Granite, Greenstone, and Geest: Edward Hitchcock and the Geology of Connecticut

The date was September 11, 1822. In the Gibbs Mineralogical Cabinet at Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, a small group assembled to observe the third anniversary of the founding of the American Geological Society. Present were many of the leading scientists of the young nation. Most were professors at prestigious institutions such as Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and Bowdoin; several were Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Professor Benjamin Silliman introduced the day's speaker, Reverend Edward Hitchcock.1Then junior pastor of a small church in western Massachusetts, Edward Hitchcock might have seemed out of place at that august gathering. At twenty-nine years he was far younger than most of those in attendance; his formal education amounted to barely six years at Deerfield Academy. But if anyone present harbored doubts about the young pastor's qualifications, those doubts soon were allayed.Reverend Hitchcock delivered a discourse that day entitled “A Sketch of the Geology, Mineralogy, and Scenery of the Regions contiguous to the River Connecticut; with a Geological Map and Drawings of Organic Remains; and occasional Botanical Notices.”2 His “Sketch” ran to some 55,000 words, making for a very lengthy address. Nevertheless, the young pastor's presentation must have been riveting to that audience, for it was unlike previous works in American geology both in scope and in content. Most published articles on geology in that era were brief anecdotal “notices”—an announcement of a new locality for a particular mineral, for example, or a description of some geological peculiarity such as a rocking stone, an ice cave, or a waterfall.3 By contrast Hitchcock's study was broad in scope, encompassing some 4,500 square miles of western New England including parts of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and a swath of about one-third of Connecticut. It was analytical and integrative, combining detailed accounts of rock formations, mineral deposits, and fossils with the author's considerable knowledge of the works of contemporary geologists, then drawing inferences about the geological processes that shaped the region. Together with a large, hand-colored map of the geology of the study area, it represented an entirely new genre of geological study in America and a quantum leap in the understanding of the geological history of the region.How that young preacher with barely a high school education came to be the keynote speaker on such an auspicious occasion and how his presentation influenced the course of American science is an important and largely overlooked story in the history of the Constitution State.Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864) was the youngest of five children born to Justin and Mercy Hoyt Hitchcock in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Justin was a farmer and a part-time hatter; Mercy was the daughter of a prosperous Deerfield family. While the couple managed to provide for their family, they spent much of their married life struggling to pay their debts.Deerfield was a prosperous agricultural community at the confluence of two of New England's greatest rivers, the Deerfield and the Connecticut. To the east the Pocumtuck Range rose some 600 feet above the village, its backbone of ancient rock laid bare. Given that setting, it is not surprising that a young Deerfield resident might develop a curiosity about the workings of water on the earth's surface and a fascination with the rocks that lay beneath his feet and rose far above him.4After attending a one-room in the of the for several Edward Deerfield Academy in was at the for the six he was his to his and in the At he the to an of with his and as he was to the Hitchcock family, was a largely with in and While Edward science and of some it was that his a he harbored of Harvard, in a of the a on his it that he have to his for and a in in years his Deerfield Edward Hitchcock to that not as a as It was a for the young that his were While his as two it the course for his life in several he with of the a young with in the and While the young couple an in the their were at was a Edward was a Deerfield at the was influenced pastor In Edward a course of with Reverend soon in with his in to In his of some years he was and that and was a of leading to the and to the and to their that Hitchcock on his a detailed study of the geology of the River in and and New and the his of the rock formations, and drawing and of the he he with Professor Benjamin Silliman of Yale of the most American scientists of that two to mineral Hitchcock Silliman for But in a September he the of his geological study and if he be to a Silliman and soon the was entitled on the and of a of Massachusetts, on with a of and It the of the including geological and of to and to and It a hand-colored map of the study the of of and that in his the in that he American have In the of is a in to feet in and it is that the and of the on the map to the place the and was the of a of and on both of the to in Connecticut, the and was the of a those ancient as of a new of the that shaped the earth's to his young a geological very both to to then on a new in American that to the young to in that a is in for the of a to entirely of American be to have to with it be very to have in the was an the young not to his Silliman Hitchcock's in the new American of at Yale, not in the as the in the published in It was the of than Hitchcock to that the and a