Henry Garber Hanks (May 12, 1826 – June 19, 1907) was an American

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

. He was the first state mineralogist of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

Early life

Henry Garber Hanks was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, on May 12, 1826. His father Jarvis Frary Hanks was a local

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissi ...

; his mother was Charlotte Garber Hanks.

Career

Around the age of 16, Hanks left Ohio for

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, taking work as a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

. In 1842, his ship sailed to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, where he worked and traveled for about a year. He then served as a seaman on another ship returning to

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 * '' ...

. He then traveled around the

continental United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

while conducting

scientific studies The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific ...

before returning to Cleveland to work as a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...

and

sign painter Sign painting is the craft of painting lettered signs on buildings, billboards or signboards, for promoting, announcing, or identifying products, services and events. Sign painting artisans are signwriters. History Signwriters often learned th ...

. Around the age of 25, Hanks left Ohio to join the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

. Between 1852 and 1856, he worked as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting ...

and businessman around

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. By 1860, he was mostly occupied with selling

paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. In 1866, Hanks established Pacific Chemical Works, an assaying company. Hanks was also a founding member of the Microscopical Society of San Francisco (founded 1872) and its first president. He represented California as its mineral commissioner and the United States as its mineral superintendent at the

1878 Paris Exposition The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. Construction The buildings and the fairgroun ...

. Following the State Geological Society's reorganization as part of the State Mining Bureau on 16 April 1880, Henry was chosen by Governor Perkins on 15 May to head the new organization as California's first state

. Based in San Francisco, he was responsible for inspecting and classifying geological specimens submitted to the bureau, as well as providing studies, annual reports, and various special publications. Taking charge of the old geological society's collection and other property, he established a public

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

and library. He served until 1886 at a salary of $3000 per year. He was responsible for the mineral exhibits of California and the United States at the 1884 New Orleans and

1893 Chicago World's Fair The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

Personal life

In 1867, Hanks married Ellen Francis Barker. They had five children. One of his children Abbott joined Hanks's company as an assayer. On June 19, 1907, Hanks died in

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alam ...

, California.

Legacy

Henry G. Hanks was the namesake of

hanksite Hanksite is a sulfate mineral, distinguished as one of only a handful that contain both carbonate and sulfate ion groups. It has the chemical formula Na22 K( SO4)9( CO3)2 Cl. Occurrence It was first described in 1888 for an occurrence in Searles ...

, a

sulfate mineral The sulfate minerals are a class of minerals that include the sulfate ion () within their structure. The sulfate minerals occur commonly in primary evaporite depositional environments, as gangue minerals in hydrothermal veins and as secondary m ...

identified by William Earl Hidden based on a specimen from Searles Lake in California in 1885.

Works

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References

Bibliography

* * * * * . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanks, Henry Garber 1826 births 1907 deaths American sailors 19th-century sailors People in 19th-century California Businesspeople from Cleveland American geologists American mineralogists 19th-century American chemists Scientists from Cleveland 19th-century American writers Writers from Cleveland 19th-century American people People of the California Gold Rush 19th-century American businesspeople