Figure 1. Circa 1893 microscope slide by John Dexter Locke. Throughout his life he lived at various times in Haverhill, New Hampshire, or New York, or Washington D.C., so this address is not helpful in dating the slide.
John Dexter Locke, 1860 - 1929
by Brian Stevenson
last updated October, 2021
John D. Locke was an avid amateur scientist who studied at several institution in the US and Europe. He built a considerable collection of insects and microscopical specimens. Locke was the scion of a wealthy family, who evidently inherited a considerable sum and expanded that fortune through real estate investments. Nonetheless, his death record stated his occupation as "scientist".
Locke was reported to have spent "two years in microscope work" in Vienna, probably during the late 1880s - early 1890s. He joined the American Microscopical Society in 1893. He "exhibited slides of botanical and entomological subjects" to an audience in Dalton, Massachusetts in 1918. Thus, Locke's microscope slides probably date from ca. 1890 until his death in 1829.
Figure 1.
Circa 1893 microscope slide by John Dexter Locke. Throughout his life he lived at various times in Haverhill, New Hampshire, or New York, or Washington D.C., so this address is not helpful in dating the slide.
Figure 2.
Photomicrograph of the specimen in the J.D. Locke slide shown in Figure 1. The label states that the specimen is "Diptera", although it is clearly a flea (order Siphonaptera). Fleas were initially considered to be wingless members of the order Diptera, but, from ca. 1890 onward, entomologists began to question that designation. Locke was a trained entomologist, so his attribution of this flea to the order Diptera suggests that he mounted it before general acceptance of Siphonaptera.
The U.S. census of 1860, conducted shortly before John Dexter Locke's birth, listed his father, Samuel Morris Locke, as living with his own father, John D. Locke, in Queens, New York. At that time, the eldest Locke was a "merchant" with a personal estate of $100,000, and investments in real estate worth $250,000. The Locke family was supported by three servants, a seamstress, a coachman, and a nurse.
Soon after that census, Samuel Locke and his wife, Sarah Emery née Dexter, moved to San Francisco, California. John Dexter Locke was born there on November 21, 1860. He was their only child. Samuel Locke's 1866 California voter's registration described him as a "merchant", operating from the corner of Montgomery and Bush Streets.
By 1870, the Locke family had moved back to New York City. That year's census again recorded Samuel Locke's occupation as "merchant", with a real estate value of $30,000 and a personal estate of $100,000. Two of Sarah's younger sisters lived with them, as did also five servants.
John Dexter Locke's father died in 1876. His mother remarried in 1879, to Roswell Dearborn Tucker. He was a widower, with no previous children, and also a fairly affluent man. The 1880 US census described him as a "manufacturer". Tucker died in 1883. John's mother, Sarah, lived the rest of her life with John.
John's aunt later reported that "he spent his childhood and early youth in California, New York, Massachusetts, and France". Locke was disabled, described by the aunt as having "lameness", and "for many years ceaseless but unavailing effort was made, by every means known to medical science, to overcome his lameness".
The aunt, Mary Dexter Carbee, further wrote that John D. Locke was "educated in New York City at the famous Anthon School until his father's death in 1876, he afterward became special student at Dartmouth, Harvard, Columbian College - now the George Washington University - and in Vienna, Austria, where he spent two years in microscope work".
The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine wrote that, "Mr. Locke became a special student in natural history under Professor H.G. Jesup (author's note: Henry Griswold Jesup, 1826-1903) in '83-'84. Henry Clinton Fall (author's note: 1862-1939), '84, the distinguished entomologist to whom Dartmouth in June, 1929, awarded the honorary degree of S. D., then a senior in the Chandler Scientific School, was engaged by Professor Jesup to tutor John Dexter Locke in entomology, which resulted in a life-long friendship between them".
In 1889, presumably while engaged in "microscope work" in Vienna, Locke purchased the insect collection of "a Professor Schneider" (probably Wilhelm Gottlieb Schneider [1814-1889]).
Entomologist Clarence Mores Weed (1864-1947) wrote of the Schneider-Locke collection in 1892, "I recently had the pleasure of looking over a magnificent collection of exotic insects, owned by Mr. John D. Locke, of Haverhill, New Hampshire; and was surprised to find so rare a lot of insects known to very few entomologists. The collection was purchased by Mr. Locke, who is an enthusiastic naturalist, a few years ago in Vienna, of the widow of a Professor Schneider, the latter having spent a life-time in getting it together. The collection consists chiefly of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, and contains specimens from all over the world. Many of the butterflies, moths and beetles are of gigantic size: e.g., the Atlas moth from India, which measures 9x63 inches; Erebus agropyrus from South America which measures 10 inches across the wings; Phaomagigas, a 'lantern fly' which is 10 inches long, and the mammoth Goliath beetles which must be seen to be appreciated. Fortunately the collection is in good hands, and is carefully gone over at stated intervals and kept free from pests and dust".
