Begun in 1895 j VOLUME 109, NUMBER 350 SEPTEMBER 16, 1996 Gilbert Dennison Harris: A Life With Fossils by William R. Brice Foreword by Frank H. T. Rhodes Paleontological Research Institution 1259 Trumansburg Road Ithaca, New York, 14850 U.S.A. PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION Officers ЕВО Sy ince aa dg EC Ее CONSTANCE M. SOJA EMET VICLOPRESIDENT = i Па EON ban ге JAMES E. SORAUF SECOND: VICE-PRESIDENT. еен SHIRLEY K. EGAN ЗЕСКЕТАКУ yn v e does o EO QU ое HENRY W. THEISEN ERE RE ou e E e DEL NE IT I LU QE HOWARD P. HARTNETT IJIRECTOR c oct ova os EK ve E CIR CH DIE Ton d A WARREN D. ALLMON Trustees BRUCE M. BELL (to 6/30/99) EDWARD B. Picou (to 6/30/98) CARLTON E. BRETT (to 6/30/98) GARY ROSENBERG (to 6/30/99) WILLIAM L. CREPET (to 6/30/97) MEGAN D. SHAY (to 6/30/99) J. THOMAS DUTRO, JR. (to 6/30/99) CONSTANCE M. Soja (to 6/30/97) SHIRLEY K. EGAN (to 6/30/98) JAMES E. SORAUF (to 6/30/97) ANTON J. EGNER (to 6/30/97) JOHN C. STEINMETZ (to 6/30/97) M. G. HARASEWYCH (to 6/30/98) HENRY W. THEISEN (to 6/30/98) HOWARD P. HARTNETT (to 6/30/99) MARY KANE TROCHIM (to 6/30/98) HARRY G. LEE (to 6/30/97) GREGORY P. WAHLMAN (to 6/30/99) Аму R. МССОКЕ (to 6/30/97) THOMAS E. WHITELEY (to 6/30/97) SAMUEL T. PEES (to 6/30/98) DONALD L. WOLBERG (to 6/30/99) Trustees Emeritus HARRY A. LEFFINGWELL ROBERT M. LINSLEY RAYMOND VAN HOUTTE WILLIAM P. S. VENTRESS BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY and PALAEONTOGRAPHICA AMERICANA УКВ ALE WON: ЛЕ НИНА СОМ DRE edo Y T EDEN EDITOR A list of titles in both series, and available numbers and volumes may be had on request. Volumes 1—23 of Bulletins of American Paleontology are available from Periodicals Service Company, 11 Main St., Germantown, New York 12526 USA. Volume 1 of Palaeontographica Americana has been reprinted by Johnson Reprint Corporation, 111 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10003 USA. Subscriptions to Bulletins of American Paleontology may be started at any time, by volume or year. Current price is US $62.50 per volume. Numbers of Palaeontographica Americana are priced individually, and are invoiced separately on request. for additional information, write or call: Paleontological Research Institution 1259 Trumansburg Road Ithaca, NY 14850 USA (607) 273-6623 FAX (607) 273-6620 This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO 239.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). pou инв 2 Begun in 1895 SEPTEMBER 16, 1996 | | Gilbert Dennison Harris: | A Life With Fossils | by William R. Brice Foreword by Frank H. T. Rhodes Paleontological Research Institution 1259 Trumansburg Road Ithaca, New York, 14850 U.S.A. ISSN 0007-5779 ISBN 0-87710-441-7 | Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 95-71055 | i nm Printed in the United States of America Allen Press, Inc. Lawrence, KS 66044 U.S.A. CONTENTS Page DEDICATION o rann ara e ep ETIN ORTU Mua cu : BEN ORD? Sy Frank KT. Rhodes oss 555s А | А || = | | | s А : ЗОР РЕДА ПАДИНИ МИН ula c cunc a s: ^ BIDS NOTIS AND ACKNOWLEDOMENT S orcs es ee ee Fe c : CHAPTER 1. SEEMS HERETOFORE BUT VAGUELCY ТМО S oec e cc coe EUM D : Lc HE ANG ВАУ 5, аре 66 coc, 6 cee os e cda c mou c ccm 2 КО ОТОНА УВЕО Activity eee: I EUNT IE ЈНС GEN. ДЕО И КОНА ROM UAI E Washington TC. abd Seperation feoda Шаа ; гаргаа... A OCDE ле „= ӨТЕСЕ САСКЕ ahd) Gilbert аа а quus Vb MU TELS t Ea mb d ae a a T tu на аи ~ CHAPTER ú: RETURN TO WASHINGTON S а. 2 CHAPTER x RETURN TO GORNI c n на са Bourne uq Uc ee 7 c Ж HUTOERÜOPUDHSHeR И ЕСИ ИНИ СОУ ЕИ e TUEA ER LOGER ERE eee ЕВН. АИО ОЯ СЕО LENT. EIE re = ОТЕ Sidens oreta a ТАРА Dt ACCU. cu. Mr d ao OC One IG cens IER. ^ ШО Ge DanC SORTS: euara ca one па лане a P Helderberg Field Сар coco И cese RO DENDO LEE ELIGE ENTIRE a a ха ПИТКЕ ECPHORA o A E a a a RIDE LI CHAPTER Oy THE СОЛО ЛАРА А SORVET И e eet Т Re и ee OU IO NL mI е Beer ER О CONSULTANTS INANE (aC МАЄ, о. НА UA. БЕНО, НТА B, OU OT DONA. Ја 3 = ПОСТИ, САВЉОТТА Sco MAURY: xs a a aseo o Sata. Le Musid. INA ea a i CHAPTER Si CORNELIS GOLLEAGUES ее dene oc ccrto men duo uh vient Poe нв оке e Adam С. Gill VE ttt nmi o beni wh ee sadala ор Nara Thins tiie Site UN i Ralph Stockman Tarr M ER e es se конне т зе va E dM rum o ra Bre nine caches «OES A Ee Dm IE EN T BEDDING сре x0X!i onencoedec ccc tet D REL Биш ie И > am im ges: ss CHAPTER 9. "SOME ROOMY APARTMENT": POST-RETIREMENT AND THE PALEONTOLOG a ДУ ИО ОМ тя tes Berean 10. PINAL WORDS (DOMO Ge ee rm a У Ы BEPHNCE. Су У БУНА UN АС Se IN. ОКО HV PARU (CE ~ BENE. (127 a cult осад ci iato. Slo WOON. n AIMER AT GO cy dale dou e ин " EN OR PEOPLES- Le Conor десни nisle diee cb endo сан и о DEDICATION TO THE LOYAL MEMBERS, SUPPORTERS, AND BENEFACTORS | of | THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION | for | KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE Leaves may fall and wither and be hidden by a blanket of snow; yet they have in their infinitesimal way modified the stream of life for all time to come. Each human life in like small measure deflects the current of intellect through the ages even after firm granite has crumbled to dust. Things unseen alone are immortal. (G. D. Н. '35)' ! Untitled poem written by Gilbert D. Harris in 1935 and found among his papers in the Harris Archives at the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY (hereafter abbreviated HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY). FOREWORD FRANK H. T. RHODES President Emeritus Cornell University Ithaca, New York 14850 There is a certain fitness in the fact that the man who founded the Paleontological Research Institution ~ Surely one of the most improbable and even quirky Of all scientific institutions—and who himself printed all its publications for more than halfa century, should be memorialized within the pages of those publica- tions. For it is altogether appropriate that the memory and identity of this man should be preserved within the very publication that he used to preserve, identify, and describe so many long-vanished genera and spe- ĉies. William Brice records in this remarkable volume the life and times of Gilbert Dennison Harris with care E comprehensive thoroughness that do justice to his орле. Harris was born on a farm near Jamestown, New York, in 1864. After winning a scholarship, he entered Cornell as an undergraduate in 1883 and graduated with a Ph. B. degree in 1886, remaining in Ithaca for а year of further studies. Harris joined the Arkansas Cological Survey in 1888 and, a year later, began work With the U.S. Geological Survey, only to lose that po- ‘tion in 1892 as a result of the depression. He worked пећу with the Texas Geological Survey and was ap- Pointed to Cornell in 1894, being offered an instruc- torship in paleontology at a salary of $1,000 a year With possible subsequent promotion to the rank of Ssistant Professor. It says much for Harris's early self- Confidence that he bargained Cornell President Jacob Gould Schurman up from $1,000 to $1,400 for an Initia] starting salary. Schurman himself was no mean argainer, ишш his eighty-eight years Harris lived a remark- Y productive life. In fact, this biography, consum- mately careful and excruciatingly comprehensive in its etail, gives us an account of not one life but of five. E There is first Harris the pioneer Tertiary paleontol- E Harris devoted his life to a study of the rocks E fossils of the Cenozoic Era, first in Arkansas, Lou- af IM and Texas, and later in Europe and various parts а ошћ and Central America and the Caribbean. In останоп with his students, Harris piled up speci- mens and was the author of definitive studies of many *rliary species. here is also a splendid picture here of a second life: arris the scientific entrepreneur. Though he was a professor at Cornell, Harris never ceased to be inter- ested in economic geology and throughout virtually the whole of his career served the University on only a half-time basis. Under this arrangement, he was granted leave during the spring term in exchange for teaching field studies during the summer term, together with a normal teaching load during the fall term. Dur- ing the early part of the year he devoted his time to consulting, either working as a member of the Geo- logical Survey of Louisiana or accepting consulting work with a growing number of oil companies in various parts of the world. This combination of activities proved to be a very beneficial one, bringing as it did hundreds of specimens to Ithaca from every corner of the globe and providing access to geological informa- tion that would otherwise have been unobtainable. This proved of significant scientific interest, not only in pa- leontology, but also, for example, in economic terms, reflected in the fact that Harris was among the first to identify a relationship between salt domes and oil and gas accumulation. This consulting arrangement also raised at an early date a topic that continues to be controversial in the academic world today: conflict of interest. Conflict surfaced in a particularly acute form in this case when Harris and one of his former students were working for competing companies. The third life in these pages is that of Harris the faculty member, during the formative period of both Cornell University and the Department of Geological Sciences there. It was, I think, Mary McCarthy who once observed that academic politics are so vicious because so little is at stake. One is tempted to remem- ber also Woodrow Wilson’s comment on becoming President of the United States when he said that he learned his politics as President of Princeton Univer- sity and then went to Washington to practice among the amateurs. Harris was not a model professor. He was described as a “wonderfully poor” instructor in lecture classes, who had no set method of instruction, had a poor delivery, was seldom prepared, and was known to arrive at his class with lantern slides still dripping wet from the developing process. Yet he was at his best with small groups of students, especially graduate students, and never more so than in the ge- ology summer field camps that he organized in the Helderberg School of Field Geology, as it was called in the first decade of the century. The students who were enrolled in these summer programs developed a lasting respect and affection for Harris. During four summers, he undertook extended boat journeys, two of them extending over three thousand miles, to study Tertiary rocks and fossils, in each case in launches that he, himself, had commissioned. The accounts of these early trips — along Cayuga Lake and through the Erie Canal, to the Chesapeake Bay and beyond, are vivid and revealing. Harris was particularly sympathetic towards the in- terests of women students in geology and not only enrolled them in field camp before this was generally accepted, but also supervised their graduate studies when few other faculty would do so. His relations with them were not always harmonious, but he was clearly an early advocate of women's interests. Harris's career at Cornell was marked by repeated controversy and dissension. At one stage there were, in fact, four separate departments of earth science at the University, one under Heinrich Ries in economic geology, one under A.C. Gill in mineralogy and pe- trography, one under R.S. Tarr in physical geography and dynamic geology, and one under Harris in pale- ontology. The total complement at the time was four professors, each with his own department, and each tending to communicate with the others only by letter. Except with Gill, Harris's relations with his colleagues were rarely harmonious. Yet his association with Cor- nell spanned a period of forty years. It was, among other things, this sense of growing distrust between Harris and his colleagues, as well as arguments with the President of the University over a professional conflict of interest and his subsequent con- duct, that was a major factor in the creation of the Paleontological Research Institution. This provides the fourth life: Harris the founder. Harris wanted to be sure that, once he retired from the University, his mas- sive collections of Tertiary fossils would be appropri- ately preserved and curated. He also had a horror of the hazards of fire in McGraw Hall where they were originally housed and, in spite of repeated requests, the University proved unable to offer alternative fire- proof accommodation. It is also clear that Harris was convinced that his own field of paleontology, and par- ticularly his personal contributions to the science, were not adequately appreciated and recognized by his col- leagues at Cornell. For these reasons, he slowly developed the idea of establishing an institution, free-standing and wholly independent of Cornell, which would house his col- lections and provide a basis for continuing research and study. The germ of this idea had, in fact begun in BULLETIN 350 1895 when he started his own printing operation be- cause he had had difficulty in finding copies of older paleontological publications and in getting his own work published in a timely manner. And so there was a fifth life: Harris the printer. He founded two journals, Bul- letins of American Paleontology in 1895, and Palaeon- tographica Americana in 1916. He printed them on his own presses, and they continue to be published today. At first, much of the work that appeared in the journals was his own and that of his students, though in subsequent years the journals came to represent а wider range of authors and topics. It was around this that the Paleontological Research Institution gradually grew, housed first in a small cinderblock building that Harris constructed on the grounds of his home in Uni- versity Heights, and later moved to the present PRI building on the west shore of Cayuga Lake. The pro- visional charter of PRI was approved by the New York State Board of Regents in 1933, a year before his re- tirement, and a permanent charter granted in 1936. While he was well into his eighties, Harris was still operating the presses of the institution he created. Behind these five interwoven stories there stands the enigmatic and complex character of Harris himself. He was evidently a man of contradictory characteristics, kind and gentle on occasions, yet at other times mean and vindictive. Devoted to his students in general, he could be petty and hard with individuals. It was, in fact, a dispute with one of his most distinguished stu- dents, Carlotta Maury, that led to serious charges of a conflict of professional interest and a growing strain between himself and the Cornell administration. De- voted as he was to advanced students, he had little time for the general student body. Of the faculty mem- bers in the Geology Department, he was the only one who refused to participate in student advising. He even refused to teach laboratory sections. Yet Harris was loyal and caring toward his advanced students, who occupied responsible geological positions in many parts of the world. He was painstaking in assisting them in the study of material they had collected and the sub- sequent publication of their work, a wonderful mentor and a lasting friend for many. His later years were marked by loneliness and, perhaps, a growing measure of isolation. His wife, Clara, died two years before his retirement, after a marriage of forty-two years. Looking back on his life, the remarkable institution that he created, the Paleontological Research Institu- tion, owing its founding partly to pique and partly tO fear of fire, is, perhaps, his best memorial. Its collection of type and illustrated specimens now numbers well over 30,000 and it houses more than 1.5 million othe? fossils and Recent specimens. Its publications continue to be consulted by paleontologists around the world. | | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 7 William Brice brings enviable qualifications to writ- ing this biography. A Cornell Ph. D. in geology, he is Professor of Geology at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He has taught summer courses at Cor- nell for more than twenty years. A historian of geology, he is also in one sense a descendant of Harris, for his interest in geology was stimulated in classes taught by the late Professor Johnnie Wells, who was himself one of Harris’s students. Brice has also previously written the definitive history of geology at Cornell. All those interested in the history of paleontology will salute him on this latest publication. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: A LIFE WITH FOSSILS By WILLIAM R. BRICE Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15904 ABSTRACT Few people did more to unravel the mysteries of the early Tertiary geology of the United States than Gilbert D. Harris (1864— 1952). In 1888, two years after graduating from Cornell University, he began his life-long study of the Tertiary, first as a member of the Arkansas Geological Survey tracing the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary from Louisiana into Arkansas, and then with the U. S. Geological Survey and the Texas Survey. After travelling to Europe to study the Tertiary epochs there, he returned to Cornell as a faculty member in 1894. Difficulties in locating copies of Timothy Abbott Conrad’s early nineteenth century descriptions of Tertiary shells prompted Harris to start his own printing operation. He later founded two journals, Bulletins of American Paleontology (1895) and Paleontographica Americana (1916), which he printed on his own presses. Both of these journals continue to be published today by the Paleontological Research Institution, the organization Harris founded in 1932. Harris believed that students learned best by doing actual geological investigations. From 1899-1909 he was involved with two undertakings that facilitated this belief and engaged students in actual geological research; (1) he was Geologist in Charge of the Louisiana Geological Survey, and (2) he conducted a summer field camp in the Helderberg area of New York. For the latter, he supplied boats for transportation in which the students travelled to the camp and from which they did geological field work along canals, lakes, and rivers. Using his boats, Harris and his students made at least four trips from Ithaca to the Southern Coastal Plain collecting fossils and studying the geology they passed at five miles per hour. Gilbert Dennison Harris, paleontologist, teacher, and printer, through his students, his journals, his own research, and the Institution that he founded, made a lasting mark on the field of paleontology. AUTHOR’S NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My first encounter with G. D. Harris came when I began my graduate studies at Cornell University in 1967. At that time the Department of Geological Sci- ences was housed in McGraw Hall, where it had been in Harris’ time, and there were many photographs of former faculty on the office walls. I distinctly remember seeing a picture of a small, gray-haired man bending over a machine. That photograph turned out to be of Harris at the age of 85 working on his printing press (Plate 14). As I started my 30 year association with the Department of Geological Sciences, I took classes from two of Harris’ former students, Drs. Storrs Cole and John Wells, not realizing at the time how much of my life would be entwined with the Cornell de- partment and its faculty. In 1976 I began teaching the summer geology classes at Cornell and the summer of 1995 marked my 20th year at this endeavor. Each time I used a fossil for my classes, I was reminded of Harris via Cole and Wells. In 1981 I was asked to prepare a history of the department for the opening of their new quarters, Snee Hall, in 1984. Once again I came in contact with Harris and his contribution as I traced the department’s long and distinguished record (Brice, 1989). As part of the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) 61st anniversary celebration and reunion held in August of 1993, while dressed in a costume appro- priate for the time of early geologic exploration, I pre- sented a brief description of the life of G. D. Harris and the founding of PRI. The following year, 1994, one year before the 100th anniversary of the Bulletins of American Paleontology, I was writing a short paper on Harris’ field camp in the Helderbergs (Brice, 19944, 1995), and the subject of a Harris biography came into a conversation with Dr. Warren Allmon, Director of PRI. Suddenly the short paper grew into what you have before you; a tribute to and celebration of the life and work of Gilbert D. Harris to be published in obser- vance of the 100th year of the journal which he founded in 1895. No work such as this can be created in isolation, and I wish to thank and acknowledge the assistance and support of several people: Warren Allmon, Director; Paleontological Research Institution, who suggested the original idea and who has served as editor and proof- reader; the staff at PRI, who were very helpful in 10° cating various items for me; Gould P. Colman and the staff in the Rare and Manuscripts Department, Kroch Library, Cornell University, who assisted me with а!“ chive material; the Department of Geological Sciences at Cornell University for allowing me access to their GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE historical records and their permission to use some of the material; Nancy Brunberg, Administrative Assis- tant, Division of Natural Sciences, University of Pitts- burgh at Johnstown, for typing a portion of the manu- Script, and, lastly, I acknowledge the support of my wife, Heather, for her critical reading of the draft, and for living through yet another manuscript. All of these people served to greatly improve the final product, but I bear sole responsibility for any errors or omissions that still exist. Ithaca, New York August 1995 CHAPTER 1. “ITEMS HERETOFORE BUT VAGUELY KNOWN” In 1952 a small, gray haired gentleman died at his home on Kelvin Place in Ithaca, New York, just a short walk from Cornell University where he had spent more than half his life. As he had been a very active man, far more active than many, during the last few months Of his life it was heart-wrenching to all who knew and loved him to watch a debilitating illness slowly sap his Strength and vitality. But on the 4th of December, two Months and two days past his 88th birthday, Gilbert Dennison Harris, who began his life during the Amer- ican Civil War, breathed his last. He and his wife had Only one daughter, but through his teaching he left many “children” who carried on his legacy. EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY Gilbert Dennison Harris was born about three miles from Jamestown, New York on October 2, 1864. As he liked to say, he came from "strong English stock" (Anonymous, 1934), for his family came originally from England. The Harris family Bible (Lopus and Ingham, 1977) indicates that an ancestor, Walter Harris, died in England December 6, 1654, followed by Gabriel arris (no information) and William Harris (died in ondon). The family appears to have emigrated to the ritish Colonies in the early 1700s, for one Samuel Harris, born March 5, 1697, died at Fort Edwards, ew York in 1758. His son, Job (died 1814), moved to Connecticut where his son John was born in Reston Apr il 22, 1766. As a teenager John served as a private 11 the Revolutionary Army (Downs and Headley 1921, P. 466-467), and then returned to live in Vermont Where Gilbert’s grandfather, Jonathan Harris (died Portland, May 13, 1877), was born in Halifax?. Jon- athan married Lucy Miller and the couple raised their Seven children in the Halifax and Bennington area of ermont. Of the three boys and four girls, Gilbert D. arris’ father, Francis E. Harris, was the third son. he second son in this family, who was killed in the tvil War Battle of the Wilderness, also carried the 2 ^ " Jonathan Harris’ birth date in the copy of the family Bible is Шер; cn but appears to be June 4, 1790 or 1796 (Lopus and Ingham, name Gilbert, a name which Francis bestowed on his second son. Francis E.? Harris was born in Marlboro, Vermont, November 29, 1830. He had little opportunity for for- mal education, something he regretted all his life, and he made certain that would not happen to his children. Francis Harris' mother died when he was young and his father remarried to one Jane Bruce of Bennington, Vermont; this union produced four step-siblings for Francis. At the age of eleven, Francis was hired out by his father to local farmers. Few in the family took much interest in the young motherless boy, except to get all the work out of him they could. But Francis was bright and resourceful and by the age of 17 he was engaged in his own contracting business and employing men much older than himself. In 1852 Francis followed his older brothers Oscar and Gilbert and several sisters to Chautauqua County, New York and settled near Jamestown. At first he worked as a carpenter and builder, but after his mar- riage in Salem, March 29th, 1856, to Lydia Helen Crandall he moved to a farm in the town of Ellicott.4 Lydia Crandall was born in Kinderhook, New York, February 21, 1832 and was only four years old when her mother and father, Stephen and Christina (Ben- jamin) Crandall travelled with their nine children from Albany to Buffalo on the Erie Canal, a journey that took two weeks to complete. Eventually the Crandall family settled in the Jamestown area (Downs and Headley, 1921). Francis and Lydia Harris were the parents of six children, four girls and two boys (Downs and Headley, 1921; Lopus and Ingham, 1977); Cora Ethel (b. Ran- dolph, New York, April 6, 1857; d. Falconer, New York, February 22, 1946), Ida Christiana (b. Ran- 3 The E. appears to be for Eugene because the son of his daughter, Ida Harris Petersen, was named Francis Eugene Petersen (Lopus and Ingham, 1977). * A map of Ellicott in 1881 shows F. E. Harris owning two pieces of land, lot 112a, section 10; and lot 51a, section 10 (Anonymous, 1881). This reference is in the private collection of Mr. Michael Anzalone, Chautauqua, NY, and I am indebted to him for the loan. dolph, New York, November 18, 1858; d. Jamestown, New York, August 15, 1919), Rollin Arthur (b. Ran- dolph, New York, April 18, 1863; d. Washington, D.C. January 20, 1918), Gilbert Dennison (b. Ellicott, New York, October 2, 1864; d. Ithaca, New York, Decem- ber 15, 1952), Jennie May (b. Ellicott, New York, May 5, 1870; d. Ellicott, New York, March 17, 1872), and Floy Bell (b. Ellicott, New York, February 11, 1875; d. Falconer, New York, October 13, 1968).° Francis and Lydia Harris made certain their children had an opportunity to gain an education, and with the exception of Jennie May (who died in infancy) and Ida, all of them attended college. Three of them, Rollin (Ph.B. '85, Ph.D. '88), Gilbert (Ph.B. '86), and Floy (A.B. '97), graduated from Cornell University, and Cora graduated from Fredonia State Normal School (now SUNY-Fredonia) After graduation Cora taught for several years and produced a volume of children's sto- ries entitled, “Half a Hundred Stories" (Downs and Headley, 1921). Ноу attended Cornell from 1894—1898, receiving the A.B. degree in 1897.5 Downs and Headly (1921) indicate she studied Romance Languages and taught in Upstate New York, New Jersey, and California? before returning to spend part of her career as a teacher in New York City. In 1914 she returned to the Jamestown area and spent the rest of her days in the small town of Falconer, not too far from the old family farm. Gilbert's older brother, Rollin Arthur Harris, received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Cor- nell in 18888 and was a Fellow in Mathematics at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts until 1890 when he joined the Tidal Division of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. His position was ‘‘Math- ematician" and he was to do mathematical calcula- tions; in other words, he served as a “computer” before such work was taken over by machines. He amassed tidal information from various sources and devised 5 Florence is in parentheses next to Floy in the family Bible and Florence is on the gravestone in Allen Cemetery, Poland, New York. Also, in a letter written in 1953 by Harris' youngest sister to Kath- erine Palmer, then Director of the Paleontological Research Insti- tution, was signed “Florence B. Harris." In this letter she was thank- ing Dr. Palmer for sending her brother's memorial. Therefore, she must have used “Florence” in professional and formal settings, but within the family she was “Роу.” (Florence B. Harris to Katherine V. W. Palmer, November 2, 1953. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY). 5 Listing for Florence Belle Harris of Jamestown in The Ten-year Book of Cornell University, IV, 1868-1908 (Anonymous, 1908, p. 268), and in Hewett (1905, Vol. IV, P. 274). 7 From a postcard she sent her brother, Floy Harris was teaching in California in 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 8 Listing for Rollin Harris; attended 1882-85, 1886-88; Ph.B. 1885, Ph.D. 1888, in The Ten-year Book of Cornell University, IV, 1868— 1908 (Anonymous, 1908. p. 268; also Anonymous, 1915b). BULLETIN 350 methods of reducing these data into a useful form. His work eventually appeared as the “Manual of Tides" which was published in the Superintendent's Reports through 1907. The entire “Manual” encompasses over 1200 pages and received praise from mathematicians and scientists from all over the world. A similar mono- graph, Arctic Tides", followed in 1911. Rollin was active in professional societies and presented papers at various meetings (К. Harris, 1898a, 1898b)?. Rollin would frequently join his brother, Gilbert, when he and his students were on one of their boat trips to the Chesapeake Bay region, and also worked with him on part of the Louisiana Geological Survey activities (R. Harris, 1902). Rollin eventually became Chief Math- ematician and continued working with the Coast and Geodetic Survey until his untimely death from heart disease in 1918. Gilbert spent his early childhood on a farm near Jamesville at what was known as “Peck Settlement" (Lopus and Ingham, 1977 p. 92) and ће “. .. walked three miles to attend the nearest high school ...'"''? (Anonymous, 1934) which was then called the James- ville Union School and Collegiate Institute (Palmer, 1953c). Two older sisters and an older brother pre- ceded him at the high school and as Rollin went on to be a teacher in the local area for a short time after his high school graduation and he then received a schol- arship to attend Cornell University, young Gilbert had quite a family legacy to continue. As a young boy, he showed a keen interest in and talent for science and mathematics, and he had quite a talent for drawing; 4 skill that was to be of great benefit to him later. Based upon what must be his first field notebook, Harris was making systematic recordings of observations and in- formation about animals and birds at the age of 10. Several of the entries noted both the generic and spe- cific names along with the common name: "RABBIT (LEPUS CUNICULUS) ITS BODY IS 16 INCHES TAIL 2 IT IS ALSO CALLED CONY RABBITS DO NOT DIG AS LONG HOLES AS THE WOOD- CHUCK ITS YOUNG ARE BROUGHT FORTH IN JUNE 4 OR 6 IN A LITTER Rabbits are sometimes used for food" (p. 9) [Capital letters as in the original; no punc- tuation in original.] “(PROCYON LOTOR) RACCOON Its body is 22 1/2 inches long tail 8 1/4 These animals frequent brooks which abound in minnows and crabs He is a savage fighter when ? Because there will be many quoted references for Gilbert D. Harris, those will be cited hereafter as just “Harris.” For citations for any other Harris, either first names or initials will be added. 10 According to Palmer (1953c), the distance was four miles each way. In either case, in the winter it must have seemed like far more than this for young Rollin and Gilbert. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 11 attacted [sic] by dogs He inhabits the wooded districts of the U. S. A." (p.21)! Many of the pages are covered with very life-like Sketches of the creatures being described; field mice, different kinds of fish, birds, etc. Except for the fish, most of the animals are portrayed in some living ac- tivity. In the last section of the notebook are systematic records of each animal ће saw and the date on which he saw it. He also recorded the dates on which he saw Particular species of migrating birds in the spring as they returned to the area: “1878 Robin March 1, 1878 Blue Bird T Ti 4 Hawks ss Ts i Flicker diss cues fv. Зи (но. 0) 5 Even though Harris was growing up among some of the finest Devonian fossil beds in the country, these fossils apparently escaped his notice at the time he was making these early observations, for not one entry mentions seeing a fossil. He must have been too busy discovering the world of the living to cast his attention S animals no longer with us; that was to come ater, After completing high school, Gilbert followed his brother Rollin's example and won a scholarship to attend Cornell University. First however, also like his brother before him, Gilbert taught for a brief time in 4 small country school, the Dry Brook District School, Dear his home; teaching by day and trying to keep warm in an attic room with only a kerosene lamp for heat (P almer, 1953c). Rollin was still a student at Cornell When Gilbert entered in 1883. Among Gilbert's classmates in geology at Cornell Were Charles David White, who later became Director of the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.), and Obert T. Hill, later of the Texas Geological Survey and U.S.G.S. It has been reported that another member Of the Class of °86 was David Starr Jordan, later a famous ichthyologist and the first President of Stanford hiversity!? (Brice, 1989). But actually Jordan had Braduated with his M.S. (he skipped the B.S.) in 1872 b " Small field notebook with front cover missing. No name visible, t ut it was found among items known to belong to G. D. Harris and М handwriting looks similar to items written by Harris. Earliest mits in the small notebook is May 8, 1875. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. NY Field notebook of G. D. Harris, 1875-1878. HA-PRI, Ithaca, ? Class list of the Class of 1886 compiled for the 35th reunion. A-PRI, Ithaca, NY. and was a classmate of another accomplished geologist, John C. Branner. The confusion of Jordan with Harris' class of 1886 apparently arose because Jordan received an honorary LL.D. that year (Jordan, 1922). So tech- nically he was part of the class of 1886, but not really a classmate of Harris. According to his autobiography (Jordan, 1922) however, Jordan did have an indirect connection to the Geology Department, for he helped dig the foundation of McGraw Hall which was the home ofthe Geology Department for almost 100 years. According to Palmer (1953c), Harris came to Cornell undecided on a course of study, except that he knew it would be in science!^. The purchase of James D. Dana’s Manual of Geology ... (Dana, 1880) helped him make up his mind (Palmer, 1953a; and personal communication, July 28, 1982). Little did he realize that in a few short years he would assist Dana in pre- paring the 4th Edition (1895) of the very book which kindled the flames of geological fire in him. COLLEGE DAYS AT CORNELL At the time Harris came to Cornell, the Department of Geology was headed by Samuel Gardner Williams. !5 It was under Professor Williams, who is remembered more as a teacher than as a scholar, that Harris began his geological work. Many years later Harris had the opportunity to examine some of the same areas his old professor had described and remarked on the dura- bility and significance of the earlier work: *,,.1t may be stated that a similar study was undertaken by Prof. S. G. Williams and his results were published in the American Journal of Science, 1886, vol. 31, р. 139– 145. Subsequent investigations have shown that this au- thor was scarcely warranted in his general conclusions re- garding the age and proper correlation of the great mass of limestone between the gypsum beds and Oriskany in central New York, for he believed them to be locally mod- ified Helderbergian deposits, and hence above the Manlius series. But this much must be said in his behalf, viz. that he alone has seemed to grasp the true stratigraphic rela- tions of the various deposits about Union Springs, and he alone has emphasized the importance of the Oriskany Falls section in elucidation of Manlius and Helderbergian stra- tigraphy." (Harris 1904, p. 55) Even later, in his Annual Report for 1927-28, Harris had even stronger language concerning S. G. Williams’ ability as a geologist: 14 Statistics for the Class of '86 list Harris as “21 years old, 163 pounds, 5'6 1/2" tall, 7 1/4 hat size, and his future occupation is listed as “undecided.” 15 Refer to Brice (1989) for further details on the Cornell Geology Department. “Неге it may be remarked that the good sense of Hartt' made Brazilian geologic investigations possible and put us in the advanced ranks of geologic departments, then the reign of S. С. Williams put us below zero." In December of 1885, S. G. Williams left the Geology Department to become the first Professor of Science and the Art of Teaching at Cornell,!® and Henry Shaler Williams, one of Ithaca's native sons, took control of the Geology Department just as Harris was completing his undergraduate work. Harris received the Bachelor of Philosophy in 1886 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa (1885) and Sigma Xi (1887)? (Downs and Headley, 1921). This new Williams was a better geologist than his predecessor, and the change in department leadership may have led to Harris’ decision to remain at Cornell for another year of study. In this he was, again, fol- lowing the lead of his brother, Rollin, who was con- tinuing his studies at Cornell as well. H. S. Williams had graduated from Yale where he studied under James D. Dana, and had been at Cornell since 1879 (Brice, 1989). Working with Williams at that time was Charles S. Prosser (B.S. '83, M.S. '86, Ph.D. ’07)?°, who served as Williams’ assistant in the Devonian Laboratory at Cornell. Williams directed the 16 Charles Frederic Hartt (1840-1878), first professor of geology at Cornell, 1868-1875 (Brice, 1989). 17 Annual Report by G. D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, May 8, 1924, p. 2. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/1/5/691, Box 2, File 2-4, Rare and Manuscripts Collections, Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 (hereafter abbreviated as RMC-KL, Cornell). 5 Ithaca Daily Journal, May 21, 1900, p. 3. 19 “Т quite approve of the idea of your getting the $ 8 К and Z X keys." Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 20, 1890. These personal letters were discovered at a garage sale near Ithaca, NY in 1984. They were being sold for the old postage stamps on the en- velopes, but I recognized the name of the addressee, Gilbert Harris, and purchased them for $5.00. They are now housed in the Harris Archives (HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY). These letters are hereafter referred to as “Private collection, WRB, now at HA-PRLIthaca, NY." The awards and dates are also listed in a letter to Cornell President Schurman by Gilbert D. Harris, May 1907, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 20 Charles Smith Prosser (1860-1916). From 1888 to 1892 he served as assiant paleontologist in the Paleobotany Division of the United States Geological Survey at the time Harris was working there in the late 1880s. Later Prosser was a Professor of Geology at Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas, and spent most of his career at Ohio State University. (Cumings, 1916). There is an interesting twist of fate here, for Prosser, one of his teachers while Harris was a graduate student, later returned to Cornell to do his Ph.D. (1907) under Harris’ direction. He apparently returned to Cornell in 1900; “Prof, Prosser, of Columbus, Ohio, takes his Ph.D. in the department this spring." Annual Report of the Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphic Geology; 1899-1900 by G. D. Harris, p. 5. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 laboratory for the U.S.G.S. while he taught half-time. As Ithaca is located in one of the world's greatest ex- posures of Devonian age rocks, it was fitting that the U.S.G.S. Devonian research effort be situated there. Through very careful and detailed study of these De- vonian rocks, Williams was able to show that there were exceptions to a widely held belief of the time that a distinct set of fossils characterizes each and every geological formation. He found, for example, that the fauna of the Hamilton Formation was repeated in the Ithaca Formation, which at that time was an important discovery. Surrounded as he was by H. S. Williams and his Devonian work at Cornell and the rich Devonian ma- terial found in the rocks around Ithaca, it 1s not sur- prising that Harris had not yet turned much attention to the Tertiary. Later, after he focused on the Tertiary material, he did not totally turn his back on the De- vonian, for he published a wonderful series of little handbooks on the fossils and geology of the Cayuga Lake area (e.g., Harris, 1899a). In his memorial, Cleland (1918), described H. S. Williams as an "investigator" (a "researcher" in to- day's language), “rather than a teacher.” Williams felt that the key to good paleontological work lay in careful and patient collecting (Cleland, 1918). This was a les- son that all of Williams’ students learned well. Those students included H. E. Gregory, Stuart Weller, Charles Prosser, Charles David White, and, of course, Gilbert D. Harris. And it was upon the H. S. Williams model of helping students search for answers by careful anal- ysis of the facts available that Harris built his own teaching techniques. According to one of his students, Harris was at his best when sitting around a table with a small group of students working on a set of fossils (Plates 9, 10).?! More will be said about his teaching and his students in a later section. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ACTIVITY After the extra year at Cornell, Harris joined the Geological Survey of Arkansas in 1888 (Palmer, 19534, 1953b, 1953c; Olsson, 1954). The choice of positions may have been influenced by the fact that the head of the Arkansas Survey was another Cornellian, John C. Branner. Branner had been a student of Charles Fred- eric Hartt in the early days of Cornell and had worked with Hartt on the first Imperial Geological Survey of Brazil (Brice 1989; Figueiróa, 1994). Branner's assis- tant, Frederick W. Simonds, was another Cornell grad- uate who had studied with Hartt (Heroy, 1942; Brice, 1989). 21 Katherine Palmer, personal communication, July 28, 1982. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 13 When Harris began working in Arkansas, the Geo- logical Survey under the leadership of Branner had Only been in operation about a year (Branner and Co- ville, 1891). According to Olsson (1954), it was on this first trip to Arkansas that Harris received his first good introduction to the Tertiary strata of the southern United States. Unless Harris worked at two different locations during that time, however, he could not have been working on Tertiary rocks on this first trip to Arkansas. He was assigned to work with Frederic Si- monds in Washington County, and the geologic map for that county which is part of the published report (Harris, 1891b; Simonds, 1891) has no rocks mapped 9n it younger than Carboniferous; no Tertiary strata Occur in the county. The work with the Tertiary-Cre- faceous boundary thus did not come until his second trip to Arkansas in 1892: “The first part of September, 1892, was spent in reviewing Work done along the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary." (Harris, 1894b, p. 6). Part of this initial work appeared in an Arkansas Survey report on the geology of Washington County. Harris prepared chapter 18, the portion for the Fay- &tteville-Huntsville area (Harris 1891b). It is interest- ing to note that in Branner's introduction to the pub- lication, he listed a total of four people assisting Si- monds with the work in Washington County, Harris and three others, but Harris was the only one to get his name on a chapter heading. That, plus the letter from Simonds quoted below, suggests that the work Harris did was of very high quality. It seems, however, that Frederic Simonds, his su- Pervisor and co-worker on his Arkansas project, was Dot totally pleased with the final publication of the Work, and did not feel Harris received the recognition he deserved: "As you may already possibly know that Washington Co. Report [Simonds, 1891] is now out. It isn't so bad after all, but if I had it to do over again I would do a better job. I hardly think that as much credit is given you as ought to have been given. I gave you more but in *passing thro' [sic] the press’ all that was eliminated. I was very particular In the matter myself and had your name on the map-proof Which I sent back [from Austin, Texas] to Little Rock. But I did not see the page-proof and did not correct the errors Until it was all printed. I speak of this at length for I don’t Want you to think me Greedy, = Although his work with the Arkansas Survey started With great promise, a severe illness brought it to a 2 Frederic Simonds to Gilbert D. Harris, September 17, 1891. -PRI, Ithaca, NY. HA sudden halt almost before it began. According to Ols- son (1954), it took Harris several years to recover fully. No mention is made in his memorials (Palmer, 1953a, 1953b, 1953c; Olsson 1954) as to the nature of the illness, but malaria seems quite likely for it was not uncommon at that time (see a letter from his sister quoted below), and recovery was not an easy process. Apparently another equally unknown incident, aside from the illness, must have happened while Harris was in Arkansas that could have ended his career early, for on a post card from his sister, Floy, in 1913, she wrote: "It was Prof. Seth [illegible] of Chicago Univ. who helped save your life in Arkansas I'll wager. How queer the two sisters should meet in S. Calif. to teach in the same H.S."