WILBUR H. SCOFIELD. 
There remains one further duty to discharge. It is a duty which is fraught with 
sadness, but which is performed with cheerfulness. Wilbur H. Scofield, one of our 
collaborators, has died during the preparation of this volume. 
His residence at Cannon Falls made it a point of rendezvous for parties in the service 
of the survey going to and coming from the southern portion of the state. Added to this 
convenience his interest in geology and his collection of fossils from the Lower Silurian 
brought him into constant intercourse with the members of the survey corps, and they all 
formed fcr him a strong personal attachment. His cooperation, which was always gener- 
ously granted, has added much to the scientific value of this volume. Some feeble 
testimony to that service is seen in the dedication of several species to his name. 
He was a native of Livingstone county, New York, born October 15, 1840, and removed 
to Minnesota in 1855, settling at Cannon Falls, a frontier hamlet. As the village and the 
country developed, he came to be recognized as one of the best and one of the foremost 
citizens. He served as teacher, postmaster, and president of the village council, and at 
the time of his death he was president of the Board of Education. He was tendered a 
nomination to the State Legislature but declined in favor of his brother, Hon. James L. 
Scofield. 
He began the collection of fossils and their classification under the sole instigation 
and guidance of an inquisitive and enterprising mind, and, without association with 
scientists, necessitated by physical disability, he acquired great proficiency and manifested 
unwonted skill in the determination of species. His life and his service to geology illus- 
trate the opportunities which lie in the pathway of the citizen who thoughtfully observes 
nature and who enters upon a systematic inquiry into the phenomena that surround him. 
