McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Person
Ballou, William Hosea, 1857-1937
1857-1937
William Hosea Ballou was born on September 30, 1857, in Monroe, Franklin, Massachusetts.
He was a geologist, author, and expert on fungi, fish, and reptiles. In 1879, he entered Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, focusing on the natural sciences. While there, he was a correspondent of Chicago dailies and an assistant literary editor of one of them. His first magazine article was published in the American Naturalist. He spent most of his life working for the U. S. Department of Agriculture. He was a Government naturalist in the Arctic expedition which rescued Major General A. W. Greely in 1884. He won the approbation and thanks of Queen Victoria for his work in making transportation of animals at sea safe.
He died on December 1, 1937, in Alpine, New Jersey.