Charles Henry Hitchcock (August 23, 1836 – November 5, 1919) was an American geologist.

Life

Hitchcock was born August 23, 1836, in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

. His father was

Edward Hitchcock Edward Hitchcock (May 24, 1793 – February 27, 1864) was an American geologist and the third President of Amherst College (1845–1854). Life Born to poor parents, he attended newly founded Deerfield Academy, where he was later principal, ...

(1793–1864) who was a professor of geology and natural theology and then president of

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

. His mother was Orra White Hitchcock, who illustrated much of his father's work. He graduated from Amherst College in 1856, and considered entering the ministry. He married Martha Bliss Barrows. He was assistant state geologist of Vermont 1857-61 and state geologist of Maine 1861–62. In 1866 and 1867, Hitchcock studied at the Royal School of Mines in London, examined fossils in the British Museum, and visited glaciers in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Hitchcock served as New Hampshire state geologist from 1868 to 1878. His survey produced a three volume report, and an atlas of maps. It was the first set of detailed maps of the geology of the state. In connection with his survey of New Hampshire, he maintained, during the winter of 1870, a meteorological station on Mount Washington, the earliest high-mountain observatory in the United States. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1870. He taught at Dartmouth College in 1868 and from 1869 to 1908 held the Hall Professorship of Geology and Mineralogy. He used the tetrahedral hypothesis which had been first published in 1875 by William Lowthian Green to explain the formation of the Earth's land masses. His distant cousin was

Harvey Rexford Hitchcock Harvey Rexford Hitchcock (March 13, 1800 – August 25, 1855) was an early Protestant missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii from the United States. With his three sons, he and his wife started a family that would influence Hawaii's history. He ...

(1800–1855), who was an early missionary to Hawaii. This led to a publication of a book the volcanoes of Hawaii. Hitchcock was a founder of the Geological Society of America, and in 1883 vice-president 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 ...

. He left a collection of botanical specimens to the University of North Carolina Herbarium.

Mount Hitchcock Mount Hitchcock is a mountain located in South Hadley and Hadley, Massachusetts. It reaches 1,002 feet (305 m) at its peak in South Hadley. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail runs through it as it does for all the Holyoke Range. To the west is Seve ...

in California is named in his honor.

Works

* ''Elementary Geology'' (1861, with E. Hitchcock) * ''Mt. Washington in Winter'' (1871) * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchcock, Charles Henry American geologists 1836 births 1919 deaths People from Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst College alumni Dartmouth College faculty Alumni of Imperial College London