Forrest Shepherd (October 31, 1800 – December 7, 1888) was an American scientist. Shepherd, son of Daniel and Anna (Forrest) Shepherd, was born in Boscawen, N. H., October 31, 1800. He entered

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1823, but spent the Senior year at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. He was admitted to the bachelor's degree at both Colleges in 1827. He remained in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

as a graduate student for two or three years, and on April 29, 1832, married Sophia W. Storer, of

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, Vt. In 1841 and 1842 he took a partial course in the

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. His active life was spent in teaching and in the study of the natural sciences, and while his home remained in New Haven he was absent during a large portion of the time on geological and geographical explorations. In 1846 he visited the southern shore of

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

, where he surveyed and located several of the copper and iron mines which have since become important; and in 1847 he surveyed the mineral lands between Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay. In 1848 he traveled extensively in Great Britain, in 1849 in Cuba and Central America, and in 1850 and 1851 he explored nearly the whole of California. In 1856 and 1857 he explored the island of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, and in 1859 and 1860

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

and the islands in the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...

. In 1865 he visited Northern Mexico and the southwestern part of the union. From 1847 to 1856 he held the Professorship of Economic Geology and Agricultural Chemistry in Western Reserve College, at

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan statistical area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, th ...

, delivering an annual course of lectures in fulfillment of the duties of his chair. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Shepherd wrote to President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

suggesting that

hydrogen chloride The compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colourless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hydrogen chloride ga ...

be employed to incapacitate

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

troops or force them to retreat, but his idea was not adopted. His wife died before him, and his later years were spent with his children. He died in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

, December 7, 1888, in his 89th year, while visiting his eldest daughter, the widow of the Rev. William Hutchison. He left also a daughter, the wife of the Rev. Charles T. Weitzel, and a son. Shepherd is the namesake of Shepherd Mountain in Missouri.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:shepherd, forrest 1800 births 1888 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Yale Divinity School alumni Case Western Reserve University faculty Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Yale College alumni