Henry N. Bolander

Henry Nicholas Bolander (February 22, 1831 - August 28, 1897) was a German-American botanist and educator. Born in Schlüchtern, Germany, he emigrated to the United States in 1846. He joined his uncle in Columbus, Ohio, and enrolled in Columbus Lutheran Seminary. He graduated from the seminary and was ordained a priest, but never served in a religious position. Instead, he began his career as a teacher at local German-American schools in 1851. In 1857, he married Anna Marie Jenner, a widow who had three children from her previous marriage; together, they eventually added five more children to their family. At the same time, Bolander met a neighbor, Leo Lescre, a famous botanist who emigrated from Switzerland in 1847. Lesker inspired Bolander to show great interest in botany. Bolander began traveling extensively in Ohio and neighboring states to study flora and collect specimens. In 1857, he teamed up with John H. Clippart, Ohio's Secretary of Agriculture, to create an Ohio state plant catalog. However, in 1860, due to poor health, Bolander returned to Germany, and the catalog was never published. Bolander recovered and returned to America the following year, settling this time in San Francisco, California. He taught in the San Francisco School District and met with members of the California Academy of Sciences and the California Geological Survey. In 1864, he replaced William Henry Brewer as a state botanist in California, and over the next few years he conducted extensive research and harvested plants for Review.