Darwin French
American poet
title: "Darwin French" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1822-births", "1902-deaths", "american-male-poets", "american-pioneers", "writers-from-new-york-(state)"] description: "American poet" topic_path: "people/1820s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_French" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American poet ::
Dr. Erasmus Darwin French (1822–1902) was an American man of adventure. He was born in New York State, trained as a medical doctor and then enlisted in the army, later becoming a silver prospector. He married Cornelia S. Cowles, daughter of Judge Cowles of San Diego in 1858. They had two sons, Alfred and Addison.
Early years
Dr. French was born in Middlesex, New York, on January 20, 1822. He was the son of Harvey and Amanda Hazelton French. His father was a veteran of the War of 1812. He attended local schools before moving to Michigan, where he attended Albion Seminary. While in Hillsdale County, he studied medicine and practiced as a doctor for some years. In 1845, he went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he enlisted in the US Army at the start of the Mexican–American War and entered the service as a private even though he was a practicing physician in civilian life.
Middle years
Dr. French's goal was to make his fortune in the world, and he set out to do that in December 1845. His plans were interrupted by the Mexican–American War, in which he served. After he was discharged in early 1847, he resumed his quest for adventure, purchased a large ranch northeast of Los Angeles in the late 1840s, assisted some lost settlers who had mistakenly wandered through California's Death Valley, and opened a mining town in South Central California. The residents of that town named the village after Dr. French — calling it Darwin, California. The town is still in existence as of 2017. Dr. French had heard that there was a possible silver lode in the midst of Death Valley. Despite the fact that it was largely unexplored, Dr. French led an expedition into the valley in 1850 but found no silver. In 1860, Darwin led another party into Death Valley in a second attempt to find silver, again without success. The route he took can still be observed in Death Valley National Park. Two other landmarks are named after him: Darwin Falls and Darwin Wash.
The 1846 journey of General Stephen Kearny and his Army of the West across the wilderness of the southwestern United States has been the subject of many books and articles. Dr. French was on that march and captured a vivid account of the Battle of San Pasqual, in which he fought.
The Battle of San Pasqual, December 6, 1846
Dictation from Poway, California by Dr. E.D. French, July 7, 1887
“After the closing struggles Dr. French went to San Jose where he married Miss Cornelia S. Cowles, daughter of Judge Cowles of San Diego. This happy event took place Jan. 12th, 1858. They have two sons Alfred C. and Addison.”
“Dr. French was one of Board of Supervisors when the court house was built, and in removing the records from Old Town to San Diego much trouble was experienced. The parties on the board at first were Dr. French, C.W. B. McDona1d and J. W. Riley. In some way the Old Town men secured the appointment of two additional supervisors in hopes of securing the Democratic member, Mr. Riley, in favor of holding the records at Old Town. Dr. French was chairman and when the vote was taken two members voted that they should not be removed. Dr. French voted to remove and it was done. The debate became very warm and it is said that revolvers were drawn and would have been used on very slight provocation.”
“Dr. French owns 160 acres of very fine land well improved in Poway Valley. He also owns 7 lots on Coronado Beach near Hotel. Def Coronado, also two more lots near center of Beach. Expects to move to San Diego soon.”}}
Legacy
French died in September 1902 in Ensenada. The Darwin Creek and its Darwin Falls, the Darwin Falls Wilderness, the nearby town of Darwin, California, and all other areas named "Darwin" on the western edge of Death Valley National Park are named after him.
References
Sources
The above quoted account was written in Dr. French's hometown of Poway, California, a small town located north of San Diego. In 1887, Dr. French was asked to provide his own eyewitness account of the final decisive battle for the future state of California in the Mexican–American War of 1846. Dr. French was a participant in that battle, the Battle of San Pasqual.
This account is a typewritten copy of a microfilm of the original dictation on file in the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley. The original dictation was done by hand but there is no way to determine whether or not it was written by Dr. French or written by a clerk to whom he delivered the dictation. The typewritten copy is as near as possible an exact representation of the original manuscript including the original spelling and punctuation.
References
- Mary Ellen Snodgrass, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wULYBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 French, Erasmus Darwin (1822–1902)] in ''Settlers of the American West: The Lives of 231 Notable Pioneers'', McFarland, 2015. Page 61.
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