?? There is some confusion as to just when Harris joined the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.). Palm- er (1953a) indicates it was in 1888, but in other me- morials, she (1953b,c) gives the date as 1889, a date supported by Downs and Headley (1921). Olsson (1954), however, states that it was in 1890 that Harris started working with William Healy Dall; and in this Olsson is almost correct. The confusion results because, at first, Harris was with the Paleozoic Division of the Survey, no doubt on the strength of being a student of, and having a recommendation from, H. S. Williams. In fact, it appears he was actually working under H. S. Williams, for in C. D. Walcott's report for the ‘‘Paleo- zoic Division of Invertebrate Paleontology" in the Eighth Annual Report of the Survey, is this small state- ment in the section describing Williams’ activity for the year ending June 30, 1887: “Mr. C. S. Prosser assisted in the field work and Mr. S. D. Harris added another station in Chautauqua county, N.Y. to obtain data on the Upper Devonian." (Powell, 1889, p. 174-175). Mr. "S." D. Harris must be “С.” D. Harris, especially given the Chautauqua county reference. Also, the tim- ing fits what has been reported by others mentioned above. It was after this initial work in the Paleozoic Division of the U. S. G. S. that Harris worked with Dall at the Smithsonian, but both men worked for the U.S.G.S. Dall’s report for his Division for the year ending June 30, 1889 in the Tenth Annual U.S.G.S. Report said this: *. ,. and, subsequently, Mr. Gilbert D. Harris ... [was] temporarily employed for some months." (Powell, 1890, p. 166). ?3 Floy Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, September 1, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. From Dall’s statement, it seems that Harris was being engaged by Dall, at least temporarily, as early as | 889.24 At that time Dall was in the early stages of his work on the Tertiary mollusks of Florida and the southern Coastal Plain, and soon after both men would become involved with a large Tertiary correlation project. It was during the association with Dall that Harris really became immersed in the study of the Tertiary that was to occupy him for the rest of his days. WASHINGTON, D.C. AND SEPARATION FROM HIS FAMILY Although this was not the first time Harris had been away from home, those first few months in Washing- ton, D. C. must have been difficult for him. Later Har- ris would have the companionship of his brother, Rol- lin, who began working there with the Coast and Ge- odetic Survey in July 1890.25 In the meantime, there was a steady stream of letters from his family in the Jamestown area keeping him apprised of family affairs and the deteriorating condition of his father. In ad- dition, sometime in 1889 or 1890, Harris became en- gaged to Clara Stoneman who was living at Harmony, near Jamestown. So young Gilbert, now age 24, was separated from his fiancé and his family at a time when much was happening. His father's health was failing, his mother was not well either, and they were appar- ently trying to sell the family farm.?ć In March of 1890 Harris’ sister Floy wrote to him about their father: “Pa walked to town and back Friday, and did not seem to notice it. I weigh about a pound more than Ma, but she is getting better. ... I do not know whether Cora [oldest sister and the first born child] will teach the summer term, if she does I think I shall go and study Grammar, Physi- ology, Physical Geography, and perhaps Algebra. Then there will be a number of weeks to take music lessons. . . . I do not see when I am going to learn Stenography and Type-writing [sic]. I think that if I had a typewriter I could practice considerable [sic] on it. The younger I could begin 24 Harris was definitely working at the Smithsonian Institution by June, 1890, because a letter from his Mother mentions his work there. (Lydia Harris to Gilbert Harris, June 29, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB, now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) 25 — that Rollin will take up his abode in Washington.” A ref- erence in a letter from Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, July 6, 1890. Private collection, WRB, now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 26 An interesting fact that has emerged from a study of the letters written to Harris while he was in Washington, D. C. is the quality of the mail service in 1890-92. It is not uncommon to see on the envelopes, for example, a postmark for Jamestown with the date March 4 at midnight and another on the back showing a Washington, D. C. postmark for March 5 at 10:30 AM. Apparently one and two day service between Jamestown and Washington, D. C. was common in 1890. BULLETIN 350 the better, it seems to me, but Pa keeps putting it off to some future time ... Nellie Drummy and I went to 4 [movie] matinee a few weeks ago. I never went to one betore. ec. Whereas his brother, Rollin, who was completing his studies at Clark University, could get home that summer, Gilbert's geological work required him to spend the summer in the field. In May his sister Ida noted this fact and passed along some family news: “T think ma’s [sic] health is improving. She grows fleshy a little and has a good appetite. Sometimes pa [sic] feels a little blue because land does not sell higher, though he rather thinks he can sell eight acres of the west end of this farm for a thousand dollars, to a Swede man. . . . Rollin writes he thinks to come home about the tenth of June. I am afraid you will not be at home much this summer if your are going in the field to work.'?* A few days later, Harris received a note from his oldest sister, Cora: “Ma feels so strong lately that she has to go and tear up the earth in certain places around the currant bushes. Ida's being home enables her to do about as she pleases and I guess she enjoys herself very well now. I think pa [sic] feels a little disappointed in not selling more of his farm this spring and does not feel as much interested in anything a$ it is necessary to be for enjoyment. ... I have not been feeling very well lately I rather believe it is malaria for one TIS ee A few weeks later while Harris was doing field work around Yorktown, his father's condition took a turn for the worse. First from sister Ida and then from Cora: “I have not very pleasant news to tell, but presume you had rather receive it than no news. Pa has been running down for several weeks, and Saturday night he was take [sic] vomiting and has been sick since just as usual. We sent for Dr. Scott this morning but it is now quite late in the afternoon and he has not come yet. ... Hoping you are enjoying yourself in Yorktown . . .'?? “Father is yet sick in bed. He has been up very little for over a week. The doctor thought yesterday that he was à little better. Dr. Scott the one employed now calls it ul- ceration of the stomach, says he thinks that is what has ailed him for 20 years. He thinks however that it will pass away this time without breaking. I tended him last night. He was in considerable pain. The Dr. thinks the particular 27 Floy Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, March 2, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB, now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 28 Ida Harris to Gilbert Harris, May 4, 1890. Private collection: WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 29 Cora Harris to Gilbert Harris, May 11, 1890. Private collectio” WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 30 Ida Harris to Gilbert Harris, June 10, 1890. Private collectio™ WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. | | | | ) GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 15 Place of disease is in the pyloric canal a very delicate Piace, As if all this was not enough, the family was full of mixed emotions about Rollin, who was completing his work at Clark University, because he had по “роѕі- tion” before him, and he had been married on June 13, 1890. Even that event had not been without its problems: “We rather cotted [sic] on Rollin’s coming home to help care for him [their father], but what do you suppose, I was never more surprised in my life. There was a dreadful rain here Thursday but about one o'clock Rollin came with his feet wet having waded some large mud puddles on his way from town. He could hardly stop for dinner and could not change his socks so pressing was the business in getting to Uncle Rob's to tell Emily [Doty, Rollin's fiancé] that the wedding must be postponed until another day on account of his being delayed on the train. Well he harnessed up Bennie our new colt with some feelings of regret I suppose that the carriage was not repainted [Rollin had sent home Several requests to have the carriage painted?] and took her [Emily] riding to the Burg for a preacher Elder Stone. On Friday afternoon Mr. Wright came over and invited us all there Friday eve [sic]. The knot was to be tied at half-past seven but Rollin didn't start from here until eight 80 we presume she [Emily] got a little fidgety. He [Rollin] Put on one pair of pants and found a hole in them so he had to change and you know it generally takes him quite awhile to get ready. Thats [sic] the last we have seen or heard from him. He took the horse and carriage so we Suppose they [are] riding around the country somewhere. R. [Rollin] says he intends to live over there and he'll have à niceroom. He does not talk as though he had any position ànd we all think it is strange piece of business. None of us attended the wedding[.] we [sic] had a good excuse on account of pa's [sic] sickness. I did not want to go. I always trusted that he had sense enough not to marry till he at least had some place in the world and as it appears now Гапа the rest feel much disappointed. I should not think that she would want to marry under the circumstances.'?? Gilbert heard this news from his mother as well. Like many mothers, his had a problem understanding that geological field work, especially in a coastal area, Was not necessarily a vacation. Note that in these let- ters, and apparently always, his mother, Lydia Harris, Wrote without formal sentences: “You have had quite a vacation the change will probably do you good even if your work was as hard as at the ^ Cora Harris to Gilbert Harris, June 15, 1890. private collection, RB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Cora Harris to Gilbert Harris, May 11, 1890. Private collection, RB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Ww Cora Harris to Gilbert Harris, June 15, 1890. private collection, RB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. [Smithsonian] Institution. I think you are having a nice chance to see the country, and living in an atmosphere of intelligence you must feel that you are improving all the time. It was with a feeling of pride that I read the article you put in the Journal?^ a few weeks ago and how I did wish that Rollin could do something worthy of note. You must know how we all feel about his marrying in his cir- cumstances. I have nothing against Emily only marrying under such circumstances, but we must hope for the best he is willing to work and pa [sic] thinks of getting him survaying [sic] instruments if he does not find any thing to до. . . . It is about haying time. I don't know how ours will be done here . . . the prospect is not very encouraging to farmers. Butter 12 cents a pound and [selling] slow at that we used to think if we had a package of butter it was the same as cash, but now they hardly want it at any price. I don't see how any one can pay for a farm if they run in debt much now days. ... When do you think of coming home?"?5 While all the problems at home were coming to him via the mails, Harris had prepared his first professional publication, a one page paper on the fossil gastropod genus Terebellum (Harris, 1890). Although the actual publication came a few months later, the dateline at the close of his paper is April 3, 1890. By late July, one family concern had resolved itself. Rollin had a new position in Washington, but Francis Harris was not improving and Gilbert was not able to get home: “Ра 15 worse. The Dr. was here last evening and this morn- ing. Pa vommits [sic] and is in considerable pain, but he rested some last night. Day before yesterday he walked down to Mrs. Wrample's and back, and he ate some steamed fish, perhaps he over did and made him worse. . . Ida and I milk the cows and do the rest of the chores when Ma does not get ahead of us. I have been wishing we lived in town so that I could go to school this fall without boarding up town at some strangers’ house. . . . P.S. July 14, 1890- Pa had a very bad night, but he is more quite [sic] this morning. . . . Ma thinks Pa isa little better. The Dr. thinks that he is troubled with the Catarrh of the Stomach now more than the Ulceration of the Stomach."?6 “Pa is no better yet as far as we can tell and of course we know he must grow poorer and weaker. He has not left the bed-room [sic] for a week. He not even sits up to have his bed made. We three [sisters] take turns in lying on the lounge nights and do what little we can. More than half 34 The article referred to in the letter appears to be the professional paper he published in The American Geologist on the fossil gastropod genus Terebellum (Harris, 1890), for nothing written by Harris could be found in the Jamestown Evening Journal around this date. He evidently sent a pre-print of his paper to his mother. 35 Lydia Harris to Gilbert Harris, June 29, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 36 Floy Harris to Gilbert Harris, July 13-14, 1890. Private collec- tion, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. his nights in the past week have been spent in pain and restlessness. The doctor comes every day but seems to do little good as yet. We can do the work very well, that is I mean the caring for pa [sic]. Ma gets quite discouraged and nervous once in awhile [sic] but still she has a good appetite. Of course I keep hoping each day may find him a little better. Gene intended to do our haying but we hear he has been unwell with a lame side so we are looking for some-one [sic] else, ... I do not worry about that any. I hope you will make us the visit you intended to this sum- mer. Pa would not expect you to work in haying if you were here. Pa said to'day [sic], ‘Of course if I grow worse and am liable to die it would best for him to come awhile [sic Of course we're always glad to see you, but you must time your visit when most convenient to you unless some- thing happens to decide. . . . I think Rollin’s getting a po- sition has given pa [sic] a great peace of mind." Harris’ Mother wrote to him on July 29th with what appeared to be some good news: “I think he [Harris’ Father] is improving as fast as could be expected after a fast of two weeks he sits up part of the time and lies on the lounge the remainder of the day it seems good to him to get out of his bedroom again how long it will last we can't tell but hope a long time as I have not the strength to take care of him that I used to have and it makes one feel so bad to see another suffering with no power to help them he is now about the same as when Rollin left . . . I think Rollin could not have found a nicer girl [Emily Doty] any where [sic] and hope he will proove [sic] worthy of her.... It has been a very discouraging season for farmers the present our haying is not half done it rains so much of the time they can't work more than one day in a week some of the time so some of it will be poor quality. . . . Brother William [Harris' Uncle] died quite suddenly they called him to breakfast in the morning he felt as well as usual until he went to get up he felt suffocated and he grew worse until afternoon the same day he died they called it influenza the day before he was in his shop at work I suppose. ... You did not tell me when you аге coming home."?* Just 14 days after that letter was written, on August 12, 1890, Francis Harris died.?? CLARA STONEMAN AND GILBERT HARRIS In the midst of the anxiety caused by his father's failing health, Harris had the joy of his engagement to Clara Stoneman. Judging by her surviving letters to 37 Floy Harris to Gilbert Harris, July 20, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 38 Lydia Harris to Gilbert Harris, July 29, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 39 Funeral services were held on Wednesday, August 13, 1890, at the Harris home on Buffalo Street. He was buried at the family plot in Allen Cemetery. (Funeral notice, page 4, Jamestown Evening Jour- nal, Friday, August 15, 1890. BULLETIN 350 him, the pair were deeply in love, and wrote to each other almost every week when they were separated; sometimes more often. In a letter to him on May 10th, 1890, she says: *Marian wants to know how I am going to stand it after I get to Washington, D. C. without a letter twice a week. I guess I can manage to stand it some way."^? In another letter after he had been home for a short visit, probably for his father's funeral, Clara wrote: “When ever I close a letter I always wonder if you un- derstand how much I mean it to mean when I say I am, Yours truly, Clara” There is little record of Clara’s early life or of her family. The survey maps of 1881 (Anonymous, 1881. p. 116-117) show that a “B. Stoneman” owned prop- erty on Chautauqua Lake, New York (adjacent lots 108a and 55a, section 3, and lot 233a in section 22) near the town of Lakewood, not too far from James- town. One “C. Stoneman” (possibly Clara’s uncle) owned lot 100a, section 16. Some of these Stoneman properties must have had magnificent pine trees on them, for it is said that Gilbert was attracted to Clara as much by the primeval pines on the family property as by Clara’s beauty (Palmer, 1953c). Many years later some of the timber on the old Stoneman property was used in building the Harris home at 126 Kelvin Place in Ithaca, New York. Even though some of Clara’s letters came from Harmony, New York and she speaks of their home there, the 1881 map of Harmony does not list any property owned by the Stoneman family. The family either rented a house there or purchased it after 1881.2 From information in several letters, Clara Stoneman appears to have had at least one and possibly four sisters. In one letter to Gilbert she said, “. . . if the girls will keep still long enough I will try and write a few words more."^*; from this We might conclude that Clara was the oldest. There is one envelope, post- marked at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on June 25th, 1918, addressed to “Miss Bertha Stoneman, Ph.D., in care Prof. Harris, Cornell Heights, Ithaca, N.Y.”, but forwarded to “212 W. Falconer St., Falconer, NY." From another letter it appears that Bertha attended 40 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, May 10, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^! Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 27, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 42 The letters from Clara Stoneman begin on May 3rd, 1890 and continue in groups until Jan 1892. I assume the gaps are when they were together either in Washington, D. C. or in Jamestown. 43 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 27, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. | | | | | | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 17 Cornell for some of her college work, for from Bertha, “>. [Aunt Kate] wanted to learn the Cornell pronun- ciation [of Latin]. . ."^* Alumni records show that Ber- tha Stoneman did, indeed, attend Cornell from 1888- 1889 and again from 1891-1896. She completed two degrees, the Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B.) in 1894 and the Doctor of Science (D.Sc., not a Ph.D.) in 1896 (Anonymous 1908, p. 507; 1922, p. 312; Hewett, 1905, V. IV, p. 523). Her doctorate was among the earliest farned by a woman at Cornell, for the very first one Was awarded in 1895 (Conable, 1977). These same University records indicate that in the early part of this century Bertha Stoneman was a lecturer at Hu- &uenot College in Cape Wellington Province, South Africa? about the same time one of Harris’ former Students, Carlotta Maury, was also a lecturer there; there is no record of any communication between the two, but Bertha Stoneman did stay in South Africa for Many years. In 1932 Harris wrote to a former student: "We are expecting Mrs [sic] H.’s [sic] sister from S. Africa 1n Feb. but fear she will be so wedded to the dark continent that she will be returning after a few months’ In addition to mentioning Bertha in her letters, Clara refers to a Marian, who was probably also a sister: **. . . but Basie and Marian soon came up [to her room] : 747 Tn one letter she speaks of how cold her feet are as she writes, but she will soon go to bed and “... Make Basie get them warm."^* Thus, Basie must have сеп a sister or at least a cousin. But Basie may be the familiar name of Bertha and not a separate person. It Seems she had no brothers, for in a letter to Gilbert after describing some errands for her father she said: "You see I have to be a son as well as a daughter in this family. I generally manage to find something to do in the house but when I can't I can take a horse to be shod . . "^? Both families were engaged in farming, but the Sto- Nemans appear to have been more landowners than actually working farmers: na Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, July 20, 1890. Private col- 4.01, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. | Feb This is confirmed by a letter from Harris to C. H. Stoelting, ins Tuary 23, 1914, in which he requests an item, “. . . for my sister- A B. Stoneman, Huguenot College . . .” 29 Gilbert D. Harris to Floyd Hodson, “Dear Hodsoni", December » 1932, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Con Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 27, 1890. Private E ection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. | Eo Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, May 17, 1890. Private col- ~ WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ; coll Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 24, 1890. Private ection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. “As for the thrashers they have not made their appearance yet. They will in due time however.’’*° In several letters she speaks of “hired hands" and “the girl who works for us", so her family must have been reasonably well off financially. After 1881, the family seems to have had homes in Harmony and near Lake- wood, both of which are near Jamestown and Chatau- qua Lake: *, . . when I went away from home [in Harmony] I had to go to Lakewood. . . . Some weeks it would be much nicer if I had my mail come to Lakewood . . ."5! In one letter Clara speaks of “hard times", but how much is real and how much is a young girl's attempt at humor, is difficult to say: "Yesterday and to day [sic] we entertained the thrashers. We did not have a very hard time of it. They did not get here until 4 o'clock yesterday and were through by ten this morning. We had only 180 bu. of oats,-a very small quan- tity in comparison with the [illegible] bushels some years. I think we will have to shut up the house this winter and take old Jim?? and the rest of the horses and go ‘cousining’. We have hardly enough potatoes to last until spring. It looks as though we are on the verge of starvation! If the wolf comes to the door we will have shoot him and eat him. But I won't cross that bridge until I come to it.”53 From what Clara wrote Gilbert, her grandmother Stoneman must have been quite a personality for her time: “Aunt R.[ebecca] says that Grandmother Stoneman was the first woman in this county who dared to drive her own horse to J-[amestown] and other places without a man along. In those days it was considered a very disgraceful thing to do so, but my grandmother did not mind what the people thought about her and continued to do her own driving. And now I suppose her spirit has cropped out in Tiere As with most families of the time, the Stonemans and the Harrises kept horses both for work and trans- portation. In family letters, along with the sad news 50 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 27, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 5! Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 12, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 52 Given the nature of the sentence the “Jim” must be a horse, but according to another letter she wrote to Gilbert Harris on No- vember 8, 1890, there was a hired hand on the Stoneman farm named Jim as well. 53 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 2, 1890, Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 54 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 19, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. that Gilbert’s father was ill and not improving, there was news about a sick horse as well: “we have been quite excited over our sick colt for a week past we had to dose him with powders and drops the same as a person every hour the horse Dr. came five times to see him he is improving very fast .. .'°5° “Our colt seems to fed [sic] pretty well but no one has used him since he was sick to see if he stands it all right. He and Belle run out to pasture together.''56 “Yesterday I got Jim shod and the buggy fixed"5" Mixed with the less than good news about his father and family problems, Harris was receiving letters like this from Clara who was then in Harmony, New York: “Marian and I have been to Ashville this evening and got a whole armful [sic] of mail, but nothing among it all satisfied me as your letter did which I did not see at first and and [sic] I was worried for fear it had not come. . . .”°* His fiancé was also mindful to keep him abreast of any events of geological interest in the Jamestown area, even while he was in Yorktown, Virginia living in a fisherman's shack: “I believe there is a gas well being drilled . . . if that is of interest to you. ... It is called the Chase Well."5? And she related events not so geologic in character while expressing her concern for him: “I was glad to hear of your safe arrival at your destination [Yorktown, Virginia], and I hope that you will enjoy your- self and be sure and do not get sick. . . . I had a rather swell ride the other day. I came home from Jamestown on the [street] cars and started to walk up the R. R. track. I met the men who work on the track and the boss told me that I might ride up to our crossing on the hand car. So I got on and I came up in a hurry. It was much better than walking up in the sun." [Emphasis in the original.]9? Harris was in Yorktown in April and June, 1890 on assignment for the U.S.G.S. to study the well known Miocene beds of the Yorktown area. By this time, Har- ris was well and truly into Tertiary work, for Dall’s 55 Lydia Harris to Gilbert Harris, June 29, 1890. private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 56 Floy Harris to Gilbert Harris, July 20, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 57 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 24, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 58 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, May 3, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 59 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, May 17, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 6° Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, June 7, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 report to the Director of the U.S.G.S. for June, 1890, lists Harris with a promotion, “Gilbert D. Harris, as- sistant paleontologist", and Dall describes Harris' trip to Virginia: “Мг. Harris has assisted in the routine work and has been also able to give a few weeks to field work on the Yorktown, Virginia, peninsula, all that our scanty allotment would permit of undertaking. ... In the month of June Mr. G. D. Harris was sent by me to the vicinity of Yorktown, Virginia, to make some collections from the Miocene of that region and verify some stratigraphic details which were in doubt. He was absent about two weeks with sat- isfactory results." (Powell, 1891a, p. 109, 111). Based on his Yorktown work, Harris prepared à manuscript, complete with outcrop sketches and fossil descriptions. This manuscript was not published in it$ entirety, however, until 1993 when the Paleontological Research Institution published a facsimile of Harris handwritten manuscript with annotations by Lauck W. Ward (Ward, 1993). The failure to publish this work is particularly puzzling in light of what Dall had to say about Harris’ Yorktown study in the same report quot- ed above: “This work has been carried out in an exceptionally sat- isfactory manner, geologically speaking and will be incor- porated in the correlation essay." (Powell, 1891a, p. 109). Unless there were two different studies made, Dall must have been referring to Harris' Yorktown work. Druid Wilson, a former student of Harris' at Cornell in the early 1930s and a paleontologist with the U. S. Geological Survey for many years, kept the manuscript in a file cabinet in his office. He thought it was part of material he inherited from Julia Gardner, distin- guished Cenozoic paleontologist and his predecessor in that office. According to Wilson®!, even though the manuscript had no name on it, everyone who saw it recognized its value and most recognized Harris’ hand- writing as well. In his mind, these two things preserved it over the years. As to why it was never published, Wilson felt that based upon the writing style and the fact that there was no name on it, there was never any intention to publish it, at least not as it was. Wilson thought that the manu- script represented notes that Harris put together for Dall as they were preparing their large Neocene vol- ume. Information from this 1890 manuscript was, in- deed, used by Dall and Harris in their U. 8. Geological Survey Bulletin 84 (1892, p. 59-62). About 20 years él Personal communication, July 12, 1995, and comments in ? letter from Druid Wilson to John Pojeta, May 4, 1982, a copy x which is in the HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. | | | | | | | | | | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 19 after this, Clarke and Miller (1912) also used some of the information. “The above section was prepared by G. D. Harris, who made a careful study of the Yorktown cliffs for Dr. Dall.” (Clark and Miller, 1912, p. 162). In 1980, Ward and Blackwelder mentioned the York- town work of Harris again: “The first comprehensive treatment of the strata on the York river in the vicinity of Yorktown, Va. was done by Harris (1890 unpub. manuscript), Dall and Harris (1892) described some of the beds in this area but made no at- dab to name them." (Ward and Blackwelder, 1980, p. 8). The eventual publication of Harris" original report, as annotated by Lauck Ward (1993), is not only histori- cally valuable for the geological descriptions it contains (many localities are no longer available for study); the manuscript is also a good example of Harris? beautiful Penmanship and skill at illustration. Even though orig- nally Wilson did not feel the manuscript was intended for publication in its original state, the annotations added by Ward have made it, in Wilson's opinion, a very valuable addition to paleontological literature. hat opinion is shared by a reviewer of the volume Who wrote: "Knowledge of the stratigraphic localities along the York River would be lost but for the meticulous descriptions of them by Harris as reproduced by Ward. . . . “This book is recommended to serious students of strati- graphic paleontology of the eastern United States.” (Moore, E., 1995, p. 113). High praise, indeed, for a manuscript that was written Over 100 years earlier. From the comments in Clara’s letters, Harris’ quar- ters in a fisherman’s shack at Yorktown must not have сеп very comfortable for him. She continued sending the geological news: "Iam glad to know that you are through with your present Work in Yorktown and are going to get back into more comfortable quarters [in Washington, D. C.]. How dissa- Breeable [sic] it must be wherever you go to be troubled With bed-bugs. .. . I was reading this morning that the N. Y. State Geologist had been travelling through Missouri апа some of the Southern States inspecting fossils. I tried to find out something about the Harmony oil well but did not make out much. They are about ready to commence drilling and I believe the name of the man who has charge Of it is Charles Dean. . . "6% a Personal communication, July 12, 1995, a ` Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, June 15, 1890. Private col- ction, WRB: now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. In one letter, written on July 20th, she enclosed an undated newspaper clipping about “Searching for oil” near Panama, New York and stated that they were: "... down 1400 feet, and the drill is progressing at the rate of 100 feet daily. It is hoped to reach 2000 feet by Saturday night. As yet there are no indications of oil or gas o* Then four days later on July 24th, there was a small note enclosed with her letter with information from the morning newspaper: “Ist. The J. E. Dean well near Panama [NY] has proved a dry hole at a depth of 1500 ft. No signs of oil or gas. 2nd. The well that has been drilled by Dean & Co. near Panama has been plugged up and a man left to watch it®. It is believed by some that gas has been found.’ Clara's letters reflect how much in love they were and how difficult it was for them to be separated: “How I wish you could only be here even for a little while. I would like to feel your dear arms around me and to put my arms around your neck and be ever close, close to my darling and receive one of your precious kisses and then maybe I would let you go but it would be so hard. [signed] Your Clara.’’®’ “I was sadly dissappointed [sic] last night not to receive your regular letter which usually reaches me on Saturday morning. What was the reason, dear one? I trust that it was not because you are sick that you were unable to write, yet I fear that that was the reason. It worries me so to be so in doubt. I went to sleep last night with thoughts of my Gilbert in mind and awoke this morning with a sense of some trouble over me. But I have tried to think that ev- erything was all right and to make myself believe that you had some good reason for not writing. How I wish I was with you then I would know. I received your letter of Monday in good time and have had to make that do for СУ The closer the time сате to their wedding, the harder it was: "I don't know that I want the time to go by any faster but I do wish this waiting was through and the time had at 64 Clipping attached to a letter from Clara Stoneman to Gilbert D. Harris, July 20, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 65 A small article about plugging a gas well near Harmony, NY appeared on page 1, Jamestown Evening Journal, July 21, 1890. 56 Note enclosed with a letter from Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, July 24, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 67 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, June 18, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 68 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, July 20, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. last come where we could be together. Oh! I do wish it so much.” “T can hardly realize that in so short a time there will be no more of this uncertain communication. Then how happy, happy we'll be.’’”° In her letters were repeated references to her fear of illness. Any time there was a break in his schedule of letters, Clara feared for his health: “When she [Marian] came back [from the post office] she said she had bad news to tell me, that there was no letter from Wash. with your handwriting upon it. That worried me somewhat for I feared that either there was no letter from you or that you were sick and someone else had written for you but as she looked rather pleasant I con- cluded that nothing special had happened.” [Harris had typed the address. At that time Clara had never seen a typewriter.]"! Her concern was not misplaced, for after returning to Washington following his father's funeral, Harris must have injured his back: “I am sorry for your lame back. It is not pleasant I am well aware. I hope it is well by this time. I am afraid you are trying to do to [s/c] much muscle work. You seem to be so busy all the time. I am afraid it is not well for you."7? “I hope your lame back has ‘let ир’ before this, but if it has not I wish you would see if you could do something to make it do so. ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ you know. Possibly though, you will not thank me to quote such a worn out proverb as that for your bene- hb But all was well eventually: “I am glad to know that your back does not trouble you now and hope it will not again."7^ Living as most of us do 1n modern urban settings we forget what life was like in a farm community before the advent of antibiotics and the modern medical care that we enjoy today. Illnesses and injuries we do not even consider important were often life-threatening in 1890. In several family letters there are references to 69 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 23, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 70 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, November 8, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 1 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 2, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 7 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 2, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 73 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 5, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 74 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 12, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 the deaths of friends and relatives alike. This must have had an effect on Harris, especially news about the death of children as he was about to be married: “Dr. Wellman has lately lost his little boy about two years 01877 “One of the Forbes twins died Saturday night. It [sic] had inflammation of the brain. They thought the cause of its [sic] death was falling off the veranda and hitting its [sic] head on a stone."7* “Awhile ago I read that Blance Ames Weate had a daughter born and this week I read again that her boy was dead, There was communication between the two families and Clara was aware of Francis Harris’ condition, for she wrote to Harris: “Floy’s [Gilbert's youngest sister] letter was very nice and interesting. I was much amused at the way she described some of the happenings. . . . It is too bad that your father has to be sick so much and it seems strange that he can stand so many sick spells. I wish I could go down to see your folks but I cant [sic] see the way to do so soon.” “I am sorry to know that the state of affairs at your home is not more cheerful and I would think your father would be about discouraged. It is so bad for your mother to have so much care upon her now. It is really too bad neither of you two boys can be at home just when your folks need you the most. But I suppose that is the way of the world."'7? But all this constant correspondence was not without its difficulties for young Clara, especially when she con- sidered that Gilbert was all alone in that big city [his brother did not arrive until late July 1890], and that he might not have his “position” renewed: “The mosquitos are so thick I am afraid they will eat me up so if this letter should stop suddenly in the middle of a sentence you may know what has happened. I have the ammonia bottle standing near.... I was quite surprised to learn that Rollin will take up his abode in Washington. That will be very nice, especially if you can live with him, although I should think you would dislike to leave Miss Brown. But then I suppose if that ‘old maid’ (I would be so polite as to say ‘elderly maiden’) entangles you by her wiles you would then have to leave him [Rollin] anyway. 75 [da Harris to Gilbert Harris, May 4, 1890. Private collection» WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 76 Ida Harris to Gilbert Harris, June 10, 1890. Private collection WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 77 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 30, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 78 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, June 28, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 79 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, July 28, 1890. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 21 The “Е.М. better ‘watch out’ or she may hear something heavy drop some day and feel it too[.]... You did not write whether you had received your appointment this year or not so I concluded you did not know about it when you wrote last. I suppose that will come around all right in time,’’80 The visit Gilbert’s mother wanted and Clara desired сате as a result of his father's death in August of 1890. His Stay at home was a short one, however, for Clara’s letters resume on September 13, 1890. Apparently he and Clara had talked during their time together about their future and his aspirations, and about their beliefs. Gilbert, also, must have spent some time with his pro- Spective father-in-law, for Clara wrote: “I would be very glad to help you with your writing when I get to Washington, that is, if you think I can write good enough but you know that socks are prone to holiness and Tam afraid that yours will be in that condition by the time I get there. Maybe if I get up extra early in the morning I can attend to both. . . . I presume that you think my father is not very talkitive [sic], well he is not I must say, but Still if you give him time to collect his ideas he would make quite a conversationalist ... I tell you all this to Show you that he is not dumb as you may hear some- times... . If staying away from church for a few weeks throws you so far off the track what do you suppose I must be who has not been to church from nearly a year"?! This reference to church gives a glimpse into the Spiritual side of Harris’ life, of which, unfortunately, We otherwise know very little. There must have been at least some family tradition of belief and church Вотр, for the family kept a large Bible in which im- Portant events were recorded (Lopus and Ingham, 1977), and family letters contain various religious ref- erences; “Tam leading about as simple a life as the shepherds did at Christ’s birth. This is some comfort to think that the angel appeared to them first.’’®2 "Ida and I went to church! to'day [sic], the first time for months." In their description of Harris, Downs and Headley (1921, р. 467) state that, “... in his religious views arris was a] liberal.", but there is no indication what Es. Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, July 6, 1890. Private collec- m WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. | a Clara Stoneman to Gilbert D. Harris, September 13, 1890. Pri- е Collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. WR Cora Harris to Gilbert Harris, May 11, 1890. Private collection, XB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. pu actual church affiliation is not known, but Harris’ funeral ices were held at the Unitarian Church in Ithaca, NY. Floy Harris to Gilbert Harris, July 20, 1890. Private collection, B; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 84 WR denomination ог the source of the information??. The funeral services for his mother, Lydia Harris, who died in 1918, were officiated by Reverend Walter Taylor of the First Unitarian Church of Jamestown. Likewise, in 1952, Rev. Ralph N. Helverson, of the First Uni- tarian Church of Ithaca, officiated at Harris’ funeral.®° There is, however, no record in the archives of the First Unitarian Church of Ithaca to indicate that Harris was a member of that church, at least not an active member.” Judging by her letters, early in their rela- tionship, certainly by the time Gilbert returned home for his father’s funeral, if not before, Clara realized that religion was important to him. Nevertheless, there are few references to religion in any of Harris’ writings or letters. Clara’s family appears to have had about the same kind of religious background, but one of her sisters was more involved in attending church and participating in its activities than Clara. In a letter to Gilbert, Clara describes Basie’s work of teaching some Chinese work- ers to read and explains how she and a friend felt that after working all week, it wasn’t right for Basie and her friend, Lillian Cook, to ride eight miles every Sunday to give them English reading lessons: “But you can’t make Basie think it is anything but right. She would think she was not doing her Christian duty if she did not keep at it as long as she had a breath left.’’88 Clara seemed a bit concerned about her own lack of “church going". She said: “This morning when I ought to have been writing to you I was breaking the Sabbath by gathering hickory nuts.''5? “I suppose as it is the 5th of Oct., that you are enjoying a sermon at ‘our’ not ‘your’ church this evening. It has been so long since I have been to church that I fear I shall not know how to behave myself when I do go.” While preparing for his upcoming wedding and try- ing to get his room in Washington, D.C. cleaned and 85 Statistics for the Class of ‘86 list Harris as “Unitarian” and "Republican", but that he was, “пої a church member." 86 Ithaca Journal, December 5, 1952. 87 Harris was not listed in the “Outstanding Unitarian Laymen” section of the booklet printed as part of the 75th Anniversary cel- ebration of the church in Ithaca. Archives of the First Unitarian Church of Ithaca. Number 4590, Box 5, File 5-43 (Church History). RMC-KL, Cornell. Helverson did not recall Harris being a member of his church; letter to W. R. Brice, July 15, 1995. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 88 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, September 24, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 89 Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 5, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. % Clara Stoneman to Gilbert Harris, October 5, 1890. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. refurbished for his bride, Harris had not overlooked his professional activity. In fact, he was very much involved with the large report that Dall was preparing: “For the rest Mr. Harris has been busy collating and sifting the geologic literature of the Plio-Miocene under my di- rection, for the purposes of the prospective essay, which, as elsewhere mentioned has been carried as far as Virginia in the circuit of the coast. . . . In this matter [the correlation paper literature review] I have had valuable assistance from Mr. G. D. Harris, assistant paleontologist of the Di- vision of Cenozoic Paleontology” (Powell, 1891a, p. 109— 110112). Then, as if he didn’t have enough to do with his duties at the U.S.G.S. office, Harris prepared his sec- ond publication using data he must have acquired when he was at home for his father’s funeral. The news that Clara sent him about the drilling activity in the area apparently started him thinking and when he was home he sought out the parties who were involved. He was able to see not only the drilling logs, but the actual samples as well because he wrote a description of the stratigraphic section exposed in the well which ended as a dry hole. In writing the paper, he had the occasion to use the work of Charles Prosser who had been H. S. Williams’ assistant the last year Harris was a student at Cornell. Harris recognized the scientific value of the material brought out of the hole during the drilling process: “During the early part of the season, a well was sunk at Jamestown, N. Y. to a depth of 3263 feet. For the pro- BULLETIN 350 prietors, the undertaking was somewhat unfortunate, since neither oil nor gas—the objects sought— were met in pay- ing quantities, to the geologist, however, the extensive suite of drillings carefully preserved and labelled, are of uncom- mon interest owing to the depth and peculiar location of the well; it furnishes him data for determining the litho- logical characters, thickness, and amount of dip in this region of several formations penetrated, — items heretofore but vaguely known from surface observations.” (Harris, 1891a, pp. 164-165) The date on the last page of this publication 1s De- cember 1890, just before he left for Jamestown for a very important engagement. Gilbert and Clara were married on December 30, 1890?! at her parents' home in Lakewood. A small announcement in the local paper datelined “December 30, Lakewood" said: “Tuesday at 12 m. Miss Clara Stoneman at the home of her parents, Byron Stoneman, was united in marriage to Gilbert Harris of Washington, D. C. They left on train 12 for Washington where they will reside, carrying with them best wishes of a host of friends for a happy and prosperous journey on the matrimonial sea. Rev. E. B. Barrows was the officiating clergyman."?? ?! Palmer (1953c) gives the date of their marriage as December 29, 1890, but the page of marriages in the family Bible (Lopus and Ingham, 1977) has December 30, 1890. Also, the December 30 date is consistent with the marriage notice in the newspaper. 92 Jamestown Evening Journal, Friday, January 2, 1891, p. 2. CHAPTER 2. RETURN TO WASHINGTON From the letters that survive, it appears that Clara and her new husband stayed in Washington, D. C. at a rooming house on 17th Street for a few months after they were married. She must not have gone out very much, however, because later, when she was at her parents home, a person who had some knowledge of Washington, D. C. commented about the buildings and asked her opinion about them: “The doctor who attends Pa was a soldier and has been in Washington and knows something about the city and surroundings. He was asking me if I had been to Arlington and some other places. Of course I had to say I had not. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘you have been rather domestic, haven't you.’ Then he said that the public building, such as the P.O. and Freemasonry, etc. were interesting places to visit. I said, ‘Yes’, but I did not tell him I had not been there either." ! But their brief trial at domesticity came to a close when field season began, for Harris had his geological activ- ities and was off to the shore again to continue the work from the previous year. Exactly where Harris was and what he was doin£ during this period are unclear for he was really movin£ from place to place. After some time in Washington: D. C., he went to Maryland, then Jamestown, New York for the birth of his daughter, then to Arkansas: ! Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 23, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 23 back to the Maryland shore, and finally back to Wash- Ington, only to lose his position with the U.S.G.S. Dall's report for 1890-1891 said this about Harris’ travels: “In April [1891] Mr. G. D. Harris was detailed to accom- pany the State Expedition, under the auspices of Johns Hopkins University, directed by Prof. W. В. Clarke, which visited many important Tertiary outcrops of the Maryland shore. “On the 26th of May [1891], Messrs. Harris and [Frank] Burns were directed to proceed to Easton, Maryland, to examine the Tertiary rocks and obtain specimens from localities frequented by Conrad and other older paleon- tologists. The results of this expedition, though satisfac- tory, are not yet reported in detail, and a statement of them is therefore impracticable at the present time.” (Pow- ell, 1891b, p. 117). Harris was working along the Bay shore of Calvert County, tracing: "... every important stratum represented in these cliffs from its northernmost outcrop to where its southern dip carries it beneath time level." (Harris, 1893a, p. 21). Harris discovered that several observations made much earlier by Conrad were not quite correct: "Conrad doubtless examined this locality somewhat hast- ily, insomuch as several fossiliferous beds occur in the sand and clay regarded by him as ‘destitute of organic remains.” (Harris, 1893a, p. 22). In the publication about the fossil strata of the Cal- Vert Cliffs that resulted from his labors in the springs 9f 1891 and 1892, Harris said in a footnote: "The field observations upon which this essay is based Were made under the auspices of the U.S. Geological Sur- vey, April 23-30, 1891, and May 23-June 1, 1892. During the latter period, the writer was accompanied by Mr. Frank Burns, whose diligence and skill at collecting very mate- Nally aided in procuring the results here presented." (Har- 15, 1893a, Footnote, p. 21). Harris left a diary describing the excursion of the Pril, 1891.2 In addition to the U.S.G.S., the expe- aen included people from the State College of Ag- ‘Culture and Johns Hopkins University. The party left altimore on April 23rd and travelled by the state 4 , E om of Maryland (Cover title); Notes on a Geological Ex- page) in Western Maryland, by G. D. Harris, 1891 (Inside title pril 54 unpublished manuscript describing the field excursion of lists Th 7-30, 1891, including many measured sections and fossil ir wh ere is no indication of when Harris wrote the manuscript or fossils E purpose. This manuscript is bound with typed copies of €scriptions and illustrations from Volume VI, Part I (1829) an ; 4 Part II (1831), Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of P у hiladelphiq. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. police steamboat, Gov. P. F. Thomas, to Annapolis where two schooners were taken in tow and the group spent the first night lying off Fair Haven. As with most of Harris’ descriptions of his journeys, he gets right to the geology: “Friday,a.m. April 24.—Breakfasted at an early hour in the open air, and rowed to the Fair Haven wharf. Some bluish clays of doubtful age were noticed just above the wharf, but the main interest centered in the bluffs of Mio- cene sands and clays and diatomaceous earth about a mile below the wharf, or about one fourth mile below where a creek makes into the Bay. . . . Having returned to the wharf, our attention was called to a boulder lying upon the beach about one fourth mile below the same. It contained nu- merous casts of Mollusks, and was said by N. H. Darton to be from the silicious layer that characterizes the very base of the Miocene. ”? According to Harris’ notes the group continued down the Chesapeake Bay making stops along the way to examine the exposures and collect fossils. By Saturday evening, April 25th, the group had reached Jones Wharf on the Patuxent River: “Below this wharf the low bluffs afford some good fossils, and during the forty minutes spent there no time was squandered.’”* At times Harris appears frustrated with the pace of the excursion, not allowing him enough time to fully de- scribe and explore an exposure: “April 28, 1891. The wind which had been blowing from the south during the fore part of the night had shifted by morning to the northward and was rolling in a fairly heavy sea upon us. Never-the less [sic] the row-boats were low- ered and we were all safely landed at the base of Nomini Cliffs. Below the place of landing, which was about mid way of the cliffs, the writer made a section, but as the rest of the party were going up stream he was obliged to hasten away in the same direction without having made a col- lection of any sort." > They collected fossils and examined the strata near St. Mary's, in the Pope Creek area, and along the banks ofthe Potomac River. During the stop at Clifton Beach, one of the party found what was described only as a “saurian tooth" with a fragment of the lower jaw. After a side trip to Mount Vernon, the group returned to ? Miocene of Maryland (Cover title); Notes on a Geological Ex- cursion in Western Maryland, by G. D. Harris, 1891 (Inside title page); unpublished manuscript, p. 1. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^ Miocene of Maryland (Cover title); Notes on a Geological Ex- cursion in Western Maryland, by G. D. Harris, 1891 (Inside title page); unpublished manuscript, p. 2. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 5 Miocene of Maryland (Cover title); Notes on a Geological Ex- cursion in Western Maryland, by G. D. Harris, 1891 (Inside title page); unpublished manuscript, p. 3. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Washington, D. C. on Thursday, April 30. In Part II of this manuscript, Harris provided drawings of the sections with thicknesses of each major layer and he gives a list of the fossils found at each site. Many of the sites described in Part II are given site numbers, e.g., the section at Nomini Cliffs mentioned above is number 2344. These numbers appear to be U.S.G.S. locality numbers which accompanied the fossils col- lected at each site. Apparently Dall sent Harris to do other field work after he completed his investigation of the area at Cal- vert Cliffs, for a letter Clara sent from Washington, D. C., dated May 31, 1891, was sent to him at Easton, Maryland. Thus he must have moved on to the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay by the end of May. Ac- cording to Clara's surviving letters, he stayed at Easton, Maryland at least through June 12th. In this letter she sent from Washington on May 31st, Clara wrote that she had shared their secret with her family: “Т have just finished a letter to Basie [her sister], in which I enclosed a private note telling of a certain family matter. I thought it better to tell them this early because I wanted them to use a little discretion about informing inquiring friends when I going to be at home. I am glad at any rate that it is off my mind and I am anxious, too, to know what they will say about it."' The “it”, of course turned out to be their daughter, Rebecca Stoneman Harris, born October 21st, 1891. She was probably named after Clara's Aunt Rebecca, wife of her father's brother, who died just a few weeks before their daughter was born’. The “special news" did not surprise too many in her family, however: “I received a letter from Basie yesterday written more especially, I guess, because of the ‘private’ communication which my last letter contained. She had not been home yet so I do not know yet what Ma will have to say on the subject. It seems, however, that the news was not at all unexpected and I did not much think it would be. She did not intimate, in the least, that the news was at all unwel- come either, as I was afraid it would бе.” And later, after she had been visiting his home, she discovered that Gilbert's family was quite happy. “... with the prospect of a new relation."? 6 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, May 31, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRLIthaca, NY. 7“We received a telegram today telling that Aunt Rebecca was dead.” Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, September 10, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 8 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 5, 1891. Private col- lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ? Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 30, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 At this point they were living in a rooming/boarding house at 1020 17th Street, N.W., for Clara mentioned getting one of his letters, “. .. when I went down for breakfast.". She also mentioned several other people getting mail at the same time: “Theresa got some letters and a bundle and Mrs. W. [the landlady] a letter. . .”!° Their budget must have been somewhat limited, for in one letter Clara said that she had been invited on an excursion with some of the other boarders, but de- clined the offer: “They asked me if I would not go but I hardly think it would be advisable either financially or physically.” ' She was sending him money for his expenses while doing the field work: “I hope that you have received my letter containing the money before this time, and that my failure to send it before has not caused you serious inconvenience.” !? Their living expenses at the time seem modest: “I paid Mrs. W. this morning for our board. It was $17.00, or will be when I pay her the two dollars that I did not have change for this morning. It was really $17.50 but she said she wouldn't take the $.50 as I staid [sic] here thro [sic] the days and got my meals the best way I could." '? For what period of time the $17.00 covered is un- known. Also, whether from necessity or custom, Clara was making some of her own clothes: “I have finished my gingham dress, and let out the seams in my black waist [blouse]. Does such feminine news in- terest you?"!^ “I went down town this morning and bought me a white waist to wear with my white dress skirt so that I might get some good of that. I can also wear it with other skirts if T want to. I also bought 20 yds. of bird's-eye linen. Can you guess what will be made of that?" [Emphasis in the orig- inal.]!5 But there must have been a little extra money available: “Last Friday eve. we all went to see The Gondoliers. Miss A., Theresa, May and myself went and left Mr. & Mrs. W. at home but when we came out of the theater whom should 10 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 5, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. !! Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, May 31, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY 12 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 5, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 13 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 10, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^ Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 5, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 15 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 6, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY | | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 25 we see waiting for us but Mr. & Mrs. W. Mrs. W., you know, doesn't approve of Jeannie Winston. For my own part I did not see much to admire in her. I did not enjoy her acting the part of a man because I could not forget that she was a woman. Not that I was shocked in the least "Doesn't it seem longer than two weeks since I left Wash- ington. I haven't had my back scratched since I came home. It’s getting pretty itchy. Don’t you pity your poor wife?” [Emphasis in the original.]?° He, too, must have been expressing his feelings about the difficulties of their separation, for in one of her letters, Clara wrote: but I could not see any reason for her taking that part."'!6 “And I squandered 10 cents ona pint of cherries, which was quite extravagant I suppose, but I was so thirsty and they looked so II Idn’ i ion.”!7 i 2r у ERA Ка T MENTRE А "My poor boy, I know just how hard it is to be alone as you are and I would be glad if I could get a letter to you everyday but I can not [sic]. I am very sorry you have worried so much about me. I am perfectly well and you may be sure if anything unusual should happen you would be informed as soon as possible. . . . My darling I do ap- preciate how much you love me and am very grateful. Please don't worry yourself sick.”?! While these prices seem trivial by the standards of 100 years later, they were not small at the time. The couple must have been on a tight budget and money was a constant worry. For example, money matters surfaced 1n one of Clara's letters to Gilbert while she was staying With her parents before Rebecca was born. In a pre- vious letter Clara had requested he send her some post- age stamps (which he did); he apparently assumed she was asking, in a roundabout way, for some spending money: There was reason for his concern because at one point she complained of a bad rash on her feet that caused strong itching and swelling: “You ask in regard to the state of my health. My digestive organs are in very good order. ... Just now, however, I am about distracted on account of my feet. They are quite a good deal swollen and all along the sides of my foot and toes especially little hard bumps swell up and burn and itch terribly. The lumps on my toes are in ridges. They do not come out like mosquito bites but seem to be under the skin. My hands began to be the same this morning but do not trouble me now. If they do not get better I shall have to go to the Dr. I expect. They burn so now that I can hardly keep still to write."?? "Your kind letter of August 181 containing the money reached me without any accident on Monday P.M. I am much obliged for the money although I had no great need of it just now. I have not spent much of the $15 that I brought with me [almost a month ago]. Today Pa paid me back what I lent him to pay the men and now I have in all $24.25. That, I think, ought to be enough for my wants until you come and maybe longer so I do not believe you Will need to send any money unless something unusual happens."'!$ Rollin and Emily Harris were in Washington as well and living close enough for Clara to visit with them While Gilbert was away: Four days later her feet were still swollen: “I sent with Basie yesterday and got me some cloth slip- pers, — No. 6. Of course they will be too large when the "Yesterday afternoon I went over to see if Rollin and : 5 swelling goes down out of ту feet.’’?? Emily had entirely melted in to grease spots. They were Usually well. Emily had been canning strawberries. She Was trying to keep as cool as possible by not wearing any more clothing than the law requires. I staid [sic] to dinner With them and had quite a visit.” Clara, in fact, did little to allay his fears for her health, and often included just enough information to really start him thinking: “I am feeling about as well as usual. My hands and feet trouble me a little yet but now I am troubled some by dizzy spells and I cannot read or do anything evenings because I get so nervous and my head feels so. I guess it is nothing very alarming. Only think there is only a little over one month more to wait!"?* By July 14, 1891, Clara was with her parents in . armony, New York and Harris was back in Wash- 'ngton, D, C. This separation was especially difficult for Clara as she was in the sixth month of pregnancy and away from her husband for the first time since their marriage: ? Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 26, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 2! Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, August 15, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 22 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, August 19, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 23 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, August 23, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 24 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, August 28, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. iu Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, May 31, 1891. Private lection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. col] ы 5. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 6, 1891. Private ection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Col], i S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, August 5, 1891. Private „ection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, June 5, 1891. Private C у ОПесцоћ, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Perhaps Harris had good reason to worry, for the in- fection on her feet continued to trouble her well into September: “I feel well enough but the weather is so warm and my feet still trouble me so that I feel decidedly uncomfortable most of the time ~ This sharing of illnesses was a two way street, however, for in early September of 1891, Clara wrote: “I do not like to hear of your recent sickness. I hope that you will do all you can to prevent it becoming a serious trouble. What is the cause of 11226 In an earlier letter Harris must have offered to hire someone to look after her if only she would return to Washington. Her reply: “I hardly know how to begin to say what I want to say, though first I know you will be dreadfully disapointed [sic] if I say I do not believe it would be best for me to go back to Washington as you want me to do. But really, Gilbert, I do not think it would be best and it might be just the thing that would make trouble for me. It hardly seems to me it would be best to go to the extra expense hiring nurses, etc. as long as I am right here now where both our families are. Of course I know that you would be willing to pay all the extra cost and it would be very, very pleasant to be with you again as you suggest and I know you could not help being anything but the best of husbands, but only think, dearest, I have already been here more than half the time that will have to elapse before you can come home, so it does not seem to me, at all, to be the best policy to go back to Washington when everything is taken into consideration. I told Ma that you wanted me to come back to W. and she said, ‘Well you are not going.’ Don't worry about my having to work, it's my own fault if I do it because they all tell me not to and I have not done so much this week . . ."?7 While visiting his mother and sisters outside of James- town, Clara wrote: “I have enjoyed my visit here so far and don’t feel home- sick or lonesome only it doesn't seem right to be here without you. I look towards the barn every once in awhile and it seems as though that little door ought to open and you come forth in your 'regimentals' —blue ‘frock’ and ‘overalls’, muddy boots and military cap. But, alas I can look as often as I will, I won't see you."?* ?5 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, September 25, 1891. Pri- vate collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 26 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, September 2, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 27 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, August 20, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 28 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 30, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 And added to her loneliness was the fact that her father was quite ill: “Oh! how I do wish I knew how you are this morning. I am made aware by a certain feeling in my throat that I can’t let my thought move in a certain direction or I would be crying in short order and that wouldn't do at all... . I could be comparatively happy here [at home] if it were not for the fact that Pa is very sick again. He is not as bad off as he was at the worst last fall but I am afraid that some of his symptoms are a great deal worse. I don't like to think of it but I am afraid he can't possibly last much longer. ... I did not sleep much last night for just as I would get to sleep Pa would begin to groan and that would wake me ир. ... I do hope you are well, my dearest one. You may be sure I shall not forget you and that my thoughts go back very, very often to that room at 1020 17 St. and wish that I was there."?? & . . Pa requires a good deal of attention. I hardly know whether to say that he is better or not. He does not seem to be in quite as much pain, but he is still very weak and, oh, so nervous. He likes to have somebody by him all the time and especially when he awakes from a nap if he sees that someone is sitting by him he does not get so weak and nervous. I have staid [sic] by [him] all that I could day times because I can't do much work nor sit up nights.... Pa's mind wanders a great deal, although at times it is as clear as ever. He talks about the [Civil] war mostly. The other day he told Basie that there ought to be lots of white lead on hand so that the hired men could make bullets."?? “Ра continues about the same. He walks out a little but is not able to attend to the work at all. He lies in bed most of the time."?! In many of the letters Clara keeps referring to their child as “Robert.” “This morning I weighted 143 lbs. Some of that may ђе ‘Robert’, however. ... Ma says I can’t have a ‘Robert’, І must have ‘Bryon’. . .” [her father’s name]? “I think Rob- ert is prospering."?? As the time of birth drew near, however, Clara began to acknowledge the possibility of a girl, perhaps twins, and the name Rebecca is mentioned: “Robert and I weigh 755 /bs. I don’t know but I ought to say Robert and Rebecca. Basie says I ought. The other day 29 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 14, 1891. Private collection WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 3 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 16, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI-Ithaca, NY. 31 Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 26, 1891. Privat? collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ? Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 16, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI-Ithaca, NY. ?! Clara S. Harris to Gilbert D. Harris, July 26, 1891. Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI-Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE a7 she found an ear of green corn that had two small ears growing with the same husk. She considered that a very favorable omen of coming events." [Emphasis in the orig- inal.]>4 The idea of twins struck a responsive chord with Clara because several weeks later she wrote to Gilbert: “This afternoon I went out to the corn farm to try Ma’s standard of measurement. She said that the summer before Basie was born she could get through the corn ... [rows] · +. as easily as could be. I could not begin to do so. What if Robert would happen to have a brother or sister come along to keep him company! Or possibly more than one!! Then I guess you would have to stay at home evenings to help hold him. You could not go to see ‘Sally’ as any one else." [Emphasis in the original.]?5 One can only wonder about the reference to “Sally.” In many ways being at home again with her family Was good for Clara, but at the same time her status had changed; now married and pregnant: "Everything seems quite natural here although I do not think it seems quite the same as it used to before I went away and I expect the reason is because I am not able to 80 ahead and work and drive [the horse and wagons] around as I used 10... . I soon remember that I am not expected to do so and about every move I make either Basie or Ma tells me to go and sit down, that I need not do that... . Pa evidently thought I might lend a hand . . . [filling the water wagon] ... for when I went into his room he said, I don't want you to do any pumping.” Upon her return home, however, some friction ap- E to have developed between Clara and her sister, е Регһарѕ with Clara gone, Basie was suddenly ast in the limelight and liked the new role, and with Clara back in the house Basie’s new position in the ! The field camp was an efficient way for Harris to attend simultaneously to his duties as Geologist in ‘7 Title on a printed card prepared by Harris which includes A. C. Veatch, Assistant State Geologist. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 48 HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^? Letter from President Schurman of Cornell to Н. Ries, Head, Department of Geology, May 28, 1915 (Ries Papers, #14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-22; Budget request from H. Ries to President Schur- man, May 29, 1915. RMC-KL, Cornell. 50 Harris gained official approval to take a winter vacation and do equal work-time after the close of the regular spring term; Cornell University Trustee meeting minutes for November 1, 1899. 51 Page 4 ofthe “Annual Report ofthe Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphic Geology; 1899-1900” by G. D. Harris. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Charge of the Louisiana Geological Survey, meet his teaching obligation, and provide a marvelous educa- tional experience for the students. Consistent with his philosophy of teaching, he felt that: “To have knowledge, then, at first hand of New York’s type sections, must necessarily be the ambition of every young and true student of geology.” (Anonymous, N.D. рај In addition to the regular college students, Harris also welcomed secondary school teachers to his camp and modified the course of study to fit their particular needs. In the prospectus describing the planned 1902 field camp program Harris put in a special section directed toward the secondary teachers: “To the high school teacher to whom falls the lot of teach- ing the sequence of formations, their characteristics and fossils, without having at command his own fossils, or drawings and photographs, of his own make, of Trenton, Oriskany and Niagara falls; the Adirondack, Catskill and Helderberg mountains; and the thousand and one little objects and sketches that go to fill up and vivify bare text- book outlines-no longer is pity nor tolerance due, since the means are now at hand for gaining the requisite knowl- edge and material at a very small expense.” (Anonymous, N.D. p. 2); That small expense amounted to about $75.00 for the summer: this included university tuition of $25.00, fees for tents and cots set at $10.00, the various side excursions cost an additional $10.00, and living ex- penses of about $3.00 per week. For that investment, students could take as many as 10 credits depending on how much time was spent in the field activities. The course ran from June 26 until September 4, with a concurrent six-credit, six-week session from July 7— August 16. Later in the 1930s when the Department began another field camp, this time in the valley-and- ridge region of central Pennsylvania, the cost was $150.00, which included $60.00 for tuition.?? Harris’ great concern for the education and training of secondary teachers clearly went beyond the field camp activities, for in a course description he prepared for *Course 25", he explained what he hoped they would really learn: “The object of the course will be to show how the geology of a region is actually worked out, mapped and reported upon. It is felt that a teacher, in order to fully realize his or her opportunities in teaching geology, should be able to work out systematically and carefully the geology of the region where the teaching is to be done. Take away the 52 Draft of field camp announcement, no date, but assumed to be for the summer of 1931. Ries Papers, #14/13/691, Box 2, File 2-8; RMC-KL, Cornell. BULLETIN 350 pleasure and stimulus of local, ‘near-at-home’ references and the subject becomes tedious to teacher and pupil.” LIFE IN THE CAMP The Harris field camps were unconventional in many ways. Using the boats certainly made them different (Harris, 1900), as did his encouragement of the sec- ondary teachers, and he continued to encourage wom- en students. Lillian B. Sage^^ not only attended the 1900 field camp, but she returned the following year asan instructor. The letterhead stationery Harris print- ed for the 1901 field camp had a map on it showing the camp location and the excursion routs marked with a red line. Also the staff list included, “L. B. Sage, Methods in Mapping." The letterhead itself is inter- esting in the way Harris included the University: “HELDERBERG SCHOOL OF FIELD GEOLOGY Under the auspices of the Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphic Geology of CORNELL UNIVERSITY ."55 According to the pamphlet describing the proposed 1902 program (Anonymous, N.D.), after 1899 the number of women students increased, e.g., 4 of 15 in 1900 and 14 of 27 in the 1901 camp. In 1901, two of the women are listed as Mrs., and according to the department records (Brice, 1989), not all of the women were school teachers; several were geology students studying at Cornell and other universities such as Mount Holyoke and the University of Michigan. By contrast, the information prepared for another department field camp begun in 1930 specified, "Registration is limited to men."5* because the living facilities were “пої ad- equate." This seems a very weak excuse, for the tent facilities Harris used 30 years earlier were far from ideal, and yet he happily welcomed women students to his camp. As mentioned above, the living quarters for the field camp consisted mostly of tents furnished by the de- partment: 5з From “Information Regarding Courses 21 and 25” [no date, but assumed to be c. 1900 for A. C. Veatch and Percy Raymon were the assistants]. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. : 54 Lillian Belle Sage (A.B. '01). Ву 1905 she was a teacher n Brooklyn, New York (Hewett, 1905, v. 4, p. 475). 55 Letterhead stationery with a partly colored map showing the excursions for 1901. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 56 Draft of field camp announcement. Ries Papers, #14/13/69)) Box 2, File 2-8. RMC-KL, Cornell. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 51 "For summer expenses, mostly for camp equipment, the appropriation of $500.00 has been made by the executive committee. The money will be used, but the equipment will last for a number of seasons."5? The camp had: Ора large assembly tent, (2) а tent or building for drawing and laboratory work, books, museum specimens, Instruments, etc., (3) a space set aside for preparing the rations of each mess [meal], and (4) 25 wall tents, with two cots in each, for the accommodation of 50 persons." (Anonymous, N.D., p. 4). The *museum" portion included a set of labeled fossils from each of the sections the students would be ex- amining. The students were divided into different parties ac- cording to their background and given tasks appro- priate for their capability. Those with experience went dir ectly to the various mapping projects, while the less experienced students had 10 days of intensive lectures 1n addition to the material they were expected to read efore attending the camp. One suggested reference Was Dana's Geological Story Briefly Told . . . (Dana, 1875), As with all good geological camps, when the field work began, it began in earnest, and echoing H. : Williams, the students were told that the best way to measure and investigate a stratigraphic section was: "By commencing at the base of the mountain, and col- lecting from each and every bed until the top is reached, the student has then in his possession material from which It is possible to construct a geological section ofthe region." (Anonymous, N.D., p. 6). With such strenuous activities, meals take on added Тропапсе, and in this camp the students were their Own cooks: i "Questions are often asked as to how food is provided and Served in camp. This, however, is a simple matter. Camp 1$ divided usually into messes [meal groups] of about four to eight congenial souls each. A few cooking utensils are bought and some supplies ordered from a nearby village Store. The honors of purchasing, cooking and caring for the culinary property of each mess are divided as equally d тау be among its various members. Here comes in play Natural selection", “survival of the fittest”, etc. Sufficient heat 15 furnished by camp fires or oil stoves. The services ofa hired “chef” have thus far been done away with, tho’ Sic] no complaint could be made if a mess should decide to employ such a person." (Anonymous, N.D., pp. 7-8). Sleeping accommodations were cots supplied by the versity, but students were directed to DDR 57 > Annual Report to the President of Cornell University of the De- Mnt of Paleontology and Stratigraphic Geology, by Gilbert D. tris; May 15, 1901. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Da two sheets and six blankets . . ." They were cautioned to keep their belongings to a minimum and to bring only old clothes suitable for summer work out-of-doors: “Tt is a serious impediment to work to be clothed too heavily, or to have to be ever on the alert to keep from soiling one’s clothes.” (Anonymous, N.D., p. 8). While the evenings were to be filled with the usual field camp tasks, such as drafting sections, working on samples, etc., Harris did set aside time for lectures at least twice a week. These lectures, prepared by the advanced students, were illustrated by lantern slides, but no mention is made as to how the lantern slide projector was powered. Perhaps these truly were “‘lan- tern" slides. After the close of an evening's activity, the students frequently gathered around the camp fire, and Harris had planned for that activity as well. Among the field camp related material is a small booklet with a cardboard stock cover and bound with red cord, entitled “Fossil Fragments for Fireside Frappe-ing"55— the camp song book. Among the 26 songs are many old favorites known today, including, “My Old Ken- tucky Home", "America", “Tavern in Our Town", and “Mandalay.” Others included are not so well known today, such as, ““Soldier’s Farewell", “Who Did?". “The Mountains", and “Romeo and Juliet." Campus loyalty was expected, so several campus songs of Cornell were included, "Cornell", “Cornell Rowing Song", and the Alma Mater. As the camp was open to other univer- sities, Harris also included “Fair Harvard", and “The Orange and the Black" (Princeton). Also among the songs was not one, but TWO verses of “The Star Span- gled Banner." If you listen closely on a quiet summer night in upstate New York, it is easy to imagine the lively voices raised in song still echoing off the Held- erberg hills, “. . . led by the Professor's ringing tenor" (Herrick et a/., 1953, p. 14A). FIELD CAMP ACTIVITIES In 1899, the year after he became Geologist in Charge of the Geological Survey of Louisiana, Harris con- ducted a modest field excursion with only five students: T. A. Caine (Nunda, NY), W. M. Chapman (Elmira, NY), H. F. Cleland (geology graduate student '01, New Haven, CT), W. E. Thro (Elmira, NY), and J. Pacheco (A.B. '04, Sad Paulo, SP, Brazil) (Anonymous, N.D.). Cleland and Pacheco attended several field camps and probably functioned as field assistants for Harris. An- other member of the 1900 camp was A. C. Veatch, mentioned above. Because of its proximity to many fossil-rich beds and other interesting geology, Trenton Falls proved a 58 Private collection, WRB; now at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. good choice for the camp headquarters in 1899 and a more permanent camp was created there for the 1900 field camp (Anonymous, N.D.). From the camp head- quarters they took excursions by boat to Lake Cham- plain and through the Mohawk River valley via the Erie Canal. Then for the next few years, certainly for 1901 and 1902, Harris moved the headquarters of the field camp to the Helderberg Mountains in the Country Man Hill section: “The Helderbergs have been chosen for our camp or ren- dezvous this summer in place of Trenton Falls for various reasons: Ist, they show in one section ten geological for- mations; 2nd, they are more central, excursions can radiate out down the Hudson, up Lake Champlain, and west on the Erie canal." >> This camp was to cost about $65.00 for the six weeks (Anonymous, N.D.; Smith, 1902). Students could reach the camp location from Voorheesville, “. . . by special conveyance at a moderate price for person and bag- gage."; special conveyance was a horse and wagon. The nearest large city was Albany, “... being about 15 miles a little north of east from the camp." (Anony- mous, N.D., p. 4). Three side trips were undertaken in 1901 using the boats, (1) to Lake Champlain as far as Plattsburg, (2) down the Hudson River to Rondout, and (3) along the Erie Canal back to Ithaca at the end of the session. The group was to spend two weeks at Valcour Island in Lake Champlain completing a survey started in 1900. In addition to the boat trips, students could take a train to visit AuSable Chasm and as far north as Georgia, Vermont. During the first six week of the 1902 field camp, Charles E. Smith (A.B. '02) and others spent time working on the stratigraphic section at Indian Ladder. This is a famous area of Devonian rocks exposed near Albany that have been visited and studied by many famous geologists including Amos Eaton, James Hall, and Charles Lyell. During the last three weeks of the camp, the group worked at Oriskany Falls, including a trip on foot from New Salem to Oriskany Falls. At this time, topographic surveys for that part of the state were not well advanced or totally accurate, but it was important to have accurate elevations for the measured sections. To get these elevations, it was necessary to start at a point of known elevation, a bench mark, and survey elevations from the bench mark to the work site. To accomplish this during the 1902 session, Harris and the students ran spirit level lines from a new U.S.G.S. bench mark at East Berne around to all the 5 Annual Report to the President of Cornell University of the De- partment of Paleontology and Stratigraphic Geology, by Gilbert D. Harris; May 15, 1901; pp. 5-6. