Albert Mills Ingersoll was born in Ithaca, New York on August 9, 1857 to Dr. Jared Otis Mills Ingersoll (1823-1859) and Caroline F. Whiton (1830-1887).
At age 11, Albert slipped and injured his head on the way to school. From that point on, he did not return. His vision decreased and he was advised to refrain from reading or studying for nearly a year, as eye strain could result in blindness. This gave him plenty of time for natural history. With outdoor life and medicine to boost his health, his vision would return and that it did, but the muscles were never the same and made it difficult for any type of clerical work for more than an hour.
Albert’s hobbies were collecting postage stamps and coins but he decided that nature offered a much greater interest than inanimate things. He started with butterflies, moths and other insects. However, he quickly discovered that small insects strained his eyes and he moved on to larger objects. He owned a great horned owl pet along with red squirrels and screech owls for his menagerie.
In 1871 after reading “Birds of New England and Adjacent States” by Edward Augustus Samuel (a naturalist), he developed an interest in ornithology and oology. He started a collection of bird skins and eggs. The eggs he stored in a spool cabinet lined with sawdust. Albert realized that the eggs looked more attractive in their original nests and began this structure of collecting in 1875.
In 1880, Albert moved to California. He collected in 24 counties in California but also in New York, Illinois, Florida, Arizona and Idaho. His set of Spotted Owl eggs taken in San Diego in 1884 was his prized possession more than the Condor, Everglade Kite, Golden Eagle or Farallon Rail.
His collection of bird skins, nests and eggs were willed to the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology in California.
In 1888 at the age of 31, with no work experience, Albert opened a candy and ice cream business. The sweets business was a success and he retired 18 years later.
Albert died at the age of 96 in 1954. He far outlived his parents and two siblings.
Albert Mills Ingersoll – an Autobiography (a good read)
Sources: Findagrave.com, Ancestry.com, Islapedia.com, Digitalcommons.usf.edu/condor/vol21/iss2/2
There are 15 egg sets in the Pember collection and Williams has one set.
