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From Atlantic to Pacific, a trail of bright red blazes across America this Christmas season. On church altars and in business offices, this is the poinsettia’s moment to shine. It does so with dazzling brilliance, too, brightening winter’s drab dullness with the flamboyance of a Bourbon Street drag queen.
Few people know we have a South Carolinian to thank for this infusion of color to the holidays…
It turns out Joel Robert Poinsett did more than lend his name to the flower livening up the Yuletide. Much more. He was a fascinating fellow, a true Renaissance Man whose remarkable life deserves a closer look.
Born to a prosperous Charleston physician during the American Revolution, Poinsett enjoyed a first-rate education at some of Europe’s finest schools. He returned home in 1800, wanting to serve in the military. His doctor daddy had other ideas, though, and Poinsett spent a miserable year studying the law.
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His father eventually relented, and the son was sent on an extended tour of Europe in 1803. But young Poinsett was no gadfly barhopping across the Continent. He was introduced to men of power, rubbing elbows with the likes of Emperor Napoleon of France and Czar Alexander I of Russia, observing and learning statesmanship and diplomacy at every stop.
His fluency in several languages came in handy. At one point, those linguistic skills were put to the test. While staying at the home of leading French banker and statesman Jacques Necker, American ambassador to France Robert Livingston came calling. (You’ll recall he was the guy who arranged the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for a bargain price.) Livingston was deaf, and Necker — who was 70 — had no teeth; it must have been quite a conversation.
Poinsett’s European adventure abruptly ended in December 1803 when word came that his father was dead and his sister seriously ill. He hoped taking her to Portugal would revive her, but she died when they reached New York.
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As the sole benefactor of his father’s estate, Poinsett was now very rich (easily a multi-millionaire in today’s dollars).
After his father and sister died, Poinsett returned to Europe, undertaking a lengthy trip across the Russian empire which included stops in Astrakhan, Dagestan, Azerbaijan and Baku on the Caspian Sea. By the time these travels had concluded, America was on the verge of war with Great Britain – prompting him to return home.
President James Madison appointed Poinsett as his special envoy to South America in 1810, where he gained valuable diplomatic experience – and flexed his military muscle as a major general in the Chilean cavalry of general José Miguel Carrera. He also participated in the battle of the Bay of Concepción between Peruvian royalists and the junta of Chile.
Poinsett returned to America in 1815 – and would remain in his home state for the next decade securing election to the S.C. General Assembly and later, the U.S. Congress. In 1826, president John Quincy Adams named him America’s first ambassador to Mexico. He followed that up by serving as secretary of war (the forerunner of today’s secretary of defense) under president Martin Van Buren.
Those accomplishments alone were impressive. But in addition to his military and diplomatic résumé, Poinsett was also a man of science. He was a skilled botanist and scholar who co-founded the prestigious Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences. Poinsett was also a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Still, it’s the bright red flower bearing his last name for which he’s best remembered today.
While serving in Mexico, Poinsett was introduced to Euphorbia pulcherrima in the 1820s while visiting the state of Guerrero. Mexicans called it flor de nochebuena, or “the flower of Christmas Eve.” Franciscan friars had been displaying the plants on December 24 since the 1600s, believing the star-shaped leaf pattern was representative of the star of Bethlehem.
The American diplomat fell in love it with at first sight.
Poinsett sent plant clippings back to the United States – including to select friends in Charleston and Philadelphia. By the 1830s, one botanical magazine mentioned the plant “lately referred to as the poinsettia,” claiming it had arrived in this country in 1828. Several prominent horticulturalists later claimed Poinsett sent them cuttings in the 1830s.
The plant’s Christmas craze took off in the early 1900s, and it’s been as much a part of the holiday tradition as eggnog and stockings hung by the fire ever since.
Poinsett never lived to see the plant’s seasonal popularity. He died in 1851 at the age of 72 — two weeks before Christmas — and is buried in Statesburg, S.C. There’s been a recent push of late by the far Left to strip Poinsett’s name from the crimson beauty owing to his status as a slaveowner – but so far those efforts have come to naught.
That means the next time you see those beautiful red petals in church on Christmas Eve – or on the porch of a friend or relative this holiday season – you can remember the story of the South Carolinian for whom they are named.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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3 comments
Great tale!
Great story!
Enjoyable story! I have been to Mr Poinsett’s grave at The Church Of The Holy Cross. As I seem to recall, facing the church with your back to the road, his grave is very near the front and on the left hand side of the church. If you go in warm weather, beware of redbugs.