29 May 1842 – 9 July 1914
Born: LaSalle County, Illinois.
Died: Ottawa, Illinois ????
Occupation: Amateur Conchologist. Volunteered for the Union Army in the Civil War, served three years. Incarcerated at Andersonville. Wrote a book on the History of the 104th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the war he went into the lumber business where he presumably remained for the rest of his life.
Education: Spent 20 years on a farm going to school winters. Attended a seminary for a few years under R. Williams.
Research Interests: Geology, Conchology, Botany.
Travels: Two trips to Florida.
Collection Deposition: Illinois Natural History Survey, Chicago Academy of Science, Field Museum of Natural History, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and the U.S. National Museum.
Remarks: One of the Founders of the Ottawa Academy of Science and served as its secretary and President when he moved to Chicago in 1870. Married Louise Hossack. No children.
Data from: Skaer, H. 1878. [W.W. Calkins Biography]. The Valley Naturalist, Saint Louis, Missouri. 1(7):1.
Partial Bibliography
Calkins, W.W. 1872. Catalogue of living Illinois Mollusca. Privately Printed. Chicago, Ill. 4 pp.
Calkins, W.W. 1874. Notes on freshwater Mollusca, found in the vicinity of Chicago, Illinois. Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science 1(3):242-244.
Calkins, W.W. 1874. Notes on the molluscan fauna of Northern Illinois. Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science 1(4):321-325.
Calkins, W.W. 1874. The land and fresh water shells, of LaSalle County, Ills. Proceedings of the Ottawa Academy of Science 48 pp. + 1 plate.
Calkins, W.W. 1875. Mollusca. Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science 2(1):95.
Calkins, W.W. 1878. Mode of distribution of fresh-water mussels. American Naturalist 12:472-473.
Calkins, W.W. 1880. Catalogue of the Uniones in the Cabinets of W. W. Calkins. American Conchology. Ottaway & Company, Chicago. 12 pp.
Calkins, W.W. 1880. Unio buckleyi and buddianus united. The Valley Naturalist 2. unpaginated.