George William Featherstonhaugh
George William Featherstonhaugh | |
---|---|
George, Jr.,[1] and Georgianna d1826;By Charlotte: Albany, Georgiannia, and Henry | |
Parent(s) | George and Dorothy Simpson Featherstonhaugh |
George William Featherstonhaugh FRS (/ˈfɪərstənhɔː/ FEER-stən-haw; 9 April 1780 – 28 September 1866) was a British-American geologist and geographer. He was one of the proposers of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad and was the first geologist to the US government. He surveyed portions of the Louisiana Purchase for the US government.
Early life and career
Born to George and Dorothy Simpson Featherstonhaugh in London, he grew up in
Railroad plans
In 1806 he went to the United States where he planned to study the languages of the
The painter Thomas Cole spent the winter of 1825–6 at Featherstonhaugh's estate, painting four views of the house in its landscape setting including Landscape, the Seat of Mr. Featherstonhaugh in the Distance, but found Featherstonhaugh a "heartless employer".[5][6] After the death of his wife and two daughters and a calamitous fire, Featherstonhaugh sold his estate at Duanesburg. He later came to Philadelphia and, on 28 January 1831, married Charlotte Williams Carter in Schenectady County, New York. They had three children: Albany, Georgiannia, and Henry.[2]
Construction of the railroad began on 29 July 1830, and one year later the road was completed from Engine hill (near the top of Crane Street hill) in Schenectady to Lydius street (known today as Madison Avenue)[7] in the western suburb of Albany. Formal opening of the road was on 13 August 1831, when the DeWitt Clinton pulled the first train to Schenectady.[4]
The
In July 1831 Featherstonhaugh issued the sole edition of the Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science.[8]
Exploring the Louisiana Purchase
After acquiring a vast quantity of unexplored land in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the government sought to document the mineral resources of the territory. In 1834, Featherstonhaugh, newly appointed as the first US government geologist, was instructed to examine the elevated country between the Missouri and the Red River and report back to Colonel John James Abert of the Topographical Bureau.[2]
With his son George Jr. as his assistant, he set out to explore Arkansas the territory from a base in
Among the Cherokees
In 1835, Featherstonhaugh travelled from
In August 1837 after travelling along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee rivers, Featherstonhaugh joined with Special Government Agent John Mason, Jr. to attend the Cherokee National Council at Red Clay, Tennessee, at the beginning of the crisis that eventually led to the
In 1837 Featherstonhaugh sat for Hiram Powers the sculptor who considered him to have a "fine head".[11]
Back to England
Featherstonhaugh returned to England in 1838 with his wife and children. On account of his thorough knowledge of the United States, he was appointed by the British government a commissioner to settle the northern boundary of the United States under the
Family
His son was
Works
- Cicero, The Republic of Cicero, translation – New York, 1828
- Manzoni, "The Betrothed," translation – London, 1834
- Report of a Geological Reconnaissance made in 1835 from the Seat of Government by the way of Green Bay and the Wisconsin Territory to the Coteau du Prairie, an Elevated Ridge Dividing the Missouri from the Saint Peters River – 1836
- Observations on the Ashburton Treaty – London, 1842
- Excursion Through the Slave States – New York, 1844
- A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor (2 vols.) – London, 1847
Notes
- ^ a b "George W. Featherstonhaugh", Evening Wisconsin (Milwaukee), April 6, 1895 (Wisconsin Historical Society)
- ^ a b c d Akridge, Scott (2 November 2006). "The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture". White County Historical Society. The Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
- ^ a b c "Growing With Schenectady – American Locomotive Company". The story of a century of locomotive building in Schenectady. The Schenectady Digital History Archive. 1972. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
- ^ "Thomas Cole's View of Fort Putnam". Archived from the original on 28 October 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
- ^ "Philadelphia Museum of Art – Landscape, the Seat of Mr. Featherstonhaugh in the Distance". Retrieved 13 February 2008.
- ^ "Lydius". Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- ^ "Chronology of American Science". Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
- ^ Featherstonhaugh, George (1847). "A Canoe Voyage Up the Minnay Sotor". George William Featherstonhaugh 1835. Wisconsin Electronic Reader. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
- ^ Records of the U.S. Continental Command (Record Group 393), "Correspondence of the Eastern Division Relating to Cherokee Removal, 1838 (Papers of Gen. Winfield Scott), (Microfilm M 1475, roll 1)
- ISBN 0-87413-310-6. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
- ^ Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
Further reading
- Edmund Berkeley and Dorothy Berkeley. George William Featherstonhaugh: The First US Government Geologist (History of American Science & Technology series) (1988)