Businessman. In 1876, the US was still recovering from the upheaval of the Civil War and a severe economic depression. Burpee’s boyhood hobby was poultry breeding and the science of genetics fascinated him. In 1888, he bought a farm near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, called it Fordhook and began transforming it into what would soon become a world plant as a development facility. As a result, it became the largest seed company in the world for vegetables and flowers being improved and adapted to American growing conditions. By the early 1900’s, he established Floradale Farms at Lompoc, California, which his company was sending out a million catalogs a year to achieve revolutionary results with potatoes, plums, berries and ornamental plants. After his death at age 57 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, his son David became head of the firm and made America rather than Europe the world’s leading seed supplier. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)  Family links:  Parents:  David Burpee (1827 – 1882)  Ann Catherine Atlee Burpee (1832 – 1898)  Spouse:  Blanche Simons Burpee (1863 – 1948)*  Children:  David Burpee (1893 – 1980)*  Stuart Alexander Burpee (1901 – 1934)* *Calculated relationshipCause of death: Cirrhosis of the liver