THE 
AMERICAN GEOLOGIST 
Vol. IL NOVEMBER, 1888. No. 5. 
SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CHARLES 
E. WRIGHT, LATE STATE GEOLOGIST OF MICHIGAN. 
By C. D. Lawton, 
The cause of science met with the loss of one of its most 
accomplished votaries in the death of the subject of this me- 
moir which occurred in Marquette, Mich., on the 22d of March, 
1888. In no way could the country suffer greater injury than 
by the loss of men such as he. He has fallen in the prime of life, 
in the midst of his manifold labors,too early for the full rounding 
of his fame. His plans for the work on which he was engaged 
were of a broad and liberal character and had he lived to ful- 
fill them, would have brought lasting honor to himself and 
have been of inestimable value to the State and to the world. 
The election of Mr. Wright as the director of the Geological 
Survey was most fortunate for the cause of science and for the 
practical interests of the State. His training in Europe and 
his long experience in the field and laboratory, rendered him 
peculiarly fit for the post of state geologist. His whole life 
from boyhood to the day of his death, had been a preparation 
for the work which he was allotted to perform. He exempli- 
fied the highest training which this century affords for the par- 
ticular field of scientific inquiry in which the line of his industry 
lay; he had studied in the best schools in the world, had en- 
joyed the instruction of the most famous teachers, had worked 
in laboratories, in furnaces and in mines; he had sought in- 
formation in the great metallurgical works and mines of England 
and on the continent of Europe; and withal he was endowed by 
nature with uncommon powers and enthusiasm for the work 
which he had chosen and with an industry and zeal that never 
