Dr. William L. Ralph

    Dr. William LeGrange Ralph was born June 19, 1851 in Holland Patent, NY to George and Mary C. Ralph. When he was 12 his family moved to Utica. He was educated in Utica Schools and Whitestown Seminary. William L. Ralph graduated from Columbia College where he studied medicine. He started his own practice. Because of heart trouble he to abandon active work. He began to study heart disorders.

    After retiring from his practice Dr. Ralph turned to his attention to the field of Ornithology. He studied the birds around Oneida County. He located several rare species. Dr. Ralph made trips to the Montezuma Marshes, Florida, and the Adirondacks to study birds.

    In 1901, Dr. William L. Ralph was elected to the American Ornithologists Union. He helped Maj. Bendire with writing "Life Histories of North American Birds". Maj. Bendire mentioned Dr. Ralph's name more than anyone else. When Maj. Bendire passed away Dr. Ralph took up his work.

    Dr. William L. Ralph collected a valuable collection of the eggs of North American Birds which he gave to the Smithsonian Institute. He aided them materially for years.

    Dr. William L. Ralph and Mr. Bagg (Moses?) prepared " An Annotated List of the Birds of Oneida County and its Vicinity" which was read by the Oneida Historical Society (now the Oneida County History Center) who published it.

    Dr. William L. Ralph married Louise Hammond.

    Dr. William LeGrange Ralph passed away in Washington D.C. on July 8, 1907.

 


 

 
 

 






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