REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 47 



Necrology, 

 jessie e. thomas. 



On January 14, 1903, a skating accident caused the death of Miss Jessie E. Thomas, 

 librarian of the Bureau. 



Miss Thomas was born at Carbondale, HI., October 31, 1875. She received a i>ub- 

 lic school education, and studied French, German, and Spanish under private 

 teachers; and during four years which she spent as secretary and assistant to her 

 father, Dr. Cyrus Thomas, of the Bureau, she gained considerable knowledge of the 

 Maya language and of the literature relating to the American Indians in general, as 

 well as some experience in proof reading and in bil)liographic work. She acquired 

 familiarity with library methods through attendance at the Columbian University, 

 Washington, D. C, and in May, 1900, was temporarily appointed to fill a vacancy in 

 the staff of the Bureau library, of which Mr. F. W. Hodge was then in charge. In 

 September the appointment was made permanent, after Miss Thomas had passed 

 highest on an examination given by the United States Civil Service Commission to 

 fill the position. 



On Mr. Hodge's resignation in the following January she was put in full charge, 

 and from that time vnitil her death performed the difficult task of managing an 

 imperfectly arranged and catalogued lil)rary with marked ability. Much of her time 

 was taken up by the copying of the ^lotul Dictionary (Maya-Spanish, Spanish-^Iaya) 

 from the late Doctor Brinton's collection, and in addition to her other duties she 

 gave considerable attention to bibliographlic studies intended to lessen the labors of 

 students of anthropology. 



Her extreme carefulness and methodical habits are well illustrated by the perfect 

 order in which all her work was left, and her staunch character, her modest 

 demeanor and lovable disposition were highly appreciated by her associates. 



.TOnX WESLEY POWELL. 



John Wesley Powell, founder and director of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 

 \«'as born March 24, 1834, at Mount Morris, N. Y. He died September 23, 1902, at 

 his summer home in Haven, Me., and was buried with the honors due a soldier in 

 Arlington National Cemetery. 



His boyhood was spent largely in the town of Jackson, Ohio, where his mind was 

 first directed toward the study of nature by James Crookham, an eccentric but able 

 teacher of the village youth. He was a student for brief periods in Jacksonville 

 and Oberlin colleges, and, taking up natural-history studies, traversed many sections 

 of the Middle West and South, observing, studying, and collecting. It was thus, no 

 doubt, that he acquired a decided bent for exploration, but it was probably his 

 experience as an officer in the civil war that developed the masterly qualities which 

 made him a leader among men and an organizer in the realm of science. 



At the close of the war, declining political preferment, he resumed his scientific 

 studies and engaged in teaching and in lecturing on geology. During his con- 

 nection with Wesleyan University and tlie Illinois State Normal University he 

 conducted classes in the field, and thus became more and more fully a devotee of 

 research. In 1867 he found his way to the Far West, where later he reached the 

 climax of his career as an explorer in his memorable voyage down the Grand Canyon 

 of the Colorado. This expedition brought into play his splendid courage and com- 

 manding abilities, and the story of his adventures is fraught with deep romantic 

 interest. On these voyages of exploration contact with the native tribes gave him 

 an interest in ethnology, and thenceforth for many years his energies were divided 

 almost equally between the sciences of geology and anthropology. 



Major Powell's mind was so broadened and strengthened by the varied experiences 



