Mary Parry Haines

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Mary Parry Haines (December 24, 1826 – December 8, 1884) was a naturalist and paleontologist who studied plants and fossils in central eastern Indiana. She was born in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, to Letitia Penn Smith and John D. Parry. Her sister was the aunt of U.S. Senator Oliver H. Smith. In 1852 she married Joshua W. Haines, a former teacher who became a successful dry goods merchant in Richmond, Indiana; they had three children: Letitia, Parry, and Francinia.

Haines gave talks on plants to horticultural societies in Indiana and became known for her fossil collections. In 1875, when the Museum of the Scientific Association of Richmond, Indiana was formed, she was named curator of the paleontological collection. By 1879 she had assembled more than 5,100 specimens, including 1,628 fossils and 1,016 minerals, along with shells, corals, and many Indiana plant specimens. She collected bryophytes and lichens around Richmond, with most activity in the 1870s; her bryophyte/lichen herbarium contains dates from 1820 to 1879.

Haines published works on bryophytes, geology, and ferns, and corresponded with William H. Pratt of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, where she was elected a corresponding member in 1874. She donated fossils, geological specimens, shells, beads, and other artifacts to the Davenport Academy. Mary Parry Haines died in 1884 and was buried in Earlham Cemetery in Richmond, Indiana.