Samuel Wendell Williston (1852-1918) 

 ]^v () X E OF HIS s T r 1) v: x t s 



To II.WFJkvh .MIC i.r Williston's 

 stuilciils was a urratrr prix ilci^v 

 lliai) iiiii>i inci) and wnini'ii at 

 llu' time i'i'ali/.i'(l. Simli'iits workiM! 

 with liiiii, rcrliiii;- llial he was (Hif nf 

 lliciii. iiiiawai'i' of marks !<» Ix' i^aiiinl. 

 lull iin|u'll('il l>y the inlci'ot nf llic suh- 

 ji'cl ill hand aiul lircd liy llirir leader's 

 eiilliii>iasin. K\ry liel|d'id. lie \\a> slow- 

 In eeii.-ure. and (|uiek 1(1 reeomiizi' and 

 eiiciiuraL;'e i^ihhI work. I iicoiiseioiisly 

 lie inspired ilio.-e lie laii^lil to eiiinlale 

 liis acliie\ eineiils. and many are his sin- 

 dents who lia\(' (list inii'uishe(| ihein- 

 S('l\('> in nie(lieiiie or science. 



Or. Williston \\;h e(piipped with a 

 w.nidcrrnlly iraiiieil, analytical mind, 

 he was (|uick to dotorniinc essentials, to 

 follow loii'ieally lines of develo])nient, 

 and to deduce salient facts. But, hav- 

 ing:' ari'ived at results, lie was careful 

 to separate facts from ])rol)al)ilities, 

 clearly stating reasons wln're evidence 

 was faulty, that others niiiilit not h;' 

 niisUnl. Einiiieiitly I'aii' in admitting' 

 the opinions of others, he was an ideal 

 investigator. 



He was bnni in Boston, ^Massacliu- 

 setts, July 1(1. lS.->-i. While still a 

 small hoy, his family moved to Kansas, 

 then a frontier state, and settled at 

 ]\ranhattan. His early education, lack- 

 ing the facilitit's of modern common 

 schools, was ac([uired under conditions 

 that would have discouraged any mind 

 less determined. He tells us that he 

 leai'ned his letters from the name aii'l 

 descriptiim in cast iron on the front of 

 the kitchen >to\('. While a voiith, he 

 gained much e.\p;'rience in railroad con- 

 struction, heljiing to siir\-ey one of the 

 first railroa(l> in his part of the State. 

 Studying in a docior's ollice later, he 

 liecanie con\inced ihat lie ninst have a 

 college education. .\t the Kan-a< State 

 Agricnltui'al College he recei\-e(l the de- 

 gree of B.S. in IsT'i and .\.M. in ISTo. 

 '^I'here. under the inllueiice of Professor 

 B>enjaiiiiii l-\ .Miidge. the great e-\j)lorcr 



(d' the natural hi>t(U'y, geologw paheon- 

 lology, and economic resonrce> (d' i\aii- 

 >a>. his career as a scienli>l was deter- 

 mined. He was held assistant to I'n.)- 

 fessor Miidge ill se\eral exploring ex- 

 pedit ions. 



In IS"!) he went to ^'ale rnixcrsity 

 as assistant to i'rofe>sor O. ( '. Marsh, 

 and here he ohtailied the degrees (d' 

 .M.j). and IMi.l). Me hecanie demon- 

 strator (d' anatomw then professor of 

 anatomy, and was health ollicer in 

 the city of .\ew liaxcii from jSSS to 

 ISIM). 



in IS'.MI he was called to the Kansas 

 State l"ni\-ersity as professor of histori- 

 cal geology and anatomy, and later was 

 also dean of the Medical School which 

 lu' organized. This was the period dur- 

 ing which his influence was most felt 

 hy student bodies. In state educational 

 matters he was a wise counselor and an 

 originator of methods and ])ractice. 

 When the Kansas State Cieological Sur- 

 vey was organized in 1895 he was 

 ])laced in charge of the department of 

 liahr-ontology and was influential in de- 

 termining the high character of the 

 work (h)ne. ^faiiy of his discoveries of 

 fossil marine reptiles were hrouglu 

 about in relation to this work. 



Although loath to leave his work 

 in Kansas, he felt that tlu> ofl'er of 

 the T'niversity of Chicago permitted 

 greater opportunity for research, and 

 he accepted the cliaii' of professor of 

 )iala'oiitology there in I'Ji)''. a ])ositioii 

 which he held until his death in Au- 

 gust, I'.IIS. 



In Chicago his class work was with 

 graduate students, and during the first 

 six years he continue(l pnhlications on 

 ('retaceoiis ri'ptiles. i)iiriiig the last 

 tell years he de\dted most of his life to 

 se(-uriiig and dexrihinu' a \a<t series 

 of .\orth .\iiierican Permian fossils. 

 and at the lime (d' hi- death was en- 

 gageil ujioii a general W(irk on reptiles. 

 — B.vi.'NTAr l)i;()WN-. 



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