Prof. Benjamin F. Mudgc. — Williston. 341 
During- 1859 and i860 he was employed in the Chelsea, 
Mass., and Breckenridge, Ky., oil refineries as chemist. In 
1861 his pronounced anti-slavery views and his warm sympa- 
thetic interest in the cause of freedom induced him to give up 
his position in Kentucky and remove to Wyandotte (now Kan- 
sas City), Kan. For two or three years he was engaged in 
teaching there, and immediately became well and favorably 
known as a lecturer. In 1864 having given by invitation a lec- 
ture before the state legislature upon the geological resources 
of his adopted state, he was unanimously appointed state geolo- 
gist. This position he held for a single year, when he was 
elected professor of natural history in the Kansas Agricultural 
College, at Manhattan, then the foremost educational institu- 
tion in the state. During the eight years incumbency of this 
professorship he held at different times the office of president of 
the State Teachers' Association and of the Kansas Academv of 
Science, of which he was the principal founder. In 1873, on 
account of the reorganization of the agricultural college and 
the assumption of its presidency by a well-known politician 
unfitted for such a position. Prof. Mudge resigned his place, 
and up to the time of his death was more or less actively en- 
gaged in field work for Yale College and the Kansas State 
Board of Agriculture. He was also, during part of this time 
connected with the state university as lecturer on geology. 
From his earliest boyhood professor Mudge had been deep- 
ly interested in natural science studies, especially mineralogy, 
geology and botany. His tastes in this direction were pro- 
nounced during his college work, and his active collecting hab- 
its, which persisted throughout his whole life, seemed to have 
been begun at this time. During all of his professional prac- 
tice his interest in these subjects never abated. While at Lynn 
his now large collections in geology and mineralogy were de- 
posited in the Lynn Natural History Society of which he was 
one of the active organizers and for years curator. It was at 
this time that he made the acquaintance of Othniel C. Marsh, 
at that time a young man interested in the study of mineralo- 
gy. He aided him materially in his studies and in his col- 
lections. In fact one of the most pronounced characteristics of 
professor Mudge was his unfailing interest in and sympathy 
with young and struggling students. His heartv words of en- 
