Background

Daniel Garrison Brinton was born on May 13, 1837 at Thornbury, Pennsylvania, and was of English Quaker descent, the son of Lewis and Ann (Garrison) Brinton.

Education

Prepared for college by the Rev. William E. Moore, Brinton entered Yale College in 1854. As an undergraduate he soon made a mark in literary activities, taking two prizes in English composition.

The winter of 1856-57 he spent in Florida, doubtless laying the foundation for his future work. In 1857 he again distinguished himself in literature at Yale, and in 1858 received the degree of A. B.

He then entered the Jefferson Medical College and graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1861.

Career

After Brinton spent a year studying at Heidelberg and Paris, he returned to West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he practiced medicine. Then he entered the Federal army in the summer of 1862 as acting assistant surgeon. His services soon won recognition and he was rapidly promoted. He was present in many of the great battles of the Civil War, including Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.

In the fall of 1863 he suffered a sunstroke, was compelled to relinquish active field-duty, and took up hospital work. He remained in the army till August 5, 1865, when he was discharged with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel of volunteers.

He returned to West Chester and resumed his medical practise, till he moved to Philadelphia, becoming assistant editor of the Medical and Surgical Reporter in 1867, and editor in 1874. He retired in 1887 to pursue the subjects dearest to him.

His first work, Notes on the Floridian Peninsula (1859), foreshadowed where his true interests lay. In 1867 he resumed his publication of papers on Americana. In 1884 he became professor of ethnology and archeology in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and in 1886 professor of American linguistics and archeology in the University of Pennsylvania.

His dismissal of the Toltecs as being largely purely legendary has not withstood the test of time.

Undeniably no one to-day would defend his position that the likeness of Iroquoian and Algonquian mythology (and similarly in other cases) was due to the sameness of the human mind, and not the diffusion.

Achievements

• Daniel Garrison Brinton's greatest achievement was reflected in his written research called "The American Race" (1891), which was the first systematic classification of the aboriginal languages of both North and South America. In this connection it may be said that he was the first to point out the relationship of Natchezan to Muskogean, though afterward he apparently was doubtful of it. His contention that Serian and Yuman are genetically related is gaining acceptance even if rigorous proof has not yet been furnished. Especially worth noting his "Library of Aboriginal American Literature" for at that time unfortunately American aboriginal literature was presented in literary English, not in text and translation. The publication of his "Maya Chronicles" (Volume I of his Library) in 1882, by itself would establish his reputation. All of these (save one) were published in text and translated into a European language for the first time. These chronicles were the foundation upon which Mayan and Christian chronology have been coordinated, and must be considered a landmark in American archeology. His paper on the mound-builders, showing that they were plain American Indians, and not (as is unfortunately still fondly believed by the laity) a highly civilized mysterious race who were exterminated by the American Indians was fundamental. The influence of his scattered writings has been very great. Summing up, we may say Brinton was one of the pioneers, and an able one, of anthropology in this country. On the other hand his first work, Notes on the Floridian Peninsula (1859) remains to this day of the highest value. His exposure of the fraudulent character of the famous (or rather infamous) Taensa grammar alone would win a place for him among scientists.

Works

More photos

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  • The Aims of Anthropology

    (The Aims of Anthropology Daniel Garrison Brinton, America...)

  • The Books of Chilan Balam, the Prophetic and Historic Records of the Mayas of Yucatan

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • The Lenâpé and Their Legends, With the Complete Text and Symbols of the Walam Olum, a New Translation, and an Inquiry Into Its Authenticity: by Daniel G. Brinton

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Nagualism. A Study in Native American Folk-lore and History

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • The Güegüence; A Comedy Ballet in the Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect of Nicaragua

    (This book was converted from its physical edition to the ...)

  • Notes on the Floridian Peninsula : its literary history, Indian tribes and antiquities

    (Notes on the Floridian Peninsula : its literary history, ...)

  • Ancient Nahuatl Poetry, Containing the Nahuatl Text of XXVII Ancient Mexican Poems (Classic Reprint)

    (It is with some hesitation that I offer this volume to th...)

  • Ancient Nahuatl Poetry

    (It is with some hesitation that I offer this volume to th...)