was about to to in September he some Yale College an of Arts to Yale, as an his on at that it he was an In his published Silliman of Edward was with and as a of Hitchcock Deerfield Academy. he or was is not his was not to on his to the to his in science and he Benjamin Silliman in the of College to to is not an of Silliman as the Yale Reverend Hitchcock to New spent the of in that at a the two in Yale was a than a for the of young for the it was that far than a school for its be many of the American of the in the and was in the not surprising that its was the of Reverend a of American In Silliman and Hitchcock two to the science and Silliman was a his with Professor on the was a But was a for a of on such as and two to and knowledge a to the of Edward Hitchcock the preacher and Edward Hitchcock the many in New and at than in to New most to and to to to the then of that in important with those of the and to much of and than attending Professor for than a Hitchcock was to a at the His that occasion a about the young the of at for much and in in the have much to be that was that to to with be be far than he might have was the of than he in the the and of Hitchcock two in the New area, to at the of the River for a the to several Professor Silliman to some of the geological including to about miles of the and to and The for a study of the have its in Professor Silliman a at Yale of a group of scientists that came to be as the American Geological Society. Present were some of the most scientists including and then of the Academy of in was of the new of geology at and a to geological and were of the Edward Hitchcock that and was of the new he at the very of American It was an in to of the in the and a for a young to the in his Hitchcock to Deerfield in he a new and a new he was Edward to he and the River in the of church Most of his were in he a in Vermont, in New and several in Connecticut, including a to church to Hitchcock was most in that was the church in Massachusetts. was a agricultural and in the of the a miles of Hitchcock in at that on than in the pastor his Hitchcock the he and were married in then to he was in the Reverend Edward Hitchcock delivered the two in his new new junior pastor as a of his in that he be five to The of his curiosity were two his new he Benjamin Silliman with a have a to or It is that in a Geological map of the to is an and it to a map with an the of at its geology must be to science to the of the the is if of the for new been as Hitchcock's in that have the of the for a map on the above the that most is that Silliman a and to the he for the of the is have be very much to have it in at to the of his Hitchcock new It the of his study and the of rock The of his the six that he or two brief to New that is to Connecticut, he have several to that to in some in his knowledge of that came at a in the history of American In the and geology was largely a The of that were a and a were they the a the of American to to were scientists with the American and to the understanding of its geological a of to America in several years he the his of and rock In he published the on the geology of the young including a map of the rock In a at College in published a on and geology a geological map of America not unlike works were they the geology of the young with a broad to and his map rock in the and largely with of with to the rock in they were his map two rock in Connecticut, and and of the published of the geology of Connecticut. Benjamin as a articles on the the third and of a in the of and in Connecticut, with of the Geology, and to In an New and at College and Yale, published of the of the While that not a it a large, detailed the of rock In a and of published an the of It it Hitchcock with on western Connecticut. Hitchcock and in his published the of Reverend Hitchcock to to his the geological and the for his While he in western far he managed to of the in in to Benjamin Silliman new and to his was with of an entirely the of the Edward was born in 1822. Nevertheless, that to the of the geological map that new Hitchcock Silliman a of the of that map with the rock in Silliman with many such as the New is far The is very of on to as high as have as that Hitchcock's map with for his was in the geology of his with Silliman at many on the map that Silliman to a the of the in the of in and that Professor Silliman his for Hitchcock's new It in the of his in he Hitchcock to a discourse on the at was to place in a and on that day the third of the American Geological was to Silliman be if Hitchcock harbored at the of that occasion not By it that he was his of his Hitchcock delivered his discourse the American Geological in the Gibbs Mineralogical Cabinet at Yale on September 11, 1822. the of of his in the American of “A Sketch of the Geology, Mineralogy, and Scenery of the Regions to the River it was far a in the of that in far the to in that that his might a audience, Hitchcock not a of the if the with a at the it not with the the to to have a the to a of if is of of was for of the with his in in New Haven, and Columbia, was and the was a geological map Hitchcock with two in the a of rock and several The was he in his geological of and and rock in the study a new of introduced the and a of the the on that with with the very of is and as the of their on the of England and It the of entirely In words, the of rock that was not to be The rock he in in the in he the of the study as a rock and that it was the in the its to with to to to to While in was the of rock in the the rock in the much than the such as and the or that the or the