THE 
AMERICAN GEOLOGIST 
Vol. VII. MARCH, 1891. No. 3. 
JAMES MACFARLANE. 
By I. C. White, Morgantown, W. Va. 
The subject of this sketch, so well known to the geologists of 
America, was born at Gettysburg, Pa., September, 2nd, 1819, 
and died of heart failure, at Towanda, Pa., October 12th, 1885. 
Connected b}' kindred ties with the best families of the Cumber- 
land Valle} 7 , and descended from a race proverbial for encrg}', 
thrift, and untiring industry, he was born rich, not in material 
things, but in that far superior endowment, of clear intellect, ro- 
bust bod}', sturdy character, lofty aspirations and unconquerable 
will power, which characterizes the Scotch-Irish people. 
Happily gifted by nature with a wealth of generous and kindly 
sympathies, Mr. Macfarlane went forth from his Alma Mater, 
Penns}*lvania College, in 1837, full}' equipped for victory in life's 
struggle. 
Upon his record as a successful engineer of the North Branch 
Canal, a leading member of the bar at Towanda, the successful 
coal operator and railway builder, who opened up and developed 
the celebrated Barclay Mountain Coal Region, we cannot dwell, ex- 
cept to say that his ceaseless activity and tireless devotion to duty 
rendered him eminentl}- successful in all his business ventures. 
Of philosophic mind, a close and keen observer, his expcrirnee 
as a coal operator gave him the opportunity to collect and elabor- 
ate the data which he embodied in that very mine of useful in- 
formation, as well as of popular scientific instruction, ■• The Coal 
Regions of America." This justly famous work met with such a 
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