AMERICAN GEOLOGY DECADE OF 1830-18.39. 



303 



Sketch of 

 Featherstonhaugh 



Fi<;. 20. — George William Feather- 

 stonhaugh. 



travel. Being of good presence — standing- more than 6 feet in height, 

 well educated, and an accomplished musician — he easily procured 

 admission into the best of society, married an Ameri- 

 can girl, and established himself at Duanesburg, in 

 New York, but was, apparently, never naturalized. 

 He appears to have taken an active interest in agricultural, scientific, 

 and political affairs, and, in company with 

 Stephen Van Rensselaer, became one of the 

 directors of the railroad from Albany to 

 Schenectady, a charter for which was 

 granted in 1826. The death of his wife and 

 two daughters, however, caused him to leave 

 Duanesburg and turn his thoughts toward 

 exploration and science. He therefore re- 

 moved to Philadelphia, where he established, 

 in 1831, the journal above mentioned. 



In 1831, and again in 1835, he was ap- 

 pointed a Government geologist, but his 

 work was extremely superficial and of only 

 historical interest. Concerning his work in 

 the elevated country lying between the Mis- 

 souri and Red rivers — the Ozark region — and his subsequent work in 

 the upper Mississippi region, Whitney, after numerous quotations, 

 remarks: a 



From the above it will be seen that this so-called geological reconnaissance was 

 about as worthless rubbish as could well be put together, neither correctly describing 

 any facts which came under their author's observation, nor giving any theoretical 

 views worthy a moment's notice, except from their absurdity. 



The year 1831 seems, on the whole, to have been singularly une- 

 ventful in geological history, but few papers of importance appearing, 

 although undoubtedly a large amount of hard, preliminary work was 



being done. 



Perhaps the most important event of the year was 



the establishment of the State geological survey of 

 Tennessee, with Gerard Troost, then professor of geology and chem- 

 istry in the University of Nashville, but formerly of Philadelphia, at 

 its head. This survey continued in existence until 1815, during which 

 time eight annual reports were made, the first two of which were not 

 published. The third report, made in October, 1835, comprised but 

 32 octavo pages and dealt particularly with the extent of the coal 

 formations and investigations of the soil, marls, and iron ores. It was 

 accompanied by a geological map, in which the coal area, colored in pink, 

 was indicated as extending in a gradually narrowing belt from the north- 

 east to the southwest in the region lying west of the Tennessee River. 



Geological Survey of 

 Tennessee, 1831-35. 



a Upper Mississippi Lead Region, 1862, p. 80. 



