Benjamin Smith Barton

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Benjamin Smith Barton (February 10, 1766 - December 19, 1815) was an American botanist.

Barton studied medicine at Philadelphia until 1786, when he transferred to the University of Edinburgh and the University of Göttingen. He obtained his degree in 1789, returning to the university of Philadelphia where he taught botany and natural history, and was elected to the American Philosophical Society. In 1803 he published Elements of botany, or Outlines of the natural history of vegetables, the first American handbook of botany. From 1798-1804, he published a work on plants for medical use.

Barton was also interested in anatomy and zoology, and published Memoir Concerning the Fascinating Faculty Which Has been Ascribed to the Rattle-Snake. In 1803 he published a comparative study of linguistics, Etymology of Certain English Words and one Their Affinity to Words in the Languages of Different European, Asiatic and American (Indian) Nations and a test on the origin of the first American people, New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America (1797). He was the editor of Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal (1804-1809), one of the oldest scientific publications of the United States. At the same time, Barton continued his medical practice at the hospital of Pennsylvania. He died of tuberculosis in New York City.

Barton made one significant contribution to the field of archaeology as well. Although his Observations on Some Parts of Natural History in 1787 incorrectly attributed the prehistoric mounds of Ohio to the Danish people, his 1797 book (mentioned above) correctly identifies the Mound builders as Native Americans. While he was not the first to make this claim, he may have been the first to suggest a significant age to the mounds, speculating that they may have been older than James Ussher's famous Biblical chronology. Barton also correctly guessed that Native Americans had an Asian origin.

In botany, his author abbreviation is Barton.

His older brother, William Barton, was also a member of the American Philosophical Society. His maternal uncle, David Rittenhouse, served as the Society's second president after the death of founder Benjamin Franklin in 1790.