  • A Lenâpé - English Dictionary (North American Indian Languages and English Edition)

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • The Religious Sentiment: Its Source and Aim : a Contribution to the Science and Philosophy of Religion

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • A Lenape-English Dictionary: From An Anonymous Manuscript In The Archives Of The Moravian Church At Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (1889)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

  • The Lenâpé and their Legends (Perfect Library)

    ("The Lenâpé and their Legends" from Daniel Garrison Brint...)

  • The Brinton family

    (The Brinton family.)

  • book

  • The Myths of the New World A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America
  • Aboriginal American Authors
  • The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb
  • Anthropology As a Science and as a Branch of University Education in the United States
  • American Hero-Myths A Study in the Native Religions of the Western Continent
  • A Record of Study in Aboriginal American Languages
  • American Languages, and Why We Should Study Them
  • The Ancient Phonetic Alphabet of Yucatan
  • The Walam Olum: Excerpt from the Lenâpé and Their Legends
  • Rig Veda Americanus (Illustrated)
  • An Ethnologist's View of History An Address Before the Annual Meeting of the New Jersey Historical Society, at Trenton, New Jersey, January 28, 1896
  • The Battle and the Ruins of Cintla

Politics

Brinton was an anarchist during his last several years of life.

Views

Brinton never was a field worker and remained a closet anthropologist, apparently never feeling the necessity of coming into close contact with primitive peoples. On the other hand he delved into the libraries of Europe as well as of this country. It is also to be remarked that he utilized the results of field workers in his writings and spoke appreciatively of them.

Possibly his lack of field work was due to his view that he had never fully recovered from the sunstroke which he suffered in the Civil War. It is true that his methods are not the methods of today. It is also true that some of his theses have been discarded, such as the denial of Asiatic (Mongolian) origin of American Indians and the affirmation of their derivation from Europe, the conviction that polysynthesis and nominal incorporation were characteristic of all American Indian languages, that elaborate grammatical categories were the late fruit of the human intellect, and that the Lettic peoples in both appearance and language are a connecting link between the Slavonic and Teutonic peoples. It is also true that his translations from Aztec are inaccurate.

Though based on materials which are hardly adequate, this work shows a keen insight regarding the genetic relationships of American Indian languages and in some cases anticipated what has since been established. In this connection it may be said that he was the first to point out the relationship of Natchezan to Muskogean, though afterward he apparently was doubtful of it. His contention that Serian and Yuman are genetically related is gaining acceptance even if rigorous proof has not yet been furnished.

Membership

He was a member of numerous learned societies in the United States and in Europe and was president at different times of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, of the American Folklore Society, the American Philosophical Society, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• As Charles A. Lofgren notes in his book, The Plessy Case, although Brinton "accepted the 'psychical unity' throughout the human species, " he claimed "all races were 'not equally endowed, ' which disqualified [some of] them from the atmosphere of modern enlightenment. " He asserted some have ". .. an inborn tendency, constitutionally recreant to the codes of civilization, and therefore technically criminal. " Further, he said the characteristics of "races, nations, tribes. .. supply the only sure foundations for legislation, not a priori notions of the rights of man. "
  
  On the occasion of his memorial meeting on October 6, 1900, the keynote speaker Albert H. Smyth stated: "In Europe and America, he sought the society of anarchists and mingled sometimes with the malcontents of the world that he might appreciate their grievances, and weigh their propositions for reform and change. "

Interests

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  Brinton was fascinated with anarchist movement, so he met with Peter Kropotkin, a Russian activist, revolutionary, and philosopher who advocated anarcho-communism, after the famous anarchist's only speaking engagement at Philadelphia.

Connections

On September 28, of the same year, Brinton married Sarah Tillson of Quincy, Illinois.

Father:

Lewis Brinton

Mother:

Ann (Garrison) Brinton

collaborator:

Albert Samuel Gatschet

collaborator:

Horatio Hale

Of the eight volumes of a Library of American Aboriginal Literature; six were edited by Brinton himself, one by Horatio Hale and one by Albert Samuel Gatschet.

Wife:

Sarah Tillson

References

• Daniel Garrison Brinton: The Fearless Critic of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania Publications in Anthropology, No 3)
• The Library of Daniel Garrison Brinton