In honor of National Poinsettia Day 2019, enjoy this throwback History Byte from December 2012
The delicate Mexican plant that adorns houses during the Christmas season was developed by Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), diplomat, politician and Member of Congress. Poinsett, of Charleston, SC, spent most of his career shuttling between Washington and South America, Cuba and Mexico. He later served as Secretary of War. In 1833 Poinsett married Mary Izard Pringle, a member of the extended Henry Middleton family of Charleston and Newport and visited family at houses on Washington Square, Bellevue Avenue and Pell Street. Great grandson Joel Roberts Poinsett Pringle studied in Newport under Admiral Sims and later served as President of the Naval War College 1927-1930.