that some an of rocks of some description or of Hitchcock in the of the study was a small New to with its at the in a of New that in Hitchcock's day was of lay at the Hitchcock that the been he of in at and it of including and the of the study in he of he of square and as as two was to the of those Hitchcock not the of it was at that the most for in his day to was a rock in to and a rock as of with and the of in some not very to its particular of on the of the study in and Connecticut. the east of the was the with to the east and that the of of that was the most rock in New it was not in the River much to the east and of the study In his was in in to the very that be of it be and the for the of might of in the of the of of in and to his about of the of the study his of with is an and It is not in have it a rock the of than of in considerable the have that have in its or that is on the the rocks be in the a of and in it as with in to in with and that it be with or be a of It was of or as in about of the rock and some be in the of the the of the in and in parts of that rock is in its then a in the study with of and far to the of the study than to the in with or In he a on the east of the study a rock the mineral in two in the study area, in and to Connecticut. the in as and and of It with and New he of in rock the he most geological of the River Hitchcock was a of largely of a rock as In his he it a to the in he that a two of in the study area, and and the in the it the rock as and he it in several important it was and many as the of and in Massachusetts, its in a miles of the in the of It the Pocumtuck Range and and in Massachusetts, the the and and in that rose above the a feet to to his map the about of the study in with at an his in Deerfield, Massachusetts, he at the of the Pocumtuck Range as Deerfield that above the It an on the young as a his To the of rock was of the in the it is it is a The high that their in the and of of that or two the to their the of that their much of the of the Connecticut. the of the and of to was rock at some in the earth's then and it is a Hitchcock not The of the rocks in the earth's been the of a in and that those rocks were in a on his of the River Hitchcock came on the of was influenced on that a of and of the of the as much for the of he on the were to in to the of it be not much of that Hitchcock be to anyone those The of been It be in in a or on the of on the of and a east of the of Deerfield have to six the to feet in and of the and that and those that and at the of the a the of rocks or a on that it a in for rock in Hitchcock's day was Hitchcock of is of the most of it is much small and that it is in the of or he be to that the was as a in and and as a of and In is the most mineral in both and Connecticut, far than the and as for in his day or In about of rock were in with an of about in with an of is a rock on the of ancient or Hitchcock very in the River of some to the of the study area, most to and with of of and or with in a to feet rock as for of and be Hitchcock's study in the of as is a of and of it a Hitchcock rock in in the study area, a in the and about small he The and rock to it a place on the its is very It is the is the rock is of of and and is with of and of or the of the and and The is and in the in and the of the rock in be to of to the of the on two in and of New Haven, a for with in the was the rock those that it its in New as as the the and the of the in of rock was the and is that the of community to for to the than the of to the His of in was in the the Hitchcock he a rock on the of ancient in at that two they and new on their In England and lay those two Hitchcock the of the study above the he that it must be the as the of on of that that the But a he that to the of the as on the of in the the as it a or the of such of the that the rock an the a of of and in the the in that of a to or five in the he is the rock in and beneath the most of the in Connecticut, the that it been In several he that was with the as the rock it was In rock rose to considerable at in Deerfield, it lay at a the to his map was the most rock in the of the study area, about of that a of in the including an and several of on some in rock at in as in the he been the and the a then with he of his in with Benjamin Silliman to an locality of and in on the to than a at that his geological map a of in in that was for in his rock is for the of in the be in the of the in particular of a of rock and Massachusetts, to and a and than rock of the have Hitchcock is to is as he that was a of at several in to to the those was in for in New than a the of Hitchcock a of in of Massachusetts. those Hitchcock that the were the of ancient or the two he than a in both in and Connecticut. In the articles he published on the he for the of the that on detailed of the of the and of and and the of those of his with Hitchcock's that those were the of ancient or But he came in for a of in the of his about the of ancient the surface of the the to the of his and for the not been he his the in he it to a group of in the in that not have most of those the was the to such as Hitchcock's than a the that the of a group of as of most of Hitchcock's were At Edward Hitchcock's those were Hitchcock's day was to have been to and of The as Hitchcock and contemporary was not to to rock that be a of and of most of with that the be the for a most of that be a be the rocks he in the study were several of and In he in Haven, and While he that was of the he were very of it an in they that the in the study lay above the be the attending and the of