John Fries Frazer was born on July 8, 1812, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Fries) Frazer, and the grandson of Col. Persifor Frazer of Revolutionary fame.
The Frazer family was of Scotch origin, having come from the north of Ireland to settle in Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century, while Elizabeth Fries, a daughter of John Fries, was German in descent.
John Fries Frazer received his early education in the Philadelphia schools and in the private school of Capt. Partridge at Norwich, Conn.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1830.
As a laboratory assistant to Prof. Alexander Dallas Bache, he continued his studies and received the M. A. degree from the same institution in 1833.
After making the preliminary preparations for the study of medicine, just as he was ready to enter the medical school he changed to the study of law. He completed his preparation for the bar under the direction of J. M. Scott, but after having been admitted, he found the profession scarcely suited to his taste.
In 1836, Frazer accepted a position as assistant to Henry D. Rogers, who was in charge of the first geological survey of Pennsylvania.
The following year, Frazer began to teach in the Philadelphia High School, where he served until 1844 when he succeeded Bache in the chair of chemistry and natural philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. This position he held until 1872.
The pages of the Journal of the Franklin Institute and the classroom lectures delivered over a period of more than twenty-five years were the mediums through which the work of experimental scientists was subjected to a keen critical analysis and passed on to the public.
Frazer was one of the founders of the National Academy of Sciences (1863), a lecturer at Franklin Institute, and editor of its Journal from 1850 to 1866. He made no independent contributions to science, and the aid he gave Bache in the experiments that led to the first accurate determination of the daily variations of the magnetic needle in America and in the study of the interaction of the aurora borealis with magnetic forces were his only important collaborations.
Frazer was especially at home in the field of history of science and hence viewed the sciences as the result of a long historical development.
As a scientist, Frazer was noteworthy for his able critical evaluation of the discoveries of others rather than for original contributions.
Although chemistry was Frazer’s special branch of instruction his bent was always for mechanics.
His interests were broad: his home was the Mid-Victorian salon for the Intelligentsia of Philadelphia, where he was found as happily conversant with the Greek and Latin classics or current French and English literature as with the subjects of his special field.
On September 1, 1838, Frazer married Charlotte Jeffers Cave, a daughter of Thomas Cave. By her, Frazer had three children, one of whom, Persifor, also attained distinction as a scientist.
1 September 1815 - 19 August 1881
17 Febraury 1841 - 8 January 1918
24 July 1839 - 19 October 1914
24 July 1844 - 7 April 1909
