Benjamin Dann Walsh

Who was Benjamin Dann Walsh?

Benjamin Dann Walsh was an American entomologist, serving as the first official state entomologist in Illinois from 1867 to 1869.

He was born in Worchestershire, England and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge. He married Rebecca Finn in 1838 and they emigrated from their native England to the United States, first to Chicago, then to a farm near Cambridge, Illinois. He moved to Rock Island, Illinois in 1851, working in the lumber business until 1858. In 1860 he first published some of his entomological research, completing 385 works during his life, plus another 478 works with co-author Charles V. Riley. He also cofounded and edited the American Entomologist with Riley. After a railroad accident near Rock Island, he died on November 18, 1869.