Most people called her “Kate.”
She was born Catherine Furbish in Exeter, New Hampshire, on May 19, 1834, the daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Lane) Furbish.
By the age of one year, the family had moved to Brunswick, Maine, where young Catherine developed a passionate interest for wildflowers. Like many other well-off young girls of her time, Kate acquired a ‘genteel education,’ which included painting and the study of French literature. She even spent a year in Paris perfecting her painting. In 1860 she attended a series of botany lectures in Boston by George L. Goodale, later a professor of Botany at Harvard, and as a result developed a serious interest in science.
Around 1870, Kate began to collect local plants and produce highly detailed and beautiful botanical illustrations. She was a self-taught botanist, relying on public lectures attended during trips to Boston, and popular texts of the day, especially Asa Gray’s “Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States.” She spent much of the rest her life collecting samples, then classifying and drawing these flora of Maine.
By 1880 she had earned respect among well-known naturalists, including the eminent American botanist Asa Gray. In 1894, Furbish helped to found the Josselyn Botanical Society of Maine and she served as president in 1911.
The May 1892 Chicago Tribune reported that, “Miss Kate Furbish, Maine’s botanist, has traveled thousands of miles over that state in connection with her “Flora of Maine.” She generally travels alone, carries no weapons, and says she has not, in her twenty years’ experience, encountered “anything to be afraid of.”
In July of 1895 the newspaper, Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, reported that Miss Kate Furbish was elected as one of the vice presidents of the Maine Botanists (Society).
In 1908, Furbish bequeathed her collection of 1,300 watercolor paintings and sketches to Bowdoin College. She died on December 6, 1931.
In 1976 Kate Furbish’s name came famous once again when the wild snapdragon, named the ‘Furbish lousewort,‘ was rediscovered after having been believed to be extinct. This discovery helped stall and eventually stop the building of the Dickey-Lincoln dam and reservoir on the St. John’s River, which would have flooded 88,000 acres of northern Maine forests.
“Kate had the true Maine perseverance about her (actually it was the New Hampshire perseverance!) She was driven, determined, and didn’t take no for an answer. She loved nothing more than being deep in the Maine woods. She has contributed greatly to the State, and I think it is wonderful that people will finally get to hear her story,” said Connie Bondeson, an environmental studies student at UMFK.
**FAMILY TREE OF CATHERINE “KATE” FURBISH**
Daniel Forbush, b. 1620 in Kinellar Scotland; d. Oct 1687 in Marlboro, Middlesex Co MA. He m. 26 March 1660 in Cambridge MA to Rebecca Perriman, dau of John & Mary (Snelling) Perriman. She b. 1639 in Cambridge MA and d. 3 May 1677 in Cambridge MA. He married 2nd 23 May 1679 in Concord MA to Deborah Rediat, dau of John and Ann (Dolt) Rediat). She b. 24 Apr 1652 in Concord MA and d. 20 Apr 1720 in Marlboro MA
Children of Daniel & Rebecca (Perriman) Forbush
1. +Daniel Forbush, b. 20 March 1664 in Cambridge MA
2. Thomas Forbush, b. 6 March 1667 in Cambridge MA
3. Elizabeth Forbush, b. 16 March 1669 in Cambridge MA
4. Rebecca Forbush, b. 15 Feb 1672 in Concord, Middlesex Co MA
5. Samuel Forbes/Forbush b 8 March 1672 in Concord MA
Children of Daniel & Deborah (Rediat) Forbush
6. Mehitable Farrabus?
7. Thomas Forbush, b. 6 March 1667 at Cambridge MA
8. John Forbush, b. 1681 in Marlborough MA
9. Isaac Forbush, b. 30 Oct 1682 in Marlborough, Middlesex Co MA
10. Jonathon Forbush, b. 12 March 1684 in Marlboro MA
11. Deborah Forbush, b. 1687 in Marlboro MA
Daniel Forbush, b. 20 March 1664 in Cambridge MA, d. bef 11 Feb 1745 in Kittery/Elliot area, York Co ME. He married bef 9 March 1690 in York Co ME to Dorothy PRAY. She b. 29 Jan 1664 in Braintree MA.
Children of Daniel & Dorothy (Pray) Furbish:
1. Rebecca Furbish, b. 16 Apr 1694 in Kittery/Eliot, York Co ME; m. Benjamin GOULD
2. +Lieut. John Furbish, b. 19 Apr 1696 in Kittery/Eliot, York Co ME
3. Katherine Furbish, b. abt 1708 in Kittery/Eliot, York Co ME; m. Robert ALLEN
Lt. John Furbish, b. 19 Apr 1696 in Eliot, ME, and d. 5 Jan 1756 in Wells, York Co ME; m. Hannah Littlefield, dau of Dependance & Hannah (Snell) Littlefield. She b. abt 1708 in Wells ME, and d. abt 1756 in Wells ME. Lt. Furbish served during “Dummer’s War (Old Kittery, by Stackpole 1903, p 438-439).
