Charles McIlvaine

After serving in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Charles McIlvaine left railroad work behind and built an unusual second career as a writer and amateur mycologist. He later settled in West Virginia, where his close study of wild mushrooms grew into a serious lifelong pursuit.

McIlvaine is best remembered for One Thousand American Fungi (1900), written with Robert K. Macadam. The book became an important early field guide for general readers, blending identification, practical advice, and his own bold habit of personally testing many species.

He also wrote more broadly than science alone. Records connected with his correspondence and bibliographic listings note that he published fiction, poems, and literature for young readers, sometimes using the pen name "Tobe Hodge." Today he is often remembered as one of the colorful early popularizers of mushroom hunting in the United States.