Arthur Edmund Seaman (December 29, 1858 – July 10, 1937) was a professor at the

Michigan College of Mines Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

(now

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ...

) and curator of the

A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, currently located on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, is the official mineral museum of the state of Michigan and is a heritage site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park. Th ...

which bears his name.

Biography

Seaman was born in

Casnovia, Michigan Casnovia is a village in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the boundary between Muskegon and Kent counties and lies partially within both. The population was 319 at the 2010 census. The village is located partially within Tyrone Towns ...

, near Grand Rapids. He moved to the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

in the 1880s and began working in the timber industry as a "land looker" estimating timber. Because of his abilities, he was hired by the

Michigan Geological Survey The Michigan Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the U.S. state of Michigan. The survey is headed by the State Geologist of Michigan. The survey has been composed of three individual surveys: the first from 1837 through 1845, the second fr ...

under

Charles E. Wright Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

and later Marshman E. Wadsworth, who was also president of the Michigan College of Mines. Seaman became an assistant at the college in 1890 and began earning his bachelor's degree. When the survey separated from the college in 1892, Seaman was kept on at the college, becoming an instructor in 1893. He earned his degree and became assistant professor in 1895, and finally full professor and head of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy in 1899. In 1907, Seaman, along with A. C. Lane, divided the various "Lake Superior Sandstones" into the Jacobsville,

Freda Freda may refer to: * Frida (given name), also spelled ''Freda'' * Freda (surname) * Freda (character) from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy * Ford Freda, a motor vehicle introduced in the Japanese market in 1995 * Freda Sandstone, a member of t ...

, and

Munising Munising ( ') is a city in Alger County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,355 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Alger County. The city is partially surrounded by Munising Township, but the two are administered auton ...

. In 1917, Seaman discovered the mineral

seamanite Seamanite, named for discoverer Arthur E. Seaman, is a rare manganese boron phosphate mineral with formula Mn3 (OH)4PO4)(OH)2. The yellow to pink mineral occurs as small, needle-shaped crystals. It was first discovered in 1917 from a mine in Iron ...

which was named in his honor. In 1928, after retiring from active teaching, he was named the curator of the college mineral museum. In June 1932, the museum was renamed the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum. Seaman did not have many published works, but co-wrote a paper with Lane and also wrote poetry. Seaman was a Fellow of the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...

and a member of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...

. Seaman died at the age of on July 10, 1937, in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, and was buried in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...

. After his death, a bronze plaque was placed on the museum door to commemorate him. Arthur Seaman had two children: daughter Lucile Lamey and son Wyllys A. Seaman, professor at the same university as his father and curator of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum from 1943 to 1948.

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seaman, Arthur Edmund 1858 births 1937 deaths American curators Michigan Technological University faculty American mineralogists People from Kent County, Michigan Fellows of the Geological Society of America