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A. J. Grout

Grout, A. J. (Abel Joel), 1867-1947

Abel Joel Grout was a bryologist and expert on mosses. He was born in Newfane, Vermont, on March 24, 1867 to Joel Grout, a farmer, and his wife Martha (Pike) (Birth record). Abel graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Philosophy in 1890 (School yearbook) and received a doctorate from Columbia University in 1897. He married Grace E. Preston on July 1, 1893 (Marriage record). He taught high school teaching for 40 years beginning in Plymouth, New Hampshire then in Brooklyn, New York, and ending in Staten Island, New York. (The Bryologist article).

Grout was the first editor of The Bryologist, a scientific journal for those interested in bryology, the study of mosses, liverworts, hornworts and lichens. In 1898, he was a co-founder of the Sullivant Moss Chapter, later known as the Sullivant Moss Society and even later as the American Bryological and Lichenological Society, a society for in those interested in the study of Bryology. Grout wrote and self-published books on mosses beginning in 1900 with, Mosses with a Hand-Lens : a Non-Technical Handbook of the Common Mosses of the Northeastern United States and later in 1940, Moss Flora of North America, North of Mexico. In 1944, Beatrix Farrand purchased a number of Grout's books possibly for the library at Dumbarton Oaks and received a receipt for the purchase, G2c:AJ Grout 1944.09.23.

Dr. Grout retired from teaching in 1930 and purchased a home in Manatee, Florida where he and his wife, Grace would winter from November to May. The receipt sent to Beatrix Farrand in 1944 had at the bottom, "Monatee, Fla. Nov -- May" indicating where he would be during those months, G2c:AJ Grout 1944.09.23. Both Grout's health and that of his wife's deteriorated in the 1940s. His wife died, February 14, 1947 on Valentine's Day. He followed on March 27, 1947 just 38 days after his wife and 3 days after his 80th birthday.

 

References:

Steere, William Campbell. "Abel Joel Grout (1867-1947)," The Bryologist, 51 (1948): 201-212; JSTOR.org (http://www.jstor.org/stable/3239159, accessed March 29, 2015). 

Birth Record for Abel Joel Grout, 24 March 1867. State of Vermont, Vital Records, 1727-1908, page 1177; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, accessed March 29, 2015); citing New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

1940 United States Federal Census (Population Schedule), Manatee, Manatee, Florida; p. 11A, Line 30, Abel J. Grout household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, accessed March 29, 2015); citing NARA, T627, roll 599.

Marriage Record for Abel J. Grout, 1 July 1893. State of Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908, page 707; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, accessed March 29, 2015); citing New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.