Charles Emerson Beecher. 413 



I 



After Beech er's appointment as Curator of the geological 

 collections at Yale, he also undertook to arrange, develop, and 

 place on exhibition the large Marsh collection of vertebrates. 

 His work in this connection, however, was chiefly directive, 

 although he assisted considerably in the mechanical work of 

 the large mounts of Qlaosaurus annectens and Brontosaurus. 

 The life-like poses selected for these specimens are evidences 

 of his artistic perception. The former he has described at 

 length in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy. 



Charles Emerson Beecher, son of Moses and Emily D. 

 Beecher, was born in Dunkirk, New York, October 9, 1856. 

 Not long after this date, his parents removed to Warren, Penn- 

 sylvania, where he prepared for college at the High School, and 

 was graduated from the University of Michigan, receiving the 

 degree of B.S; in 1878. The ten succeeding years he served 

 as an assistant to Professor James Hall, and in 1888 removed 

 to New Haven to take charge of the collections of invertebrate 

 fossils in the Peabody Museum. His career as a teacher of 

 geology began in 1891 when for two years he took charge of 

 Dana's classes at Yale, and in 1892 he was made Assistant 

 Professor of Historical Geology in the Sheffield Scientific 

 School, serving in this capacity until 1897 when he became 

 Professor of Historical Geology and a member of the Govern- 

 ing Board in the Sheffield Scientific School. In 1899 he suc- 

 ceeded the late Professor Marsh as Curator of the geological 

 collections, and was made a member of, and secretary to, the 

 Board of Trustees of the Museum. In 1902 his title was 

 changed to that of University Professor of Paleontology. He 

 was eminently successful as a teacher both with undergraduates 

 and with advanced students, his enthusiasm and kindliness of 

 character arousing at once their interest and devotion. 



Professor Chittenden, director of the Sheffield Scientific 

 School, has said of Beecher: "Quiet and unassuming he never 

 sought adulation, but where there was earnest work to be done, 

 requiring skill, patience and good judgment, he would labor 

 quietly and industriously, bringing to bear upon the problem 

 such a measure of common sense and of thoughtfulness that 

 confidence and respect for his conclusions were inevitable. 