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 sections being measured and over to a New York State Survey triangulation station on Countryman Hill, a distance of about 12 miles (almost 20 km). Each line was run in duplicate to ensure accuracy. This procedure allowed the measured sections to use sea level as à vertical reference point. THE LAST DAYS OF THE CAMP Although various field camps continued for another seven years after 1902, no detailed record of those activities has survived. In the introduction to a ground- water report, Harris states that he was doing field work in Louisiana from *. . . June 20, 1903 to July 20, 1903 ... (Harris et al., 1905, p.1), so if he held a field camp, it could not have been during those four weeks. Hewett (1905) states: *Since 1899 Professor Harris has been state geologist for Louisiana, spending the time between Christmas and Eas- ter in that state, and, with the exception of the year 1903, conducting a regular summer session of ten weeks in field geology and paleontology in the Helderberg Mountains and on Lake Champlain." [Emphasis added.] (Hewett, 1905. Vol. II, pp. 236-237). Based upon the information above, it appears there was no field camp in 1903. The surviving letters from that year give no hint as to reason, but Harris was very active with his geological work in Louisiana that year. Based on a diary entry by Henry Shaler Williams for May 30, 1904, Harris was in the field for summer, 1904: **. . . [Harris] into field— Cent. [sic] NY & Held- erbergs from June 15-July 15 .. ."*? Also, John Rich, in his letter to Axel Olsson mentions the 1904 camp» but, as indicated in the previous quotation from that letter, by 1904 the time spent in the field had been reduced to about two weeks.®! Palmer (19530) stated that all the field camps from 1898 through 1909 were held in the Helderbergs, but according to Olsson (1954). after 1902, only the 1904 camp went back to the Held- erberg area. During the 1904 season Rich, Francis. L- Whitney (A.B. '06), Leopold Reinecke (M.A. '09, from South Africa), and Joviano Pacheco (Sáo Paulo, Brazil) helped Harris trace the contact between the Devonian and Silurian rocks from Cayuga Lake to the Helder- bergs. This work was published by Harris (1904, 19052) and provided, perhaps, another valuable lesson for the students. Nowhere in the 1904 publication does Harris indicate that he had any assistance with the work; there is not even an acknowledgement section listing the 6° Diary of Henry Shaler Williams, p. 128, file 3-9, Box 3, Н. Ries Papers, #14/15/691, RMC-KL-Cornell. 61 John L. Rich to Axel A. Olsson, February 21, 1953. НА-РЕЈ Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 53 Students from several different field camps who worked 9n the various stratigraphic sections he described. In the small pamphlet on the geology of Union Springs Published by Harris in 1905, however, he did acknowl- edge the work of Pacheco, Rich, and Whitney, and another student, C. A. Tracy, who apparently originally Started the project. In any event, 1909 was the last summer Harris held the *Helderberg School of Field Geology."5? This was also the same year he ceased being the Geologist in Charge for Louisiana, apparently because funding for the Survey was not continued by the state legislature (Pope, 1988), the same difficulty Harris had faced in Texas earlier. The conjunction of the two events, the demise of the Louisiana Survey and his last Helderberg eld camp, may be just coincidence. A series of letters and notes which passed among Ries, Harris, and Act- ing Cornell President Thomas Е. Crane in December 9f 1912 tends to suggest that the two had no direct Connection, but this is open to interpretation; especial- ly considering what Harris said in a letter written the following year: ^"... I shall be occupied most busily all summer in oil Investigation .. .°63 Among the Ries papers is a note, probably written Y Ries in December 1912, which stated the following: “For several years, Professor Harris has been granted leave Of absence from approximately the middle of December 10 the beginning of the second term, for the purpose of going to Louisiana where I understand ће is interested in Some private work. In return for this privilege he offered to conduct, and has conducted a geologic field excursion m summer lasting from five to six weeks." In the Ries file, the above note is attached to a letter rom Harris to Crane, December 10, 1912, in which © requested a shift of six weeks after the Christmas toliday recess until the end of the first term for the 4X Weeks in the summer. He said that he wanted to, `+» enter the field of commercial geography during e winter six weeks . . ." Harris went on to state more of his reasons for the request: “My reason for discontinuing [the summer field course] Was that the $1500 salary I was receiving was not ample ог additional equipment and by taking undergraduates ог Students of that rank they could not be properly cared for. Ow I have several times that income and shall limit my 6 . 1 У Printed letterhead used before the 1901 field camp. HA-PRI, thaca, NY, 63 я i Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to Charles Schulz, May 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 19, [summer] class strictly to those who are going to devote their lives to geology.” 64 Harris, next, gave examples of former students who had become successful geologists after studying with him at Cornell. One was A. C. Veatch, mentioned earlier, who had been working as a geologist for Barber Asphalt Company in Venezuela with a salary of $10,000 per year. A few days later Harris received permission to take a leave from Christmas to the beginning of the second term. In 1913, apparently Harris was forced to examine his situation. The arrangement of trading time in the summer for part of the regular academic year at Cornell that Harris, the “Geologist in Charge", needed to per- form his duties for the State of Louisiana, now Harris, "The Consultant", found advantageous as well. He wrote to the Cornell President: “As to the general plan for the future, I see two roads open before me : [sic] (1st) To largely withdraw from elementary teaching, and devote myself to the materials which I have been collecting these 15 years past, aiding and encouraging only such students in like work as chance to come my way and seem particularly fitted for museum work and research in general—trusting that the beginnings of geology, by whomsoever given will be impartial and will naturally tend to bring a few students each year my way. (2nd) To or- ganize a beginning course in Geology for Arts [sic] stu- dents, with the intention of making several such students research workers in Paleontology and Stratigraphic Ge- ology. This course has already been suggested to me by [former] President Schurman and the present Dean. But, I have concluded, insomuch as it has been directly ex- pressed to me that the Executive department of this Uni- versity prefers me to confine my efforts to special and perhaps graduate work, and insomuch as there is now no museum help at all with thousands, yes, tens of thousands of specimens needing attention, I shall prefer for the com- ing year to not announce any elementary new work. “Had I not felt the need of work being done immediately and in goodly quantities in the museum, I certainly would have asked for a sabbatical leave of one-half year to attend to an offer from the University of California’. It would have been a great thing for me personally in several ways. ... "Allow me to thank you for the arrangement by which Igive my students, in the summer, field work in the North; in the winter field work in the South.” 64 Gilbert D. Harris to Acting President Crane, December 10, 1912. The undated memorandum by Ries is attached to the Harris letter. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-22. RMC-KL, Cornell. 65 No record of such an offer exists among the Harris papers. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. 66 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to "President Crane" [Thomas Е. Crane], April 28, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 54 BULLETIN 350 Although earlier Harris had indicated to Crane his de- sire to do more commercial work, nowhere in this letter does Harris mention the fact that now he was involved with these commercial ventures and that the field work the students were doing in the south was related to this activity. Also, it would appear that perhaps some of the museum’s pressing needs could have been ad- dressed by Harris staying at Cornell for the entire year, but to do that he would have had to forego the con- sulting work. So in 1913, Harris continued an informal summer field program when he and small group of students worked in southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania (Olsson, 1954) for about a month: “T shall not be here [at Cornell University] from the 5th of June to the 5th of July, but shall be here several weeks during the Summer Session, [I will be] leaving here shortly after the 20th of July for the south; . . ."97 “We are going for a few weeks [to a] geological summer camp in the vicinity of Warren Pa., .. .'%% The material collected in Pennsylvania eventually found its way into the hands of Kenneth Caster, a student of Harris, who described the fossils and ac- knowledged the: 6. students at the Cornell Summer School of Geology at Stoneham, Pa., . .." (Caster, 1930, р. 146). Based upon the surviving correspondence, Harris spent several months in the south in 1913, for he re- ceived mail in Louisiana in September,” and his typed letters, with a secretary's initials on them, do not re- sume until September 29. Also, Harris wrote to Dall in October, 1913: “I am back safe from a hard summer's work in the south and feel unusually well and ready for work, . . .”’”° *7 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to F. L. Whitney, May 26, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 68 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to George Н. Оту, June 4, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 69 Post Card from Floy Harris to Gilbert D. Harris postmarked September 1, 1913 and addressed to Alexandria, Louisiana. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. 70 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to W. Н. Dall, October 4, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Thus, he would not have had much time for conducting a geological field camp during the summer of 1913. The same leave request was made the following year, and in 1914 Crane simply gave him an indefinite ex- tension of the substitution privileges. Harris was again in the south during the summer of 1914: “Тат planning to be away on my boat trip from June 10th until the latter part of July and from then on the remainder of the summer I shall probably be in Louisiana, . . .”’”! So Harris continued the non-university winter ac- tivity, mostly in Louisiana, after ending the field camps, but now he was involved in commercial ventures. For a few more years he used the summer for field activities but with fewer students. Very soon, however, he had a new boat built for that purpose, Ecphora. For the students, the Helderberg field camp was an experience that literally lasted a lifetime. This is illus- trated by the following quotation taken from a Christ- mas card sent to Harris in 1938 by Miss Emma C. Robinson, a member of the Helderberg Camp in 1900. In the age of satellite images and computer mapping, it is difficult to understand what geology and geology teaching were like when what might be called the “fast lane" was a boat that sped along at five or six miles per hour. I wonder if the present day students will develop and sustain the feelings and memories such as those expressed by Miss Robinson almost 40 years after attending the Helderberg camp: “Dear Professor Harris and Rebecca [Harris’ daughter]: “Christmas greetings from one of the old camp fire group. The pattern of my life has changed greatly since those days but through it all runs the thread of joy and gratitude that I could share those days with the Harris family. Yours Sincerely, Emma C. Robinson"? This was certainly a view shared by Harris, for of his time with the Helderberg field camps, Herrick et al. (1953, p. 15A) said: **. , . he held those days to be the happiest of his life.” 7 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to Е; L. Whitney, May 11, 1914. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 72 Emma C. Robinson to С. D. Harris, Postmarked Black Moun- tain, NC, December 16, 1938. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 55 CHAPTER 4. ECPHORA The closing of his Helderberg field camp did not Stop Harris from working with students in the field, but thereafter the trips were not associated with formal Class situations. The loss of his boats in the fire around 1905 did stop some of his water trips because Ortho- ceras IT was not large enough for more than a few People at a time, and she certainly had limited sleeping accommodations. So the few trips were taken by the newest mode of transportation, the automobile. But his heart remained with the idea of using a boat, and he soon had another one. As two of his students wrote after the 1915 trip: “Not many mountains or other geological formations can be persuaded to leave their native resting place to come to college, and this is perhaps why the ancient saying about Mohammed and the mountain finds a parallel in geological Instruction at Cornell University. For many years it has been the custom of Professor G. D. Harris, of that insti- tution, to organize a summer course in field geology, that his students may see for themselves formations and places they would otherwise know only from books, and that they May collect with their own hands the fossils they study during the winter." (Schmidt and Olsson, 1916, p. 15). In 1914! Harris launched his fourth and largest boat. Ecphora, designed by M. M. Whitaker (Nyack-on- Hudson, NY) and constructed by the Champaign Brothers Boat Works on the Inlet in Ithaca at a cost of $1,000 (Plate 5). She was thirty feet long, almost Nine feet at the beam with a draft of three feet, and she Carried two 40 gallon gasoline tanks. There were sleep- g accommodations for six people; two bunks, two canvas beds suspended in the cabin, and two canvas Stretcher beds in the cockpit. The galley consisted of heuer kerosene stove with compressed air in ry E section of the cockpit (Schmidt and Olsson, Harris must have rebuilt his boat house after the fire at destroyed Janthina and Orthoceras I, but it was m adequate for Ecphora. Thus, he attempted to pur- ase some land from Roger B. Williams, son of H. S. llliams, along the Ithaca Inlet: In endeavoring to put into practice a scheme I have been Масир geology at first hand in the field I desire to соп- Tuct a fairly good sized boat wherein I may accommodate comfortably such students as would profit by exceptional Advantages in geologic work. Over and above the expense of all this comes the ques- 1 craft was constructed in the early part of 1914, “... I am ha a large boat . . ." Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris ' + rrine, March 23, 1914. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. uil tion of the housing of such a craft. Now I have a boat house already for my own use, but this [new] boat I would have to house somewhere else. Knowing that the Williams estate owns some property on the west bank of the Inlet, I believe just north of the Intercollegiate Crew House, I am writing this to see if you cannot help me in this work to the extent of selling me say 15 or 16 feet front on the Inlet running back to the street to the west, I believe some- thing like 60 feet, and if so kindly advise me at what rate per foot you would be willing to sell it.”? The correspondence does not indicate whether he was successful or not, but Ecphora was kept in a boat house on the Inlet. As with previous boats, Harris turned to a mollusk for the name; Ecphora is a Miocene gastropod guide fossil, and later he was to use it as the symbol for the Paleontological Research Institution. In a letter to his former student, A. C. Veatch, just after Veatch made a $1,000 contribution to Cornell for Harris to use, he indicated what he hoped to accomplish with the launch and he described the new boat and his ambitious plans: “Есрћога, 8 1/2 x 30° with 30 hp. 4 cyl. 4 сус engine. My plan is simply this: to have students go and get their own data from mother earth; to have enormous collections of good material accumulate here; to exchange and sell enough to largely meet actual expenses in the field; to use the same funds therefore over and over again; to have each student feel under obligation to return value received by way of materials, getting his pay in training and general experi- ence; to have such collections as go out, labeled in the most accurate manner possible and mounted in the most approved permanent, and artistic manner; .. .'? Ecphora was barely wet when, just four days after launching, on June 19, 1914, Harris and six students began a three-month voyage that covered some three thousand miles. Only a few weeks before Harris was trying to raise money for the fuel through the Univer- sity and explaining how valuable the resulting collec- tions would be: "[ have to report that I have practically completed my personal cruising outfit and have selected seven first class men to help do collecting down the Atlantic coast, in the Tertiary formations during a period of 6 weeks, and I am now asking you if the sum of not to exceed $100 for fuel I mentioned formerly will be available by a week from to- day [sic]. You remember that I have stated that the col- ? Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to Roger B. Williams, March 16, 1914. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 3 Letter from Gilbert D. Harris to A. C. Veatch, no date, but written in response to Veatch's donation made October 25, 1915. Copy at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 56 BULLETIN 350 lections will be worth several hundred dollars perhaps $1000 and that you were kind enough to say that there should be no trouble in raising the $100 under such con- ditions."^ But Harris was having some difficulty with the new *channels" that had been created recently with the appointment of Heinrich Ries as Department Head. President Schurman responded to Harris' request with these words: “I have just received your communication of June 2nd (which by error is dated May 2nd) asking for an appro- priation of $100 for fuel for your trip to collect material down the Atlantic Coast. “Please talk this matter over with the Head of the De- partment of Geology and have him in the usual way for- ward your communication with his endorsement there- ироп.””5 Не must have received the fuel money, for the group went as far south as New Bern, North Carolina before turning Ecphora’s bow northward; a three-month jour- ney of over three thousand miles. The students were Victor Elvert “Monty” Monnett (Ph.D. '22), Parkin “Park” Wong (M.A. '14), Oliver N. “Ollie” Olson (20) (not to be confused with Axel A. Olsson, who was on the trip the following year)°, Karl P. “Hans” Schmidt (A.B.’16)’, Henry К. “Sunny” Sunball (16), and Lloyd G. “Nellie” Grinnell (16). (Olson, Sunball, and Grin- nell did not major in geology, although they studied with Harris.) “Nellie” Grinnell kept a very lively and descriptive diary of their adventures on this trip. This journal and accompanying photographs (e.g., Plate 6) were pre- sented to Harris on October 2, 1944, his eightieth birthday*. The diary forms the basis of the following account which gives the general flavor of the trip. Not only does Grinnell's diary describe the important pa- leontological collecting they were able to do, which included several new species, but it also illustrates the 4G. D. Harris to Jacob G. Schurman, May 2, 1914 [with June inserted above May]. Schurman Papers, v. 34, Pg 256. RMC-KL, Cornell. 5 Jacob Gould Schurman to G. D. Harris, June 2, 1914. Schurman Papers, 3/4/6, v. 34, Pg. 256. RMC-KL, Cornell. 6 An article about the trip in The Ithaca Journal, June 6, 1914, lists A. A. Olson as a member of the party, but L. G. Grinnell's diary has the names as they are listed here. Also, A. A. Olsson's name is spelled differently and he did not use the nick-name of “Ollie.” The newspaper article is incorrect. 7 The nick-name “Hans” came from the name of a famous mur- derer of that era, Hans Schmidt of New York City (Schmidt and Olsson, 1916). Karl Schmidt later worked with the American Mu- seum of Natural History and became a well known herpetologist. * Both reside now in the library of PRI. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. closeness and camaraderie that developed among the group, and especially between Harris and his students. The voyage had an ominous beginning. That first day engine trouble and very stormy weather kept the party from getting out of Harris’s boat house on Cas- cadilla Creek near Steamboat Landing where they all spent their first night— Harris sleeping on the floor of the boat house and the boys sleeping either on Ecphora or Orthoceras II. The following morning they made another attempt to leave Ithaca, but first they had to dredge up the starboard light, which had fallen over- board during the night. The engine problems also had not been totally solved and required further diagnosis and cure. Then the group was delayed (for some un- known reason) by the “R. H. McGreeny Funeral.” But, finally, at about 1:00 P.M., they cleared the Inlet light- house, “thumbing our noses at it as we sped by." They were making about “‘six miles per hour, or knots of crinoids or something," and had the Cornell pennant flying from the masthead?. After about seven hours the group reached the Montezuma Lock at the north end of Cayuga Lake. Here disaster almost overtook the party, again: “We were raised up in a lock and were ready to start oD. Our engineers, Prof. Harris and Hans, started the engine backwards and the boat was plowing backwards, nearly slamming the back deck into a bridge, but just in time Sunny used his head, reversed the propeller and we went ahead." (June 20, 1914)!° With the engine restarted in the proper direction, they continued along the Erie Canal for two days 10 Pattersonville, New York where they were joined оп June 23 by Ernest Rice ‘‘Sister’’!! Smith (a geology graduate student '13—'19). Pearl Sheldon (A.B.'08, M.A.'09, Ph.D. '11) and Eleanor Long (A.B.'15), also from the Cornell geology department, met the group there, and spent the day with them collecting fossils. Long stayed on board as far as Albany. Later, in the Washington, D.C. area, they were joined by Harris’s brother, Rollin, who stayed with the party for part 0 the day on July 19. As they reached each suitable collecting area, EC phora would be tied up to a jetty or anchored and the crew would visit outcrops and quarries to study the exposed geology and make collections. On Chesapeake Bay near Herring Bay, according to Grinnell, they spent more time collecting berries than fossils. A similarity between many present-day geologists and these 1914 ? This Cornell pennant survived the trip and now hangs at PRI. 10 The dates refer to Grinnell’s diary entries. !! The nick-name, Sister, was given to Smith because he came wW Cornell from “religious Oberlin.” (Schmidt and Olsson, 1916) GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 57 adventurers appears in the diary entry for July 1, when they were at Chesapeake Beach: “In the evening we Went ashore and bought can openers and some Schlitz beer, the first we had since Hudson, N.Y. on June 25th.” Their engine troubles were not over and it proved to be a constant source of irritation for them. Harris, however, was “not only a great geologist but a master mechanic as well," according to an entry in Grinnell's diary, As they were often moving in uncharted waters, running aground was another constant threat. One such Occurrence was at Jones Wharf on the Patuxent River ın Maryland: "As we landed, we hit a reef and you should have seen us Pile off the boat. ... We all pushed the boat with Prof. Harris at the bow and others astern. The boat finally started With a lunge as a wave helped raise the boat and our Pushing almost ran the Prof. down; at least knocked him over and how we laughed and roared as he came up out ОЁ the water with his clothes on, his glasses wet and he Sputtering and spitting out the salt water he had gargled. What a picture!" (July 3, 1914) Rough seas, also, were not unknown on this voyage. A storm on July 4 continued with high waves the fol- lowing day, and “Monty got so sick he felt sorry for the fish and fed them plentifully. We all played cards." Onty left the group on the evening of the Sth to go to Baltimore, while the voyage continued down the ау toward Virginia. Неге in the swamps of Tidewater, Mosquitoes and other bugs became a real problem: “We anchored [up the Pamunkey River] alongside a huge Marsh, with water moccasins, crawling with huge snapping turtles and swarming with mosquitoes as big as bats. Awful Mosquitoes! We tried camphor-ice, Nyals, Skeeter-shoot and mosquito netting. They seemed to think we were throwing a party for them and everything we used was dessert and we were the main course. We were being eaten alive, but their buzzing in swarms sounded like bees ра апа drove us nutty. We couldn’t sleep.” (July » 1914) "es Petersburg, Virginia, this group of Northeaster- Were told an unfamiliar version of a battle in the d between the States. An old Confederate veteran E about how a Confederate lieutenant and «et hundred men drove Grant and fifteen thousand e z Rebels” as he called them, out of a fort that I a nas “the Crater” after the Yankees mined me e were appreciative listeners,” Grinnell com- nted, The story of the “Crater” was part of the Battle ер бих which resulted in a large loss of life, and eue "gm. black soldiers of the Union Army, ther, Es students heard about it from one who was ©. Although history shows that Grant had very little to do with this battle, that probably made for a better story to tell those “yankee students." Health and safety were constant concerns for the group, and although they took proper precautions, sometimes there were accidents. For example, on July 12, near Williamsburg, Virginia, Sunny was attempting to learn to swim while the others were collecting fossils along the beach, when Harris stepped on a serrated fish bone that went almost through his foot. Apparently they had a tough time pulling it out; Grinnell wrote in his diary, "It was a very painful ordeal and is very sore" (July 12, 1914). The “operation” must have been successful, for Grinnell made no further mention of the incident or of any complications as a result of them pulling out the bone. On July 16, near City Point on the Appomatox Riv- er, the group met its first real danger. In threatening weather and an outgoing tide, they tried to take a short- cut across Tar Bay and became stuck in the mud: “We all tried to push, we sank into the soft mud, and the boat barely wiggled. We were frantic. Something had to be done quickly or the tide would leave us high and dry in the mud. We struggled back into the channel. No other boat would dare come into [sic] pull us out, and no sign of civilization anywhere. Then the lightning flashed and thunder rolled. “Hans and Park went out in Pecky [Pecten, the dinghy] to sound for deeper water. It was several hundred feet to our left. But how could we get there in that soft, footless mud? The harder we pushed on the boat, the further we sank into the mud. We were desperate! The Prof. came to the rescue as usual. He directed us to take the 80 Ib. anchor with its long heavy flukes out to the end of our 100 ft. of rope. We rowed it out and two fellows, Hans and Ollie, stood on it in the mud while the rest of us on the boat heaved on the rope. . ..[T]hen by moving the anchor out three times more and pulling up to it three times, we finally got into deeper water and the boat floated." (July 16, 1914) As soon as the boat was in a safe mooring near Coggin Point, the storm abated, the sun came out, and they continued their trip to the end of Tar Bay to check on a location of Miocene sediments: “This must have been a Miocene burial ground, for fossils were thick as gravel stones in a gravel pit. We had collected but a few minutes when Ollie found a new species of cardia [sic]. Soon we found two new pectens that we had not found before. One of these, too, was a new species that had never been named. I found what I prized highly. It was the largest Ecphora of this or any other trip. Prof. Harris found a large one many years ago, and it is now in the Smithsonian Institution, as the largest one known. But this beat that one. It is a whopper nearly as big around as my head. The Prof. says the one he found is the size of a big fist. This one is four times as big." (July 16, 1914). Eventually they had to begin to retrace their path back toward Ithaca, and the diarist experienced his first and only bout of seasickness. His remedy will probably never replace dramamine. It was Grinnell’s time to prepare breakfast: “There was a heavy sea running. The wind was strong, and the tide was going out. The boat tugged at the anchor rope and the cross wind chopped the Ecphora up and down in a rotary motion. Either that motion or the fumes of the kerosene stove on which I was cooking breakfast gave me a funny feeling in my stomach, and I felt I must be getting seasick, although I had never been before. ... I had on only sailor pants, so I dropped them off, and rushed up on deck and dove off the top of the boat on the leeward side. A solid mass of slimy, stinging jelly fish or portuguese [sic] men-of-war had collected there in the protection of the boat away from the wind. I smashed right into them. They were all over my naked body and in my hair. I dove down through them, but then dared not come up, so swam around and under the front of the boat, and came up on the windy side. When I had clambered aboard, I was no longer threatened with seasickness. But I was almost stung to death by the jelly fishes, or more properly stung to life, for they certainly revived me. After finishing the prepa- ration of breakfast, I turned off the kerosene and swam ashore.” (July 22, 1914). As they were going north through the Delaware- Chesapeake Canal, Hans invented a new sport: he would dive off Ecphora and catch the trailing Pecky as it came by. But if he missed the dinghy, he had to swim to shore, run along the towpath, then dive in ahead of the boat and swim out to catch it. Before long others were trying this, and on one such venture, Sister, who only a week or so before was trying to learn to swim, Hans, and Nellie all missed Pecky and had to run about one hundred fifty yards to catch Ecphora. They all dove into the canal to swim to the boat and Hans and Nellie were hauled on board, but Sister, who was very much out of breath from running, missed the pickup and sank: “So we passed him by and he went down to the bottom of the canal, probably about ten feet deep. Hans quickly dove overboard and I threw a life preserver about where he would come up. Before Hans got to him he came up and sank a second time, but he did not see the life pre- server. Sunny turned the boat around, and I dove in to help find Sister. When he [Sister] went down the second time, his feet hit bottom and he kicked so hard that he came up quickly and Hans grabbed hold of him. About that time I got in the way of the boat and almost got run over as I scraped alongside and just missed the propeller as it went by, then Pecky bumped into me and I held on to her and helped Hans tow an exhausted “Sister” Smith to Pecky and then to the Ecphora. But he was all right as soon as he got his wind." (July 22, 1914). BULLETIN 350 The following day they saw the body of a young boy, who had not been as lucky as Sister, being pulled from the canal. Although their primary interests were paleontology and stratigraphy, the return trip beneath the Palisades along the Hudson River brought out the poet in Grin- nell: “This was really the most beautiful scenery we had yet seen. The Palisades are beautiful colums [sic] and towering cliffs with deeply carved towers, all dotted with green shrubbery, and all high above the majestic Hudson. The intrusive columns of the Palisades make a rare picture. The highlands, too, with their rounded domes of Archaean rock and huge whale backs, bumped up here and humped up there with a beautiful valley of green forest in between. There were many huge castle-like homes perched up on the heights overlooking the river, and as we looked up at them they were seemingly hanging from the sky, while others were clinging, perched precariously on the баре of acliffor a steep hillside. It all made an enchanting picture." (July 24, 1914). It was one in the morning on July 27th when they reached the lock into Cayuga Lake, and the lock-tender had gone to bed. But by this time they were all expe- rienced “‘lock-tenders’’, and they simply let themselves through. They had to awaken the operator of the last railroad bridge to let them pass, however, paying him ten cents for his trouble. At last, they were on һе broad bosom of Cayuga Lake" by 1:20 A.M. After an all-night run down the lake, Hans dove over the side for a morning swim and nearly froze. Cayuga Lake was much colder than the Chesapeake. Grinnell summed up the voyage: “Thus ended the epic trip of the great little ship, the EC phora, and her baby the Pecten, which had bobbed alon£ behind us for many a league of knots. This had been 4 great experience for all of us, and a grand cruise in more ways than one. We all felt it had been eminently successful, as we had found many wonderful specimens and discov” ered several new species for Professor Harris and his de- partment to classify and name. We had had a lot of fun and we all loved and respected one another. It was a gr and bunch of fellows, but more than that for dear Professor Harris: we all felt that he was super, and the finest and grandest man it had ever been our privilege to be asso- ciated with. May he live long and ever happily in огде! that he may fulfill a great contribution to Geology àn particularly to Paleontology. His name and his fame wil echo down through to ages, long after the rest of this motley crew are forgotten." (July 28, 1914). This journey, like all the others, was more than just swimming in the canals and fighting off jelly fish; there was a serious side as well. The people who accomp2* nied Harris on these boat trips were privileged to sce a master paleontologist do field work and thereby leat? GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 59 their craft, and these extended trips built a bond be- ‘ween student and teacher that literally lasted a life- time, And, of course, there was the resulting science, le., the descriptions by Olsson (1914) of some of the Material the group collected on this journey to the Coastal Plain. In reading Grinnell's description of the trip, one is led to wonder whether today's students are missing Something when in less time than it took them to reach the end of Cayuga Lake we can cross a continent. How Much more detail can be seen in the Palisades from a boat drifting by them at six miles per hour than from а car driving across the top at sixty miles per hour, or а plane flying over them at six hundred miles per hour! The following year, 1915, there were some questions from the University administration to Ries concerning arris’ summer activities. President Schurman wrote: “As you [Ries] are perhaps aware, Professor Harris, up to 912, was professor on half time at a salary of $1500. In ДОДА after Professor Tarr's death, he was asked to give full time for the year 1912-13 ata salary of $3000 for the Year. At the expiration of that year, he was re-appointed Professor for one year for $3000, and in the following year ( May 11, 1914 ) he was again appointed professor for 9ne year at $3000. “I should like to know now whether the University needs the full time of Professor Harris, or whether the University Could revert to the arrangement, which was in existence for many years, under which he gave the University half his time, . . . “If Professor Harris is not to be absent from the Uni- versity half of his time, does he desire to be absent for a Portion of his time?. . . . I should think it advisable if this arrangement is to be continued, that a resolution should © adopted by the Trustees authorizing it generally and making a fair adjustment of the salary. . Professor Harris has I know been very much interested 1n Summer work in paleontology. . . . If, however, students are taken away in the summer and given credit for their Work, would it not be fair that they should pay a fee? And if Professor Harris himself gives time in the summer to © Instruction of students, it would seem fair that he also poua receive some compensation. I hasten to add that Тау be impossible to authorize the summer course in oaleontology, if the receipts therefrom are insufficient to por all the expenses incurred in connection with it. T Inust add for your information that I am not at all in lr that the Trustees would or could grant professors ms е University leave of absence for six weeks or so . ng the regular academic year on condition that they ува Corresponding period of time to summer instruction. at, however, is a question which must be settled by the Tustees. I only note it here in order that you [Ries] may 101 take any solution for granted."''? 12 ap lacob Schurman to Heinrich Ries, May 28, 1915. Heinrich Ries 75, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-22. RMC-KL, Cornell. After some discussion with Ries, Harris replied: "Upon due reflection re matter discussed yesterday I believe the interests of all concerned demand that what work over and above the regular university year is undertaken by members of this branch of the department be limited en- tirely to private enterprise, thus eliminating all misunder- standings as to expense, tuition, credit, and serious obli- gations that may at some time be almost impossible to fill. It costs time, money for fuel, repairs, upkeep, interest on investments, insurance, to say nothing of worry and risks at least $1000 to carry out a successful cruiser expedition along the East Coastal regions, and what little would be returned by tuition at $30 apiece [sic] would amount to very little towards the whole. Of course it would be a little but would weigh nothing in assuming such responsibilities to be carried out every year without fail. Personally I hope to be able to carry out this work as planned for at least 10 years. But the expenses are too great for me to promise certain extensive programs definitely every year."!? Regardless of the cost, however, Harris took some students on Ecphora down to the coast again, going through Dismal Swamp Canal to Albemarle Sound, North Carolina and the Neuse River; eventually cov- ering over 3000 miles between June 7 and August 11, 1915. But before embarking on the second major voy- age with Ecphora, Harris had to do some modifica- tions: "Ах [Axel Olsson] tells me you have bought the Ecphora an engine and a good one, which is certainly good news »14 The four cylinder, 30 horsepower Loew Victor engine, built in Chicago!>, was purchased from Bruns, Kimball & Company, of New York City.'® The students on this trip included E. R.(Sister) Smith and Karl P. (Hans) Schmidt (both back for a second summer); Charles. P. (Chuck) Alexander, the ento- mologist; Bayard Taylor; James D. (Tommy) Thomp- son, Jr. (graduate student '14— 16), who was the “chef as distinguished from cook."; and Axel A. Olsson (A.B."13)"7. Taylor did not graduate from the Geology Department. Schmidt was considered the engineer and 13 Gilbert D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, June 1, 1915. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-22. RMC-KL, Cornell. 14 Karl P. Schmidt to Gilbert D. Harris, March 5, 1915. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 15 Instruction booklet from Loew Victor Company. HA-PRI, Ith- aca, NY. 16 M, С. Kimball to Gilbert D. Harris, March 16, 1915. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 7 Axel A. Olsson (1889-1977), a student of Harris’, worked for various oil companies, including Sinclair. He was a founding mem- ber of PRI and first President, and was present at the laying of the corner stone on June 28, 1932 at the Dearborn Place facility (Moore, D. R., 1978). 60 BULLETIN 350 vertebrate zoologist; Smith was “commissioner of business affairs”; and Olsson was the chief cook, elec- trician and paleontologist (Schmidt and Olsson, 1916). This voyage resulted in the collection of more than sixty boxes and barrels of Miocene fossils and rock samples. Although there is no diary record of this trip, an article by Schmidt and Olsson in Power Boating mag- azine following the journey gives a wonderful account of the trip and provides an inside look at their expe- riences. The following description comes from that article. The group left Ithaca about 11 A.M. on June 7 giving the Ithaca Lighthouse the “Cornell yell”, and entered the canal system five hours later. Mechanical problems were not unknown on this trip either, even before they cleared the New York canal system. Just below Little Falls the reverse gear broke off at the collar and it took four day to get it repaired. But they were in the Hudson River by June 15. They took a quick stop to inspect, and admire, the museum at Princeton University be- fore continuing down the Delaware Canal system, and gaining a healthy respect for the New Jersey mosquitos. At least two of the enfants, as Alexander, Thompson, and Taylor were known by the rest of the party, dis- covered the joys of seasickness shortly after Ecphora entered Chesapeake Bay. It was in this area that the serious collecting began, although the group was also impressed with the Cretaceous fossils they saw piled along the banks of the Delaware and Chesapeake Ca- nal: “Few places that we saw on our journey offered a more desirable field for study than the 13 miles of this one- hundred-year old canal, so that we envied the lock keepers their magnificent opportunity, of which they doubtless never dreamed." (Schmidt and Olsson, 1916, p. 19). At Langley's Bluff, a small anchorage south of Cedar Point, where they took shelter from the wind and high waves, they did their first real collecting. The wind did not let up and Thompson and Alexander became so seasick that they were put ashore to walk to the next anchorage, without their shoes, of course. They took a side trip up the Potomac to Washington, D. C. where Harris had worked about 20 years earlier. It was here that the trip nearly ended in disaster. Just before taking a shore excursion, someone left the fuel tank valve open and they returned to find about 20 gallons of gasoline in the bilge. After cleaning up the spilled fuel, they proceeded back down the Potomac collecting at such famous localities as Aquia Creek, Potomac Creek, and Pope's Creek, all yielding many boxes of fossils and valuable first-hand experience for this group of young geologists. At the mouth of the river the winds and waves were still high and they took refuge at the village of Lewisetta and explored the art of dealing with a boat stuck on à mud flat. They should have conferred with those from the 1914 trip, who had a similar experience. But each learned on their own. The procedure seemed simple enough: when the boat ran aground, or “snotting it” as they called it, all hands but the captain shed their trousers and went overboard to lighten the boat. Then she usually floated free or could be pushed back into deeper water. But when the water was filled with jelly fish whose nettle-like sting could persist for many hours, the procedure became more complicated and painful, if no less necessary. While in the harbor at Hampton Roads, Virginia, the group saw several interned German cruisers, a gr im reminder of the realities of the world in 1915. Two of the group were to come face to face with these realities a little later in the trip. They travelled near Roanoke Island, where Sir Walter Raleigh had established his ill-fated colony some 330 years earlier. Eventually 0n July 7, 30 days after leaving Ithaca, the hardy band of travelers had reached their destination, New Bern, North Carolina and the junction of the Neuse and Trent Rivers. Here they split into three collecting pat ties and each went off in search of fossils; some by г ail south to Wilmington and north to the Chowan and Meherrin Rivers. On July 15, the three who remaine with the boat started north and the rest joined then! along the way, with some interesting tales to relate. Although Schmidt and Olsson say little about their adventures in their article, probably because Olsson was directly involved, newspapers from Virginia an Baltimore to Ithaca carried the story. The Ithaca Jour nal of August 30, 1915 does give some indication 9 their activities. It seems that on one occasion, Olsson and Taylor were near Harrellsville!