Benjamin Dann Walsh
County: Henry
Location: Rest Area, west side of IL 82, 8 miles
south of Cambridge
Erected: 01/01/1968 Erected by:
Illinois Department of Transportation and The Illinois State
Historical Society
Benjamin Dann Walsh, Illinois state entomoligist from 1867 to 1869,
was a pioneer in the application of insect study to agriculture. Born
in England on September 21, 1808, he was intended for the ministry.
However, he chose the literary field and wrote for newspapers and
magazines for several years. A man of varied interest, he published a
pamphlet on univeristy reform and a translation of The Comedies of
Aristophanes. In 1838 he married Rebecca Finn and came to the United
States. For a short time he lived in Chicago and then moved to a farm
near Cambridge where he remained for thirteen years. In 1851 he moved
to Rock Island and engaged in the lumber business until 1858.
Thereafter, he devoted himself to his long time hobby of entomology
and was soon a recognized leader in the field. His first published
entomological work appeared in 1860. In his lifetime he published 385
titles plus an additional 478 in collaboration with Charles V. Riley,
another well-known entomologist. Walsh contributed regularly to the
Prairie Farmer, Valley Farmer, and Illinois Farmer, was an editor of
the Practical Entomologist, and was co-founder and editor of the
American Entomologist with Riley. His private collection numbered
30,000 insects. His insect studies impressed scientists and, perhaps
more important, agriculturists. He was one of the first to advocate
that farmers use scientists methods to control insects. His death on
November 18, 1869 resulted from a railroad accident near Rock Island.
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