466  A  Historical  Sketch  of  Gerard  Troost.  {A^ctJ00ber,S94rm- 
Java.  The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  captured  by  an  English 
privateer;  he  was  confined  for  a  time  at  Dunkirk,  returned  to  Paris, 
and  then  made  his  way  to  La  Rochelle.  He  took  passage  from  a 
northern  port  beyond  French  jurisdiction,  in  an  American  vessel 
for  New  York,  whence  he  hoped  to  reach  the  East  Indies  under  the 
protection  of  our  flag.  The  vessel  was  captured  by  a  French  pri- 
vateer and  taken  to  Dunkirk,  where  Troost  was  kept  a  prisoner 
until  the  French  became  aware  of  his  true  name  and  character, 
when  he  was  released.  He  went  at  once  to  Paris,  and  in  March, 
1 8 io,  was  elected  a  correspondent  of  the  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, of  Paris.  A  few  days  afterwards,  he  embarked  on  an  American 
vessel  for  Philadelphia. 
The  turn  of  affairs  political  in  Europe,  among  which  was  the 
abdication  of  Louis  Napoleon  as  King  of  Holland,  and  the  surrender 
of  Java  to  England,  caused  him  to  abandon  his  contemplated  visit 
to  the  East  Indies,  and  to  remain  in  the  United  States. 
In  1812,  Dr.  Troost  participated  in  the  meeting  held  January  25, 
in  the  house  of  John  Speakman,  apothecary,  which  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  of  Philadelphia. 
During  his  residence  in  this  city,  Dr.  Troost  was  engaged  in  manu- 
factures of  various  kinds.  In  181 5  or  18 16,  he  began  the  manufac- 
ture of  alum  on  the  Magothy  River,  Cape  Sable,  Md.,  establishing 
the  first  alum  works  in  the  United  States.  In  1 821,  he  was  ap- 
pointed professor  of  mineralogy  in  the  Philadelphia  Museum,  and 
was  made  first  professor  of  chemistry  in  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy,  from  which  latter  position  he  resigned  in  1822. 
He  was  the  seventy-first  member  of  the  College,  joining  Novem- 
ber 19,  1 82 1,  and  resigning  in  1822.  During  this  period,  he  also 
made  geological  excursions  into  New  Jersey  and  elsewhere,  and 
it  was  to  geological  studies  that  he  now  bent  all  his  energies. 
Removing  first  to  Harmony,  Ind.,  in  1825,  and  then  to  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  in  1827,  he  was  elected  in  the  following  year,  professor  of 
chemistry,  geology  and  mineralogy  of  the  University  of  Nashville, 
and  held  this  position  for  over  twenty-two  years.  Here  his  life's 
best  work  was  done,  and  his  reports  as  State  Geologist  contributed 
not  a  little  to  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  rich  mineral  resources 
of  the  State  of  Tennessee. 
I 