Locke's heir, his aunt Mary Dexter Carbee, donated the collection to Dartmouth University in 1929. It was then described as follows: "Mr. Locke bought the collection which now bears his name from the widow of a Prof. Schneider of Vienna in Feb., 1889. From the huge bird-like moths to the tiniest species just visible without a lens, the specimens had been prepared with meticulous care, labelled, and systematically arranged. Nearly 3000 species of butterflies and moths and 6000 species of beetles are represented, over 30,000 specimens altogether, besides a unique collection of over 1100 skillfully inflated caterpillars of European Lepidoptera. Among the 560 species of non-European butterflies and moths are some of the most dazzlingly brilliant South American Morphos, the iridescent colors of which depend upon the physical structure of the scales. Four fifths of the species of butterflies and a majority of the beetles in the collection are European. The non-European beetles from the tropics include species of enormous size. Keenly interested in all the details of this extensive collection, Mr. Locke for forty years until his recent death has given it the studious care upon which much of its present beauty and scientific interest depend. The collection is one of the most important features of the new museum in Wilson Hall. Installed in the ample gallery to be devoted to the study of insects, along with entomological books from Mr. Locke's library, it will serve a most useful purpose. About it as a nucleus, it is hoped that other entomological collections will gradually be added".
John D. Locke joined the American Microscopical Society during their August 14-15, 1893 meeting in Madison, Wisconsin.
In 1895, he published an article on "Care of cover-glasses and glass slips" in The Observer.
For many years, Locke moved between several homes. His 1893 election to the American Microscopical Society gave his address as Haverhill, New Hampshire, as did also his entry in the 1895 Scientists' International Directory. An 1896 report of his purchase of federal bonds gave Locke's address as Washington, D.C., as did also a 1918 report of a microscopical exhibition. Yet, the 1900 US census recorded Lock as living in Haverhill with his widowed mother and his aunt, Mary. In 1921, Locke was described as residing in South Norwalk, Connecticut. Perhaps those multiple addresses reflected his real estate investments, with ownership of multiple residences throughout his life.
John Locke's aunt, Mary Dexter Carbee, became an important part of his life, probably because of his "lameness" and her own ill fortune. Mary's husband, Moses Dyer Carbee, died in 1889, which probably left her to rely upon the kindness of relatives. She lived with John and his widowed mother at the time of the 1900 census. Mary accompanied John on a 1918 trip to Dalton, Massachusetts where, "Dr. John Locke of Washington exhibited slides of botanical and entomological subjects, while Mrs. Carbee gave an interesting talk on the subject". A 1921 report on a mortgage listed both "John D. Locke" and "Mary D. Carbee" as assignees.
When Mary Carbee donated "The Locke Collection" to Dartmouth University in 1929, she also provide the following sketch of Locke's life, "John Dexter Locke, the only child of S. Morris and Sarah E. Locke, was born in San Francisco, California, November 21st, 1860. He spent his childhood and early youth in California, New York, Massachusetts, and France. For many years ceaseless but unavailing effort was made, by every means known to medical science, to overcome his lameness. Educated in New York City at the famous Anthon School until his father's death in 1876, he afterward became special student at Dartmouth, Harvard, Columbian College - now the George Washington University - and in Vienna, Austria, where he spent two years in microscope work. A tireless student in Latin, Greek, and the modern languages, an enthusiastic worker in the discovery of additions to the knowledge of the structure and life history of insects and of plants, with great skill and utmost success in work with the microscope, with unfailing interest and enjoyment in translating into English "C. Plini Secundi Naturalis Historiae" - more than half completed at the time of his death, - his life was a singularly happy one, his cross of lameness, and in late years of deafness, uncomplainingly and smilingly borne. He was an indefatigable collector of books, shells, coins, minerals, and especially of butterflies and beetles. His readiness to share with others the pleasure of his collections, his great kindness of heart, and his generosity, won for him a host of friends. His interest in traveling took him to many parts of Europe, and in North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Northern Canada to the City of Mexico. In the city of Washington, District of Columbia, on the 7th of February, 1929, after a few days' illness, there came the earthly ending of his blameless, brave, and honored life".
In addition to the donation of Locke's insect collection to Dartmouth University, Mary Carbee provided funds for the John Dexter Locke Latin Prize and the John Dexter Locke Improvement Prize for Haverhill school students, and the purchase of books for the Haverhill Public Library. She also donated to the University of New Hampshire on behalf of her sister and brother-in-law.
Resources
Annual Reports of the Town Officers of the Town of Haverhill, N.H. (1931) Trust Funds, pages 30-31
Dartmouth Alumni Magazine (1929) The Locke Collection, page 621
Locke, John D. (1895) Care of cover-glasses and glass slips, The Observer, Vol. 6, pages 135-136
The Microscope (1893) Sixteenth annual meeting of the American Microscopical Society, page 146
Packard, Alpheus S. (1894) On the systematic position of the Siphonaptera with notes on their structure, Proceedings of the Boston Society for Natural History, pages 312-355
Real Estate Record & Builders Guide (1894) page 505
Real Estate Record & Builders Guide (1921) page 115
Report of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts (1918) "Dr. John Locke of Washington exhibited slides of botanical and entomological subjects, while Mrs. Carbee gave an interesting talk on the subject", page 35
Russell, Harold (1913) The Flea, University Press, Cambridge, pages 3-4
The Scientist's International Directory (1895) "Locke, John D., Haverhill, N. H. Mic., Histol., Ent. C. Ex", page 118
US census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com
Weed, Clarence M. (1892) A collection of exotic insects, The American Naturalist, Vol. 26, page 79