George William Featherstonhaugh

Infobox Person
name = George Featherstonhaugh


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birth_name = George William Featherstonhaugh
birth_date = birth date|1780|4|9
birth_place = London
death_date = death date and age|1866|9|28|1780|4|9
death_place = Le Havre, France
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resting_place = Tunbridge Wells, England
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nationality = British
other_names =
known_for = Explorer and Railway Pioneer
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occupation = Surveyor
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spouse = Sarah Duane (1808-11-06 - 1826), Charlotte Williams Carter (1831-01-28-
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children = By Sarah: James, Ann d1826, George Jr., and Georgianna d1826, By Charlotte: Albany, Georgiannia, and Henry
parents = George and Dorothy Simpson Featherstonhaugh
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George William Featherstonhaugh (April 9, 1780 - 28 September 1866)was a Geographer, initiated the Albany and Schenectady Railroad and was a surveyor of the Louisiana Purchase for the US Government.

Early life

Born to parents, George and Dorothy Simpson Featherstonhaugh. He grew up in Scarborough. Featherstonhaugh liked to climb cliffs, collect fossils, and gathering wild bird eggs to sell. He was adept at writing and became a fellow of the Geological Society and of the Royal Society of London.cite web| last = Akridge | first = Scott | title = The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture | work = White County Historical Society | publisher = The Central Arkansas Library System | date = 2006-11-02 | url = http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2410 | accessdate = 2006-11-27] .

First American Sojurn

In 1806 he came to the United States where he planned to study the languages of the Indigenous people. He married Sarah Duane of Schenectady, New York, on November 6, 1808. They had four children: James, Ann, George Jr., and Georgianna. He farmed, organized 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 at Albany, New York with the navigable Mohawk River at Schenectady. His acquaintance with George Stephenson (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 April 17, 1826.cite web | title = Growing With Schenectady - American Locomotive Company| work = The story of a century of locomotive building in Schenectady
publisher = The Schenectady Digital History Archive| date = 1972| url = http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/railroads/alcohistory/| accessdate = 2006-11-27]

In1826 the painter Thomas Cole did a landscape entitled "the Seat of Mr. Featherstonhaugh in the Distance" but found Featherstonhaugh a "heartless employer" [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_5_166/ai_n8700481/pg_3 |title=Thomas Cole's View of Fort Putnam|accessdate=2008-02-13] [cite web|url=http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/97696.html|title=Philadelphia Museum of Art - Landscape, the Seat of Mr. Featherstonhaugh in the Distance|accessdate=2008-02-13] .After the death of his wife and two daughters, he returned to England in 1826.

econd American Sojurn

He later returned to the States to Philadelphia and, on January 28, 1831, married Charlotte Williams Carter in Schenectady County, New York. They had three children: Albany, Georgiannia, and Henry.

Construction of the railroad began on July 29, 1830, and one year later the road was completed from Engine hill (near the top of Crane Street hill) in Schenectady to Lydius street in the western suburb of Albany. Formal opening of the road was on August 13, 1831, when the DeWitt Clinton pulled the first train to Schenectady.

The Albany and Schenectady Railroad justified Featherstonhaugh's vision, and made the Mohawk Valley the center of early railroad construction in New York State. In 1832 the Saratoga and Schenectady Rail Road 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' [cite web|url=http://home.earthlink.net/~claelliott/chron1830.htm |title=Chronology of American Science|accessdate=2008-02-13] .

Exploring the Louisiana Purchase

After acquiring a vast quantity of unexplored land in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the government sought to document the mineral resources of the territory. In 1834, Featherstonhaugh, newly appointed as the first U.S. government geologist, was instructed to examine the elevated country between the Missouri and Red rivers and report back to Colonel John James Abert of the Topographical Bureau.

With his son George Jr. as his assistant, he took stagecoaches from Baltimore, Maryland, to St. Louis, Missouri. In St. Louis, they purchased a horse they named “Missouri” and a Dearborn wagon for the travel into Arkansas.

In 1835, Featherstonhaugh traveled from Green Bay, Wisconsin up the fox river to the Wisconsin River, then downstream to Prairie du Chien, and into the Mississippi River. He paddled up the Mississippi, passing the St. Croix River and the Minnesota River, stopping at Carver's Cave and Saint Anthony Falls. [cite web| last = Featherstonhaugh| first = George| title = A Canoe Voyage Up the Minnay Sotor| work = George William Featherstonhaugh 1835| publisher = Wisconsin Electronic Reader| date = 1847| url = http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/WIReader/Contents/Voyage.html| accessdate = 2006-11-27] .

In 1837 Featherstonhaugh sat for Hiram Powers the sculptor who considered him to have a "fine head" [cite book
last = Wunder
first = Richard
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title = Hiram Powers: Vermont Sculptor, 1805-1873
origdate =
origyear = 1991
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url = http://books.google.com/books?id=4-gGed8cvrgC
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publisher = University of Delaware Press
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isbn = 0874133106
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pages = 41
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last = Barcroft
first = Henry Boake
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title = Barcroft Henry Boake - Poems
origdate =
origyear = 2004
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url = http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/barcroft_henry_boake_2004_9.pdf
format = Online
accessdate = 2008-02-13
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series = Classic Poetry Series
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publisher = poemhunter.com
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Back to England

Featherstonhaugh returned to England in 1838 with his wife and children. He was appointed consul from the British government to France and spent much time writing and publishing the journals of his travels in the United States. He died in Le Havre, France, 28 September 1866, and is buried at Tunbridge Wells, England.

Works

*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 - 1842
*Excursion Through the Slave States - 1844
*A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotar - 1847

References

* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P9785 UK National Archives Listing (letters etc)]