WILBUR H. SCOFIKLD. 



Thoro remains one further duty to discharge. It is a duty which is fraught with 

 sadness, but which is performed with cheerfulness. Wilbur H. Scofleld, one of our 

 collaborators, has died during the preparation of this volume. 



II- 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 for him a >imnf 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 recognised as one of the best and one of the foremost 



ns. 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. 



