The following is an excerpt from Birdman of Koshkong: The Life of Naturalist Thure Kumlien, by Martha Bergland, released by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press this spring. Kumlien settled on the shore of Lake Koshkonong, near Madison, Wisconsin, in 1843 and soon began sending bird specimens to museums and collectors in Europe and the eastern United States. Here, he begins a long correspondence with Boston naturalist Thomas May Brewer.
In July of 1850, enclosed in a letter from Janesville newspaper man Charles Holt, Thure Kumlien received a letter from Boston naturalist Thomas Mayo Brewer asking if Kumlien would be willing to aid him in his endeavors to illustrate the eggs of North American birds.1 Kumlien had bird skins and mounted birds, but probably no eggs, ready to sell. Yet, he was so hesitant to write in English that he took almost a year to respond to Brewer’s letter, finally writing him at the beginning of April. Brewer wrote back in November of 1851 saying that a well-informed and isolated naturalist like Kumlien would be “a rare and invaluable aid to a kindred spirit.” Brewer was right. They were kindred spirits in their backgrounds
