Background
John Adlum was born on April 29, 1759 in York, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Joseph and Catherine Adlum.
(Excerpt from A Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in A...)
Excerpt from A Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in America, and the Best Mode of Making Wine Wmeia as good at life to a man. At ll be drunk moderately; what in Info then to a man that in Without vme 3 for it wan nude to nuke men glad. Wine measurably drank. And m sea-on. Brmgeth gladneu oi the heart. And cheerfulneuof the minds! About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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John Adlum was born on April 29, 1759 in York, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Joseph and Catherine Adlum.
Adlum served as a soldier in the Revolution and as a major in the Provisional Army. Later he was appointed brigadier-general in the state militia. Experience as a surveyor led to his employment in various surveys undertaken by the state and to his appointment by state authority to study the navigation of the Susquehanna and Schuylkill rivers.
In 1795 he became associate judge of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, and served in this capacity for three years. But these various engagements were of only passing importance to him.
His life-long interest and his greatest service were in the cultivation, study, and improvement of American grapes. He established a farm and nursery at Georgetown, D. C. , which ultimately contained over 200 acres. A portion of it was on the present site of the Bureau of Standards.
His correspondence with Thomas Jefferson and his earlier acquaintance and friendship with Dr. Joseph Priestley, the celebrated English natural philosopher, living at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, were of great value to him in applying their knowledge to his farming operations. His special interest lay in the study of the grape and of wine making, and in this work he became an American pioneer.
At first he grew a considerable number of European and American varieties, but, sharing Jefferson's opinion that it was wiser to attempt the improvement of native sorts than to introduce those of foreign origin, he ultimately rejected the latter, confining his study to between twenty and thirty native varieties. From cuttings obtained from one of these he propagated what he first named the Tokay but later the Catawba grape.
This variety he propagated extensively and secured its distribution and cultivation. It has maintained its wide use and popularity to this day.
His work he summarized in two books. One of them, A Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in America and the Best Mode of Making Wine, was published in 1823. An enlarged edition was issued in 1828. The other publication, Adlum on Making Wine, was issued in 1826.
He died at "The Vineyard" near Georgetown, D. C.
(Excerpt from A Memoir on the Cultivation of the Vine in A...)
Personally he was tall, a man of muscular frame and great energy, lovable himself and loving to help the needy and unfortunate.
In 1813 he married Margaret Adlum, a cousin, by whom he had two daughters.