Publication InformationFlorence Mch 27 67

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Dear Baird

Just as I was enclosing the two letters which accompany this, I received through the papers, the intelligence of the death of J.H. Alexander which so soon followed that of his old friend Bache. Alexander has long been one of my most valued and intimate friends, and there are very few men left, the death of whom could have affected me more painfully.

You know, of course, his scientific reputation, and, I presume, even better than I, the vast extent of his literary and general attainments. For wide, comprehensive, and exact knowledge, I have never known a man who surpassed him, and, in fact, I have always regarded him as the best educated man I have ever met on either side of the Atlantic. He was, too, a most amiable and generous man, and one of the most genial and delightful companions I have ever

associated with. His letters were as graceful and sprightly as those of cultivated women, and I had no correspondent from whom I derived more pleasure or instruction.

His conduct during the war merited more honourable acknowledgment than, so far as I know, it has received, and I hope some fitting memorial, literary or material, will be prepared in remembrance of him. His correspondence, especially with Bache, must be of great interest, and I am sure a most delightful volume could be gathered out of it.

In his last letter, more than a year ago, he spoke of his wife as being not only paralytic, but blind. Does she survive him, and are his sons doing well? I shall be thankful for any information about him or them, and if I were within reach of material, no labor could be more agreable to me than that of preparing a sketch of his life & character. That, however, must be left to some one more favourably situated. If you have opportunity, I will thank you to offer to any of

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his family the expression of my sincere sympathy.

Yours very trulyG. P. Marsh

Prof Baird

References in this letter:

Baltimore engineer and mathematician, John Henry Alexander (1812-1867) had, in addition, a wide range of interests. He wrote scientific reports on his survey of Maryland geology, a dictionary of the Delaware Indian language, and several books of poems. He also invented scientific instruments.

The geophysicist Alexander Dallas Bache (1806-1867) served as Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey from 1843 to 1867 and was one of the influential members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents from 1846 through the 1859 term.