dyke said this about Fishin' Jimmy:(Van Dyke 1932)
The loveliest of all her simple narratives is that which I have chosen to stand near the end of this book,--a kind of benediction on anglers.
Entomology
Slosson devoted much of her time to entomology later in life, especially after 1886, though she had no formal college-level training in entomology (Tolley-Stokes, 2008; Nadel, 2005). In 1892, she was one of the founding members of the New York Entomological Society (and its first female member), and it met for some time in her home in New York City. Later, through her efforts, The Society met at the American Museum of Natural History. She wrote numerous scientific papers in the field of entomology, and a few in botany as well (Davis, 1926). Her entomological papers were published in a number of journals, including Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society, Entomological News, Canadian Entomologist, and Entomologica Americana (Tolley-Stokes, 2008). Slosson collected extensively in Florida (especially near Miami) as well as New York City and the White Mountains of New Hampshire (Nadel, 2005; Tolley-Stokes, 2008). Over one-hundred newly described insects bear the species epithet slossoni (or slossonae) in her honor (Edwin Mellen Press 2009; Hadley), often because she collected the first specimen. Her collection of some 35,000 insects was donated to the American Museum of Natural History (Hadley; Tolley-Stokes, 2008). Some examples of insects named for her include:
She described, herself, several species, including:
By the time of her death in 1926, she was known for her entomological work, but her fiction was largely forgotten (Edwin Mellen Press, 2009).