Charles Henry Hitchcock

Charles Henry Hitchcock

Charles Henry Hitchcock (1836–1919) was an American geologist.

Life

Hitchcock was born August 23, 1836 in Amherst, Massachusetts.^[1] His father was Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864) who was a professor of geology and natural theology and then president of Amherst College. His mother was Orra White Hitchcock, who illustrated much of his father's work. Hitchcock attended Amherst College and considered entering the ministry. He married Martha Bliss Barrows.^[1] In 1866 and 1867, Hitchcock studied at the Royal School of Mines in London, examined fossils in the British Museum, and visited glaciers in Switzerland.^[2]

Hitchcock served as New Hampshire State Geologist from 1868 to 1878. His survey produced a three volume report, and an atlas of maps. It was the first set of detailed maps of the geology of the state.^[3] He taught at Dartmouth College in 1868 and from 1869-1908 held the Hall Professorship of Geology and Mineralogy. He used the tetrahedral hypothesis which had been first published in 1875 by William Lowthian Green to explain the formation of the Earth's land masses.^[4] His distant cousin was Harvey Rexford Hitchcock (1800–1855), who was an early missionary to Hawaii. This led to a publication of a book the volcanoes of Hawaii.^[1]

Hitchcock left a collection of botanical specimens to the University of North Carolina Herbarium.^[5]

Works

• "Footprints in the Rocks". Popular Science Monthly 3. August 1873. 
• "The World Before the Introduction of Life". Popular Science Monthly 4. March 1874. 
• "The Earlier Forms of Life". Popular Science Monthly 10. January 1877. 
• Atlas to Accompany the Report on the Geology of New Hampshire. Concord, New Hapshire: Edson C. Eastman. 1878. http://docs.unh.edu/Hitchcock/pages/index.htm. 
• "North America in the Ice Period". Popular Science Monthly 20. December 1881. 
• Hawaii and its volcanoes. The Hawaiian Gazette Company. 1911. http://books.google.com/?id=ZeEPAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA302. 

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Mrs. Edward Hitchcock; Dwight Whitney Marsh (1894). The genealogy of the Hitchcock family: who are descended from Matthias Hitchcock of East Haven, Conn. and Luke Hitchcock of Wethersfield, Conn. Carpenter & Morehouse. pp. 444–447. http://books.google.com/books?id=lBjPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA446. 
2. ^ "More on Charles Hitchcock". Government Information Department, University of New Hampshire Library web site. University of New Hampshire. 2003. http://docs.unh.edu/Hitchcock/pages/more.htm. Retrieved August 3, 2010. 
3. ^ "Hitchcock Geologic Atlas". Government Information Department, University of New Hampshire Library web site. University of New Hampshire. 2003. http://docs.unh.edu/Hitchcock/pages/index.htm. Retrieved August 3, 2010. 
4. ^ Charles Henry Hitchcock (January 1900). "William Lowthian Green and his Theory of the Evolution of the Earth's Features". The American geologist (Geological Publishing Company) XXV: pp. 1–10. http://books.google.com/books?id=_Ty8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1. 
5. ^ Carol Ann McCormick (May 2007). "Charles Henry Hitchcock". Collectors of the UNC Herbarium. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/collectors/Hitchcock_Charles_Henry.htm. Retrieved August 3, 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Hitchcock, Charles Henry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1836
Place of birth
Date of death	1919
Place of death