![1846 Emmons Agricultural Map of New York State - Geographicus - NewYork-emmons-1846](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/1846_Emmons_Agricultural_Map_of_New_York_State_-_Geographicus_-_NewYork-emmons-1846.jpg)
Ebenezer Emmons (May 16, 1799October 1, 1863), was a pioneering American geologist whose work includes the naming of the
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...
in New York as well as a first ascent of
Mount Marcy
Mount Marcy (Mohawk: ''Tewawe’éstha'') is the highest point in New York, with an elevation of . It is located in the Town of Keene in Essex County. The mountain is in the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks region of the High Peaks Wildern ...
.
Early life
Emmons was born at
Middlefield, Massachusetts
Middlefield is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 385 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Middlefield was first settled in 1780 and w ...
, on May 16, 1799, son of Ebenezer and Mary (Mack) Emmons.
Emmons entered Williams College at age 16 and graduated with a degree in medicine in 1818. He went on to study medicine at
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
. After graduating, he practiced as a doctor in
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in ...
. In 1824, he assisted
Chester Dewey
Chester Dewey (October 25, 1784 – December 15, 1867) was an American botanist, antislavery activist, clergyman and educator.Makers of American Botany, Harry Baker Humphrey, Ronald Press Company, Library of Congress Card Number 61-18435
Early li ...
in preparing a
geological map
A geologic map or geological map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock (geology), Rock units or stratum, geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bed (geology), Bedding planes and structural features such ...
of Berkshire County, in which the first attempt was made to classify the rocks of the
Taconic area.
He eventually attended the Rensselaer School (now
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...
) for geology. There, he was inspired by professor
Amos Eaton
Amos Eaton (May 17, 1776 – May 10, 1842) was an American botanist, geologist, and educator who is considered the founder of the modern scientific prospectus in education, which was a radical departure from the American liberal arts tradition of ...
, and graduated in the first class in 1826.
While giving much of his time to natural science at
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
, he also became a professor in chemistry and later
obstetrics
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
at
Albany Medical College
Albany Medical College (AMC) is a private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Medical Center, which ...
.
Geological Survey of New York
Emmons was designated by
Jules Marcou
Jules Marcou (April 20, 1824 – April 17, 1898) was a French-Swiss-American geologist.
Biography
He was born at Salins-les-Bains, Salins, in the ''département in France, département'' of Jura (département), Jura, in France. He was educated a ...
as the founder of American
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
stratigraphy
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks.
Stratigrap ...
, and the first discoverer of the primordial fauna in any country. In 1836, he became attached to the
Geological Survey
A geological survey is the systematic investigation of the geology beneath a given piece of ground for the purpose of creating a geological map or model. Geological surveying employs techniques from the traditional walk-over survey, studying outc ...
of the State of New York, and after a lengthened study, he grouped the local
strata
In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...
(1842) into the Taconic and overlying
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
systems. The latter system was subdivided into several groups that were by no means well defined. Emmons had previously described the
Potsdam sandstone
The Potsdam Sandstone, more formally known as the Potsdam Group, is a geologic unit of mid-to-late Cambrian age found in Northern New York and northern Vermont and Quebec and Ontario. A well-cemented sandstone of nearly pure quartz, in the 19th ce ...
(1838), and this was placed at the base of the New York system. It is now regarded as Upper
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...
.
In 1844, Emmons obtained fossils in his Taconic system for the first time. The species obtained were found to differ from all then-known Palaeozoic fossils and now represent the primordial group. Marcou advocated for the term Taconic to be generally adopted in place of Cambrian. Nevertheless, the Taconic fauna discovered by Emmons proved to include only the lower part of
Sedgwick's Cambrian.
Emmons contributed to a series of volumes on the ''Natural History of New York'' (1848), writing about agriculture and geological topics. He also issued a work entitled ''American Geology'', containing a statement of the principles of science with full illustrations demonstrating the characteristics of American fossils (1855–1857).
The overthrust in New York, which places Lower Cambrian rocks in contact with Middle
Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...
rocks, is known as Emmons' line, formerly Logan's line after
William Edmond Logan
Sir William Edmond Logan, FRSE FRS FGS (20 April 1798 – 22 June 1875), was a Canadian-born geologist and the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada.
Life
William Edmond Logan was born into a well-to-do Montreal family ...
. This segment is named after Emmons and extends from Canada through
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, New York, and farther south. It traverses through the city of
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
and the
Poesten Kill
The Poesten Kill is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 creek in upstate New York located entirely in Rensselaer County, which flows westerly from its sourc ...
Falls and Gorge. He named the
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...
(1838) and
Taconic Mountains
The Taconic Mountains or Taconic Range () are a range of the Appalachian Mountains, running along the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England from northwest Connecticut to western Massachusetts, north to central western Vermont. ...
(1844) and acquainted the public with these regions.
A scientific disagreement with New York State Geologist
James Hall regarding the age of the rocks in the Taconic System led Emmons to leave New York State. Emmons held that the Taconic System rocks were of Cambrian age, but Hall was convinced that they were
Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...
in age. (Emmons was ultimately found to be correct.) As a result of the dispute, Emmons was banned from the practice of geology in the state of New York and sued Hall for slander and libel. In 1851, after losing the lawsuit, Emmons was hired by the state of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
for the newly created position of State Geologist. He continued in that position until his death in 1863, at his plantation in
Brunswick County, North Carolina
Brunswick County is the southernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 136,693. Its population was only 73,143 in 2000, making it one of the ...
.
Adirondack mountain climber
Emmons gave the Adirondacks their name in 1838.
The name "Adirondacks" is an Anglicized version of the
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
*Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
*Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
''ratirontaks'', meaning "they eat trees", a derogatory name the Mohawks historically applied to neighboring
Algonquian tribes due to their practice of eating the buds and bark of trees when food was scarce.
Emmons led the first recorded climb of
Mount Marcy
Mount Marcy (Mohawk: ''Tewawe’éstha'') is the highest point in New York, with an elevation of . It is located in the Town of Keene in Essex County. The mountain is in the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks region of the High Peaks Wildern ...
on August 8, 1837. His party was looking for the headwaters of the East Fork of the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
which it claimed was at Lake Tear of the Clouds on the mountain.
Mount Emmons in the Adirondacks is named for him.
See also
*
Taconic orogeny
The Taconic orogeny was a mountain building period that ended 440 million years ago and affected most of modern-day New England. A great mountain chain formed from eastern Canada down through what is now the Piedmont of the East coast of the Unit ...
References
External links
William S. Powell (ed.): DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmons, Ebenezer
1799 births
1863 deaths
People from Middlefield, Massachusetts
American geologists
American botanists
Williams College alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni
Albany Medical College alumni
People from Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Williams College faculty