Greene Smith

{{short description|American ornithologist}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = Greene Smith | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image =  | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = 1842 | birth_place = Peterboro, New York | death_date = 1886 (aged 44) | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | residence = | citizenship = | fields = Ornithology | workplaces = Cornell University | patrons = Angelina Grimke and Theodore Weld | education = Harvard University | alma_mater = | thesis_title =  | thesis_url =  | thesis_year =  | doctoral_advisor =  | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | parents = Gerrit Smith<br/>Ann Carroll Fitzhugh | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = }}

'''Greene Smith''' (1842–1886) was an American amateur scientist and taxidermist with a specific interest in ornithology. His father was Gerrit Smith.<ref name=SUL>{{cite web|title=Greene Smith Papers|url=http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/s/smith_gr.htm|work=Special Collections Research Center|publisher=Syracuse University Library|accessdate=28 October 2012}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Greene Smith was born in 1842. He was the son of Gerrit Smith. He started bird watching when he was nine.<ref name=smithfield>{{cite web|title=Green Smith and his Magnificent Bird House|url=http://www.sca-peterboro.org/files/GreenSmithBirdhouse.pdf|publisher=Smithfield Community Association|accessdate=28 October 2012|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225928/http://www.sca-peterboro.org/files/GreenSmithBirdhouse.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As a child he was educated by Angelina Grimke and Theodore Weld.<ref name="CR" /> Smith moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to attend Harvard.<ref name="CR">{{cite web |title=Bird Man of Peterboro |url=http://www.cazenoviarepublican.com/events/2012/apr/14/3066/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306213952/http://www.cazenoviarepublican.com/events/2012/apr/14/bird-man-of-peterboro-historic-peterboro/?et=3628 |archive-date=2016-03-06 |accessdate=29 October 2012 |publisher=Cazenovia Republican}}</ref>{{dead|date=November 2023}}<ref name="Sernett2002" /> After two years he was sent back to his hometown of Peterboro, New York, due to his smoking and drinking habits.<ref name="CR" /><ref name="Sernett2002">{{cite book|author=Milton C. Sernett|title=North Star Country: Upstate New York and the Crusade for African American Freedom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kG8WtwttMmoC&pg=PA302|accessdate=28 October 2012|date=1 January 2002|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2914-6|page=302}}</ref>

He served in the Union Army from 1864 to 1865. In 1875, he was the president of the National Sportsmen's Association. He 1877 he was president of the New York State Association for Conservation of Fish and Game.<ref name="CR" />

His wife was Elizabeth "Bessie" Smith.<ref name="SUL" /><ref name="CR" /> Smith died of tuberculosis in 1886.<ref name="SUL" /><ref name="CR" />

==Ornithology and the Bird House==

Smith was a professor of ornithology at Cornell University. He built a museum in 1863, the Greene Smith Museum, which was three stories and housed his collection of bird specimens. The house is also nicknamed the Bird House. It was located in Peterboro, New York.<ref name=SUL/> The bird house had central heating, a rarity at that time for homes. The plumbing was made of marble, the paneling was birch and the windows were stained glass. It also had a staircase made of mahogany.<ref name=smithfield/> He donated 362 bird specimens to Cornell in 1869. He did taxidermy work for the Smithsonian Institution. He was friends with Spencer Baird and J.G. Bell.<ref name=CR/> Smith died in 1886 while trying to compile an annotated catalog for his taxidermy bird collection.<ref name=smithfield/>

==Legacy==

The majority of the birds, eggs, and nests in his museum collection—over 2,000 specimens—went to Harvard, Colgate University, or Cornell University.<ref name=SUL/><ref name=smithfield/> At the time of his death, his collection of hummingbird specimens were estimated to be worth $75,000. The collection was originally offered to the New York City Parks Department but was rejected due to what was described as by ''The Ornithologist'' at the time as "their ignorance of its value".<ref name="Ornithologist and Oölogist">{{cite book|title=Ornithologist and Oölogist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvgeAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA122|accessdate=28 October 2012|year=1884|page=122}}</ref> His papers are held in the collection of Syracuse University Library.<ref name=SUL/> The house collapsed around 1975.<ref name="Bird House">{{cite web|title=Bird House|url=http://mercantile.gerritsmith.org/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21|work=NoteCards|publisher=Peterboro Mercantile|accessdate=29 October 2012|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040458/http://mercantile.gerritsmith.org/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21|url-status=dead}}</ref> The former ruins of the museum are located on the grounds of the Gerrit Smith Estate.<ref name=NPS>{{cite web|title=Gerrit Smith Estate|url=http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/ny/gerrit.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102180552/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/ny/gerrit.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 2, 2012|work=National Historic Landmark Designation|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=28 October 2012}}</ref> The Greene Smith Society was founded in his memory. The Society focuses on citizen scientists in the United States.<ref name=GENHL>{{cite web|title="Keep It Natural: A Naturalist's Calling and His Call to Citizen-Scientists" Peterboro's Greene Smith Society Features CNY Naturalist John Weeks|url=http://www.gerritsmith.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:keepitnatural&catid=47:newsarchivce&Itemid=86|work=Archived|publisher=Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark|accessdate=29 October 2012}}</ref>{{dead|date=November 2023}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Greene}} Category:1842 births Category:1886 deaths Category:Taxidermists Category:American ornithologists Category:People from Peterboro, New York Category:Union army soldiers Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Category:Cornell University faculty Category:Ornithological citizen science Category:People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Category:Smithsonian Institution people Category:Scientists from New York (state) Category:Tuberculosis deaths in the United States Category:Gerrit Smith