Harvey Willson Harkness

Harvey Willson Harkness (May 25, 1821 – July 10, 1901) was an American physician, educator, mycologist, and natural historian best known for his early descriptions of California fungal species.

Early life Harkness's parents originated from Scotland and the family lived in Pelham, Massachusetts. He was their seventh child and the only one who survived into adulthood. He studied as a medical doctor at the Berkshire Medical College in Massachusetts, graduating in 1847. He left Massachusetts for California in 1849 and joined with a group of emigrants at Rock Island, Illinois to travel there. Harkness relocated to California not only to seek his fortune during the Gold Rush, but also because he believed California would have a healthier climate than Massachusetts. He arrived in California in October 1849.

He first set up a medical practice in the mining camp at Bidwell's Bar but moved to Sacramento in 1851. He rose to prominence as physician, educator, real estate developer, and newspaper editor in Sacramento, becoming part of the social circle of early California notables such as Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Collis Huntington, and Mark Hopkins. His active interest in school education led to his election as the first president of the Sacramento board of education in 1853. He married Amelia Griswold in 1854. She died within a year of the marriage.

Scientific career Having earned a large fortune in Sacramento real estate, Harkness retired from his medical practice in 1869, devoting the remainder of his life to the study of natural sciences, especially mycology. Harkness relocated to San Francisco and was elected a member of the California Academy of Sciences in 1871, becoming vice president in 1878 and its president from 1887 to 1896.

He devoted himself to research into the natural history of the Pacific States, publishing articles on the age of the Lassen Cinder Cone and the nature of the fossil footprints discovered near Carson City, Nevada. He also travelled internationally, visiting North Africa, Europe and the eastern USA several times.

Harkness collected, exchanged or purchased over 10,000 specimens of fungi, including many type specimens, that were donated to the California Academy of Sciences in 1891. alone described some 55 new species of hypogeous fungi. The phytopathogenic ascomycete genus Harknessia M.C. Cooke and the monotypic genus Harknessiella purpurea P.A. Saccardo are named for him, Harkness Street in Sacramento, between 17th and 18th Streets, lies within the 90 acres of land on the southwest corner of what is now Broadway Ave and Freeport Blvd that Harkness owned.