It’s not unusual for the contributions of women scientists to be unrecognized and undervalued. And for a woman in the 18th century, even more
So let’s share a little recognition of Martha Daniell Logan (Robert’s daughter).
Martha Daniell Logan (29 December 1704 – 28 June 1779) was an early American botanist who was instrumental in seed exchanges between Britain and the North American colonies. She wrote an influential gardening advice column and was a major collector of plants endemic to the Carolinas.
Born in St. Thomas Parish on 29 December 1704, the daughter of Robert Daniell and Martha Wainwright. Martha Daniell was taught to read and write by a private tutor.
After her father’s death in 1718, Martha Daniell inherited his property along the Wando River.[1] In 1719, Martha married George Logan, Jr. Over the next sixteen years, she gave birth to eight children, six surviving to adulthood. The Logans moved from their Wando home to a plantation near Charleston where she began her botanical collections in the nearby woods.
Martha Daniell Logan has been recognized as on of 50 GROUNDBREAKING WOMEN OF SCIENCE on Stacker.com.
For lots more on Martha, check out the links below:
History of Early American Landscape Design The National Gallery of Art
Martha Daniell Logan’s 1752 Gardening Calendar Clemson University
In Business – Martha Daniell Logan (1704-1779) South Carolina Gardener & Teacher Women in American History
Logan, Martha (1704–1779) Encyclopedia.com
NOTE AND ADDITION: Like much of the work of DIHS, this post is a collaborative effort….Beth Bush found the initial information, Bill Payer wrote the post and put in a few more links, and Beth’s DIHS Co-founder, Mike Dahlman weighed in with some comments after going through notes from writing his Daniel Island history.
From Mike: “This is disjointed… but the facts are here…
Robert had five children. Oldest was Robert Jr who was lost at sea. Sarah was born 11/6/1703 while Daniell was Deputy Governor in the Albemarle area of what was then the northern part of the Carolina Colony He served in this capacity from 1703-1705. (Albemarle is near the border with Virginia )
(Carolina split into north and south in 1712)
Martha was born 12/2/1704 (NC) and died 6/28/1779. She married George Logan Jr (1695 – 7/1/1764) on 7/3/1719. She was 13 years old (unusual but not unheard of). They went on to have 8 children (so says one source) Our Robert Daniel died May 1 1718, if you are keeping score
Interestingly George Logan SR married Martha Wainwright Daniell on May 8th 1719, two months before Martha and George Logan JR married, and just a year after Roberts passing. —-> Children marry each other, parents marry each other.
Robert had two other children John (3/29/1707 – 1764) and Ann (4/15/1710 – ?) both born in the Charleston area.
Robert had two wives, Dorothy Chamberlain and Martha Wainwright. Mystery surrounds what happened to Dorothy. She was the mother of Robert Jr. Martha Wainwright was the mother of the four children mentioned above”
We have several members of the extended Daniell family who regularly check this website….if any of you have more information to add, please chime in!