John Howard Redfield

John Howard Redfield (July 10, 1815 – February 27, 1895) was an American botanist, conchologist, and businessman. He was a founder of the Botany section of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and his chief botanical works include "Geographical Distribution of the Ferns of North America" and Flora of Mount Desert Island, Maine.

Redfield was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the eldest son of meteorologist William C. Redfield, who served as first president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and his first wife Abigail Wilcox. His mother died in 1819, and the Redfield family moved to New York City in 1827. In 1843 he married Mary Jane Whitney, daughter of manufacturer Asa Whitney, and with her had four children. He worked as an agent of the Swiftsure line of propellers and barges in New York and later with his father-in-law in Philadelphia, retiring from active business in 1885. He became a member of the New York Lyceum of Natural History in 1836 and befriended Dr. Asa Gray. At the Lyceum he developed an interest in conchology and published several conchological articles in the Lyceum's Annals, as well as an article on fossil fishes. and the fossil fish Redfieldius'' named after him and his father. Of his children, son Robert Stuart Redfield achieved note as a photographer, becoming president of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia and a founding member of the Photo-Secession movement.

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