George William Featherstonhaugh ( /ˈfɪərstənhɔː/ '' FEER-stən-haw''; 9 April 1780, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

– 28 September 1866, in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

) was a British-American geologist and geographer. He was one of the proposers of the

Albany and Schenectady Railroad The Mohawk & Hudson Railroad was the first railroad built in the state of New York and one of the first railroads in the United States. It was so-named because it linked the Mohawk River at Schenectady with the Hudson River at Albany. It was con ...

and was the first geologist to the US government. He surveyed portions of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

for the US government.

Early life and career

Born to George and Dorothy Simpson Featherstonhaugh in London, he grew up in

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

, England. Featherstonhaugh liked climbing cliffs, collecting fossils, and gathering wild bird eggs to sell. He was adept at writing and became a Fellow of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. In 1809, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Railroad plans

In 1806 he went to the United States where he planned to study the languages of the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. He married Sarah Duane of

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, on 6 November 1808. They had four children: James, Ann, George Jr., and Georgianna. He farmed, organised the first New York Board of Agriculture, and advocated the building of steam railroads in the United States. Difficulty experienced in the economic transportation of his crops led Featherstonhaugh to advocate a steam railroad that would connect 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 ...

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 ...

, with the navigable

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk f ...

at Schenectady. His acquaintance with

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...

(1781–1848) facilitated his quest. Ten years were spent in an attempt to educate the public for the experiment and it was not until December 1825, that Featherstonhaugh was determined to apply for a charter. This was granted on 17 April 1826. The painter

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history paintin ...

spent the winter of 1825–6 at Featherstonhaugh's estate, painting four views of the house in its landscape setting including ''Landscape, the Seat of Mr. Featherstonhaugh in the Distance'', but found Featherstonhaugh a "heartless employer". After the death of his wife and two daughters and a calamitous fire, Featherstonhaugh sold his estate at Duanesburg. He later came to

and, on 28 January 1831, married Charlotte Williams Carter in

Schenectady County, New York Schenectady County () is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,061. The county seat is Schenectady. The name is from a Mohawk language word meaning "on the other side of the pine lands," a term ...

. They had three children: Albany, Georgiannia, and Henry. Construction of the railroad began on 29 July 1830, and one year later the road was completed from Engine hill (near the top of Crane Street hill) in Schenectady to Lydius street (known today as Madison Avenue) in the western suburb of Albany. Formal opening of the road was on 13 August 1831, when the ''

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...

'' pulled the first train to Schenectady. The

justified Featherstonhaugh's vision, and made the Mohawk Valley the center of early railroad construction in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. In 1832 the

Saratoga and Schenectady Rail Road The Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad was incorporated on February 16, 1831. The founders were Henry Walton, John Clarke, William A. Langworthy, John H. Steele, Miles Beach, Gideon W. Davison, and Rockwell Putnam. The line was opened from Schene ...

was completed, the Schenectady terminus being at what is now Water and Railroad Streets. In July 1831 Featherstonhaugh issued the sole edition of the ''Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science''.

Exploring the Louisiana Purchase

After acquiring a vast quantity of unexplored land in the

in 1803, the government sought to document the mineral resources of the territory. In 1834, Featherstonhaugh, newly appointed as the first US government geologist, was instructed to examine the elevated country between the

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and Red rivers and report back to Colonel

John James Abert John James Abert (17 September 1788 – 27 January 1863) was a United States soldier. He headed the Corps of Topographical Engineers for 32 years, during which time he organized the mapping of the American West. Abert was born in Shepherdstown ...

of the Topographical Bureau. With his son George Jr. as his assistant, he set out to explore Arkansas the territory from a base in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

Among the Cherokees

In 1835, Featherstonhaugh travelled from

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

, up the Fox River to the

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousi ...

, then downstream to

Prairie du Chien Prairie du Chien () is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is 53821. Often referred to as Wisconsin's second oldest city, Prairie du Chien was esta ...

, and into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. He paddled up the Mississippi, passing the St. Croix River and the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It ris ...

, stopping at Carver's Cave and

Saint Anthony Falls Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony ( dak, italics=no, Owámniyomni, ) located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late 1 ...

. In August 1837 after travelling along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee rivers, Featherstonhaugh joined with Special Government Agent John Mason, Jr. to attend the Cherokee National Council at Red Clay, Tennessee, at the beginning of the crisis that eventually led to the

Cherokee Removal Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears, refers to the forced relocation between 1836 and 1839 of an estimated 16,000 members of the Cherokee Nation and 1,000–2,000 of their slaves; from their lands in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carol ...

, sometimes called the "

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

". He spent more than a month with these Indians, and was an eyewitness of the resistance of Principal Chief John Ross and the Cherokee people to the fraudulent

Treaty of New Echota The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party. The treaty established terms ...

. The public purpose of his visit was to inspect for the federal government the geology of the mountainous regions of Georgia and North Carolina where gold had been discovered, but there was also another covert mission. In his memoirs, Featherstonhaugh described a pleasant encounter with a learned Welsh-born Baptist missionary Rev. Evan Jones, a fellow Britisher residing among the Cherokees. However, in a secret memoranda sent to General Winfield Scott in May 1838, he wrote: "Evan Jones, An Englishman of dark. cunning character. This man many years ago settled as a missionary amongst the Cherokee, knows their language well, and has had a great deal of personal intercourse with them. In the event of a rupture with these people, he is a person likely to give them bad advice, and I should advise his removal from the Nation." This memorandum also lists four other White men living with the Cherokees, analyses tribal politics, and provides an estimate of a possible military confrontation with the tribe because of the upland topography. In 1837 Featherstonhaugh sat for

Hiram Powers Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...

the sculptor who considered him to have a "fine head".

Back to England

Featherstonhaugh returned to England in 1838 with his wife and children. On account of his thorough knowledge of the United States, he was appointed by the British government a commissioner to settle the northern boundary of the United States under the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. For the successful execution of this task, he was appointed consul from the British government to the departments of

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norm ...

and

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

, France. When Louis Napoleon led a military coup against the King of France, Featherstonhaugh almost single-handedly arranged and led the escape of the King and Queen through Le Havre to England to the delight of the British Government, Queen Victoria, and the public. Later, he spent much time writing and publishing the journals of his travels in the United States. He died in

, France, 28 September 1866, and is buried at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

, England.

Family

His son was

George W. Featherstonhaugh, Jr. George William Featherstonhaugh Jr. (October 1814June 10, 1900) was an American businessman and territorial legislator. Born in Albany, New York, his father was the British-American geologist George William Featherstonhaugh. He settled in Calumet ...

, who was a businessman in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and who served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature from 1846 to 1848.

Works

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

, ''The Republic of Cicero'', translation – New York, 1828 *Manzoni, "The Betrothed," translation – London, 1834 *''Report of a Geological Reconnaissance made in 1835 from the Seat of Government by the way of Green Bay and the Wisconsin Territory to the Coteau du Prairie, an Elevated Ridge Dividing the Missouri from the Saint Peters River'' – 1836 *''Observations on the Ashburton Treaty'' – London, 1842 *''Excursion Through the Slave States'' – New York, 1844 *''A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor'' (2 vols.) – London, 1847

Notes

External links

UK National Archives Listing (letters etc)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Featherstonhaugh, George 1780 births 1866 deaths English explorers of North America People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Geological Society of London English geologists Explorers of the United States Duane family