OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (HALL HAMILTON.) 



and in Wisconsin in 1857. For the former he pre- 

 pared the geological and pala^ontological portions 

 of the two volumes of the " Geological Survey of 

 Iowa " (Albany, 1858-'59), and he wrote the chapters 

 on physical geography, geology, and pala-ontology 

 for the " Report on the Geological Survey of the 

 State of Wisconsin " (Madison, 1862). The exami- 

 nation and description of specimens collected for 

 the Government were frequently assigned to him, 

 and he wrote the pahrontological portions of " Fre- 

 mont's Exploring Expedition ; Appendix A "(Wash- 

 ington. 1845) ; " Expedition to the Great Salt Lake" 

 (Philadelphia, 1852); "United States and Mexican 

 Boundary Survey "(Washington, 1857); and "United 

 States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Paral- 

 lel " (Vol. IV, 1877). In 1866. on the reorganization 

 of the New York State Museum, he was appointed 

 its director, which office, in addition to that of State 

 Geologist, lie held until 1893, afterwhich he retained 

 only that of State Geologist, which he continued to 

 fill "until his death. In connection with the State 

 Museum he made annual reports (Albany, 1866- 

 '92), which were published by the State and con- 

 tained valuable papers by him on geology and palae- 

 ontology. As State Geologist he published 15 reports 

 (Albany, 1884-'95), of which the last 2 are quarto. 

 Prof. Hall devoted much time to crystalline strati- 

 fied rocks, and he was the first to point out the per- 

 sistence and significance of mineralogical character 

 as a guide to classification. Concerning this, McGee 

 has said: "It is not too much to say that the 

 method was established by the New York survey, 

 and that it finds its best illustration in the classic 

 fourth district ; here it was that American strati- 

 graphic geology was founded." He also laid the 

 foundation for a rational theory of mountains, 

 which is discussed in the third volume of the " Pa- 

 laeontology of New York," and is accepted as " one 

 of the most important contributions ever made to 

 the doctrine of isostasy. The sixtieth anniversary 

 of the beginning of his service to science as State 

 Geologist of New York was celebrated by a special 

 session of Section E (geology and geography) at 

 the Buffalo meeting of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, at which addresses 

 descriptive and appreciative of his work were made 

 bv W J McGee, John M. Clarke, Benjamin K. 

 E^merson, Joseph LeConte, George M. Dawson, T. 

 Guilford Smith, and John J. Stevenson. On this 

 occasion he was called the "Founder of American 

 Stratigraphy." He received the degree of A. M. 

 from Union College in 1842, and that of LL. D. from 

 Hamilton in 1863, from McGill in 1884, and from 

 Harvard in 1886. Prof. Hall received the quin- 

 quennial Walker grand prize of $1,000 awarded in 

 1884 by the Boston Society of Natural History, 

 and in 1889 he was the recipient of the Hayden 

 medal given by the Philadelphia Academy of Natu- 

 ral Sciences. In 1840 he was one of the founders 

 of the American Association of Geologists and 

 Naturalists, and after its development into the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence was elected president in 1856, delivering his 

 retiring address on " Contributions to the Geolog- 

 ical History of the American Continent" at the 

 Montreal meeting in 1857. At the time of his death 

 he was one of the very few surviving original mem- 

 bers of the association by which in 1890 he was 

 made one of its six honorary fellows. He was one 

 of the original members of the National Academy 

 of Sciences, named by act of Congress in 1863. 

