Thure Ludwig Theodor Kumlien was a Swedish-American ornithologist, naturalist, and taxidermist. A contemporary of Thoreau, Audubon, and Agassiz, he contributed much to the knowledge of the natural history of Wisconsin and its birds. He collected and shipped specimens to many investigators in the United States and abroad. He taught botany and zoology, as well as foreign languages, at Albion Academy, and was particularly regarded as an expert in the identification of birds’ nests.
Kumlien emigrated to the United States in 1843, accompanied by his fiancée, Margaretta Christina Wallberg, and her sister. They first settled in Milwaukee and were married there on September 5 of the same year. Not long afterward, drawn by letters written by the minister of a local parish, he came to the Lake Koshkonong area of Wisconsin. When he bought his homestead, he bypassed farmland and instead purchased woodland, probably because of his love of nature, and devoted his spare time to the study of surrounding nature, in particular the local plants, birds, and insects. His first purchase was, from the government; he bought another 40 acres later. His first home was a log house near Busseyville. Often distracted by local wildlife and plants, Kumlien did not succeed at farming; he supplemented his farm income with taxidermy and by collecting specimens for museums and other scientists. Kumlien's life work constituted a rich personal herbarium and an important collection of birds. He began with a collection acquired by the Boston Society of Natural Sciences in 1854, and expanded his reach to Europe, sending specimens to such scientists as Elias Magnus Fries of Uppsala and Thomas Mayo Brewer. He also kept up correspondence with Spencer Fullerton Baird, Edward Augustus Samuels, and others. Kumlien was described by no less a luminary than Louis Agassiz as the world's foremost authority on the identification of birds' nests. Combined with his modesty, his collecting and correspondence made him more widely known to fellow scientists than to his neighbors. In spite of the recognition and the regard he received from the scientific community, he lived in tight financial circumstances nearly all of his life. Through the efforts of Rasmus Bjørn Anderson, Kumlien accepted a position in the faculty of Albion Academy, in Albion, Wisconsin. From 1867 to 1870, he taught not only botany and zoology, but also foreign languages; he left when financial turmoil hit the college. He took a position with the State of Wisconsin in 1870, collecting specimens for the University of Wisconsin in Madison and the teacher training school. From 1881 to 1883, he worked for the Wisconsin Natural History Society as taxidermist and conservator of its collections. In 1883, the Natural History Society's collections were transferred to the Milwaukee Public Museum, and Kumlien began working for the museum in the same capacity, which enabled him to pursue his naturalist studies year round. He became a member of the American Ornithologists' Union the year it was founded. He died in 1888, most likely as a result of exposure to preservatives used on bird specimens sent from South America. He is buried at Sweet Cemetery, in Albion. His work can still be viewed at numerous museums in Europe and America.
Legacy
Thure and Margaretta Kumlien had five children, including Augusta Kumlien, Aaron Ludwig Kumlien, Theodore Victor Kumlien, and Frithiof Kumlien. Augusta and Frithiof are buried with their parents. Kumlien trained his son, Ludwig Kumlien, an ornithologist, and also Edward Lee Greene, a botanist. Kumlien was also acquainted with Willard North, the father of author Sterling North; the younger North included him in such books as Rascal and The Wolfling. A number of species have been named for Kumlien:
Aster Kumlienii Benke, a purple aster that grows at Busseyville.
