John Caspar Wister (March 19, 1887 – December 27, 1982) was one of the United States' most highly honored horticulturists.[1]
A member of Philadelphia's prominent Wister family, John was the youngest of five children born to William Rotch Wister and Mary Rebecca Eustis in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. His sister Mary Channing Wister would marry her cousin Owen Wister, the author of "The Virginian".
As a small boy, John followed his family's gardener around their Belfield and Wister Estates, trying to learn anything and everything he could about plants.
In 1909, Wister graduated from Harvard University. He continued his studies at Harvard's School of Landscape Architecture, supplemented with courses at the New Jersey Agricultural College. He worked in landscape architecture offices in New York and Philadelphia until he enlisted on July 10, 1917, as a private in the Army.
Wister trained at the University of Pennsylvania and at Augusta Arsenal before serving in Jonchery, France, with Advance Ordnance Depot 4 during World War I.[2] According to letters he wrote to his family during the war, Wister served most of his time in various ordnance departments, being promoted to Sergeant of Ordnance in November 1917. Wister never strayed far from plants and flowers, using his leave time to visit the gardens of Europe. He would often send plants back to his friends, the Arthur Hoyt Scotts, noted garden enthusiasts whom he met in 1915. He was honorably discharged from the Army on May 10, 1919.
Wister helped organize the American Iris Society in 1920 and served as its first president for 14 years.[3]
John Caspar Wister's research in cross-breeding produced hundreds of new hybrid species of common plants and flowers. In addition to the scientific research he performed on plants, he devoted a great deal of his time to sharing his knowledge of plants and the beauty he found in them with those around him. One of his many contributions to local Philadelphia horticulture was the campus of Swarthmore College, where he worked for more than 50 years. In order to recognize the work of Wister's good friends, the Arthur Hoyt Scotts, Swarthmore established the Arthur Hoyt Scott Horticultural Foundation and named Wister the foundation's first director in 1930. The Foundation's 240acres public garden, with its 5,000 species of trees and shrubs adorns the Swarthmore campus, 40acres of which were landscaped by Wister himself. He grouped plant families together within the garden to establish a more practical plan. Swarthmore College awarded Wister an honorary doctor of science degree in 1942 for his work with the college. Wister also operated a landscape architecture business out of the now-demolished Wister Mansion just off of La Salle University's campus in Philadelphia.
In 1946, Wister became the first director of the 600acres John J. Tyler Arboretum in Lima, PA, serving as president of both the arboretum and bird sanctuary until 1968. In addition to this organization, he was active in most major scientific and conservation groups and was a member of about 50 horticultural societies and 30 scientific organizations. He served as secretary of the American Rose Society, president and founder of the American Iris Society, and secretary for 24 years of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. He was also intimately connected with the John Bartram Association in Philadelphia.
Wister was the first recipient of four major horticulture awards: the Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal, the Scott Garden and Horticultural Award, the A.P. Saunders Memorial Award from the American Peony Society, and the Honor and Achievement Award from the International Lilac Society. He was honored for his outstanding work with flowers at the centennial celebration of the founding of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden awarded Wister its Garden Medal for outstanding service in 1966, and in that same year, the Royal Horticultural Society dedicated its Daffodil and Tulip Yearbook to him, making Wister the first American gardener to receive this honor.
The Wister Medal of the American Iris Society, their highest award for a tall-bearded iris, was named in his honor.[4]
In 1927, Wister was awarded by The British Iris Society, the Foster Memorial Plaque (named after Michael Foster).[5]
Absorbed in flowers and plants, Wister did not marry until the age of 73, when he took as his wife Gertrude Smith, a noted horticulturist. Wister referred to marriage as "the fatal plunge" in one of his wartime letters.
Wister, considered America's “Dean of Horticulturists”, died on December 27, 1982, at his home in Swarthmore. At the time of his death, Wister was director emeritus of both the Arthur Hoyt Scott Horticultural Foundation and the John J. Tyler Arboretum. He is interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Section M, Plot 128.
(Unless otherwise noted, all sources can be found in the Owen Wister and Family Collection, La Salle University, Connelly Library, Department of Special Collections.