University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives


Charles T. Mohr
(1824 – 1901)

Biography Charles Theodore Mohr was born in Esslingen, Württemberg on December 24, 1824.  He studied chemistry, pharmacy, and mineralogy, eventually becoming a botanical collector in Dutch Guyana.  He moved to the United States in 1848, and became a chemical manufacturer in Mobile, Alabama where he resided from 1850 to 1889. Thereafter he quit the business and spent the remainder of his professional life studying botany as well as devoting his time to forest investigations. In 1890 he was appointed to the position of Expert and Agent in the Division of Forestry, U.S. Department of Agriculture and he held this station until his death in 1901. He had extensive knowledge of plant life in the South and he published nearly one hundred papers on botanical subjects. Some of the most important writing were reports on the forests of Alabama for the Tenth Census and another remarkable piece was his memoir on the timber pines of the southern United States. Mohr was a pioneer advocate for forest preservation and conservative forest management in the United States. One year before his death he moved to Asheville, NC, where he worked in the Biltmore Herbarium until his death on July 17, 1901.*He is remembered as one of the most important scientists and pioneers in the field of forestry and conservation.

*Source:  "Mohr, Charles Theodore."  Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 7, 1934.  Pages 77-78.

Subjects Mohr, Charles T. (1824-1901)
United States Forest Service
Forests and Forestry --- United States
Forestry and Community
Forestry Extension North Carolina
Forestry Extension Southern States
Forestry Industry
Forestry Innovations
Forestry Schools and Education
Forestry Schools and Education --- North Carolina
United States Department of the Interior
Bibliography

1890s:

Mohr, Charles. The Mountain Flora of Alabama. Garden and Forest - Arnold Arboretum, October 26, 1892.

*Mohr, Charles. Distribution of Some Forest Trees. Garden and Forest - Arnold Arboretum, 1893.  (6:372-373)

Arnold Arboretum. Recent Publications: The Timber Pines of the Southern United States. Garden and Forest, January  6, 1897.

1900s:

Lounsberry, Alice. A Guide to the Trees. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1900.
{Dr. Mohr is listed in the introduction as an assistant}

Lounsberry, Alice. Southern Wildflowers and Trees. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1901.
{Dr. Mohr is listed in the introduction as an assistant}

Sudworth, George B. Dr. Charles Mohr. The Forester (AFA), August 1901.  
{obituary by a fellow dendrologist}

*Mohr, Charles. Plant Life of Alabama: Prepared in Cooperation with the Geological Survey of Alabama. 1901.
{at UNC Botanical Library}

Arnold Arboretum. The Bradley Bibliography. 1911.  [bibliography]  
{lists botanical publications by Dr. Mohr from 1880, 188(?), 1892, 1893, and 1897}  
{at Duke Biological Sciences Library}

Walker, Lawrence C. The Southern Forest: A Chronicle. University of Texas Press, 1991.  
{brief biography pg 286}

Citation  U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Processed by Special Collections staff