*, a little town n North Carolina along the Chowan River, checking stream beds, hillsides, back yards and gardens, an other out-of-the-way places, for fossils. The local 1- habitants thought their behavior rather suspicious particularly as the nation was almost at war. The sher- iff, who was 15 miles away, sent word that the village doctor, storekeeper, and hotel keeper should act as 4 “Committee of Investigation." The two students were picked up and taken before this committee. When questioned, their claim to be just collecting rocks brought laughter to the captors. The villagers knew these strange people must be either spies or crazy» ~ everyone knew the rocks in that part of the country were useless. Eventually, after producing some ship” 18 The Suffolk newspaper article named the town ^«Haroldsville | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 61 Ping receipts for samples they had shipped back to Cornell, the pair convinced the townspeople they were telling the truth and that they were not German spies. A very disappointed posse released their prisoners, but Were happy that their city was in no danger from Ger- Tan submarines. A local paper in Suffolk, Virginia, got wind of the Story and made much of the fact that their neighbors to the south had taken Cornell geologists for German Spies. Then it made the editorial page of the Baltimore News which compared it to a similar incident when a оса! group went ош to investigate the “suspicious” havior of a Harvard geology professor out in the Bad ands of Dakota. As the group was about to surround him, thinking they were a band of outlaws, the pro- fessor took flight and led the group on a wild, 40 mile Chase through the hills before he was “captured.” And How another case had occurred in “far-off but socio- logically wholly different North Carolina." Putting the two incidents together, the editorial suggested it was Clearly the fault of the scientists: “The occurrence of two such distinctly differentiated yet analogous cases acquits the Bad Lands of gross ignorance of inhospitality. It puts squarely upon the geologist the Obligation to wear some mark which will distinguish him from the undesirable. Clearly the symptoms of his voca- tion are dangerously confusing."'!? 6 In another town things got more serious when a armer fired a shotgun at Thompson. It seems that hompson had been collecting in a nearby quarry and Was walking back toward the boat with his arms full $ fossils. He heard someone tell him to stop, but as- ES the command was meant for someone else and ing no reason to stop, he walked on, until the man |. ла the voice fired his shotgun. Apparently, зоте- ne had been stealing watermelons from a field near ‘© quarry, and when the farmer saw Thompson with 5 arms full, he felt he had caught the thief. he return journey was made over the roughest wa- T Of the entire trip and, according to Schmidt and Sson, it included battling some of the largest mos- Witoes ever seen. In 1914 the run from Newport News, виа to Ithaca had taken eight and a half days, but E mechanical problems did not allow them to E that record. Ominous sounds and propeller shaft E on developed as the engine was run at slow E An inspection showed no obvious problem or Se. At other times, all went well, and once they ran “engine for 22 hours straight with no difficulty. Their lr М : : IP north provided some memorable times and sights: 19 « » It Might Happen Anywhere" Baltimore News, July 25, 1915, Unknown, Page “What words can describe the feelings of the pilot, as he watched the slow rise of the constellations in front of him, and came to anchor safely in the Elk river, just inside of Turkey point, as the moon set blood red in the west.” (Schmidt and Olsson, 1916, p. 21). The next morning they discovered the propeller had fallen off. They found two men with a boat who were willing to tow Ecphora to Havre de Grace on the Susquehanna River where they found an old foundryman who would cast them a new one. Unfortunately the blades of the only mold he had were too large, but with some grind- ing work, they managed to limp into Chesapeake City for a proper replacement, only to have the vibration return when they restarted the journey. This time the shaft had to be replaced, but the rudder was in the way, which would have meant digging a three foot hole in the “... doubtful smelling mud of the Brandywine, racing to get it done before the return of the tide, . . .” But Harris came to the rescue with a simple idea. They simply turned the rudder sideways and drilled a 1.5 inch hole in it right over the shaft and slipped in the new shaft in short order. But they continued to have engine and other troubles all the way back to Ithaca, including stripping all the gears in the magneto, and finding a bridge down across the canal at Utica. By removing all awnings, they were able to slip under the bridge, much to the disappoint- ment of the local crowd. They finally reached Ithaca on the afternoon of August 11 to the cheers and con- gratulations of friends and relations. The journey of 3000 miles had produced about 60 boxes for fossils, over 5000 pounds. Some of the fossils were described by Olsson (1916). For the students: "The value of the trip to us-students of science-could scarcely be estimated. Professor Harris' attitude toward his students seems best expressed in the words of his pre- decessor at Cornell, Charles Frederick Hartt, in his account of the Morgan Expedition?*: ‘If to discover а new Car- boniferous Fauna will repay a journey to Brazil, of how much greater importance is the discovery of a new Nat- uralist?"" (Schmidt and Olsson, 1916, p. 46). As had been outlined in Schurman's letter in May, 1915, it appears Harris’ summer field activity was run- ning afoul of university bureaucracy. That autumn, Harris wrote to Ries: 20 A Cornell expedition to Brazil funded mostly by Colonel Edwin B. Morgan of Aurora, New York in 1870. The rest of Hartt's quo- tation is, "Had the expedition produced no other results than to have added four new men to science, I should have considered time and money amply well spent." “Тһе Morgan Expedition, 1870-71, Bulletin of the Cornell University: Science, v. i, no. 1, p. 4) 62 BULLETIN 350 “If another expedition to the south is altogether too ex- pensive for my private funds, I can perhaps for one year equally well continue a little piece of delayed work in northwestern Pennsylvania that I commenced three years ago; work that would imply topographic, stratigraphic, paleontologic, and physiographic research of various de- grees of advancement.”?! Ries replied quoting from Schurman’s letter from the previous spring about the Trustees probably not ap- proving the arrangement of replacing regular academic term work with summer activities for all professors, and thereby eliminating it for the one. Ries closed with: “Не [Schurman] believed that if a department is to run summer work, it should be treated as a separate matter, and separate compensation should be allowed for it. And if such compensation were allowed, it seemed but fair to the President that the students taking this summer work should pay a tuition fee. “As you were not willing to agree to the latter, I could not agree to ask the Trustees for an appropriation for the summer course, your final decision was to run this as a private matter."?? Thus the victim of the University bureaucracy and rising costs, there is no record of any further extended 21 G, D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, September 22, 1915. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-22. RMC-KL, Cornell. 22 Heinrich Ries to G. D. Harris, September 25, 1915. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-22. RMC-KL, Cornell. boat trips by Harris after 1915. He did continue using Ecphora for short trips on the lake, but he was already looking to the future, for in his Annual Report to Ries; head of the department, for 1919-1920, Harris said: “Several excursions were given on the lake by boat last fall and will be this spring [1920], but I find for small classes that a Ford is very desirable. In the University of Texas I understand a large excursion truck is owned by the department for excursion work."?? Ecphora continued to make various field trips until about 192024 (Palmer, 1953a), when Harris sold her to A. C. (Dave) Davis, a Cornell engineering professor. She must have stayed in the Ithaca area, for by 1964 Ecphora was owned by Peter Paul Kellogg, a Cornell ornithologist who used her for his exploration and ге“ search. When last heard of, according to Kellogg, she had been taken to Florida, but her current location Of condition is unknown.?? 23 Page 2; G. D. Harris Annual Report for 1919-1920 submitted to Heinrich Ries, April 15, 1920. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/ 15/691, Box 1, File 1-85. RMC-KL, Cornell. 24 In a personal communication July 22, 1983, Katherine Palmer indicated that 1918 was the last major Ecphora field trip. 25 History of the Ecphora prepared by Peter Paul Kellogg, June 10, 1964. Copy in HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 63 CHAPTER 5. THE LOUISIANA SURVEY Although it is not known exactly how or through whom Harris secured the appointment in Louisiana, there is little doubt that during his various trips to Arkansas and Texas, and with his work near the border between northern Louisiana and Arkansas while doing Stratigraphic mapping for the Arkansas Geological Sur- vey, he must have come in contact with influential People in the Louisiana government. With those con- nections plus his reputation as a Tertiary paleontolo- 8181, Harris was appointed “Geologist in Charge" for the Geological and Agricultural Survey of Louisiana 1n 1899, Pope (1988) states that he followed William W. Clendenin, who had led the survey from 1894- 1897. The original state survey, the Topographical and Geological Survey of Louisiana, was organized in 1869 the recommendation of a special committee in 6: ^s · а geological and scientific survey of the State of Lou- Isiana, is under all the circumstances, much to be desired, ànd that it should be judiciously, not too rapidly, prose- cuted.” (Riddell et al., 1856, p. 6) This original organization lasted until 1872 when fund- ng was withdrawn. A new Survey started again in 1891—92 as the Geo- logical and Agricultural Survey of Louisiana under the direction of Dr. Otto Lerch who came to Louisiana Tom the Texas Survey. Each of these Surveys was associated with Louisiana State University and Agri- Cultural and Mechanical College (LSU) in Baton Rouge, and Survey directors were expected to serve on the faculty of LSU as well. But funding ended again in the ay year it was commissioned. In 1894, William Clen- enin assumed the leadership of the Survey, lasting in : I$ role until 1897. According to the letter of trans- Mittal for the 1896 report, Clendenin devoted “... October to March ... to LSU ... and the rest of the time to field work of the survey." (Clendenin, 1896, р. 163). Thus, a pattern was established for the Survey Tector to be “part-time,” which Harris continued i en he spent part of his year in Louisiana and the èst at Cornell. When Harris was appointed in late 1898, there had en no survey work for two years. At this time the or logical survey activity came under the political arm 1 the State Experiment Stations, which had Dr. Wil- làm C, Stubbs as their Director. Harris, like Lerch fore him, was not on the LSU faculty. That very first i 1899, A. C. Veatch (age 21) worked as Harris’ ац, а position he held for several years. Veatch 35 the first of several Cornell students, as well as some from LSU, who worked with Harris in Louisiana. In his letter of transmission to the Governor for the 1899 report, Stubbs extolled the quality of the work that team did during their first year: "Since our last report of the Geological and Agricultural Survey, a complete change has taken place in the personnel of the survey. Prof. W. W. Clendenin, who performed the duties of Professor of Mineralogy and Geology in the Lou- isiana State University and A. and M. College, and geol- ogist for the stations, has severed his connections with both institutions by resignation, and taken charge of Blees' Military Academy, at Macon, Mo. “Upon his resignation arrangements were made with Prof. Gilbert D. Harris, Ph.B.', of Cornell University, who is the recognized authority of this country in Tertiary ge- ology, by which he was to conduct the survey under our direction and publish annually a report of his work. He gives considerable time to the actual field work and writes and superintends the publication of his reports. Mr. A. C. Veatch has been selected as his assistant and gives his entire time to the field and office work of the survey. Mr. Veatch is an acknowledged authority upon Quarternary [sic] geology, and with his assistance we feel satisfied that the entire State, which consists almost exclusively of ter- tiary [sic] and quarternary [sic] formations, will be cor- rectly and fully reported. These two gentlemen have per- sistently followed their work through freezes and sunshine, over intolerable roads, impelled by an enthusiasm known only to lovers ofscience. How well they have accomplished their work, the present volume will testify." (Harris and Veatch, 1899, p. 4) In his own letter of transmittal to Stubbs, Harris out- lined their activities and had some words of praise for Veatch: "Mr. A. C. Veatch acting as assistant geologist, com- menced field work November Ist, 1898, and studied the distribution ofthe soils of Caddo and Bossier parishes until my arrival in the State, December 23rd. Thereafter we worked for the most part together in De Soto, Sabine, Natchitoches, Grant, Winn, Caldwell and Ouachita par- ishes. “After my departure from the State, the last of March [1899], Mr. Veatch continued work in the northern tier of parishes between Ouachita river and Red river until re- quested by you to visit the Five Islands and the Sulphur region of the southwestern part of the State. This done, we worked on the report herewith transmitted from mid- summer to late autumn, when he again took the field and I saw to the completion of the report. “T gladly take this opportunity to inform you that Mr. Veatch has in all his connections with this survey, shown ! Bachelor of Philosophy. 64 BULLETIN 350 himself a most capable and energetic assistant; and it is to his untiring zeal, and your [Stubbs] never failing and well directed support that such success as the survey has been able to attain is largely due. “Most respectively submitted, GILBERT D. HARRIS, Geologist-in-Charge. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, November 25, 1899.” (Harris and Veatch, 1899, p. 6) Harris was always mindful of his own strengths and weaknesses with regard to geological work, and this first report of 1899 illustrates that quite well. For the necessary work that was outside his expertise, he in- volved other colleagues; Heinrich Ries of Cornell did the analysis of clay samples that Harris collected (Ries, 1899), and Arthur Hollick of Columbia did the fossil plant identification (Hollick, 1899). And even though the section on the Cretaceous fossils is published under his name, in the introductory remarks, Harris gave full credit for the identification of these fossils to T. W. Stanton, a former co-worker at U.S.G.S. Pope (1988, p. 188) describes the results of the 1899 activities as, *By far the most productive of the early surveys." One very important aspect of the reports of 1899 can be found in Veatch's report on “The Five Islands" (Veatch, 1899) in which he maps and describes salt domes in the Parishes of Iberia and St. Mary. Although at this point in time, salt was the attraction, not oil, it was Veatch's careful mapping, especially of Petite Anse Island, that revealed these important structures. Veatch mentions the existence of both oil and gas associated with the salt deposits: *In hole number 10 [on Belle Isle] gas was struck at a depth of 120 feet in sufficient quantities to throw sand all over the derrick. It is now bubbling out the hole where it can be easily collected and ignited. A small amount of gas and oil was struck in hole number 4." (Veatch, 1899, pp. 224-225). The cross section in figure 6 in Veatch’s paper is a classic salt dome structure showing holes 4 and 10 on the flank. Further, Veatch concludes that the, “. . . dome shape is due to uplift and not erosion." (1899, p.228). He found similar structures on the other islands as well. The work of Harris and Veatch put to rest the current popular belief in a Cretaceous “backbone” which was supposed to extend through the Five Islands area and connect with structures running up through Arkansas: *Our observations go to show that whatever folding and faulting has been the cause of bringing the underlying Cre- taceous strata to day, has been in the northeast-southwest direction, roughly parallel in fact to the northwestern shore line of the old Mississippi embayment in Eocene Tertiary time. “The shallow depth at which rocks supposed to be of this series [the Cretaceous age backbone] have been struck ... [in various wells, and]. . . the great depth of the Shreve- port well (1,100 ft.) with no record of Midway beds [of lower Tertiary age] or Cretaceous limestones though nearly in line with the so-called axis or **back-bone", [as well as] the various dips observed in the limestones at various exposures with but one exception-the St. Landry outcrops- all indicate northeast-southwest local folds parallel to old shore lines rather than a mountain chain at right angles to the same, or in a northwest-southeast direction." (Harris and Veatch, 1899, Section II, p. 62) When Harris began his work in Louisiana in 1899, the area was poorly mapped, and in many areas he and his crew had to create their own base maps before doing their geological work. There is a section in the 1899 report in which Harris addresses, “Тһе Establishment of Meridian Lines.” He described the difficulties of doing land surveying using only a “magnetic needle" for determining direction: “Different men with different instruments at different times, have naturally, as we well know, come to very different conclusions regarding the location of many corners and boundary lines.” (Harris, 1899c, p. 312). Throughout his work in Louisiana, Harris always tried to maintain the most accurate readings possible with his surveying work which is well illustrated in his let- ters. Apparently in his quest for accuracy, Harris sent some of his equipment to Washington, D.C. for testing: “Your compass needle to your transit requires а correction of +8” for east declination and —8’ for west declination In the official communication this corr’n [sic] will probably not be changed by more than 1”? He even had his steel tape measured and received à “Certificate of Verification — National Bureau of Stan- dards” which did a test on his 100' steel tape; “ with 10 lbs of tension, off +0.03” in 50' and 40.03 in 100579 The accuracy of the surveying work of Harris and his various teams, especially that of Veatch, was r°- markable; almost 60 years later, no one had improv upon it: “The cartographic history of the Sabine River is reviewed by Veatch (1902, pp. 107-111) whose personal work !? mapping the course of the stream in 1900 (published ! 1902, pls. 32-36) is without peer. . . . The writer would be remiss not to add that the course of the Sabine Rive! ? L, A. Bauer, Coast and Geodetic Survey office in Washingto™ D.C., to Gilbert D. Harris, December 22, 1902. HA-PRI, Ithac? NY. G. D: 3 National Bureau of Standards [signature illegible] to Prof. І Harris, State Geologist, Louisiana, December 23. 1902. HA-PR^ Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 65 mapped by Veatch in 1902 was also done with much to- Pographic skill and fidelity which is substantiated by aerial Photographs and the fact that the outcrops described along the Sabine River can be accurately located today [1960] from the 1902 map (figs. 2 and 3). [Parentheticals in the Original.] (Anderson, H. V., 1960, pp. 18,19). Harris continued to use Veatch and other students as his assistants with the Louisiana work, even though Veatch was attracted to the U.S.G.S. in 1902 in a full- time capacity. Often the same people would work with him in the Helderberg Field Camp during the summer and then go south with him in the winter (Plate 3). John L, Rich described his association with Harris: Н -. and in the summer of 1905 [Harris] led a party con- sisting of Whitney,’ Reinecke,’ and Rich, together with three students from Louisiana State University, in a pro- Ject for preparing a map and geological report of the Winn- field sheet, Winn Parish, Louisiana. During that summer, the controls for the map were established. During the fol- lowing winter [1906], Whitney, Rich and E. B. Hopkins Completed the contouring of the sheet while Harris made the geological studies. Needless to say, all this was extreme- ly valuable training for the young geologists concerned.’’® Their work became part of the 1907 report (Harris, 1907a,b) and all their names, including the LSU stu- dents, appear at the bottom of the two maps. In the report on the Winnfield Sheet (Harris, 1907a), „иди concludes that faulting and folding were not Гата for the development of large dome-like Tuctures they were seeing: ‘The longer we study these peculiar structures [salt domes] the more convinced are we that although they may be located along lines of weakness, faults, or fractured anti- Clines, they are not to any great extent due to tangential, mountain-making forces, not to volcanic upheavals, nor Igneous plugs, as has recently been suggested, but to the Slowly-acting, little understood, concretion-forming forces Ep as the power of crystallization. Hot saline or cal- E Solutions, coming from earlier Mesozoic or later пеон beds beneath, rising perhaps by hydrostatic pres- this alone, may very readily, upon reaching a level where d Pressure is somewhat relieved and the temperature creased, deposit some of their mineral contents.” (Har- “8, 19078, р. 9), 4 + Francis Luther Whitney (A.B.'06, M.S.'11; Ph.D.'28), later a ток à ; lint of Geology and Paleontology at the University of Texas Stn, 5 Со Leopold Reinecke (1884-1935), a South African who was at (M.S.'09) and studied with Harris. Completed his Ph.D. at : 1914. He worked with the Geological Survey of Canada, Inclair Oi] company and as an economic geologist in South (Collins, 1937; Nel and Krahmann, 1937). 6 J i TE L. Rich to Axel A. Olsson, February 21, 1953. HA-PRI, Tnel] ale in With 8 frica NY This was the core of Harris’ theory of salt dome for- mation and subsequent uplift with the major force coming from salt crystallization as the rising saline waters cooled. Experimental work by Harris on salt crystallization appeared to support his hypothesis of, “|. the power of growing crystals." (Harris, 1908, р. 134). While this idea was gradually replaced by the concept of diapiric rise of the salt masses (due to dif- ferential density of the salt and overlying sediments), as late as mid-century, some workers in the field were re-examining Harris' idea (Willis, 1948). Although Harris and Veatch made some of the early detailed descriptions of these domed structures in Lou- isiana, the commercial connection between the domes and petroleum came from Captain A. F. Lucas and his work with the Spindle Top, Texas, oil field. In 1897, Lucas had been working in the Five Islands region and discovered the salt deposits on Belle Isle and Grand Cóte. At these locations Lucas recognized that while these deposits were limited in horizontal extent, they were extensive in the vertical dimension. Lucas moved on to Texas where he discovered the first of the major oil fields on a dome structure, and Harris gave full credit to Lucas: *More and more work was being done on the salines of north Louisiana in 1900 and 1901, when suddenly the commercial and geological worlds were astonished at the marvelous results of Capt. Lucas’ boring on a slight rise of ground known as “Spindle Top," three miles southward from Beaumont, Texas. Oil at this place seemed to indicate that perhaps, although no salt was known at Spindle top, there was some relationship betweeen [sic] oil and salt mounds and low domes and salines. . . . January 10, 1901 [date of Lucas’ first oil strike, а "gusher"], may well be considered the date of the commencement of our educa- tion regarding а new type of geological phenomena — we refer to the origin and method of development of local dome structure." [Emphasis in the original.] (Harris, 1908, p. II: Thus, this was an exciting time in Louisiana as Har- ris was beginning his tenure as Geologist-in-Charge, for the oil industry was gaining momentum. In his letter of transmission for the 1902 report, Stubbs de- scribed the situation this way: “Since our last report a wonderful interest has been created in the geology of Louisiana by virtue of the discovery of oil in this State and Техаѕ.... “Numerous gushers at Beaumont, Texas have excited persons in all parts of the State to action. Many wells have been bored in various parts of the State, and numerous companies have been formed for exploiting the State’s wealth in this great fuel and illuminant. “Some few efforts have been successful; many have failed. 7 See also Harris, 1912b. 66 BULLETIN 350 In this report will be found a full discussion of the oil conditions of this State, and it is hoped that the facts given will deter companies from expending large sums of money in the vain hope of obtaining oils in unfavorable localities where the so-called oil experts have pronounced an abun- dance of this greasy fluid. A knowledge of the geology of a section is often of valuable aid in determining where not to bore." (Harris et al., 1902, pp. iv—v). In reality though, only one portion of the 1902 report, Special Report 8 “Oil in Louisiana" which Harris wrote, dealt directly with the oil geology. It is interesting to note that this report provided the drilling results of several wells, including complete well logs giving de- scriptions of the various layers and at what depth the strata were encountered (Harris et al., 1902, pp. 261- 275). This was Harris' first direct encounter with an industry that was to dominate his non-academic life for many years. A measure of the general excitement engendered by these discoveries can be judged from a letter sent to Stubbs in 1902, who, in turn, sent a copy to Harris. A Mr. C. M. Hicks, Treasurer, Sicily Island Oil Com- pany, Wisner, Louisiana, was happy to hear that Stubbs was: ** . , inogorating [sic] a Geological Survey in the La. Par- ishes. We will be vary [sic] glad to give any information or assistance in our power to aid this highly appreciative enterprise. I hope your geologist are [sic] ready to take up (our Franklin Parish) the work that they will come direct to Wisner [Louisiana] as we will meet them if they will wire us... . We would be pleased to have them with us at an early date as there has been one oil well sunk and arrangements are being made to put one down an other [sic] one on Sicily Island. We have had no good results so far. An article in a local New Orleans paper, Times Dem- ocrat, commenting on some cooperative efforts that Stubbs had mentioned also generated some letters in which the writers were happy to see that Stubbs: ** . . has secured the co-operation of the Agricultural Bu- reau at Washington, in securing the services of an expert to examine the resources of our state, and that one of the gentleman is an expert in examining oil lands. . . . [ask for him to] examine some lands we have at Lafayette, La. at the LaFayette Refinery, for the purpose of ascertaining whether these lands are oil bearing. In this connection, we would explain that we have sunk at that point three 8" в To W. C. Stubbs, Director, Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, Audubon Park, New Orleans, from C. M. Hicks, Treasurer, Sicily Island Oil Company, Wisner, Louisiana, December 31, 1902. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. [diameter] artesian wells for the purpose of supplying the refinery with the necessary amount of water. These wells are connected to a powerful air compressor and when ever the full force of the air compressor is confined to one of these wells, the oil flows out with the water. This leads u$ to beleieve [sic] that there may be oil in paying quantities, and ofcourse we would like to have an examination made.” Despite all the rising interest, the first successful wells in northern Louisiana were not drilled until 1904, which in turn led to the development of the Caddo field which hit its maximum production in 1913 (Powers, 19205). Veatch (1906b) had described the geology of this area in his massive groundwater report for the U.S.G.S. Based upon his earlier experiences with the U.S.G.S., Harris was familiar with “cooperative” operations ђе“ tween the federal and state surveys, and his Louisiana Survey was asked for its cooperation. One such request occurred in 1903 when Veatch was working with the U.S.G.S. Harris was in correspondence with F. H. Newell, who said, “Мг. Veatch is now working for u5 in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana, . . s Then he went on to ask Harris to do some work for the U.S.G.S. gathering statistics on ground water in central and southern Louisiana.'! Harris must hav sent a proposal, perhaps asking for a rather high рау” ment for his services, for there is a response from New* ell a few weeks later offering only $600: “for expenses and compensation during completion of field work and the preparation of the report on under- ground waters of Louisiana. ... I should be very glad to have you undertake the work, notwithstanding the fact that the rate of remuneration you ask is higher than is ordinarily accorded a geologist under similar condi- tions.... There is no objection to the preparation of the report during free intervals while engaged in other work. providing it is ready to be submitted before January l, 1904”!2 Then Harris must have asked for more expense money in order to obtain better data, but Newell wrote him: “I appreciate the necessity of further field work in Loui- siana for the purpose of determining the amount of the ? To Prof. W. C. Stubbs, Audubon Park, City [New Orleans] from H. E. Gumbel, L. Gumbel & Company Ltd, Cotton & Sugar factors and Commission Merchants, New Orleans, December 31, 1902. Нл” PRI, Ithaca, NY. 10 Actually according to Harris, Veatch was working for both the U.S.G.S. and the Louisiana Geological Survey (Harris et al., 190»; m0» п F, Н. Newell, U. S. Geological Survey, to G. D. Harris, Audubo” Park, Louisiana, January 24, 1903. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 12 F, Н. Newell to G. D. Harris, February 9, 1903. HA-PRI, Ирас? NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 67 Supplies derived from the wells. I would suggest, however, that approximate amounts are of nearly as great value as €xact determinations, and can be obtained ina much short- er time and at less expense. The details of carrying on the field work and the preparation of the report are left to your Judgment, but the sum of $600.00, which I mentioned in my letter of February 9th., is all that I feel at liberty to assign for the work in Louisiana, and, if possible, I should like to have you make the field and office expenses, in- cluding salary, come within this amount. Please let me know definitely at your earliest convenience whether or not you can undertake the work on the allotment men- tioned, in order that we may arrange for its payment from this year's appropriation." '? Is this what is meant by the old saying, “Close enough for Bovernment work?" He must have accepted the $600, however, for Harris said in the introduction to the groundwater report: t "5... the writer spent the month of June 20 to July 20, 1903, in the same field in behalf of the U. S. Geological Survey," (Harris et al., 1905, p. 1). М While this negotiation concerning the groundwater Ork was being conducted, Harris sent his own pro- Posal to the U.S.G.S.: "Your application of December 24 [1902] for means to continue a systematic paleontologic and stratigraphic in- vestigation of the eastern Cenezoic [sic] has been carefully Considered by Messrs. Stanton, Willis, Dall and Vaughan. here is entire unanimity regarding the value of the work Which you propose and its desirability at the present time. There is also a unanimous opinion that the work should be done under Survey auspices and that the results, both collections and notes, should belong to the Survey."''^ по money was forthcoming, but at least the scientific of his proposal was accepted. e also arranged cooperative agreements with other mental agencies, such as the Coast and Geodetic es v In the Harris Archives is à copy of a letter to апас r. Edwin Smith, Assistant, United States Coast E. eodetic Survey (USC&GS), from Superintendent Bun med], December 23, 1902 which directs Smith E = : to Louisiana and work with Harris in setting up With Spes line. This was part of a Joint agreement a e USC&GS and Harris to do magnetic survey nies Louisiana. “Articles of agreement” from the pe were sent for Harris to sign in letter on er 23, 1902. Through this joint effort, Loui- goy E bcr Newell, Chief Engineer, U.S.G.S., to G. D. Harris, Sugar ent Station, Audubon Park. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. M. Hayes, Geologist in Charge of Geology, U.S.G.S. to G.D. $ January 28, 1903. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Exp 14 Harri siana became only the third state in the Union to, “.... have a satisfactory survey made including all three elements-declination, dip, and intensity." [Emphasis in the original.] (Harris, 1905b, p. 171). This was not the first time Harris had seen the need for such magnetic surveys. While working in Arkansas, Branner asked him to determine what it would cost to establish meridian lines in every county seat, and Har- ris estimated about $3500 and a year’s work. This was not the kind of commitment Branner could support, so nothing was done. Then, when Harris came to Lou- isiana in 1898, he found little magnetic survey or me- ridian work had been done, but with an annual ap- propriation of only $2000, once again it seemed an impossible task. But if he could not do the work one way, he would do it another: “Accordingly, an engineer's transit (Heller and Brightley’s) was borrowed from the Engineering Department of the State University at Baton Rouge and observations were made and markers were left at every parish seat traversed in general geologic work. The only losses thus entailed to geologic work proper were one day after a night’s obser- vations, devoted to finding and setting permanent mon- uments or markers, and the transportation expense of a few extra instruments.” (Harris, 1905b, p. 173). Harris continued this type of survey work for three years, and when the task became totally overwhelming, he asked the United States Coast & Geodetic Survey for assistance. Much of the effort of the work by Harris and his assistants dealt as much with determining correct el- evations and doing topographic mapping as it did with rocks and fossils. The topographic data available to them were minimal and often base maps had to be prepared before the geology could be mapped. For ex- ample, the appendix to Part II of Bulletin Number 1 is simply a compilation of altitudes in North Louisiana (Veatch, 1905). Part of this mapping activity relied on having proper compass headings, which, in turn, re- quired establishing magnetic variations and meridian lines. This was very much “‘non-rock work", but still vital to the overall success of the Survey activities. The attention to establishing meridian lines and their importance to the general mapping of the region was a lesson well learned by his students. Several years later one of his student assistants, J. Pacheco, who by then was working with the Commisao Geographica e Geo- logica do Estado de Sao Paulo, related the following: “This survey is now doing something in the way of de- termining meridian lines, and I thought I could possibly do something in the way of studying the influence of the various rock masses in deviating the magnetic needle. We have here to contend with great trap dikes and overflows, which on decomposition gives a deeply red soil highly rich in iron oxide. Of course the needles behave crazily in such areas, but I thought that perhaps we could find some meth- od in such behavior."!5 In 1905, Harris changed the titles of the Survey re- ports he was producing. Up until this time he had been continuing a line of reports started by Lerch, e.g., the 1902 report was Part VI of the series. He also changed the heading; “Geology and Agriculture" became “Сео- logical Survey of Louisiana" to better reflect the type of work he and his assistants were doing. In addition, each report became known as a Bulletin, Report of [year] and numbered consecutively. Perhaps the choice of a name for the series of publications was influenced by his academic experience, and his own Bulletins of American Paleontology. In light of subsequent history, the letter of transmission from Stubbs, Director of the State Experiment Stations (the state office which con- trolled the survey) for the first Bulletin has an inter- esting statement in it: “The bulletins which follow will deal with salt, lignite, oil, etc., but these products are of most trifling account when compared to the great underground water supplies of the State." (Harris et al., 1905, р. vii). Today, however, no one would refer to the oil industry in Louisiana as a "'trifling account." At times, however, Harris' ideas on the importance of the Survey and its activities did not quite coincide with what the State expected, at least in so far as Stubbs represented the State's view. In a letter indicating that Harris had $2500 available after paying various ex- penses and salaries, Stubbs outlined various sugges- tions as to how he felt the money should be used: “You next speak of the volumes to be published, one on Economic Geology, another on Stratigraphy and topog- raphy, and another on Paleontology. I consider the first and second ofthe utmost importance just now, not because in themselves they are really so valuable, but because they will do to furnish to the large number of immigrants and land agents that are now invading this State with such information, and the object of this appropriation in the State is more to develop the material resources than for scientific research, although the latter is not lost sight of in the appropriation."'!ó Stubbs must have had his way, for in 1905, the pub- lished reports concerned only groundwater, altitudes, 15 J, Pacheco to Gilbert D. Harris, March 22, 1909. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 16 W.C, Stubbs, Director, Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, to G.D. Harris, October 13, 1903. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 tide, and magnetic data, with not a single mention of paleontology (Harris et al., 1905, pts I and II; Harris, 19056, с, 1907b; Veatch 1905, 19062). By 1905, Stubbs was no longer in charge of the Ex- periment Stations and the new Director, W. R. Dod- son, was not familiar with Harris and his work. Dodson inquired: “I am not acquainted with all the correspondence regard- ing the contract with you, and would be obliged if you would give me a statement of the months you are to spend in the filed [sic], and those which you are to spend in working up your reports. “I would also be obliged for a short resume of the work you have done this winter, the reports you have in prep- aration, and the number of publications now being issued, approximately what they will cost, when they will be ready for distribution and so forth. “What arrangements have you had regarding the survey paying the traveling expenses between Louisiana and Ith- aca. I note on the first statement that you have your rail- road expenses. Do I understand from this that we are to pay your expenses to and from Louisiana each season. Had I known you were going to return at this time 10 Ithaca, I should have requested you to come by Baton Rouge. I wanted to have a day or so with you and learn all about your plans, the work done this winter and many other things. I have given most of my time to the work that has needed my attention the most and have not yet given your work the consideration I wanted to. I hope in due time to become fully informed as to the what [sic] I can best do to promote the best interest of the work.” Only a few years after Dodson replaced Stubbs as head of the Experiment Stations, there were hints of financial problems that were affecting the Survey work and publications: “1 [Dodson] approve of your anxiety to get the Louisiana work before geologists of the country, and especially before the national department as fully as possible. I have nO special reason to believe that the appropriation for the work in Louisiana will be discontinued, but it 1s always 2 fight to get appropriations and there is so much politics m the legislature that things are not always put on their тег its, and we must always count on the possibility of having the appropriations cut off.” !8 And it seems Harris was, once again, having problems getting items printed by a governmental agency. This time it was a matter of having to use a “state printer instead of a private print shop: 17 W, К, Dodson, Director, Agricultural Experiment Stations, Bat- on Rouge, Louisiana, to G. D. Harris, March 29, 1905. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 18 W, R. Dodson to G. D. Harris, January 21, 1908. НА-РЕЉ Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 69 “I [Dodson] have your letter of the 21st, and note your Suggestion for having the bulletin printed in New Orleans. I hardly think we could do this. The printing of the ex- Periment station, and of the State Board of Agriculture Was awarded to the state printer by a committee from the State Board of Agriculture appointed for the purpose of awarding the contract for printing. ... ^. . . Possibly by printing 5,000 copies instead of 7,000, :*« It will be an easier proposition.""!'