 He was one of the founders and president of 

 the International Congress of Geologists held in 

 Philadelphia in 1876; one of its vice-presidents at 

 the sessions held in Paris in 1878, in Bologna in 

 1881, in Berlin in 1885, and president at the session 

 held in Washington in 1891, and in St. Petersburg 



in 1897. He was elected one of the 50 foreign mem- 

 bers of the Geological Society of London in is-js, 

 and in 1858 was awarded its Wollaston medal. In 

 1884 he was elected correspondent of the Academy 

 of Sciences in Paris and was a member of many other 

 scientific societies at home and abroad. Besides his 

 larger works, most of which have been mentioned, 

 he was the author of more than 300 separate pa- 

 pers, of which a list from 1836 to 1882 is given in the 

 "Thirty-sixth Annual Report of the New York Mu- 

 seum of Natural History" (Albany, 1884). Says a 

 recent writer : " He is known wherever the language 

 of science is spoken ; he is honored in his Stat 

 vered in his friendly circle, and esteemed in far 

 countries ; he is the founder of stratigraphic geology 

 and applied palaeontology in America. 



Hall, John, clergyman, born in County Armagh. 

 Ireland, July 31, 1829; died at Bangor. County 

 Down, Ireland, Sept. 17, 1898. He entered Belfast 

 College at the age of thirteen, and in 1852 became 

 pastor of a Presbyterian church in Armagh, and 

 in 1858 of St. Mary's Abbey, in Dublin. In 1867 he 

 was sent by the Irish Presbyterian 'Church as a dele- 

 gate to the Presbyterian churches of the United 

 States, and soon after his return to Ireland he re- 

 ceived a call to the pastorate of the Fifth Avenue 

 Presbyterian Church, of New York city. On his ac- 

 ceptance he was installed pastor of this church in 

 November, 1867, and he held this office at the time 

 of his death. He was one of the most prominent 

 clergymen in his denomination, and was widely 

 known as a religious writer. For several years lie 

 contributed a weekly column to the " New York 

 Ledger." and his explanations of the International 

 Sunday-school lessons were long a feature of the| 

 " Sunday-School World." His published books in J 

 elude "All the Way Across"; "The Chief End cm 

 Man " ; " Familiar Talks to Boys " ; '-How to study 

 International Sabbath - School Lessons"; "Minor 

 Characters of the Bible " ; " The Only Rule of lj 

 Faith " ; " Sabbath-School Theology " ; "'The Sower 

 and the Seed " ; " Family Prayers for Four Wei -k- " 

 (edited, 1868) ; "Care Cast upon the Lord "(1869); 

 ' Papers for Home Reading" (1871) ; " Questions ofl 

 the Day" (1873); "Preaching: Manner and Mat- 

 ter" (1874); "Thoughts for the Old Year and tho 

 New" (1874); "God's Word through Preaching" 

 (1875); "Memorials of Wesleyan Ministers from 

 1777 to 1840" (1876); "You and your Children" 

 (1877); "Foundation Stones for Young Builders" 

 (1881); "A Christian Home and how to Maintain 

 it" (1884); "Family Prayers for Working People" 

 (edited, 1885). With T. L. Cuyler and H. W. 

 Beecher he published "Successful Preaching" 

 (1881); and with G. H. Stuart, "The American 

 Evangelists" (1875). 



Halsey, Harlan Pagre, author, better known at 

 "Old Sleuth." born in New York city in 1S37; died 

 -there, Dec. 16, 1898. When a boy he was employed 

 on "Frank Leslie's Magazine." His first book, i 

 novel of 300 pages, published at his own expense, 

 was written when he was sixteen years old. The 

 book that gained him the title of " Old Sleuth " wns 

 founded on the celebrated kidnapping caseof Charlie 

 Ross (see " Annual Cyclopaedia' for 1897, page 617). 

 His books numbered 135, the last one being "Only 

 a Photograph." He was a remarkably rapid write". 

 and his stories were popular with the uneducated 

 classes. He was a member of the Board of Educn- 

 tion in New York city from 1885 to 1S!).~>. in which 

 time he was particularly interested in night school 

 and drawing classes. 



Hamilton, John B., surgeon, born in .Jersey 

 County, 111., in 1847: died in Elgin, 111., I>ee. : 

 1898. He was graduated at Rush Medical College. 

 Chicago, in 1869. He was appointed assistant Bur- 

 geon-in the United States army in 1874, but resignt d 



