Baird, Spencer Fullerton. Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, February 3, 1823; graduated at Dickinson College; in 1846 he was made Professor of Natural Sciences in that institution; was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1850: was the editor and translator of the " Iconographic Encyclopedia," 4 vols., 8vo, in 1851; author of papers on Zoology, and of reports on Natural History collections, made by Stansbury, Marcy and Gillis, of the Mexican Boundary and Pacific Railroad Surveys; "The Birds of North America," 2 vols., 4to, 1860; "Mammals of North America," 4to, 1861; he has also made many valuable contributions to the publications of the Journal of Sciences, Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian Institution. His last publications were on the Natural History and Distribution of Fish. He was appointed United States Commissioner of Fisheries; and also as a Government Commissioner to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.
Lanman, Charles. Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States During Its First Century: From Original and Official Sources. Washington: James Anglim, Publisher, 1876, p. 17.
Contributed by: Nancy.