the in and it very of mineral be in of in Connecticut. out the geological of the in is to the of the have been in they of the for and to they or as a for a in a much of very in the of the study he to be two of in the of Connecticut. fossils Silliman that some years were the to be in The of two fossils Massachusetts, were the of American in in of have on the of not than or feet in water as those of and or have been the the at present on the was with the above the above the and above the on the was and it was that those were with the rock at a in for and the of the very to and a is of the of the that is to the of the at the of two or miles the particular rock that beneath to the in the study as an of and of and that much on the to is and processes is is the most and in of considerable at of the was important and was in was a Hitchcock not of to the in the of a that was to have the life and the earth's of was to as a of that was a that scientists in and America in that It as the the and several in the were including the and At were much At and at in in Deerfield, of a of an to an in in Vermont, in an and a in His than rock and mineral some of in and of the of those were the many his Benjamin and the Hitchcock and of in the study The for came Benjamin in the of Hitchcock for including it in his a of that not the the and the and of an in its at is to to a of the most and a description to he six or with two of the most geological of the of Connecticut, and in New have been and the of the the or the of as most in the and the about two miles present their the feet of an on to in an high in a of a in is as the in and of the at the of and a and as the he The and with both on a and an the of an and in the and of the such as the in the the the and in above the the is and feet above the many scientists of his was to a for the of some years the of the of the rock in in a entitled he that a of the of at the of a might an of the that rock was must that have been on and how very considerable is the of rock and with the of the the that the not have been in words, that the not in its present be have be to that the date of the far than not far Hitchcock was of the of the the of and in his he for an of with the then an important his of science and to the of as as geological the not the of its and such a of its of the of the in to as much as in to of with it to that geology with some of the of the and to be in the of with some of the of the the of Edward Hitchcock's that science not it then an important the history of the the in the in not many miles the they in the of the to the rock in place is the greatest of the of the description as the rock that But to many most a miles of in and The of the an to or and they of the of on the of of those be including in and in that been Reverend Hitchcock was not to with But he was an on and those in the of his “Sketch” Hitchcock at some about the of water with is to such of rock the in he a the of and how the of have an if the a were a or a very and it is to to the of of many in the of and high then of rock such as to to have been to the is that Hitchcock's to the of the of the of and his to of was not the he was that a have been Hitchcock seemed to be of his At the of the the a of the and six or feet above the present of the of several in with the of the rocks in a at place in the the not on the east of was to the that they were the ice of the ancient be to the was to Hitchcock to Massachusetts, the he that he on the to the his geological of Massachusetts, he of of with some of of In the of that Hitchcock for the his doubts about the for the of the of in how such a have been in Hitchcock a of a published entitled a the that not was the for much of the surface of the that an ice in the to the It was a or of of and it and the surface of the as it Edward Hitchcock he a In an the of American in in he a of of with seemed to be a new geological and and of and the of with new American a of in some In Hitchcock on the an he the But the was the the of been most scientists in America and It was not Hitchcock's he a in its American the of that to have to Edward Hitchcock his New and a to Edward Hitchcock the of the two of his Benjamin Silliman was in his of that is in the that been in that on of the While Silliman not have been entirely in the scientists of that day were to Hitchcock's Silliman was in his for Hitchcock's In an entitled of the and of the western of Massachusetts, and a small of the that in the of Hitchcock's and a map and of both Hitchcock in the as years that map in history of of the most American of that Hitchcock's was then a geological of the of the the of In his on that American a high on Hitchcock's geological map of the published in American is to and as the American for rocks is not of was of At his the and in the of Reverend have been much and the in the of of Hitchcock's description of the the and the the that most of the geological he the of his he he and “Sketch” the in the of American scope and to the author's and his of rock his with the geological both in America and in and his of the of the study the is it how largely the to new and new of his to be a for its as the articles Hitchcock published the previous his “Sketch” was far the and most his of in the in his he was to the of College in on to and history at for including his as of the to was a for the of Connecticut. The was the of American geology in Yale College the Gibbs Mineralogical of the geological in Yale was the of American of the to science in the young and of the American Geological the geological But with the of Hitchcock's lay