John Wells Foster (March 4, 1815 – June 29, 1873) was an American

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

and archaeologist.

Biography

Foster was born March 4, 1815, in

Petersham, Massachusetts Petersham is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2020 census. Petersham is home to a considerable amount of conservation land, including the Quabbin Reservation, Harvard Forest, the Swift R ...

where his father, Festus Foster was a minister. When Festus quit the ministry in 1818, the family moved to Brimfield, Massachusetts. Wells was educated locally, spent a year at Wilbraham Academy and then entered

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

in 1831.Hyde (1879) After graduating with honors in 1834, he studied law in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...

and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

.Chicago Daily Tribune In 1837 the Ohio legislature authorized a geological survey of the state to be led by William W. Mather. Foster had studied under Mather at Wesleyan, and accepted an invitation to join the survey. Foster was assigned to a district in the central part of the state and mapped the area's basic stratigraphy. In particular he noted the area held extensive coal reserves. He also discovered the fossilized bones of mastodons and a species of giant beaver which he named

Castoroides ohioensis ''Castoroides'' (Latin: "beaver" (castor), "like" (oides)), or giant beaver, is an extinct genus of enormous, bear-sized beavers that lived in North America during the Pleistocene. Two species are currently recognized, ''C. dilophidus'' in the S ...

.Merrill (1924) The survey lasted only eighteen months but made significant contributions towards understanding the basic geological structure of the state.Hansen (1979) When the survey ended, Foster continued to investigate the Ohio coal fields on behalf of several mining companies. In 1847 Foster and

Josiah Dwight Whitney Josiah Dwight Whitney (November 23, 1819 – August 18, 1896) was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University (from 1865), and chief of the California Geological Survey (1860–1874). Through his travels and studies in the ...

were hired to assist Charles T. Jackson in making a federal survey of Michigan's

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

, which was about to become a major copper and iron mining region. The survey was poorly managed by Jackson and when he was dismissed, Foster and Whitney were asked to complete the effort. The final reports were published under their names in 1850 and 1851. In 1851 they made a well-received presentation of their findings to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Afterwards Foster returned to Brimfield and became involved in politics. He was a prominent member of the

Know-Nothing movement The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

, an organization opposed to immigrants and Catholics. When the party split over the question of slavery, Foster worked with

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...

, a noted abolitionist, to organize the Republican party in Massachusetts. In 1855 Foster ran for Congress as a Republican and was narrowly defeated by

Calvin C. Chaffee Calvin Clifford Chaffee (August 28, 1811 – August 8, 1896) was an American doctor and politician. He was an outspoken opponent of slavery. Life and work Born in Saratoga Springs, New York, Chaffee graduated from the medical school of Mid ...

. In 1858 he settled in Chicago where he remained for the rest of his life. For a time he worked in the land department of the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

but then joined the faculty at the

Old University of Chicago The Old University of Chicago was the legal name given in 1890 to the University of Chicago's first incorporation. The school, founded in 1856 by Baptist church leaders, was originally called the "University of Chicago" (or, interchangeably, "Ch ...

where he served as a professor of natural history. Foster had been interested in archaeology since his work on the Ohio geological survey and spent many years studying the remnants of the Indian mound builders culture. Just prior to his death in 1873, he published ''Prehistoric races of the United States of America'' which laid out the results of his studies of the mound builders. Foster was elected

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1869 and served for three years as president of the

Chicago Academy of Sciences (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He died on June 29, 1873, of inflammation of the liver.

Publications

* ''A Synopsis of the Explorations of the Geological Corps in the Lake Superior Land District in the Northern Peninsula'' (1849)
Report on the Geology and Topography of a Portion of the Lake Superior Land District in the State of Michigan: Part I, The Copper Lands
(1850) *
Report on the Geology and Topography of a Portion of the Lake Superior Land District: Part Two, The Iron Region'' (1851).

The Mississippi Valley: Its Physical Geography, Including Sketches of the Topography, Botany ...
(1869) * ''Mineral Wealth and Railroad Development'' (1872)
Pre-Historic Races of the United States of America
(1873)

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, John Wells 1815 births 1873 deaths Wesleyan University alumni American geologists American archaeologists American science writers People from Zanesville, Ohio People from Brimfield, Massachusetts Massachusetts Know Nothings Massachusetts Republicans Scientists from Massachusetts Scientists from Ohio