? The Bulletin of 1908, Number 8 (Harris et al., 1909) Was the last of the series Harris and his students pro- duced, for there was a change in leadership at the state level and the general funding for the work ceased. Among the final numbers of the Survey Bulletin was arris’ large work on rock salt (Harris, 1 908), and later he continued his work on salt with a paper in Economic Geology (Harris, 1909). The published work on salt certainly struck a re- Sponsive chord with his friend Branner, who was then ice President of Leland Stanford Junior University: “I have no hesitation in saying that I regard it [the Eco- nomic Geology paper] as one of the most valuable and far Teaching contributions that has been made to geology in this country for many years. "Since 1885 I have looked high and low for such evi- dence as you have here brought forward; but it is one thing to have а theory, and it is quite another to have facts and a theory 100,7'20 “Your salt bulletin [No. 7, 1908] was duly received and I thank you very much for it. It is not only good on the Salt of Louisiana, but the best there is now on the general Subject "21 One rather interesting map (Plate XXIV) in this 1908 report shows the relationship between the salt domes and the oil and gas areas of Louisiana and southeastern 9Xas, an idea which he continued to develop (Harris, E 1912a, 1912b, 1913, 1915). Also, in this 1908 d Dort, Harris gave what appears to be the first good “scription of what he called the "Sabine Peninsula." n a later report (Harris, 1910), he called it the “Sabine p ." This is one of the major structural features of У "омета Louisiana and northeastern Texas, and к as played a major role in various geological theories uch as Powers’ (1920b) “Positive elements in petro- eum geology”. ‘arris certainly exploited his idea about salt domes uring his days as a consultant to oil companies in 19 ih, VR: Dodson to G. D. Harris, January 25, 1908. HA-PRI, thaca, Ny, 20 ју. С. Branner to Gilbert D. Harris, March 1, 1909. HA-PRI, thaca, Му, 21 1 John C. Branner to Gilbert D. Harris, April 12, 1909. HA-PRI, thaca, Му, Louisiana. In a report he did for the Pardee Land Com- pany in 1912, he said: ". . . there are breaks in the underlying deposits and through these artesian saline solutions have arisen, concentrating, crystallizing, & [sic] pushing back and upadjcent [sic] de- posits. . .And in Coochie brake [sic] the elevations clearly of salt origin have . . ."?? His ideas about the domes resulted in successful ex- ploration because, as Harris indicated in an article about salt domes, the Myles Mineral Company, *... has had the courage to try out the theory and has discovered by the means a new oil field [Pine Prairie]. The director writes, ‘I consider this a most remarkable vindi- cation of a theory originated by you, and we [Myles Min- eral Company] attribute a large measure of our success thus far to your advice.” (Harris, 1912a, p. 546). No doubt such statements appearing in print did much to enhance Harris’ reputation as a consultant. Although Harris was not an active researcher in the origins of salt domes after about 1915, he did try to keep abreast of the work of others. Several years later Harris was apparently not altogether pleased with a description of his salt dome theory by Sidney Powers and inquired about it. Powers replied: “You asked me the reason for certain of my views on salt domes expressed in my American Journal [of] Science paper [Powers, 1920a]. The mechanics of salt dome growth are admittedly unknown to me. But when Rogers pointed out that enormous volumes of water would have to be gotten rid of according to your theory I tried to choose the path of least resistance, and accepted tentatively the Eu- ropean view. But I do not think the cap rock was raised or grew with the salt.” Somewhat later, Harris replied: "Now, as to the most plausible theories as you have stated the volcanic and the uplift I have always been at a loss to know how salt chunks covered unusually qua-qua-versally [sic] with calcareous thimble-like caps could possibly orig- inate volcanically. I have made most complete magnetic surveys around some, especially Weeks Id [sic] [Island] to see if the usual deflections produced by volcanic phenom- ena are present, but they are not. As to the usual uplift theory, there may be no extremely serious objections to it in a dome devoid of great masses of cavernous, crystalline capping among the inner belt of domes, but how about the coastal rep esentatives [sic], where some of the salt 22 Typed copy of Report on the Oil and Gas Prospects of the Pardee Co.'s Lands near Pine Prairie, La. by G. D. Harris, August 24, 1912; attached to a carbon copy of a letter from O. C. Hathaway to “The Pardee Company, August 27, 1912. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 23 Sidney Powers to Gilbert D. Harris, September 13, 1920. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. 70 BULLETIN 350 chunks have been penetrated, have these lost their moor- ing from deep lying Cretaceous or Permian beds, and have they on account of lightness in specific gravity been shakeu [sic] up top as popped kernels of popcorn rise to the top while the heavier unpopped kernels stay at the bottom of the popper? Or have they been squirted up in a semi-solid state from those great depths as our foreign brethern [sic] suppose stopping strangely enough just wrere [sic] the squirting is easy, not far beneath the surface? Again, with all this upward shaking or squirting movement is it not strange that porous, crystalline, cavernous calcareous mat- ter without traces of organic remains can come fr m [sic] no known sedimentary rock directly yet be there on top of the salt nicely in place in spite of the cavorting of its salty mount? “Does not the fact that these secondary crystalline mass- es are associated with geosynclines as you say rather sug- gest artesin [sic] action than volcanic or ordinary uplifting? “However, there is lots to be learned about these domes yet. Let others if they will, find more and describe them as you have done and the [sic] we will trust future results. I [sic] a hundred years or so I hope some one [sic] will re- determine the precise bench-marks I established some ten years ago to determine if differential uplifting was going on there now.’’?4 Two years before Harris’ death and almost 50 years after he had done his work on salt domes, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists was producing a new volume on salt domes, and wanted to include an “appreciative biography” in recognition of his pio- neering work with these features. Walter Норрег>, a former student who had worked with Harris in Loui- siana in 1908, contacted him about the volume: “I assure you that my work with you as a student and later in Louisiana is very clear in my mind. “T realize that I am not writing a memorial. This makes it necessary, or at least advisable that I be more careful in what I say. You may read my story." [Emphasis in the original.]?5 By 1909, Dodson was not very optimistic about fi- nancial the health of the Survey: “Т regret very much that the work that has been done is not more fully appreciated by some of those who hold the purse strings. The chairman of the appropriation com- mittee has no appreciation for scientific work of any kind, and it is not his fault that the appropriation for other scientific work was not cut off... . 24 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to Sidney Powers, November 2, 1920. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 2 Walter E. Hopper (A.B. '08; M.A. '10) was consulting geologist in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the time of the correspondence. 26 Walter E. Hopper to Gilbert D. Harris, July 1, 1950. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. However, for unknown reasons, the volume was never published. The A.P.P.G. library has no record of it. “I have not been able yet to get any money from the State Treasurer on our appropriation, but I feel confident that when the Board of Liquidation meets that they will make arrangements for filling the appropriation, and we will be able to pay our bills.’’?7 But the funds were not forthcoming and Harris’ Geo- logical Survey of Louisiana came to a close. At no time was Harris' organization really well fund- ed. According to Pope (1988), the maximum appro- priation seldom exceeded $2500 per year. In a letter? in 1905, Harris told H. S. Williams that Louisiana gave him $5000 to spend as he saw fit. That must have been a well funded year, or perhaps Harris inflated the facts to impress Williams. In the *Prefatory Remarks" of his very first report in 1899, Harris sang a different song and bemoaned the lack of adequate financial sup- port at that time: “The prosecution of a well organized geological survey demands an expenditure of funds far in excess of those now at our command. This the reader is requested to constantly bear in mind." (Harris and Veatch, 1899, p. 7). Yet, financial support notwithstanding, Harris and his assistants made quite a contribution. Seventy-nine years after the close of this phase of the state survey work, this is how the Harris years were remembered; note the quotation from the first Harris report: *... [Much] extremely valuable topographic and carto- graphic work was accomplished, . . . “The work of Harris was amazingly accurate especially under conditions of the times. His efforts, and those of his assistants, contributed not only significantly to the geo- logical knowledge, but greatly to the development of the natural resources of the state. The attitude of these tireless and astute workers is best expressed in the letter of trans- mission of the 1899 report in which the Director of the Experiment Station, William C. Stubbs said of Harris and Veatch, "These two gentlemen have persistently followed their work through freezes and sunshine, over intolerable roads, impelled by an enthusiasm known only to lovers of science.' Conversely, credit should be given for the sup- port rendered by the Director of the Experiment Station. Harris in his letter of transmittal to Dr. Stubbs in the Report of 1905 stated, *. . . you have cheerfully. promptly; knowingly expedited all matters relating to our State Sur- vey with no compensation whatever save the knowledge of seeing the right thing done at the right time" (Pope: 1988, p. 190-191). 27 W, R. Dodson to Gilbert D. Harris, February 1, 1909. НА-РЕЉ Ithaca, NY. 286. D. Harris to Н. S. Williams, April 12, 1905. Н. S. Williams Papers, 14/15/728, Geological Correspondence Box, RMC-KL, Cot nell. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 71 Pope (1988) gave no reason for the closing of the Sur- vey in 1909; other than the unspoken and obvious one, that the legislature did not appropriate any more mon- ey. It was not until 1914 that the Survey was re-estab- lished as the Louisiana Soil and Geological Survey. CHAPTER 6. The commercial aspects of geology and the work of academic geologists as professional consultants are of- ten overlooked by historians of the subject, and yet Commercial interests have been a driving force in the evelopment of most geological surveys, on both sides of the Atlantic (Tweedale, 1991). While Harris was Certainly not the first academic geologist to seek work 11 the commercial sector, he was very much at the forefront of the development of the oil industry in Sulsiana in the early years of the Twentieth Century, “ug as it was such an important part of his life, that activity deserves more than a passing mention. The 7 that Harris did most of his consulting by mail and М telegram makes this aspect of his career even more .'eresting. As these various letters between Harris and пое are read, wonderful images come to mind in rillers sitting on the edge of the drill rig down in ond Louisiana swamp with the crew playing cards, ER s for the mail to arrive with Harris’ instruc- Exactly when Harris made the transition into the hum of geological consulting is not known with any c m but from existing letters, it appears that con- Ng opportunities began to present themselves while * Was serving as Geologist in Charge for the State of à po nna. Information on a small printed sheet, prob- «с У Prepared and printed by Harris and entitled is, graphic Geology and Paleontology at Cornell," the following: “1916-1920 Louisiana professional moo work.”! But there is evidence that he was t Dp with consulting activities long before 1916. Ah ро, however, to tell if the work he was doing, ан of it by mail, was part of his Survey duties, or er he was involved in private ventures. E suy as the oil industry began expanding with ther rapidity during the first decade of the Century, ^ e was increased pressure to supply geological in- h mation and assistance, perhaps with requests for dy detailed information and quicker access than the “blished material would provide. Here is an example 1 Undated printed page. Pen corrections on it suggest a date of 11945; its purpose is unknown. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. abou Thus closed one aspect of Harris’ commercial work, which, in turn, led to the opening of a new challenge for him as a geological consultant to various oil com- panies. CONSULTANT of one of the many letters requesting assistance which were sent to William Stubbs, Director of the Experi- ment Stations, the parent agency for the Louisiana Sur- vey: “We have some very fine oil indications near Shreveport and I trust you [William Stubbs] will send one of your government geologists up here. I can send a jar of stuff taken from the top of the water here if it will be of any SOTVA m In 1905, four years before the demise of the Louisiana Survey, Harris received this letter from J. Numa Jordy in New Orleans: “I have your letter of the 27th. You have evidently mis- understood what we want in this matter. We are forming a stock company here to develop that Quarry and we want to know its commercial value as a Marble, for Lime or for any other purpose to which it may be put. Now, you are evidently very familiar with this property, and if you will get up a handsome report and make it as strong as your conscience will permit without overrating it, we will give you $1000 in the stock of the Company. “Please do this at once, and ascertain, if you please the other information that we are anxious to put in our pro- spectus, i, e, [sic] as to whether some of this marble was sent by the State of Louisiana to form a part of the Wash- ington Monument, in the meanwhile tho’ [sic] send the report we want, as we are waiting on it.... “State in your report that you have made a visit to this property and know all about it. Sign it officially.’ There is no record as to whether the report was sent; probably not, given the tone of the letter, but it does illustrate the kind of situations that were available to him during these early days of the oil boom in Loui- siana and Texas. Even Stubbs seemed to be impressed with the rising interest: “I enclose you quite a number of letters lately received [sic]. Some of them may be of use to you, while others ? Henry Shepherd to William Stubbs, January 3, 1903. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 3J. Numa Jordy to С. D. Harris, October 31, 1905. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. may be worthless. I send them as a proof of the widespread interest manifested in the work now going on in Louisi- ana."^ Even before the Survey closed Harris was corre- sponding with an I. N. Knapp, who appears to have been an independent operator, originally in Louisiana, and later in Philadelphia. There are a series of letters from Knapp to Harris starting in April of 1907 and continuing through 1910. No company name is given on the letterhead, just his name, I. N. Knapp. In some letters, Knapp described the fossils he was able to save from the well cuttings and said that he had them all labeled, waiting for Harris to stop by and see them. From this it seems that Harris was making visits to well sites: “Му [Knapp] office man at Morgan City is Mr. J. F. Allen and you can Phone [sic] or wire him regarding going down to the well and he will have a boat ready for you on arrival of the train. The porter from the Gostellos Hotel meets all trains ask him [about the boat]. ^ Samples were sent to Harris in bottles, small boxes, and even folded in the letters themselves: "Please find enclosed some fossils for determination. I would be glad to know their geological horizon." Harris and Knapp had more in common than just their mutual interest in the oil business: “I have two sons now at Cornell, Arthur Knapp, М.Е. '07, Instructor in steam engineering [and] Walter Knapp stu- dent in the E. E. course. I was about 1 1/2 years at Cornell with class of '75."7 By 1915, Knapp's son, Arthur, worked on one of the first rotary drill rigs used in Russia.? When the Survey ceased operations in 1909, Harris would have needed additional income to replace what he had been receiving as Geologist-in-Charge. Also, it was at this time that Harris ceased operations with the large geologic field camp held in the Helderbergs, and reverted back to less elaborate summer excursions with very few students. It is difficult to know whether a connection exists between the two events, but the tim- ^ W. C. Stubbs to G. D. Harris, January 12, 1903. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NX. 5I. N. Knapp to С. D. Harris, August 22, 1907. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 6 I.N. Knapp to С. D. Harris, September 27, 1907. HA-PRI, Ith- aca, NY. 7]. N. Knapp to С. D. Harris, September 27, 1907, p. 7. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. * Vivien L. Knapp (Mrs. Arthur Knapp) to Gilbert D. Harris, December 12, 1915. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 ing certainly suggests one. By having the smaller sum- mer activities, Harris would have had more time to devote to consulting. The following letter is typical of the correspondence which was reaching Harris from Louisiana. Although not addressed to him, it was probably forwarded by Dodson, who had succeeded Stubbs as Director of the Experiment Stations: "With a view of trying, by boring, excavating etc., in the earth to ascertain whether in our part ofthe country there's minerals and deposits to justify the presence and aid of ‘A 1’ geologist, we thought it would be advisable to confer with you-relative to such an undertaking-feeling that you have the interest in and the development for such at heart.... Others have succeeded in such undertakings and who knows what might happen in old Union Parish?” And as he explored the world of consulting, Harris did not overlook his own home state: “1 have tried 10 obtain the information you asked me for about gas wells about Buffalo. . .”’!°; there followed a three-page (albeit small ones) description of various wells and their bearing strata. By June of 1909, it appears that Harris was well and truly in the oil consulting business in Louisiana, for this date marked the beginning of a large volume of letters from “The Myles Mineral Company, F. F. Myles!!, President; MINERAL LANDS SCIENTIFI- CALLY EXPERTED, BOUGHT, LEASED AND DE- VELOPED." At the left side of the Myles letterhead is a drawing of a wooden oil drilling tower with black liquid gushing out the top. The first of the letters from The Myles Mineral Company begin in 1909, but from the tone of the nine letters written between June and December that still exist from that year, it appears Harris had been working for the company prior t0 June, 1909, for the first letter reads as though it was part of an ongoing correspondence. There аге 22 sur- viving letters from 1910; and similar numbers through 1915 at which point the record stops. Many letters had drilling reports enclosed with them informing Harris ? J. M. Anderson to J. С. Lee, February 3, 1909. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 10 Catharine M. Allen to С. D. Harris, June 22, 1909. НА-РЕЉ Ithaca, NY. '! Frederick Е. Miles was a figure in the business world of New Orleans for many years and before venturing into the oil business he began the salt industry in Louisiana with his mines on Weeks Island. He was a General іп the Louisiana State Militia and а“ appointed as Quartermaster-General of the militia by the governor He died in New Orleans July 1, 1915 at age 64. The Times-Picayune page 4, July 2, 1915. The Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 73 what depth had been reached and a description of the Material found at the various depths. A large part of the surviving record consists of nothing but the drilling Teports with no accompanying letter. !2 Although Harris’ replies by mail and telegram with his recommendations are unknown, from reading the Myles side of the correspondence, it seems that he was actually advising the company almost on a daily or at least weekly basis. When he was not teaching, Harris Would travel South for actual field examination and to Meet with his employers. This was possible after the demise of the Louisiana Survey because Harris con- tinued on a half-time appointment at Cornell, with his teaching duties confined to rather reduced summer field activities and the fall term: “We are ready for the fourth attempt, and want you to locate the well; so, upon receipt of this if you are in position to do so, please wire me here when we may expect you." > “When you have examined these shells, please advise me here by return of mail, what you think of them; and if you think them good indication please wire me here collect, as We are getting a little discouraged with this hole.” [Em- Phasis in the original.]'4 The Myles Mineral Company Secretary, H. M. Jour- nee, appears to have been an interesting person. From B letters he seems to have been quite well educated, з Not formally; and he certainly had given considerable Ought as to how and where oil might be found, es- Pecially where the structural domes were concerned: ‘Since last hearing from you, I have been pondering a 800d deal on your intimation that you now think it possible that we have a considerable uplift in our section, — possibly extending several miles to the Northward, I take it. “Now, this has always been my idea, in a vague sort of Way, and we were influenced by it in taking leases to the northward. As you will remember, we have no leases to pe Southward, except immediately adjoining us. "We are therefore extremely anxious to get your views alter an examination of the shells sent you; for, should you feel confident of an uplift of considerable proportions, we Would take several thousand acres more of leases."'!5 12 ea I was taking these letters out of the envelopes during the the d of 1994, I often found small gravel samples folded inside etter and a stream of particles would fall out as the page was ed. Mold, d 13 2 M. Journee, Secretary, The Myles Mineral Company to G. : atris, December 10, 1909. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 4 It H. M, Journee to G. D. Harris, February 15, 1910. HA-PRI, haca, Ny 15 Ith Н. M. Journee to G. D. Harris, March 10, 1910. HA-PRI, "08, NY, Earlier he had asked Harris for geologic literature on the eastern oil and gas fields, as reading them could, "... serve the purpose of my enlightenment.” !6 Harris must have had some success with his rec- ommendations, for Journee wrote: “I note your [Harris] progress as a promoter and beg to offer my humble congratulations. There are some rocks, and shells, and such as that in the path of a geologist; but the real rocky roads, and the real shell games, lie in the path of the promoter.” 17 From his letters it appears that Journee had some geo- logic knowledge, or at least he had mastered some of the terminology: “Your letter of the 20th inst. has been forwarded here [Pine Prairie, Louisiana], and has been read with great interest. — particularly as I had been hoping that these shells would show us to be in the Cretaceous."!* And another time: "At the same time I am enclosing a perfect shell; so small as to be apparently insignificant, but in which you may find some interest. It was found in the cuttings from the 2050 ft. level; and I thought it might possibly be ‘Fusus пат ns Given that Harris was actually on site only a few weeks each year, he had to use local people, such as Journee, to do his field work: “T too am much interested in knowing the relative location, as touching the dome formation, of the Anse La Boutte and Vinton wells; and it is my intention very shortly to go over to both places and make a careful examination, when it will afford me much pleasure to give you such information as my capacity may justify.’’2° Journee certainly had a sense of humor, which might have been a useful trait in his business: "Herewith I enclose as of possible interest, two specimens of what I took to be petrified wood. Can it be that we have come to the ‘Stone Age.’ Must have been rocky times, those, 16 H. M. Journee to С. D. Harris, July 30, 1909. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. УН. M. Journee to С. D. Harris, January 18, 1910 HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 18 H, M. Journee to С. D. Harris, February 25, 1910 HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 19 H, M. Journee to С. D. Harris, June 12, 1910 HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 20H. M. Journee to С. D. Harris, October 12, 1910 HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 21H. M. Journee to С. D. Harris, May 12, 1910 HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Harris’ ideas on the relationship between salt domes and the presence of oil proved worthwhile, but on oc- casion he apparently did not respond quickly enough to Journee’s letters: “I have just returned from Vinton, and what I saw there looked mighty good to me.’ All of the producing wells of any size are right alongside [sic] the salt dome, —one could stand on the dome and throw a biscuit (one of the kind we had at Eunice) across the best part of the field. While prospecting is going on very widely, the proven field is describing a crescent, and will, I believe eventually encircle the dome. Few, if any, people there, has [sic] any idea of the dome theory; and there may still be obtained on the South of the dome land that looks just as good to me at this time as the proven field. I would take some of it myself, were it not for the fact that I am convinced that we have a field of our own, and just as good. . . . : * Any further information you may desire, I will gladly furnish; but it appears to me I am writing a good deal lately, and getting mighty few replies. ”?? Harris, it would seem, was not only being paid as a consultant, but was also offered an opportunity to in- vest in the wells: *Herewith I am handing you samples from about 110 feet, in the present well, #7. Please let me know whether or not they look good to you, as we intend to bring a gusher in here soon, and want you committed in advance."7? While Harris’ idea about salt domes and oil seemed to be a good one, according to this letter, his advice was not 10096 correct all the time. Journee was ready, however, with a fair geological reason to explain the anomaly: *Herewith I am handing you a clipping, showing that a well [at Pine Prairie] has been brought in at Vinton, after passing through 1,000 feet of rock. This would seem to upset your theory that little oil is to be found beneath [that] much rock, but, if my idea as to the location of this well is correct, it is right at the edge of the salt mass, and the oil has evidently penetrated a cavity in the rock from the side, > Apparently Harris' lack of communication in 1910 can be traced to the building of his house at 126 Kelvin Place: *Am glad to learn that the new home will soon be com- pleted, and I trust that, when once you have a place to live, you will be like most other people who build houses, 22 H. M. Journee to G. D. Harris, February 8, 1911. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 23H. M. Journee to G. D. Harris, March 13, 1911. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 24 H, M. Journee to С. D. Harris, April 6, 1911. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 prepared to travel about; and that you will be with us more than of recent days.”’”° But all was not going well at the well, so to speak: “The well is down to 1269 feet, in standstone [sic], satu- rated with oil, and showing much gas, and much ‘smell.’ If we don’t get it this time, then you are discredited as 4 prophet. In other words, by one fell swoop, we will lose our phophet [sic] and our profits too. However, let us hope that this double disaster will not befall us."?* The well was a disaster, but for other reasons: “I have no good news for you. It looks that we are to lose the present well. At 1687 feet, and while drilling, a lot of rock fell in, jammed the drill stem, and they [the drill stem] pulled in two in trying to get out. We are still working on the hole, but have little hope to save it.... “We now want you advoce [sic], as to whether to drill alongside this hole, or try another part of the field." The Myles Mineral Company had better luck with well # 2, and they struck oil at 306 feet.?* It is interesting to note that almost all of the letters from Journee begin. “Dear Doctor", and Harris apparently did not correct him as to his proper academic title. The Myles Company had other successes: “I know you will be gratified to learn that we brought in а gusher on yesterday. Just what it will finally yield We cannot determine exactly, as we did not let it run to its full capacity, and now have it capped. However it flowe pure oil in a solid 4 inch stream, more than 60 feet high. and was constantly increasing when we shut it off. “I consider this a most remarkable vindication of a the ory originated by you, and we attribute a large measure о our success thus far to your advice.”’”° Apparently Harris had a letter in the mail which crossed Journee's in which he was saying they would have (0 drill deeper: “Your letter of the 6th is received, and for once I find yo" a bad prophet, as we have already brought in a big wel at a much less depth than you predict. *We are now arranging for tankage, and in about two weeks we expect to start it flowing. As you are the father of this field, it would be most appropriate that you should 25 H, M. Journee to С. D. Harris, April 14, 1911. HA-PRI, краса, NY. 26 H, M. Journee to G. D. Harris, April 29, 1911. HA-PRI, 1t aca,NY. 27 Н. M. Journee to G. D. Harris, July 10, 1911. HA-PRI, ува NY. : 28 Hand-written PS on letter from H. M. Journee to G. D. Нат! November 28, 1911. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 2 H, M. Journee to G. D. Harris, February 5, 1912. НА-РЕЈ Ithaca, NY. са, GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 9s) be present at the christening. Can't you get down about that time?"3o Harris seems also to have had a head for business 35 well as for siting of the wells: "Your idea as to sell outstanding leases is quite in accord With our own, except for the fact that I believe there is a Series of domes in this section. . . . "While we don't wish to become too ambitious on ac- Count of slight success. The demonstration of your theory has been so complete in this instance, that we are minded » take up the prospecting of Belle Isle should we meet With large success in the present instance, I am in position to obtain a lease on the entire island, and as you are so thoroughly familiar with the matter, I would be glad to ave your views regarding the possibilities of oil to be found there. As I recollect it, you were very enthusiastic about the island when last I Saw you."?! Of course there is nothing like a little prosperity to "Ing on civilization, and the well was producing oil 3t à good rate: ‘Since I wrote you last, things have been moving at Pine Prairie, — we have a lot of new neighbors, plenty of new Saloons, a dance hall or two, and several holes being drilled, but as yet no wells. ... "After bailing the water out, it came back oil, and is Tunning better than 1,000 bbls. [a day?], which we are Shipping directly, as we do not intend to close it again."?? E an earlier letter, Journee said that oil from the ha do Field was selling for $.60/ barrel.?3 Then as- ee the yield figure quoted is barrels/day, that one would create a gross income of about $600.00 per ma To help put this figure in perspective, Harris’ » iM at Cornell University, if he had worked full- ©, would have been about $3,000 per year, or $250/ ae Thus, the gross income from that one well in day was equal to more than twice Harris’ monthly Salary, d Ournee continued to express his support for Harris the relationship between the presence of oil and * salt domes: All indications bear our [sic] your views that the oil will s immediately adjoining the salt, and the test will now © to locate the contour of the salt dome." 30 It Н, М. Journee to G. D. Harris, February 10, 1912. HA-PRI, haca, Ny 31 н E D M. Journee to G. D. Harris, February 21, 1912. HA-PRI, aca, NY, 32 Ny Н.м. Journee to С. D. Harris, April 12, 1912. НА-РКІ, Ithaca, 33 а M. Journee to G. D. Harris, March 23, 1912, HA-PRI, аса, NY 34 n Ny. I M. Journee to G. D. Harris, April 29, 1912. HA-PRI, Ithaca, While Journee and Harris were corresponding about the wells owned by The Myles Mineral Company, Har- ris was receiving letters from W. D. Cheny* in Shreve- port, Louisiana, and consulting with him on a project at the same time. Cheny enclosed land maps and well logs on wells drilled by the Cudahy Oil Company:?$ “I am enclosing you a map and a log of the well drilled by the Cudahy Oil Co. on the lease I made them, and I have lately acquired the well and the surrender of the lease. ... "...Iam sending you under separate cover some samples of the rock, shells and sand, .. ."*7 In 1913, there was yet another company joining Har- ris’ "stable", The Pardee Company. This group was headquartered in Philadelphia, and this connection ap- parently developed as a result of his work with The Myles Mineral Company in the Pine Prairie area. Har- ris did some preliminary work for The Pardee Com- pany in late 191255, and there must have been an ex- change of information between the two organizations as Journee knew Harris had some connection with The Pardee Company: "Am in receipt of a letter from The Pardee Company, stating that they have abandoned the idea of drilling at Pine Prairie, but they make no explanation whatever. In view of the many courtesies which I have extended these people, and the personal trouble and inconvenience I have been put to in their behalf, the letter is not at all what I should have expected. Can you give me, confidentially, any information as to the sudden change of front of Mr. Pardee? Harris must have known nothing about the Pine Prairie project, or chose not to say anything: “Yours of the 12th is received, and I note that the Pardee people have not taken you into their confidence as to the cause of their delay. I was very much surprised at their sudden change of attitude and the brusque manner in which they announced it to me. However it is evident they have some plans which they desire to conceal, and as my interest 35 No information is known about W. D. Cheny, but apparently he was no relation to Monroe С. Cheney (Cornell B.S. 16). 3% W., D. Cheny to С. D. Harris, November 29, 1911, April 20, 1912, and one undated letter missing page 1, but the information in it appears to be about the same well as the April letter and written near the April, 1912 date. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 37 W. D. Cheny to С. D. Harris, April 29, 1912. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 38 Copy of a report prepared by Harris for The Pardee Company, August 12, 1912. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. з Н. M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, February 8, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 76 BULLETIN 350 is largely friendly and my efforts entirely gratis, I shall not trouble them further.’’*° But apparently Pardee was still in communication with Journee: “Just received a telegram, requesting that I meet Mr. Par- dee in New Orleans tomorrow, and will advise you as to the outcome. Verily the Yankee commercial mind, like Providence, ‘moves in a mysterious way its wonders to pertoum -9 Journee apparently was looking after Harris’ interest as a consultant, as well as his own interests; note the use of the word “us”: “Тодау I had a conversation with Mr. Wexler, Vice-Pres- ident of the Largest [sic] bank here, and he states that he wants us to go to Honduras this Summer [sic], and he requested that I write and ask whether or not you can go. Your compensation would be $500.00 per month and ex- penses, and the trip would be a most interesting one. Please let me hear from you, and if you can arrange to go, I will make definite arrangements.’’4? But Honduras was too much even for Harris to un- dertake at that time: * ..I note your plans for work during the coming year; and upon further consideration I quite agree with you that it would be well to devote whatever time you can spare this summer to Louisiana work, and defer the Honduras trip until next winter. I will immediately take this matter up with Mr. Wexler and ascertain whether or not this will meet with his views.’’*? Harris replied to Journee agreeing with the postpone- ment, but he certainly wanted to keep the project alive, if possible: “I think it is quite proper to let the Honduras proposition rest over until next winter if it will keep. In fact I am writing this particularly to let you know that this so far as I am concerned will be possible for next winter, because I have already made arrangements with the Trustees to allow me the same leave of absence the coming winter as I had during the past, namely from about December 22nd to February 6th. This will give us ample opportunity for investigating any equatorial proposition."^* 4 H, M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, February 25, 1913. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^! H. M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, March 12, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 42 H, M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, March 17, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^3 Н. M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, March 28, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 44 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to H. M. Journee, April 7, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. The monthly salary quoted by Journee apparently was Harris’ standard rate and, no doubt, one of the reasons why Harris was drawn to this work. There was no further explanation from Journee as to why Mr. Pardee wanted to meet with him, but Par- dee may have wanted to ask him about Harris' work as a geologist, for by May, 1913, The Pardee Company was back in touch with Harris: “I am advised by my son Ario Pardee that you аге willing to continue to serve my Company, or myself, or both, a$ heretofore, looking over the lands of The Pardee Com- pany, to advise where to search for Gas, Oil, or Salt, and, in addition, to advise as to additional purchases of lands where in your opinion these minerals or elements may be found, and on the terms hitherto paid you, — Five Hundred Dollars per month and your expenses. In addition, we are to pay for the necessary surveyors, etc., to aid you, an also their expenses. “You are to spend two months on this work the coming summer and one month next winter. “In addition to your salary and expenses, we are to give you a five percent interest in the lands purchased in the territory where you think a new stratum oil field, similar to the Caddo field, may be found.’’*° As this offer came when his maximum annual salary at Cornell was only $250 per month, needless to say: Harris accepted almost immediately: “Herewith I am returning some clippings from the Shreve- port Times sent to me by your Mr. Hodge. ... “As regards your personal letter of May 2nd, the con ditions you mention are entirely satisfactory to me, and shall take great pleasure in working out the stratigraphy of the east portion of the Sabine uplift. I really believ® herein is the secret of future development that is worthy of serious consideration"^* Pardee was quite happy that Harris had accepted the terms: “T need not say I am pleased that the conditions named in my letter to you of May 2nd are entirely satisfactory p you and that you will be prepared to go to Louisiana some time in July.’’4’ At this point it is necessary to note that now Harr! was working for The Pardee Company (Philadelphia): Mr. C. Pardee, President, and for The Myles Minera Company (New Orleans), Mr. H. M. Journee, Secre tary, both at the same time. Also, the officials of each ^5 C. Pardee, President, Pardee Land Company, to G. D. Harris May 2, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 46 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to C. Pardee, May 7, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 47 C, Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, May 12, 1913. HA-PRI, Itha NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 27 Companies appear to have known of his affiliation with Based on a letter from Pardee to Harris May 17, 1913, the other company, for Harris was open with Journee there was some trouble brewing. Pardee wrote: that he was now working for another company: “Ishall be down in Louisiana further to the north however, for the Pardee people next summer, and doubtless shall be through by Pine Prairie sometime before the University Opens in the fall.”48 Apparently Harris' reputation was spreading; the fol- lowing is another example of many such letters from this time period requesting his services, this one from the “Bank of Boyce, Boyce, Louisiana": “We understand you have been doing some geoligist [sic] Work for the Pine Prairie Oil Co, also for S, [sic] Gumble 9f New Orleans. We want some work of this kind in Rap- Ides Parish, near Boyce. Are you in a position to do any thing [sic] of this kind at the presant [sic] time, and if so, what are your usual terms, and what machinery would be necessary for the initial work, if any.”49 And another, this time with a letterhead, *Fox-Renaud Tocer Company, Limited; Pure Food Grocers" in опгое, Louisiana, also requesting Harris’ help: “Associates and self have in contemplation drilling for oil ОГ gas in this parish. Could we secure your services or Some other competent person to locate the place to drill, ifin your opinion, indications are such as to justify sinking а well and what would you charge for the services." [sic]°° This time Harris declined, but he did offer some free advice: ‘Replying to your favor of the 15th, I must say that from ту experience in the state of Louisiana, I could not rec- ommend the expenditure of money drilling for oil in north- саз! central Louisiana, or in the parishes immediately around Monroe. . . . Again, since I shall be occupied most busily all summer in oil investigation in other parts of the State where I have more confidence in the locations, I could n find time to spend with you as suggested in your let- ОК 51 E Was at this time that the Hodge character, men- ned та previous letter, made a major entrance into E consulting activities. This episode also dem- че ates that the latter part of the Twentieth Century not have a monopoly on unscrupulous behavior. ü 48 : 8 1 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to H. M. Journee, May 0.13. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Ithaca 50 у h Charles Schultz to Gilbert D. Harris, May 10, 1913. HA-PRI, аса, Му, 51 & 19 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to Charles Schulz, May : HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. i Jonlaw to G. D. Harris, January 4, 1913. HA-PRI, » NY » 1913 “Mr. Hathaway writes me under date of 5/22/13: "There has been some parties from your territory that is [sic] trying to buy some land in the immediate sections where we have been trying to buy, and I am unable to ascertain how these people got this information, unless the same came from your office. However, I learned yesterday that Mr. Thos. [sic] L. Hodge had been in Shreveport and also in New Orleans while I was in Tennessee. This might account for the interference.’ "I have written Mr. Hathaway to know exactly where efforts had thus been made to secure lands in the territory where you have already made, or propose making, ex- aminations and reports in my interest. “І dismissed Mr. Hodge April 30, 1913, since which time he made a visit to Louisiana, reported by Mr. Hath- away. "I have thought it best to advise you of Mr. Hodge's dismissal and of his reported efforts to buy lands in Lou- isiana in what I might term my territory and in which you are to have an interest, as I fear he has been trying to get lands in what you think may prove a possible second Cad- do field??." [Emphasis in the original.]53 A few months prior to this, in March, Hodge had re- turned a page from Harris' report which described those lands. Harris shared his thoughts on the situation with Journee: “Тат informed from Mr. Pardee of Philadelphia that Mr. Hodge is no longer with the Pardee Company and the intimation is given me that Mr. Hodge has been in Lou- isiana apparently taking advantage ofthe geological knowl- edge gained through association with me while in the Par- dee employ. All of this I hope is in some way due to some slight misunderstanding, for I do not wish to consider Mr. Hodge a traitor, but I thought it my duty to give you this pointer, which you may be on your guard as to what state- ments Mr. Hodge may make to you if he is that character of a person seemingly indicated by what little I have re- ceived from the Pardee people of late. The only suspicion I have felt regarding Mr. Hodge was (1) as I have already written you, I see no necessity whatever of his taking time and expense to go to Louisiana to help write my report for I had promised to stop in Philadelphia and tell the Pardee people all I knew; (2) I became slightly suspicious on account of the over religiousness shown ostentatiously, or without cause in many instances by Mr. Hodge. I always 52 The Caddo oil field was first developed about 1904 (Harris et al., 1909). Production peaked in 1913, and by January 1, 1920, the Caddo Field had produced over 81 million barrels of oil. On March 10, 1920 it was still producing over 17,000 barrels per day (Powers, 1920b). 53 C, Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, May 27, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. feel very suspicious of a person who takes particular pains to state that he is very, very religious, and especially if he has serious fears of my immortal soul. After what has happened and the very crooked morality displayed, if such it really turns out to be, I feel almost inclined to write to Mr. Hodge and ask how about his own immortal soul."5^ Apparently, Hathaway (in New Orleans), Harris (in Ithaca), and Pardee (in Philadelphia) did not move quickly enough, for only a few days later, Harris wrote to Pardee: “I think Mr. Hodge has made a serious mistake in any way you may consider it, for first, it seems to me [Harris] that upon his [Hodge] representation of what seems to be a good thing to any company in Shreveport, the question will immediately be raised as to what authority he bases his judgement upon, and if he declines to tell they will immediately suspect something is wrong, and in case he should tell said companies will more than apt to write to me some inquiries regarding the matter, and I cannot help thinking aside from the moral aspect of the matter, he has made a most grievous mistake. What could have lead [sic] him to such miserable actions, I for one cannot imagine.” 55 Harris then received the following: “Your letter of 2nd inst. has been received and I will write Mr. Hathaway to-day [sic] to better describe the 4040 acres referred to in his letter May 28th and the 1000 acres re- ferred to in his letter to me of 5/22/13, copies of which I enclose you [sic]. “Мг. Hathaway wired me yesterday from New Orleans that the scamp Hodge and friends had closed for the 4000 acres (which I believe to be the 4040 acres)."'^* To further complicate this situation, there seems to have been some financial connection between the two companies, at least on some of the drilling prospects. Here is part of a letter from Journee, Secretary of The Myles Mineral Company: “The Pardee well is now down more than 2500 feet, and when I left yesterday, was in water sand with many shells, so it looks like a dead one to me, and I told Hincy he could have our interest if he wanted to go deeper." ^? About two months before Hodge was dismissed by Pardee, Harris had received a short letter from none other than Thomas L. Hodge who was returning a page from one of Harris’ reports. From the closing in the 54 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to H. M. Journee, May 30, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 55 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to C. Pardee, June 2, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 56 C. Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, June 5, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 5 H, M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, January 27, 1914. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 letter, it would appear that Hodge and Harris had more than a passing acquaintance: *Enclosed is sheet [page] no. 19 of your Report which must belong to your copy, as our copy and that sent to Hathaway are complete... Mrs. Hodge wanted to be remembered when I wrote again."5$ Another interesting note is that the page Hodge was returning just happened to be one that has part of the description of *A New Stratum Oil Field" and men- tioned: “Such facts as we now have tend to cause us to believe that in the extreme south of Bossier and southwest extreme of Webster Parish a monoclinal structure exists that, in case oil has been generated in this district of Louisiana should produce a duplicate of the Caddo field. . . . Again, we have determined that on Lake Bistineau nearly along the Webster-Bienville line it is not the Claiborne Еосепе that appears at the surface but the Sabine, just as in the Caddo field! [Emphasis in the original.]?? It was in June that Harris must have written to Још“ nee about Hodge, for he received this reply: “Yes; we have Mr. Hodge in our midst, so to speak. Нё has been down here twice within the last thirty days, and is at present in Shreveport. He came to me about two weeks ago and stated that he wanted to buy some cheaP lands in the Lake Bistineau section, and I turned him ove! to Mr. Giddens of Campti, with the understanding that he (Giddens) and I divide any profit that might be made and I understand from him that he has sold Hodge the 4,000 acres immediately adjoining the lake on the west, in Township 16, Range 10. I don’t know just what Mr. Hodge has in view, but my impression is that some of his friends have put up this money and are carrying him fof an interest in the purchase. If Hodge is stealing Parde? thunder, and Hathaway says that he is, I don't know just exactly how he satisfies his conscience; but he tells me that he attended Sunday school in Shreveport, and urges that I do so on the occasion of my next visit there. He also expressed much concern for my spiritual and moral wel- fare, and I know he thinks that poor Babcock is utterly damned.’’®° The saga continued, with Harris very much in- volved. From Pardee, Harris received a letter date June 12th and with it was a copy of a letter to Parde? 58 Thomas L. Hodge to Gilbert D. Harris, March 3, 1913. HA PRI, Ithaca, NY. 5 Part of an unpublished report, page 19, attached to a letter fron! Thomas L. Hodge to Gilbert D. Harris, March 3, 1913. HA-PRI Ithaca, NY. *? Н, M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, June 5, 1913. HA-PR' Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 79 Es Hodge. First is Hodge's letter to Pardee and then ardee’s accompanying letter to Harris: "At Pine Prairie yesterday I [Hodge] learned from Mr. Journee, for the first time, that you had been offered a Portion of the 4000 acres at Lake Bistineau recently pur- Chased for my friends. I think you should know the cir- cumstances under which I acted. . “When you [Pardee] dismissed me from your employ, It was, of course, necessary for me to secure other em- Ployment, and I came to New Orleans to see Mr. Journee about another matter. He told me of a report which Dr. arris made to his friends last year of a possible new oil field, and said that if I could raise any money he thought he could get me some cheap land in that neighborhood, Naming a price at which he agreed to buy it. I accepted the Proposition with the understanding that nothing should be done to embarrass Mr. Hathaway in any negotiations he might have in hand. I returned to Philadelphia, com- Pleted my arrangements for the purchase of a thousand acres, and on receipt of telegram from Mr. Journee, went to Shreveport, where he told me that there were 4000 acres In the tract, which my people agreed to take. It was not Until the week after I had agreed to take the property for my friends and arranged for the money, that I learned of T. Hathaway being after it. I was then committed to my friends, . . . “I felt entirely free to secure the land in that territory after Mr. Journee had volunteered the information re- garding Mr. Harris’ report of last year, showing that the Information was not the exclusive property of the Pardee ompany; also from the fact that you said in the office ame time ago that you could not, of course, buy all the апа in that neighborhood, and further, that you said to Mr. Ario [Pardee, son of C. Pardee], in my hearing, that adn had already secured 3000 acres on the lake. . . . : If I have interfered with your plans, it was uninten- 1onally done, and I very much regret it, having supposed, 45 Stated above, that you had already secured a large hold- 116 in that neighborhood"! P , ар 5 assessment of Hodge’s explanation, as ће ex- “ined to Harris, was not very high: Tam to meet him [Hathaway], and will ascertain what * knows of Mr. Journee’s reports to Mr. Hodge as to Odge’s explanation in second paragraph of his letter, of bet "port of last year to Mr. Journee's friends of a pos- the 4 Dew oil field based on which Hodge claims he bought ` our thousand acres. I can only say Hodge was fully aware of your report E this year in my interest and even marked on one of med maps of Louisiana the exact location of the do “sald where you thought might be found a second Cad- il Field and I naturally assumed he was using confi- ential information gained while in my employ to my ш. 61 19 1, Ped сору of a letter, Thomas L. Hodge to C. Pardee, June 9, : HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. detriment. Hodge's explanation is one that does not ex- plain in my opinion. In view of your statements that the information you gave of this supposed oil field was to be confidential he should not have gone into this territory except with your consent and mine."9? But now the plot thickened. Again from Pardee: “I returned from Bristol, Va., yesterday after an interview with Mr. Hathaway, who says your Report, which Hodge mentions in his letter ofexplanation, was the one you made Julius Weis & Sons and its contents were made known by Mr. Journee to both Mr. Hathaway and to Mr. Hodge in Mr. Journee's office. “Мг. Hathaway also states that Hodge had a copy made of your report to The Pardee Company which he [Hodge] virtually stole from me and gave it to a Mr. Giddens of Shreveport while buying through him the 4040 acres on the west side of Lake Bisteneau [sic]. “T also learned through Mr. Hathaway that The Gulf Refining Company have recently renewed their oil leases in the Lake Bisteneau [sic] section and that very little land remains without leases.’’63 Pardee enclosed for Harris a copy of his letter to Hodge, and from the last section it seems Harris shared his letter from Journee with Pardee, or Pardee had com- municated with Journee himself. Pardee wrote to Hodge: “Your [Hodge] letter of June 9, 1913, has been received, but your explanation does not explain, as you deliberately appropriated while in my employ and took from my office a confidential report made by Dr. Harris for and at the expense of The Pardee Company, of which I am practically the owner, used it for your advantage, and furnished a copy to a Mr. Giddens** (and who I believe still has it) through whom you bought about four thousand acres of land in the territory recommended by Dr. Harris. "As you are noted for your ostentatious concern for the welfare of the souls of others, let me suggest that the welfare of your own soul needs especial looking after in view of this breach of trust by you."65 So now it appears that Harris was involved with yet another company, Julius Weis & Son, at the same time as the other two major companies. But none of this *? C, Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, June 12, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 63 C, Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, June 18, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. «Т. K. Giddens of Campti, Louisiana. From the surviving letters it appears that Harris was advising him on geological matters as well as advising him on where to send his son to study geology, Cornell or Louisiana State University; Unsigned carbon copies, Gilbert D. Harris to T. K. Giddens, October 2, 1913; November 17, 1913. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. 55 Typed copy of a letter from C. Pardee to Thomas Hodge, June 18, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 80 BULLETIN 350 seemed to change Harris’ relationship with either ma- jor company as shown with the following letters; first from Pardee, in what appears to be the finalé to the Hodge story, and then from Journee: “1 [Pardee] still think it advisable that you [Harris] should go to Louisiana, as we have plenty of work for you there for the summer, and I shall expect you to do so and wish you would report to Mr. Hathaway, to whom I shall send a copy of this letter. “Hodge has replied to my letter of the 18th instant [sic], copy of which I sent you, as follows: — 1 [Hodge] acknowl- edge that I did wrong in giving to another information from your office, and I ask your pardon for so doing.’ I don't think Hodge shall ever get my pardon, and my only regret in the matter is that he cannot be punished as he deserves for his breach of trust.’’® Then from Journee "Should Pardee decide to curtail his investigation this Summer [sic] I [Journee] can readily arrange for you to put in your time to advantage, as our mutual friend, Mr. Learned, of Natchez, is very anxious for you to make a comprehensive investigation of the section to which we paid a visit last Summer [sic]; and in any event I expect to arrange with Mr. Pardee for you to put in at least a couple of weeks at Natchez."67 Harris' response to Pardee must have been a positive one, for Pardee replied: "Your telegram has been received and I enclose you a check for Three Hundred dollars, and I infer you will be likely be prepared to start for Louisiana soon after July twentieth, ... [to do] the examinations I would like you to make, which will, of course, include the Lake Bisteneau [sic] territory, even though Hodge so shamefully and out- rageously took away about four thousand acres of it. . . 7768 But the Hodge affair would not go away, and it had made Harris very cautious, for almost four months later, he wrote to Pardee: “I am enclosing herewith a letter recently received from New Orleans, the import of which you will quickly grasp.... “Were you here, I would be glad to discuss this letter more in detail, but knowing how matters discussed before Hodge regarding my own opinion touching matters in Lou- isiana, and finding the same disclosed and commented upon freely by people in New Orleans, I think it best to 56 С. Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, June 26, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. *' H. M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, June 27, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 68 C. Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, June 30, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. say little at the present time, although I do not believe you will suffer again in the immediate future from men like Podge => Then another reference to Mr. Hodge was made in one of Journee’s letters, and it appears that Journee used the word “friend” in a sarcastic manner: “About a week ago your friend Mr. Hodge called on me here and stated that you would be astonished if you knew how closely he had followed your work during the past Summer [sic]. He also showed me a number of fossil shells in rock, taken from some point where you had made an examination, but he declined to state where. He asked me to ascertain what the shells were, but I told him I was not interested. “Whether intentionally or not, there is no doubt that Hodge has circulated so many reports throughout the en- tire section as to make it very difficult for Pardee to obtain cheap lands; and if you have found anything which you think it advisable to buy, I would suggest by all means that the negotiations be left to a third party, and that party be unknown in the transaction until such time as the рш“ chases be completed. There is no doubt in my mind what- ever that the Castor property could have been bought much cheaper in this manner. The nature of country people i$ such that I make practically all of my purchases through local men, even when buying only for land and штрег values, and in sections generally recognized to be barren of minerals.’’”° The relationships with The Myles Mineral Company and The Pardee Company appear to be typical of the manner in which Harris went about his consulting albeit all the more colorful due to the *scamp" МГ Hodge; namely by mail and telegram, with the occa- sional site visit. As Harris maintained a connection? with some companies for ten years, the results gained from following his advice must have been successful. A few of Harris’ letters with instructions and advice have survived and these provide a brief look at the consulting services the companies were getting for thet! money. This one was written to Journee: “It certainly is little unlooked-for [sic] to have the flankin£ clays extend to the depth of 1200 feet; yet of course УУ must expect that there will be projections and inflections making the dome quite irregular about the periphery. “This seem to be the first well you have sunk in опе of the inflections or bays in the dome and it naturally suggest for the well either no oil at all or a far greater and more satisfactory supply at a greater depth. *? Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to C. Pardee, Octobe! 6, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^ H, M. Journee to Gilbert D. Harris, October 1, 1913. HA-PR! Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 81 “Hoping the latter condition will prove to be the correct РА Тће second one, to Pardee, is more detailed, and with definite conclusions, but they are presented in an al- Most “stream-of-consciousness” writing style that is difficult to follow: "I have also indicated on the map that in the central por- tion of the domw [sic] you may expect to find a large mass Of salt. This will doubtless be flanked by porous limestone and gypsum. Similar to that we were in in Well No. 1. At Winfield just outside will be upturned sedimentary de- Posits and in the porous layers of such deposits in this Particular case cretaceous [sic] formations such oil and gas accumulations as may have been formed in this region will Naturally be found. A well located not too far a way [sic] from the salt center would naturally penetrate these cre- faceous [sic] beds in an undisturbed condition, hence they Would doubtless contain no special concentration of hydro carbons [sic]. Hence the location of Well No. 2 at Castor 45 you find it on your map still farther away from the sands 9f the dome outside of your main purchases you would doubtless find between one and two thousand ft. of tertiary [sic] sands containing a considerable amount of water to at least a thousand feet or more in depth. This then is the general scheme of this dome and a well or two of no great depth about the northern portion should indicate its oil Potential, "72 А Тһе advice given by a consultant can be only as good hi the information received and at times Harris did uffer from insufficient information: “I have received your communication regarding the log Of the well you were engaged in sinking, but I must confess that One can get only the most meager conception of what 18 геаПу being done by а mere statement as a driller sees It іп the field. What we want is actual specimens, partic- Ularly of the life that is generally in the form of sea shells t ‘at are brought up, that we may see whether or not low- lying formations have been bent up near the surface there and hence give us reason to suppose that such structures m as may lead to the accumulation of Hydro Carbons DIC |. 78 ion Myles Mineral Company appeared to have Pped out of Harris’ consulting stable by about 1915; e“ that is when the surviving letters cease, about Years before the death of F. F. Myles. Letters and PRI ilbert D, Harris to H. M. Journee, February 17, 1914. HA- ж Ithaca, NY lth Gilbert D, Harris to C. Pardee, October 12, 1914. HA-PRI, aca, Ny, У Unsi E. 1 2 Bned carbon copy; Gilbert D. Harris to C. Pardee, Decem- 915, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. b drilling reports from the Pardee company continued at least until 192374. With the amount of consulting available to him and with companies willing to pay him four times his monthly, half-time salary from Cornell, it is easy to understand why Harris was very anxious to have this half-time arrangement continued, and even made per- manent. He wrote to J. G. Schurman, Cornell Uni- versity President: "A year or two ago you were kind enough to make an arrangement with me in my work whereby I substituted certain weels [sic] in the field in the summer for a few weeks between Christmas recess and the beginning of the second semester. ... Now I am extremely anxious that this scheme, which has certainly worked with the greatest benefit and success to the students and University in gen- eral, should be continued and I am asking you therefore if you will kindly refer to the minutes of the action above referred to and see whether such action were [sic] taken to mean as a permanent arrangement or for last year only, 9975 It is interesting to note that Harris was apparently un- der contract to several companies at the same time, and was, no doubt, charging each of them his full monthly rate, but none of this was mentioned in his letter to the Cornell President. Also, the consulting work seemed to be taking Harris away from other ac- ademic projects, for he wrote to a Professor Lyford at Middlebury College: “As regards a text book on Paleontology for second year students, I can sympathize with you, because I have felt the need of exactly what you call for. In fact, I have already started such a text book to be published by Ginn & Com- pany, but owing to lack of time the publication will be delayed for some years yet."79 By early 1915, apparently H. M. Journee was no longer employed by The Myles Mineral Company, for he was writing to Harris on a variety of company sta- tionary, e.g. “Lake End Store", *Polk-Fenner Com- pany Real Estate", and “The Lampton Realty Com- pany”; still sending Harris drilling information and requesting assistance and professional advice. By 1920, Journee was with “Invincible Oil Company", Fort Worth, Texas. From the letters, it is difficult to deter- mine just who was paying Harris for his information, 74 Well log from “Henderson Syndicate’s Pardee No. 1", Decem- ber 1, 1922 to March 2, 1923. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 75 Gilbert D. Harris to J. G. Schurman, October 16, 1914. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. 76 Carbon copy of a letter (unsigned), Gilbert D. Harris to C. A. Lyford, March 17, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. No record of such a manuscript has been found in the Harris Archives. 82 BULLETIN 350 the company or Journee himself, who then passed the material on to the company. Over the next four or five years Harris continued to work for a variety of companies and individuals ex- amining material from Brazil to the West Indies to Louisiana and Texas. A partial list includes: “Freeport Sulphur Company", Freeport, Texas; Crystal Ice and Bottling Company, Ltd.", Natchitoches, Louisiana; “Мег Rouge Oil and Gas Company", Morehouse Par- ish, Louisiana; “Ouachita Natural Gas & Oil Com- pany”, Ouachita, Louisiana; "Progressive Oil & Gas Company", Morehouse Parish, Louisiana; ““Chestine Land Corporation"; “Louisiana Oil Refining Corpo- ration", Shreveport; “Sinclair Exploration Company", “The Texas Company"; “Trinidad Petroleum Devel- opment Company"; and “Standard Oil Company." Harris had used students as assistants when he was directing the Louisiana State Survey and, at least by 1914, his students were involved in the consulting business as well, following in the footsteps of their professor: “Work here is just over for me this term. I am out every week end [sic], acting as consulting and field geologist for one of the big oil companies of the state." ?? And another student, who was to later accompany Har- ris on one of the Ecphora trips, Karl Schmidt, wrote: “As there has been no pause in the drilling here I have not gone to Winnfield this week, and hence not talked with Hincy. I may as well send in what meager information I have from Mr. Hines, and report later on conversation with Mr. Hincy."7* From Schmidt's letters, it appears that he was working for Harris as a field representative in Louisiana while he was doing other collecting work. In the letters, Schmidt made several references to collecting snakes, insects, etc. Although there is no record that Harris ever made the Honduras trip mentioned previously, even before 1920, his students were being employed in foreign ventures? and companies were contacting Harris about potential employment and requesting recommenda- tions: “T have been authorized by Mr. D. F. McDonald, Geol- ogist for the Sinclair Central America Oil Corporation, to 77 [rving Perrine (A.B.'07, M.A'11, Ph.D.'12) to Gilbert D. Harris, January 29, 1914. At this time Perrine was on the faculty of The University of Oklahoma. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 78 Kar] P. Schmidt to Gilbert D. Harris, February 13, 1915. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. This letter from Schmidt in Louisiana was written on Cornell University, Department of Entomology letterhead. ЗА. C. Veatch was writing from England in 1914. A. C. Veatch to Gilbert D. Harris, November 7, 1914. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. employ a number of geologists for work in the Republic of Panama. The men are wanted for a period of six months beginning the latter part of December and of course all expenses including traveling will be included. I would be glad to hear of any men who you care to recommend. You, no doubt, can understand that men with German names have considerable difficulty in traveling nowadays but this need not be a serious drawback if they are American I»[ojus 2 Those who went to foreign lands always seemed to keep in touch with Harris, for there are many rather lengthy letters from former students. Axel Olsson was a frequent correspondent; from Panama he wrote: “А few weeks ago I returned from a ten week trip to the Pearl Islands and to the interior of Panama. Before that І had been pretty much on the move with only a few days in town at a time. *... The fossil collections have been shipped to the Smithsonian but as soon as the war is over I hope to get busy on them. . . . and of greatest interest a large nautiloid, probably the Enelimatoceras alrichi Vaughan on the bases of the very small and incomplete fossil collection made by MacDonald has correlated this Eocene with the Wilcox, but don't you think it is more apt to be your Midway? “I have spent quite a bit of time in the Darien that part of Panama which borders Colunbia [sic]. Geographically it is the most interesting part of the republic [sic], contains the largest river, is inhabited by black Panamains [sic] and by friendly and hostile Indian tribes. With our launch Bertha, we ascended the Rio Tuyre to Real and Yaris? Both are old towns which were founded by the Spaniards some 400 years ago ... For this river work, use is made of a long, slender, dug-out canoe with flattened bow an stern. ... One man stands at the bow and another at the stern and by poling progress is made against the current and up over rapids. These boatman are wonders at thé work ... In this way one can go far up the small shallow rivers and over bad looking rapids. Coming down is а! first quite exciting but the novelty gradually wears off. river may take 3 or 4 days to ascend may take only ha a day or less to descend, especially as often happens durin£ a flood. .. . In the Tuyre valley the Cunas are friendly but in the upper [illegible] are hostile against strangers of any kind. Their country is closed and very little is known 19" garding it. ... "In the Tuyre valley we have a geologic section some 10,000 feet thick of which 3000 feet are highly (ове ous. ... This will make an interesting subject of study by itself. " Yesterday I helped take our launch Bertha through the Panama Canal. It seemed like our old days on the Barg? Canal and the good old Delaware and Chesapeake. Som? day we must have another Ecphora trip.”®' 8 D. Dale Condit to Gilbert D. Harris, November 10, 1917. НА" PRI, Ithaca, NY. [ *! Axel Olsson to Gilbert D. Harris, October 6, 1918. HA-PR^ Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 83 Through the influence of A. C. Veatch, his former Student and assistant during the Louisiana Survey days Who was then with Sinclair Oil Company, Harris was hired by the Trinidad Petroleum Development Com- Dany, Ltd. in 1919. In a memorandum Veatch de- Scribed Harris this way: “2. In a region where the geology is of the character of that in Trinidad, it is quite important to have Paleonto- logical assistance. I [Veatch] wrote [R. H.] Soper to send the fossils to Professor G. D. Harris of Cornell University, the Breatest authority in the world on American Tertiary OSsils, saying that I was writing Professor Harris asking What arrangements could be made with him, or through him, for examining the fossils which Soper would send him from time to time, and for reporting to Soper on their Stratigraphical significance. "3. At the same time I wrote Professor Harris asking if he could accept the position of Consulting Paleontologist to the Company and asking also if an honorarium of $1,000 Per annum*? would meet the case,—the Company to pay, addition, all freight and transportation expenses. | 4. I now have a letter from Professor Harris accepting this basis 83 Ag contract Harris received from the Trinidad Pe- a Development Company, in addition to indi- Nn the salary would be $ 1,000 per year, were two dif esting clauses; very interesting, indeed, in light of culties that developed about seven years later with aury. The clauses were: TM The specimens sent you will be your personal prop- ni except for such sets of representative examples of ин forms as may be of value for a reference ; ction for the field geologists working for the Company 1n this area. TM The Company has no objection to your publishing i om of new fossils found, but you will not be free E publication concerning general stratigraphical re- an at any time within five years from the date of the he Mh of the collections without approval of the geologist the EN of the Trinidad work, which approval will be on the asis that such publication will not prejudicially affect commercial interests of the Company.’’** Thi ; m last clause is quite interesting, also, in light of the Sophy Harris apparently imparted to his students: Bie. This Pay rate was still in effect in 1923, for Harris received a Chee F K for $500 which covered the, '*. . .half yearly payment. . ." N. Bill to Gilbert D. Harris, January 3, 1923. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. oue ORANDUM to The Board of the Trinidad Petroleum De- Ihitialeg E vg Regarding a Paleontologist for the Trinidad Work. Box, Ha АСУ” in Veatch’s handwriting, July 14, 1919. Trinidad uc A-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Lia, aren between Trinidad Petroleum Development Company Ithaca, E D. Harris, July 17, 1919. Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, "Now if there is anything that I can do for you in the way of visiting localities, collecting fossils, taking photographs, or any other information either regarding Trinidad or the mainland of Venezuela across the Gulf, remember you have but to ask. There are, as I have often heard you say, scientific things which are above ones [sic] duty to any company and if while I am there I can get you any infor- mation which may help you in your work or possibly save you a trip down I will only be too glad to do so. I have not forgotten the innumerable things you did for me when I was at the university."55 Within six months of Harris taking the position with the Trinidad Petroleum Development Company, So- per left the Company and Gerald. A. Waring®* became Harris’ contact in Trinidad, and the two men were to continue their working and personal relationship for many years. Harris did not, however, make a very auspicious start with the Company: "We received a short letter from you dated September, Ist. [1919] in which you said that you were working on our material, but we have heard nothing from you since then. I also wrote you on 22nd. September, and sent a few fossils by mail, from two wells, but have not received an acknowledgment to date. We are particularly anxious to hear from you in regard these latter fossils — whether or not they are of any value. You understand, of course, that if the material we send you, is to be of actual value in this particular survey, the data [sic] will have to be available by the end of August, 1920 at the latest, since the final report and maps will probably be prepared during Sep- tember and October, 1920.87 So in 1920, Harris went to Trinidad, his first trip overseas since his visits to England and France in 1894, just after he had accepted the position at Cornell (Palm- er, 1953c). But this time he was going for consulting purposes and was being paid. In a letter to Waring in May, 1920, Harris mentioned his plans: "...am planning so that if the Pearsons will help me on my field expenses I can take next year off for field work at least for the early months of 1921.”88 Later, Waring confirms his 1920 trip: "Since you sailed for New York, Mr. Kip has put in a 35 R, А. Liddle to Gilbert D. Harris, January 2, 1921. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 86 G. A. Waring came to the Trinidad Petroleum Development Company, Ltd. after working for the U.S.G.S, and later he worked for Margay Oil Corporation (Tulsa, Oklahoma). Harris named Ven- ezuela waringi in his honor. 87 R. Н. Soper to Gilbert D. Harris, December 18, 1919. Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 88 Carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to G. A. Waring, May 2, 1920. Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 84 BULLETIN 350 couple of days on the lower part of the Brasso section; 2989 Although not mentioned by Palmer (1953c), a letter from Waring in 1921 suggests that Harris made a re- turn trip to Trinidad the following year, from which he was late returning to Ithaca and missed the begin- ning of the fall term: “I was pleased to receive your letter of the 20th. October and to learn that you had reached home safely with all of your material.... “We are interested to learn of Cornell's new President”, and I presume it was in connection with his installation that some dissatisfaction was felt with your late return to the University. I fancy, however, that the incident has been wellnigh [sic] forgotten by this time, and doubtless the inconvenience to you was not such as to detract from the advantage of spending a few days longer here in in [sic] Trinidad."?! During the 1921 excursion, Harris collected material from over 100 localities??, and he returned to Trinidad again in 1923?? (Harris and Hodson 1922, 1931; Harris 1926; Waring 1926): As a measure of the respect he enjoyed among the professionals working on Trinidad, it appears there is a mountain there named after him?^. Also, during the 1921 trip, Harris managed to arrange a meeting to discuss stratigraphic nomenclature of Trinidad, at- tended by geologists from all the oil companies working there; Trinidad Petroleum Development Company, Ldt., United British W. I. Petroleum Syndicate, Ltd., Trinidad Leaseholds, Ltd., Trinidad Central Oilfields, Ltd., and Apex Oilfields, Ltd.: “This meeting was called partly at the instance of Prof. G. D. Harris of Cornell University, who wished to discuss the matter with geologists of the principal Oil [sic] com- 89 С. A. Waring to Gilbert D. Harris, October 8, 1920. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. % On June 30, 1921, it was announced that Livingston Farrand, former President of the University of Colorado and Chairman of the American Red Cross, would become President of Cornell Uni- versity (Bishop, 1962). ?! G, A. Waring to Gilbert D. Harris, November 10, 1921. Waring File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ?? Locality list of all 109 sites is in the Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 9 С. D. Harris field book with title “Trinidad” which starts on August 7, 1923 and the last entry is August 16. Trinidad Box, HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. Attached to a letter from Waring is a list of col- lecting localities for Harris which has the dates “August-September, 1923" on it. G. A. Waring to Gilbert D. Harris, September 24, 1923. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ^ "River between Mt. Harris and Plum Mitan Rd." Quotation in a letter from H. G. Kugler to Gilbert D. Harris, November 13, 1924. Kugler File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. panies, before he returned to the States. This meeting was also in part in response to a desire expressed by Drs. Ganz and Kugler?* [respectively representing the United British W.I. Petroleum Syndicate, Ltd. and Apex Oilfields, Ltd], to exchange ideas with Professor Harris about a uniform system of nomenclature to be adopted by the leading ge- ologists working in Trinidad... . "Asa result ofthe meeting the following formation names were tentatively agreed upon, but without discussion of their geologic age, or even of their equivalence or sequenc- es— Matura Formation Caroni Formation Manzanilla Formation Tamana Formation Moruga Formation Naparima Formation San Fernando Formation (Palo Seco Facies) Pointe-a-Pierre Forma- San Fernando Formation tion San Fernando Argiline Formation''?o There seems to be a connection between Harris’ work in Trinidad and his re-publication of the paleontolog- ical writings of Guppy (Harris, 1921), as both occurred at about the same time. His 1923 visit to Trinidad was made while returning from a consulting trip to Venezuela. “After spending two months in Venezuela a stopped [sic] by in Trinidad for two weeks and Waring and I had a final look over the Island.’’?” By the early 1920s a former student, Ralph Liddle”: was working in Venezuela for Standard Oil Company: and he seemed to be Harris’ contact for the Venezuela portion of the 1923 trip: “I am glad to hear that you are well and that you intend going to Venezuela on an excursion with Mr. Lidall [sic] [R. A. Liddle]"?? Later Liddle forwarded some photographs to Harris ?5 Harris continued correspondence with Kugler for 30 years. H. G. Kugler to G. D. Harris: first letter, June 12, 1923; last letter, July 3, 1951. Kugler File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. °° Notes of a meeting held at the residence of G. A. Waring, in of Spain, on the 22nd, September, 1921, to discuss the adoption ©, an Uniform Series of names for the various Geologic formations a Trinidad, p. 1 and 5. Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. These names were used a year later in a stratigraphic column sent along port with a letter to Harris by G. A. Waring, October 24, 1922. HA-PR^ Ithaca, NY. ?' Gilbert D. Harris to Н. G. Kugler, December 25, 1923. Kugle" File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ?* Ralph Alexander Liddle (Cornell A.B.'18). ” H. G. Kugler to G. D. Harris, December 6, 1923, p. 4. Kus! File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. er GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE Showing him sitting on a “gallant steed on the La Velg anticline” taken during the Venezuela trip. 109 i Palmer (1953c) stated that the Venezuela trip was n 1924, but, although he made a second trip in 1924, eed letter quoted above clearly states that he was €nezuela in 1923 working for the Standard Oil Company:0i, And a letter from that company, dated September 5, 1922, suggests that he was hired in late 922. at the same time as Floyd Hodson, another of his Students: ‘We desire this work to be under your general supervision So that Mr. Hodson and the Venezuelan organization can Call 9n you at any time for advice. We shall in all prob- ability count on your making a trip down there next sum- mer [1923] to see that the work is being properly handled E to give personal attention to it.’ ‘As to the matter of compensation, I am authorized to Make you an offer at the rate of $700 per month for time actually devoted to the work, whether in the field or in the laboratory, with all official traveling and field expenses while in the field, "102 к. material he collected on these consulting ex- зета plus the material collected by his students and dy ned to his laboratory, created а very valuable re- bead Harris described the situation this way: I Bow have enough material from Santo Domingo, Ja- Maica, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Venezuela so that Eu begin to work to advantage, in fact have the best m 9 оп west Hemisphere Paleontology [sic] of the Colu ormations, and more coming from Venezuela, Peru, mbia [sic] and Argentina. "03 pie more data became available, modifications had тми раса in previous stratigraphic positioning of ve | the strata. A former student of Harris’, Car- aury, had proposed some of the earlier no- m A 5 Bue and organization (Maury 1917a,b, 1918, lei, Валк especially for the copy of Miss Maury's bul- ead the Miocene and Pliocene of Trinidad! Will you Genin extend to her my sincere appreciation of the rec- eeu, she gave me, in naming several new forms. You 10n that her stratigraphy does not quite accord with по Ина 00 a Ita, P^ A- Liddle to Gilbert D. Harris, October 15, 1923. HA-PRI, aca, NY 101 у ів Further Support that he was in Venezuela in 1923 comes from ао “After spending two months in Venezuela а [sic] У E by in Trinidad for two weeks. . .” Gilbert D. Harris to Н. HA. Bler, December 25, 1923 (original). Kugler File, Trinidad Box, 102 m Ithaca, NY, PRI 1, F. Bowen to Gilbert D. Harris, September 5, 1922. HA- i; аса, NY ina Boni D. Harris to H. G. Kugler, December 25, 1923 (orig- io, “бег File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. И Probably Maury, 1925, which was published March 27, 1925. ours, and in checking hers (pp, 16-17), against my latest geologic column (of Oct. 1924), I find the following: Freeport- Todd's Road Miss Maury Upper Miocene Waring Lower Pliocene Springvale Upper Miocene Upper Miocene Brasso Middle Miocene Upper Middle Miocene Godineau River Middle Miocene Upper Middle Miocene Manzanilla Lower Miocene Upper Middle Miocene Machapoorie Lower Miocene Upper Middle Miocene Tamana Lower Miocene Upper Middle Miocene “The discrepancies seem to be chiefly as to Godineau River, which we place equivalent to Machapoorie; and Manzanilla, which we place as Upper Middle instead of Lower Miocene. This can be taken care of, I suppose, in a footnote to our paper, in accordance with your latest determinations.” !°5 These excursions into foreign countries were not without their hazards, especially medical, and after his 1924 trip to Venezuela, Harris suffered from an illness and it took him many months to recover: “I regret to state that I have been doing practically nothing this fall since I returned from Venezuela, having contracted amebic dysentery while there and having been confined to the house or hospital most of the time.” 196 This illness continued to trouble Harris and almost a year later he received this letter: “Тат very sorry to hear of your illness, in which you have my sincere sympathy, for I had amoebic dysentery for thirteen months some years ago... . “Tam glad for the few remarks on Trinidad stratigraphy which you were able to give me in spite of your sickness, 29107 Not only was Harris venturing into foreign lands, but as indicated above, his students were doing the same thing, often in more exotic places and conditions than their professor. Olsson worked in Panama and Costa Rica, Liddle in Venezuela, and in 1921 Harris received a letter from Dean E. Lounsbery!