The Borough's famous botanist

West Chester will soon have a Humphry Marshall Day. So you ask, who is Mr. Marshall? He wasn't some sports star or celebrity. He was a famous botanist that was originally from West Bradford and was an expert on local trees and shrubs. He was even called the "father of dendrology" and published "Arboretum Americanum: the American Grove, an Alphabetical Catalogue of Forest Trees and Shrubs, Natives of the American United State.” Tom Walsh, of the borough's Recreation Commission, even referred to him as a "minature Ben Franklin" before.

Marshall was so important that Borough Council voted in January to dedicate a historical marker to him in Marshall Square Park, which is named after the botanist. The ceremony will be held tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. in the park. It should prove to a chance to catch up ona little local history. Mayor Dick Yoder will declare it Humphrey Marshall Day in West Chester.