Biography

"Horace was the son of the famous American educational reformer Horace Mann Sr. and his second wife, Mary Peabody. He was already a knowlegeable naturalist, when in 1861, he accompanied his friend Henry David Thoreau to Minnesota. Thoreau had been ill with tuberculosis and decided to make the trip to see if it would improve his health. The pair left Concord, Massachusetts on May 11, 1861 and arrived at St. Paul, Minnesota on May 26. They spent a month or so in the Twin Cities area before making a 300 mile trip up the Minnesota River. Thoreau's health continued to worsen however, and they decided to return home, arriving back in Concord on July 10. Thoreau died of his illness on May 6 of the following year. In 1985 a book called "Thoreau's Minnesota Journey: Two Documents : Thoreau's Notes on the Journey West and the Letters of Horace Mann, Jr." was published that detailed their trip together.
Horace went on to attend Harvard University. In 1864-65, he travelled to Hawaii to catalogue Hawaiian plants for his college thesis. Sadly, just a few years later, at the young age of 24, Horace also died from tuberculosis."