Edward Lothrup Rand

Rand, on the far right, is wearing elaborately buckled gaiters and carries h

Henry L. Rand Collection, Southwest Harbor Public Library

Quick Facts

Significance:

early botanist and pathmaker

Place of Birth:

Dedham, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

August 22, 1859

Place of Death:

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

October 9, 1924

Place of Burial:

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cemetery Name:

Mount Auburn Cemetery,

As a Harvard University student, Edward Lothrup Rand joined the Champlain Society as its director of botanical studies and secretary. In later years, Rand used his botany notes to co-author a text with John Redfield entitled Flora of Mount Desert Island, Maine (1894) and was an active trail builder and map maker. 

Botanist

As a passionate botanist, as early as 1880 Rand noted with great concern the large number of wild orchids and ferns being collected by summer residents (known as 'cottagers' or 'rusticators'), as well as the destruction of forests on Mount Desert Island (MDI). He feared the land clearing and 'flower fiends' were a sign of increasing development.The efforts of Rand and his fellow Champlain Society members are the first documented calls for a strategy to preserve the island for the public, planting the seed for future efforts to create a park. It was recorded in the Harvard University Secretary's Report in 1919 that Rand became the Botanist of Lafayette (Acadia) National Park. This would make him the park's first botanist. 

Map Maker

Rand's 1894 map, prepared in conjunction with his Flora of Mount Desert Island, Maine text documented many place names on the island, illustrated many of the mountain paths and logging roads that would eventually become part of the island's trail system. Though not entirely comprehensive of all existing trails , the map is foundation for future trail maps. 

Path Committee Chairman

From 1900-1907 Rand served as the Seal Harbor Village Improvement Society Path Committee Chairman. As chairman, Rand supervised two local men, Paul and Sanderson Cushman, and oversaw the cutting of a limited number of new paths including the new routes to the Jordan Pond House and the Tilting Rock on Day Mountain. In his annual reports, Rand cited many problems with maintaining the path system. Trails needed to be relocated, needed a large amount of construction work, cairns and signs were vandalized and needed replacement, and walkers complained about confusion caused by unmarked trails. To address these concerns, Rand advocated standardizing signs and an updated path map. By 1903, Rand felt that the path system was so extensive that no more trails were necessary "Unless to meet some real need." Rand was one of the early pathmakers to call for the removal of paths and prioritizing the protection of the island's flora and fauna. 

Rand resigned from the chairman position in 1907 due to a disagreement over trail work that was completed in his absence. He rejoined the committee later as a member.

Remembering Rand

In the days following his death in 1925, many members of the Champlain Society fondly remembered him. Some were pall bearers at his funeral and a plaque was placed in Rand's memory on the Seaside Path, outside of Acadia National Park's boundary. 

"He was an acute observer, an indefatigable collector, and critical in the acquisition of scientific literature, but his keenest interest was in the human side of science, that impulse which leads to cordial relations with one's fellow-workers...." - "From Harvard College, Class of 1881," page 333

B. L Robinson, curator of the Gray Herbarium, in an address before the club says of Rand: "arrayed in his leggings and all his botanizing paraphernalia, starting forth, with his slightly side-long stoop, to explore some remote sphagnum bog, in search of botanical treasures. The window and the rig alike testify to Rand's love of the out-doors, and to his lifelong devotion to his chosen avocation, botany. It was in the pursuit of this avocation that his heart chiefly lay. It was before his college days that his interest in botanical studies showed itself, but it was during his college vacations, in connection with the group of young men who camped on Somes Sound, Mt. Desert, and called themselves the Champlain Society, that his enthusiasm was roused to discover and record the flora of that region.."

Rand married Annie Matilda Crozier in Boston, MA on June 29, 1893.