Children of Lt. John & Hannah (Littlefield) Furbish:
1. Samuel Furbish, b. 2 Sep 1726 in South Berwick, York ME; m. 5 Jan 1764 in Berwick ME to Sarah Gubtail, dau of Nathaniel & Mary (Brawn) Gubtail. She b. 2 Sep 1726 in South Berwick ME
2. Dorothy Furbish, b. abt 1730 in Kittery, York Co ME; m. 26 June 1754 in Kittery ME to John DENNETT. He b. 20 May 1730 in Kittery ME and d. 5 Dec 1812 in Lyman, York Co ME; had 8 ch
3. John Furbish, b abt 1731 in Wells ME; m. 27 July 1751 Katherine Tobey
4. Hannah Furbish b abt 1733 in Wells ME; m. 22 Sep 1753 to John EMERY
5. James Furbish, b. abt 1734 in Wells ME; m. 21 Jan 1768 to Sarah Emery
6. Phoebe Furbish, b. Apr 1738 in Wells ME; m. 25 Feb 1755 to Elisha LITTLEFIELD. Had 12 children.
7. +Joshua Furbish, b. abt 1748 in Wells ME
8. Hepzibah Furbish, b. abt 1751 in Wells ME; m. 4 Jan 1773 to John LEWIS
9. Elizabeth Furbish, b. abt 1753
Joshua Furbish, b. abt 1748 in Wells ME
m. 27 Dec 1770 to Katherine Davis. She b. abt 1750 in Wells ME
Child of Joshua & Katherine (Davis) Furbish: [may be more children]
1. +Benjamin Furbish, b. 2 May 1807 in Wells ME
Benjamin Furbish, b. 2 May 1807 in Wells, Maine, d. in Brunswick ME, 27 February 1873; m. 1834 to Mary B. Lane of Exeter NH. She b. abt 1812 NH. Resided in Exeter NH. He learned the trade of a tin-plate and sheer-iron worker, and worked a year or two in St. Andrews, New Brunswick Canada. In 1831 he went to Exeter NH, and in 1836 to Brunswick ME. There, from 1835 to 1866 he was engaged in the manufacture of tinware, to which he later added stoves, hardware, agricultural implements, crockery, and glassware. He was the inventor and manufacturer of one of the first cooking-stoves in the country. He was the first person in Brunswick Maine to keep a general assortment of hardware. His health was broken down early in life, but a strong constitution enabled him to battle with disease through many years. He was one of the earlier and most earnest supporters of the graded school system in Brunswick and a member of the first board of agents, in which position he served for a number of years. He was also one of the building committee for the erection of both the grammar schools and Union Street primary school-houses. He was a Freemason. He was a representative in 1854 and in 1861, selectman in 1851, and also town treasurer, and in the discharge of his public duties secured the full approbation of his fellow citizens.
“Mr. Furbish was a man who exhibited marked characteristics, a person of strong individuality, great frankness of expression, but tolerant of the faith and opinions of others. He was reserved, uncommunicative at times, but still, beneath all this reserve, there flowed a vein of humor which rendered him a most desirable companion in social life, and which was the charm of home. He was keen in his criticisms, but no ill nature marked them. A man with a clear judgment, enlarged and liberal views of men and things, reaching much, he proved an excellent citizen, ready to promote any good object…. A member of the Congregational Church for many years, he maintained a Christian character, to the sincerity of which others have borne testimony.”
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U.S. Census > 1860 United States Federal Census > Maine > Cumberland > Brunswick
Benjamin Furbish 53 M Stove Dealer 3000/7500 ME
Mary Furbish 49 F NH
Catharine Furbish 26 F NH
John Furbish 23 M Clerk Maine
Edward P. Furbish 19 M Maine
Frank L. Furbish 11 M Maine
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U.S. Census > 1870 United States Federal Census > Maine > Cumberland > Brunswick
Furbish, Benjamin 63 M W Retired Hardware Merchant 900/13000 Maine
Furbish, Mary 58 F W Keeping House NH
Furbish, Catharine 36 F W at home NH
Furbish, Frank L. 21 M W student in college Maine
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Children of Benjamin & Mary (Lane) Furbish:
1. +Catherine “Kate” Furbish, b. 19 May 1835 in Exeter NH; artist and botanist
2. John Furbish, b. 20 June 1836 in Brunswick, Cumberland Co ME; m. 25 Nov 1863 to Marie Louise Day, dau of Lorenzo & Mary Louise (Hopkins) Day. She b. 12 Aug 1841
3. Edward P. Furbish, b. abt 1841 in Maine
4. Frank L. Furbish, b. abt 1849 in Maine