® (BS '19). Not only does this letter describe the hardships en- 105 G, А. Waring to Gilbert D. Harris, April 27, 1925. Waring File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 196 Gilbert D. Harris to H. G. Kugler, November 11, 1924. Kugler File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 107 T. A, Bullbrook to Gilbert D. Harris, September 3, 1925. War- ing File, Trinidad Box, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 108 Later Assistant to the Vice President for Land and Geological Department, Phillips Petroleum. dured while doing geological fieldwork, but it illustrates the willingness with which Harris’ students apparently undertook such tasks; a willingness they, no doubt, acquired through their association with Harris. An- other interesting point about many of these letters which came back to Harris, aside from the geological discus- sion, is the political insight they show. Perhaps this is a measure of the broadness of the education they re- ceived from Cornell and from Harris. Lounsbery wrote from Ponnagyun, Burma: “T haven’t forgotten my promise to write, but in fulfilling that promise, I must admit a decided slowness on my part. I cannot imagine that almost a year has passed since I started globe trotting. In that year I have done considerable traveling especially in India, for a young blood; on the go almost continually since last January, but far be it from me to complain or kick for I am having the time of my life, and later on I will be sure to realize that is so, even more than now. “Last season from January to April I was with the party of D. D. Condit, formerlly [sic] of the U.S.G.S., which was conducting a rapid reconnaissance of the foothills adjoin- ing the Kirthar Range in Sind and Baluchistan. There were two others in the party — Mr [sic] Nuttall, 23; and Mr [sic] Maynard, 24, from Chicago, a protege of Prof Salisbury's. We covered a large amount of territory, and most all by camels; the joys of riding via camel are to be compared with seasickness in the last degrees, and coupled with that there is always the unpleasant and nauseating odor ema- nating from the camel's nostrils. We always had siwars or mounted guards who sat in front of the hump to drive them, water being scarce and the siwar naturally dirty, you can figure the rest. “The country was rugged and barren of vegetation-a true desert. Water was very scarce at many places, and the natives said that there had been no rain in the last three years and only once in the last five. The geological end however was very interesting. Formations were very dis- tinctive and one had little trouble in identifying horizons. The main Tertiary formation of the area is the Kirthar Nummulitic Limestone, and there was never any doubt about it, as whereever [sic] found it was always abundantly filled with Nummulites!??, of several distinct and easily identified types. During the season we found and mapped many beautiful anticlines and they were certainly excellent to look at from the standpoint of structure. We failed, however to locate any proof of petroliferous horizons un- derneath them.... “By the Middle [sic] of April the weather was so hot that further work in the field was very near impossilbe [sic], let alone foolish.... The Company maintained a summer headquarters at Dalhousie, a beautiful little hill station at the edge of the outer Himalayas. The elevation there is 7,000 feet, and consequently cool throughout the 109 A type of fossil foraminifera. BULLETIN 350 hot season. All of the staff with the exception of Dr. Wrights [sic] party came there to do office work, the latter being in Assam, the most convenient station was Shillong. The atmosphere there proved very pleasant to Mr. Weeks’ '’, and he was captivated by a very nice English girl, who last October became his wife. **.. . The moonsoon [sic] lasted until the middle of Sep- tember, and then Dr. Knox, who is my present chief, and I started off into the Himalayas to do a little mountain climbing. ... Various places along the route chosen af- forded log rest houses. The highest pass which we went over was in the Central Himalayas at an elevation of 14,400 feet. On that particular day, unfortunately for us, there was a howling snowstorm [sic] in progress, which prevented taking any pictures of the first range of the Inner Hima- layas.... “This season the Company sent us into the Arakan coast region of Burma. The country so far as geology is con- cerned is virgin soil. The Indian geological staff has ex- amined and reported on only the costal [sic] and accessible regions. The Burma Oil Company geologists did some work in here, but so far as we can find out, they did not trouble themselves much where the jungle growth was thick. Our program calls for a complete examination of the entire strip, clear up to the Arakan Yomas. True enough the jungle is thick but one can always get through as there are many trails both animal and native. When I first heard of our assignment, I had visions of wild animals, snakes, leeches and jungle, as all were reported by the party ій Assam. So far, I would not ask for a more ideal place 10 geologize in. We have not seen any tigers, wild elephants or bison; all terrors of the jungle, and as for snakes, they two [sic] are scarce. Malaria is very bad during the rainy season, but we will leave before that time... . “India is all astir now that the Prince of Wales is out here. The non-co-operatore are getting bolder every day and it will not be long before the government will have t9 step in and call a halt. Mr [sic] Ghandi's influence is very far reaching amongst the Hindus and the sooner things аге brought to a showdown the better. Circumstances are get ting graver in the Punjab every day as that has been the seat of all the trouble. I am not at all sorry that I am in Burma this year. The effect of Irelands [sic] being granted a Free State will have considerable influence here.” '' Such consulting work, aside from the adventure, als° paid the young people well. In 1922 after completing his work for the Sinclair Oil Company in Costa Rica" 110 Believed to be Lewis George Weeks, a graduate student at Cornell, 1919-1920, who later worked with Standard Oil Company (New Jersey). 11 D, E, Lounsbery to Gilbert D. Harris, December 18, 1921. НА" PRI, Ithaca, NY. 112 Not above a little politics as well as geology, A. C. Veatch, who was then working for Sinclair Oil company, suggested to Harris that Olsson dedicate the Costa Rican work to the National Museum of to the “. . . scientists of Costa Rica. This I think desirable from : company standpoint." A. C. Veatch to Gilbert D. Harris, January GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 87 pon, 1922), Olsson wrote to Harris that he had ines hired asa paleontologist for $5,000 per year by * International Petroleum Сотрапу!!3, and by Feb- Tuary of that year he planned to be in Peru. In fact, for Olsson, the constant lure of consulting Work kept him from completing his Ph.D. Each time e would return to Ithaca to begin the residence re- quirements and his thesis on the Miocene of Virginia, * would be hired for another overseas assignment. Ut that did not stop his interest in scientific work and Isson published almost 4000 pages of material during I$ career, a total that does not include the countless Pages of company reports that he wrote (Moore, 1978). Isson's 1922 trip to Peru was the beginning of nearly P Years of work in South America, work in which he S 80 successful!! that the companies gave him free- e of movement and unrestricted permission to pub- fo on the material ће found!^, Olsson and Harris aned an effective team, Harris with Bulletins of à Eu Paleontology, the avenue for publication, TRIN Isson with a constant stream of new fossils from Mm company explorations. For Peru alone, Olsson's По = resulted in seven major works, 750 pages (Olss 28 plates, on the paleontology of that country i, 26, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, and ), which Harris published. тта returned to Harris by his former students cn ‘eg 1n foreign lands would also often provide the E es for others to study. For example Palmer (1923) material sent from Costa Rica by Veatch and over р years later she used samples collected by Weisbord almer, 1945), his be reviews the many letters Harris received from zm Tmer students as they pursued industry and other dii i dae cannot help but be struck by what a differ- баа eir geological training made in their view of the Peopi when compared to non-geologist. These young Seen 3 Saw a different world before them than the one Y ordinary citizens. In reading one of Olsson's Dno e HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Olsson did mention the "Officials the Ee Museum of Costa Rica" and “Dr. A.C. Veatch” in there is Iminary Remarks" to the paper (Olsson, 1922), although College (ite record that Veatch ever actually graduated from any ua егоу, 1942). Кћаса, ee to Gilbert D. Harris, January 22, 1922. HA-PRI, 114 Up do well in 1924 was the largest gas well ever drilled in Peru 1b) a time with 26,000,000 cu. ft. of gas. A. A. Olsson to Gilbert lis rris, February 26, 1924. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 0 р there was а delay with that permission, “Іп a couple Published. So, there should be no reason why the stuff cannot be Biving i » but at the present time the company is very close on Tris ut any kind of information." A. A. Olsson to Gilbert D. » February 26, 1924. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. letters, written shortly after his arrival in Peru, one imagines how differently a non-geologist would have described the scene; one feels the excitement Olsson must have felt as he gazed at this Peruvian landscape for the first time. He described the landscape with these words. “Back a short distance from the sea, the country is gen- erally high, a flat plain or tablayo covered with Pleistocene gravel. This plain near the coast and along the dry rivers is chiefly dissected by dry arroyas or gullies revealing the Tertiary rocks underneath. This dissection results in a bad- land sort of topography with most wonderful exposures so that the whole structure and relations of the beds is laid bare before ones eyes. It is a most ideal country for geology I have ever soen.” ™ 1s Others with foreign assignments included the Hod- sons, Floyd and Helen (Hodson, F., 1926; Hodson, H., 1926; Hodson, F. et al., 1927; and Hodson and Hod- son, 1931), and Norman E. Weisbord (1929, 1934). Weisbord, like others before him, took an interest in the local politics as well as the geology; at times he was in considerable danger himself. From Cuba in 1931, Weisbord sent Harris a description of the political and social conditions of the people and a hypothetical, but all to real, description of how certain government of- ficials might operate. The conditions he described eventually led to several revolutions and much polit- ical instability on the island. Also, Weisbord’s com- ments show how corruption in one country is often supported and exploited by others, even by people in our own country: “But enough of geology and on to politics. The revolution is definitely over tho [sic] there are occasional rumblings ofanother one brewing. Tho [sic] our press generally treats these political upheavals in a comic operatic vein they are serious affairs frequently resulting in loss of life, economic paralyzation and a bitter aftermath. I was in a sense in the thick of it inasmuch as I was working in the field all the while, tho [sic] my movements were constantly hampered by the rural guard who always had to examine my stuff and cross examine me. I protested in one place and got a good crack over the shoulder with the soldier’s rifle and for a moment I thought the darned thing might go off. It is a sinking sensation to have a gun waved in front of you by an exceedingly mad soldier (who perhaps had had no sleep for several nights and very much on edge). I thought of lots of things during the interval. I was sent up to the guard house to the seargent [sic] for carrying khaki clothes (prohibited) a medicine chest and sundry instruments which looked like bombs I guess. The seargent [sic] . . . [had] . . . a kind, dumb face and I wheedled permission to go on 116 A. А. Olsson to Gilbert D. Harris, February 21, 1922. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. ahead. I showed him my passport which he scrutinized and said it looked alright [sic] but it was somewhat difficult to read. Since the incident I don’t talk snotty to any sol- diers. “Of the various Latin countries I have visited, this one seems to be the most corrupt politically, possibly because I’ve been more exposed to it here. The revolution was entirely warranted, tho [sic] it is quite possible that the new regime would have been as bad as the present and in all probability worse. There is no more thought of service to the people than there is common honesty in higher circles. Our own government is bad in spots, let’s recognize it, but we do have some legislators and executives with a really earnest desire to do the right thing. This is usually very difficult in a democratic form of government hence our frequent failures. But here the prime reason of holding office is for the graft involved. The higher the circle the bigger the ‘reward.’ Compared to Venezuela which is avowedly the most autocratic of the South American states, this system is elephantine in its corruption compared to measly Venezuela which hasn’t a penny [of debt] outstand- ing. This lovely little island of perhaps 4 million people is in debt to the tune of nearly a half billion dollars —with hardly anything to show for it. Here is the way its [sic] done, with the connivance of U. S. banks. I’m Joe Presi- dent, let us say. I can’t milk my people any more they’re dry—have been since the ‘gorda vaca’ or dance of the millions during war time when sugar was selling for over 20 cents a pound. Well now, I and my clique have to have some money. We get our crooked heads together and we conceive of a great highway to span the entire island. We don’t need such a highway for 50 years to come but it looks nice, it makes a show for tourists and above all it gives us a chance to get in on as easy a dollar as ever trickled thru [sic] the financial sieve. I, as president, con- trolling every phase of the government get Congress to pass a bill authorizing let us say 50 million dollars for highway 800 kilometers long, done up pretty good style. If congress doesn’t О.К. this plan, why by hooky I'll take the lottery rights away (another prolific source of 100% graft). Congress benignly passes the bill without a whim- per. That item taken care of, I have to get 50 million dollars. That’s easy! We call in Mr. Bullblower of National City Bank and say we want 50 million dollars. Mr. B. says alright [sic] that can be arranged quite top hole. Cuba floats a public works loan of 50 million dollars, the National City Bank underwrites it giving public works let us say 40,000,000 dollars—that is they actually pay 90 dollars for a 100 dollar bond or some such figure. Public Works now has its 40,000,000 dollars. National City Bank gets its crew of nifty looking bond salesman and the talk is bruted around that National City is offering, ‘as, if, and when’ with all the proper phraseology and sleek looking salesman oiling the selling machinery. Result is National City sells its bond issue to a gullible public. Tom Citizen, a poor sucker who has a thousand dollars saved up from teaching school or tightening nuts on an automible [sic], goes in to what he thinks is a big, reputable house and he BULLETIN 350 comes out with a Cuban bond yielding 6%, the interest on which raised in part by another bond issue. “Well this leaves National City with a fat profit of let us say 10,000,000 dollars and Public Works with 40,000,000 for the great highway. An American firm rep- resentative, used to Latin American road contracts is called in to conference and emerges with a fat contract. The secret figure which Mr. American gets is 50,000 dollars per mile. which is certainly plenty and then some. Of course Mr American bills Obras Publicas for 140,000 per mile and distributes the balance between his profit as entrepreneur and what he bills Public Works. The balance which you will agree is goodly is distributed among close members of the ‘gran departmento de Obras Publicas. Mr. Amer- ican is paid promptly because as soon as he's paid the largess is distributed and memebers [sic] of Obras Publicas have hungry mouths to feed! So the great thing goes thru [sic]. Yawping [sic] tourists come down and see the nice carretera and beautiful capitolio and rave about how ad- vance Cuba is. The debts pile up—they can never be paid, will eventually be repudiated. Who suffers? Tom Citizen, the gullible American citizen who believes in great big institutions, and the great mass of Cuban people who are deprived of essentials. Thus Joe President reduces teach- er's salaries so that the interest on Public Works can b€ paid. Officialdom and National City Bank get big swigs а! the ‘botella’ (bottle) whilst we eventually pay the price. “There you have it. I have no figures to back me UP: other than the fact that the central highway which is a fait job, cost 140,000 dollars per mile. Compare this with costs in the States for an A-1 super-fine, reinforced concrete road with all sorts of emellishments [sic] (20,000 per mile would cover it) and you can see that something is dam? rotten in Denmark." [Parentheticals and emphases in the original.]''7 Eventually the clouds of war overtook the world and letters from Harris’ former students carried descrip" tions of war preparations as well as geological one’: Weisbord was working for Island Exploration com pany in Papua, New Guinea, in 1939, only six months before the beginning of World War II. Yet the wa! clouds did not dampen his spirits nor interfere with his recreation which included both old and new games “Two days ago arrived a detachment of 40 Australian soldiers and several big guns destined for the protectio? of Port Moresby in event of war. A naval and air base 5 being established as well so that the place is developing one way or another, quite rapidly and quietly. *, , . a suburb of Port Moresby, is the site of the technical staff. Fortunately it is located adjacent to the golf course so that after hours I can get my swearing done early a” keep at it until nightfall. Golf is a game, the emotion@ graph of which closely resembles a business chart wit 117 Norman E. Weisbord to Gilbert D. Harris, November 3, 1931, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 89 long periods of depressing lows and brief peaks of soaring highs. It is a game unsuited to my temperament since it affects my sensibilities too much. Between strokes I run the whole gamut of reactions and since I am a duffer these Teactions may make me apoplectic. ... “In one of the weekly cricket matches I was given the Opportunity of playing and, according to the local paper, delighted the crowd with my baseball antics.” You prob- ably know as much about game as I do. I never handled а cricket bat before. You're supposed to keep the ball away from the wicket by smacking the ball before it hits it. Since the ball bounces first and comes with terrific speed and all Sorts of twists it’s not as easy as it looks. I hit a number 9f foul tips which to my surprise counted for runs so I Tolled up a better score than some of the blokes who have been playing since childhood. Came a ball, however, which missed and which knocked over the little ticks and did I feel sheepish. Still I got a good hand from the fine, sport- Mg crowd who go a big kick out of my unconventional Stance,’?118 t No matter where they went, the former students con- pte to send Harris fossil collections whenever pos- le. This continued especially after he started the aleontological Research Institution: Asa souvenir from New Zealand for the Paleontological Research Institution, I have sent you a fossil moa bone. I elieve it is the fused tibia and tarsus or the lowest part Of the leg which was covered with feathers. It belonged to 118 PR Norman Weisbord to Gilbert D. Harris, March 26, 1939. HA- L Ithaca, NY, the largest species Dinornis maximum and the bird in life probably stood almost 14 to 15 feet high"'!!? Thus consulting activities served as a valuable re- source for Harris and his students. For the students these activities provided adventure, meaningful em- ployment (especially during the depression years of the 1930s'??), an opportunity to make a meaningful con- tribution to science, and, in some cases, the opportu- nity to explore the unexplored; to be true geological pioneers, following in the footsteps of other former Cornellians such as Hartt, Derby, and Branner. For Harris, the rewards came from advancing the under- standing of Tertiary strata, building his fossil collec- tions, and, as it turned out, the financial return. Ap- parently his consulting work allowed him to gradually build a nest-egg that could be used to start the Pale- ontological Research Institution in 1932. Without the financial rewards he reaped through the consulting ac- tivity, it seems unlikely that he would have had the necessary resources during the depths of the Great De- pression to found his own institution. 119 Axel A. Olsson to Gilbert D. Harris, August 4, 1939. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 120 “Very soon now I shall have to decide whether to go away again (the Company wants me to return to the East when my time is up) or stay in the States as another member ofthe unemployed." Norman E. Weisbord to Rebecca Harris, September 21, 1939. HA-PRI, Ith- aca, NY. CHAPTER 7. CARLOTTA J. MAURY p^ incident occurred between Harris and a former With Enc when compared with his relationships Cer ег students, appears to be totally out of char- » апа had a profound influence on his later life. ааш Was а very serious affair for the student, TUN n University, and for Harris. It may also have Years] € seeds of distrust and discontent that, seven er. neu would lead Harris to break completely with D and found his own organization, the Paleon- fepe. cal Research Institution. It is therefore treated rately with considerable detail. осте describing the disagreement Harris had with Catlien a Maury, however, it is useful to consider an €pisode which, perhaps, sets the tone for what p The first record of a serious disagreement *en Harris and an outside party comes from a note Albert W. Smith, Acting President of Cornell, sent to Heinrich Ries accompanied by a copy of a letter from Professor Junius Henderson at the University of Colorado at Boulder: "Since this is a question that may affect seriously the good name of the University I would ask you to take prompt measures to adjust the matter so that it is satisfactory to Professor Henderson.” ! The “question” mentioned was this. In 1917, after corresponding with Harris, Henderson sent him a box of fossils from the western U. S. containing more than 1 Albert W. Smith to Heinrich Ries, July 7, 1920. Schurman Papers 3/4/6, v. 47, p. 263. Also a copy in the Heinrich Ries Papers 14/ 15/691. RMC-KL, Cornell. 150 species. In return Harris was to forward examples of New York Devonian fossils. There were receipts signed for the fossils and several letters exchanged, but Harris did not complete his part of the arrangement, and, according to Henderson, Harris would not even answer his letters. So Henderson appealed to the Uni- versity President: “Cornell University has our material and it seems hopeless to make any further appeal to Professor Harris. I am told that he has treated other paleontologists in exactly the same manner. I do not believe he has any intention of being dishonest or unfair, and suppose he will justify his failure to keep his promises made on behalf of Cornell by saying that he has been too busy to attend to it, or some- thing of that sort. Nevertheless, the effect upon those who have dealt with him is the same as if he had deliberately started out to steal their material, so far as actual results are concerned.” Harris was out of town at the time Smith’s note reached Ries, but upon his return, Harris wrote to Ries stating that he had received the 157 species and that Henderson wanted a similar sized collection of De- vonian and Atlantic Coast Miocene fossils in return. He said that he had planned to have Axel Olsson put together the collection Henderson wanted, but Olsson left for a six-month stay in Panama that turned into two years. Olsson, however, had now returned and Miss Katherine van Winkle was there to help. Hen- derson’s collection was right in front of him, “contin- uously in view", and the samples requested could be sent with, “justice to ourselves and satisfaction to Hen- derson." Harris continued: “So far as I am aware I have answered all communications rec'd [sic] from him and have tried my best to explain the delay and cannot understand his caustic imputations."? This exchange with Henderson must have brought Harris' temper to the foreground; based upon Hen- derson's reply, Harris must have sent him a scathing letter, but no copy ofit exists. Apparently Harris, among other things, asked for the list of people he had, “... treated the same way." Henderson was quite apologetic in tone, but stood his ground and did cite his source: “In the first place I have not intimated, as you say, that you have been swindling a long list of unfortunates these past years. Neither have I made any sweeping charge as to your general character, as you declare. I explicitly said that I did not believe you had any intention of being dis- ? Junius Henderson to President of Cornell University, July 7, 1920. Schurman Papers 3/4/6, v. 47, p. 264. Also a copy in the Heinrich Ries Papers 14/15/691. RMC-KL, Cornell. 3G. D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, July 29, 1920. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691. RMC-KL, Cornell. BULLETIN 350 honest or unfair, and that you would doubtless explain the long delay by saying that you were too busy to attend to 15.5 79 “T regret that I cannot send you ‘the long list of unfor- tunates’ that I ‘intimate’ you have been ‘swindling these past years,’ for the very good reason that I have made по such intimation of a long list of unfortunates. I did say that I had been told that you had treated ‘other paleon- tologists’ the same way. I would very willingly give you the name of the man who told me that, but his name has escaped me entirely. . . . One of these geologists (I believe he was in the employ of the Toxana or Mid-West company [oil companies], though I am not sure) spent several hours here, and we got to talking incidently about exchanging material. In reply to his inquiry as to where we got certain unusual material I told him of some of our exchanges, and just incidentally remarked that I sent a lot to you for the purpose of getting some more Miocene and Devonian ma- terial, two or three years ago, but had not yet received the return collection because Mr. Olsson had been called away at that time. He began to laugh, and said that there were ‘others’ who had had the same experience: that he himsel had sent you material some time before for which he had received no return. He had no thought of dishonesty 0? your part, he said. . . . If he deliberately lied to me, the? you certainly know it. If he told the truth, then you o course know who ће is."'^ The incident related here is trivial, except that it does demonstrate the strong reaction that came from Harris when he thought he had been wronged. His temper does not show itself very often in the writte? records that survive or in the various personal ane dotal remarks, but this small incident certainly dem onstrates its existence. Perhaps that temper played 4 role in the difficulty that developed about six years later with Maury. Certainly, given knowledge of the situation with Henderson, Harris’ temper does man fest itself in his letters to her company. The Maury incident began in 1925-26 over an al- leged breach of confidentiality and ownership of sam- ples kept on the fourth floor of McGraw Hall (Plat 11). Carlotta Joaquina Maury was working for 00 group of oil companies and Harris was a consultant 10 another. Maury was born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York in 1872,5 and lived there in the ancestral home of her mother, Virginia Draper Maury, for most of het life when she was not out of the country. Maury live the last two years of her life in Yonkers, New york. ^ Junius Henderson to G. D. Harris, August 10, 1920. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691. RMC-KL, Cornell. 5 Notes on her life are taken from her obituary in the New Times, Tuesday, January 4, 1938, p. 23, and from Who Was in America, v. 1 1897-1942, p. 791, Chicago, A. N. Marquis Com pany. 6 In the Harris Archives is an undated post card photograph of? very fine looking dwelling labelled “The Old Draper Ноте! ' york who GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE Her sister was Miss Antonia Coetana de Paiva Pereitra aury, a former research astronomer at the Harvard bservatory,’ | Contrary to the story which has circulated around e Cornell Department of Geological Sciences for many years, and repeated in the department history Tice, 1989), Carlotta Maury was only distantly re- ated to the famous oceanographer Matthew Fontaine d aury through her father's family; she was not his aughter or granddaughter. Her father, The Reverend ytton Maury, D.D., the son of William and Sarah En Maury, was born near Liverpool, England and Me to the United States in 1849. Mytton's father, Шат Maury, was an English cousin of Matthew pue Maury. Matthew Maury worked for the Con- EU AY 1n England during the Civil War. Unable to Tn to the United States immediately after the war, © lived in Mexico for a while and, with the help of Ee Carlotta of Mexico, he tried to organize and "E. New Virginia, Mexico." Eventually he did re- Bein the U.S. in 1868 (Corbin, 1888; F. L. Williams, ХЕ ). Aside from his oceanographic work and naval flan Matthew Fontaine Maury is best known for a B of school geography texts, Maury's Geographical ЈЕ 5. After Matthew’s death in 1873, Mytton Maury, 37 Otta's father, served as editor of these books from 5-1895 (М. Е. Maury, 1891). я n. attending Radcliffe, Columbia University, and nel] Diversity of Paris, Carlotta Maury came to Cor- and completed the Bachelor of Philosophy in 1896, u i , х е, according to Harris, she left for a term or 5 un Maury, who spent a year in France after holding a ^ Owship in this department, has been unable for financial 350ns to take her second degree this year, though she W: " Ш soon fill all requirements for the same." a did, indeed, return and completed her Doctor of еру degree іп 1902. She was the first woman an a Ph.D. degree in geology at Cornell, and was Sng the first women in the United States to earn a In geology’. Her thesis was published as Number ( i 7 lume 3 of the Bulletins of American Paleontology = Maury, 1902). to 20 ous Old—Hastings-on-Hudson” with the message, “Come ae arlotta.” HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. Dakin’ Maury was a colleague of William Pickering at Harvard SDectra i s she did pioneering work in star classification by ASSificatic ysıs; eventually she published a catalog with the spectral 8 n for about 4800 stars. "ual Report of the Department of Paleontology and Strati- ^ Geology; 1899-1900, by G. D. Harris, p. 5. HA-PRI, Ithaca, g n "арр, Ny. : 9 Jo hn w, Wells, Personal communication, July 15, 1982. 91 Right from their first days together as student and teacher, Harris and Maury appear to have developed a very close working relationship. One example of this can be seen from the work she did on fossils collected at a site along the western shore of Cayuga Lake, be- tween Taughannock Falls and Frontenac Beach. Ap- parently the location was first noticed by Harris’ col- league, R. S. Tarr. The site is now known as “Fern- bank”, a name whose origin is unknown and which is not included in any local history archive.!° Apparently while she was a student, Maury and Har- ris visited the site together, for the date, May 1897, is on the handwritten fossil identification cards.!! In this small side valley along the shore of Cayuga Lake, Mau- ry and Harris collected fossil freshwater shells that are of the same mollusc genera as found in the lake today. In 1908, Maury published a brief description of these shells, which were deposited during a warm interglacial stage when water in Cayuga valley was about 15-18 meters above its present level (C. J. Maury, 1908). More recent inspections indicate the lower part of the section to have been deposited during a high water, warm climate period. Then there was a short period of erosion, followed by high water again, but with a much cooler climate. Radiocarbon dating of the plant material in the upper portion has produced ages greater than 50,000 years. The site remains difficult for glacial geologists to explain because, although it correlates well with the Don Beds of Toronto, Ontario, it remains unique in the Cayuga Lake valley, and so far as is known, unique in the entire Finger Lakes region. !2 Maury had a marvelous career after leaving Cornell and during most of this time her relationship with Harris was one of cordiality and mutual respect, at least if the following letter Harris wrote to Branner is typical: “Т received with pleasure your note from Brazil last sum- mer, and I believe Dr. Derby? has written my illustrious student [Maury] this summer of [sic] South Africa, if it may be possible to make the arrangements to have her 10 Personal communication, Professor Arthur Bloom, Cornell University, June 22, 1995. 11 One set of samples is in the possession of Professor Arthur Bloom at Cornell University. Who prepared the hand written iden- tification cards is unknown, but the handwriting is very similar to Carlotta Maury's. 12 For this brief summary, I am indebted to Professor Arthur L. Bloom, Cornell University, personal communication June 22, 1995, and the loan of a guidebook he and John H. McAndrews, Royal Ontario Museum, prepared for the “Friends of the Pleistocene”, 35th Annual Reunion, May 19-21, 1972. 13 Orville A. Derby (B.S. '73; M.S. '74), student and colleague of C. F. Hartt, did not have a Ph.D. come and look over the Museum at Rio Janeiro [sic] in the near future.’’'* Maury did develop a connection with Derby and the Brazilian Geological Survey, and several years later, Harris again wrote to Branner: “I note what you say regarding paleontological work for Brazil. Now it so happens that Dr. Morey [sic] has been doing a magnificent, great piece of work for the Brazilian Survey, and is thoroughly familiar with, presumably all, the horizons... ,and it seems to me that she is the logical one to take this work up [for pay] and put it through, as she is not at leisure to do this class of work. Her great monograph on the Brazilian fossils contains twenty-four large quarto-plates, and is certainly on a par with, and I think superior to, Clarke's!? monograph on the Devonian of Eastern Brazil. If, however, the fossils were sent here, and she, for any reason, should be obliged to leave the work unfinished, I will guarantee that it will be taken care of at once by competent hands here in the laboratory.’’'® Harris wrote to Maury after she had been to Brazil and returned to South Africa where she was teaching at Huguenot College: “Feb. 9, 1914 “Miss C. J. Maury, Huguenot College, Cape Province, South Africa. “Му dear Miss Maury: “Your letter from Los Palmos was received today and am greatly pleased at the scientific spirit shown therein. You can depend on me for your illustrations—the more the better; and in case the Brazilian Survey has no funds, I shall do it just as cheerfully without. Moreover, it seems to me that in case the Revolution is on you could send your material and descriptions of species and I could get them out carefully as a Bulletin of American Paleontology. In this case your work would not be buried, Revolution or no Revolution. “As to illustrations, I have got те a large, six-foot $130. camera and am using it almost exclusively in my illustra- tions now-a-days, and before you finally decide on your illustrations I shall hope to send you copies of photograph- ic reproductions that may suit you even better than line drawings. “It seems strange that you should be in South America and should find so many acquaintances and friends, and most of all I was astonished to note the mention of Pa- checo, and I wonder if the Crandalls are any relatives of the Crandalls here. This is interesting to me as my own 14 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to John C. Branner, October 4, 1913. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 15 John Mason Clarke (1857-1925), State Geologist for New York. 16 Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to John C. Branner, October 3, 1921. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. BULLETIN 350 mother's name was Crandall. I hope to see them here some time. “This must be, on account of haste, a business letter, and I will write you the gossip at some future time. “Yours very truly, [unsigned] “GDH/MEH”’’!” Upon her return to the United States from South Africa, Maury was awarded the Sarah Berliner Fellow- ship in Biological Ѕсіепсеѕ,! created by Mr. Emile Berliner of Washington, D. C., in memory of his mother, Mrs. Sarah Berliner, “. . . a woman of strikingly strong and noble personality.” (C. J. Maury, 1917a, p. 165). The Fellowship included a cash award of $1,000.00: “ . . for studying some biologic science at any university or museum, here or abroad—provided a definite line of study be undertaken and a report upon the results of the same be produced. (Anonymous, 1917, pg. 434) Maury chose to spend part of her money mounting an expedition to the Dominican Republic, for there had not been any new collections made of the island’s fossils in over 40 years (C. J. Maury, 1918). Personnel on the expedition included two veterans of the Ecphora trips: Karl Paterson Schmidt!? and Axel A. Olsson”; both, “... had the great advantage of having been trained in geological field work by Professor Gilbert D. Harris, . . .” Maury received additional money to pay for an extra assistant from the Veatch Fund for paleontological research at Cornell which was men- tioned earlier. Harris outlined the arrangement for Ries in a leave request for Olsson: “Will you kindly see that the proper authorities are con- sulted and the necessary arrangements made for a leave of absence for Mr. Olsson from about May to the end of this term in order that he and Mr. Schmidt may carry out the roughest part of the San Domingo work. . . . Dr. Maury will have general charge of the expedition, going for a short time in June personally, [she] will contribute $300 [for them], whereas I shall turn over $200 of the Veatch fund for the boy's use. This will give them $500 in cash where- with to collect in Gabb's?! old localities and make sections 17 An unsigned carbon copy of the original, but with Harris’ initials at the bottom; Gilbert D. Harris to Carlotta Maury, February 9, 1914. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 18 In a letter to Heinrich Ries, Jacob Schurman used the ti “Sarah Berliner Research Fellowship for Women." February 28, 1916. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-24. RMC-KL Cornell. 1? Schmidt was member of the Ecphora expeditions. 20 Olsson was an instructor at Cornell at the time of the expeditio”: 2 William Gabb who had collected and written about the fossils on Santo Domingo in 1873. See C. J. Maury (1918). tle, GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 93 wherewith to determine the true sequence of Tertiary fau- na of the West Indian region, .... There is a splendid chance here for Dr. Maury and Cornell to distinguish themselves in Tertiary investigation—and the means (money, strength, brains) are at hand. Now seems the time. [Parenthetical in the original.]"?2 From this letter, as the two men were going in May and Maury wasn’t scheduled to arrive until June, it would seem Olsson and Schmidt were going to be doing field work on the island before Maury arrived. Maury acknowledged their contribution to the ex- pedition: “All the heavy and arduous work of collecting was done by Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Olsson. This involved wading up rivers, carrying heavy packs of fossils, sleeping in the Toughest shanties, and undergoing the greatest discom- forts, some not unmixed with danger to health and life, but none causing them to falter in the slightest degree.” (C. J. Maury, 1917a, p. 167). For three weeks all went well, but then the work was brought to an abrupt halt by yet another revolution that“... assumed menacing proportions.” (She seemed to have had her problems with revolutions, first Brazil and now the Dominican Republic.) She described the Situation this way: “The party arrived at Monte Cristi none to [sic] soon, as the Revolutionary party had begun shooting. All Ameri- cans took refuge on the United States gunboat Panther, and remained on board four days. “The Dominican residents who did not join the rebels fled to the beach. The town was deserted, the bush full of rebels, bandits and malo gente. A return to the field from the direction of Monte Cristi was obviously impossible. "Proceeding on to Puerto Plata we hoped to strike in from there to Santiago, as under normal conditions a cog- Wheel railroad connects these towns. But Desiderio [De- Siderio Arias, the leader of the revolutionary forces] had Captured all the locomotives. Moreover we met at Puerto Plata the American residents of Santiago as refugees who had left all their possessions and secretly fled under cover Of night. Several had hidden in the bush without food for Some days. Conditions in the interior were such that we Were most urgently advised to abandon the attempt to Teach Santiago, since Desiderio was entrenched there, and 8eologizing in the lonely thickets would certainly result in ur being shot and never heard of again. The sight of seven dead men on the pier at Macoris convinced us that this Was no idle fancy. So with profound regret we were forced 10 abandon the Santiago section and the study of the blue Clay of the Upper Yaqui and Nivaje, but we trust that we May yet accomplish this on a future occasion.” (C. J. Mau- TY 19178, pp. 173-174). р G. D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, March 30, 1916. Heinrich Ries “Pers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-24. RMC-KL, Cornell. Axel Olsson and Karl Schmidt added to the story; when they were cut off from the rest of the party by the revolution, they managed to get through the rebel front lines by speaking German and pretending to be from Germany rather than from the U.S. (Moore, 1978). This time being “German” was an asset for Olsson; only two years before he had been arrested as a sus- pected German spy while on the second Ecphora field trip with Harris in the Carolinas. Even after escaping the flames of revolution with her samples, Maury's troubles were not over. She returned to Cornell during the winter and spring of 1916-1917: "No sooner was work begun on her collections than it was discovered that materials of a similar character, from the same island, collected forty years ago, would be shortly studied and reported upon [by Pilsbry and Johnson], thus forestalling her in her work and relegating her types and descriptions to the scrap-heap of synomymy [sic]. "Weeks and months of strenuous work ensued until finally a work of 300 pages of printed matter and 40 plates was brought out by the privately-owned press in the geo- logical department of Cornell University four days before the rival work was issued! The specific names proposed for the types described by Dr. Maury will therefore ever hold as true names for these life forms and the great and valuable collection will doubtless eventually become prop- erty of the University if fire proof accommodations are provided for its reception." [Emphasis in the original.] (Anonymous, 1917, p. 434). Maury herself described the situation in these words: "Since publication and distribution of Bulletin of Amer- ican Paleontology, No. 29, Sections 1 and 2, comprising the systematic discussions of our Santo Domingo fossils, quite a number of Gabb's 1873 shells in the Philadelphia Academy's collection have been described, without fig- ures, as new species by Drs. Pilsbry and Johnson.? No doubt a number of these are not represented in our col- lections and should be added to the Santo Domingo fauna. Some species, however, described as new by Drs. Pilsbry and Johnson will prove identical with mine and will pass in synonymy, since mine have priority. For, Section 1 (pages 1-1207^) of Bulletin 29 was published and distrib- uted March 31, 1917 and Section 2 (pages 121—240), April 29, 1917, while Drs. Pilsbry and Johnson's Advance De- scriptions were not issued until May 4, 1917, as stated on the cover of their separates." (C. J. Maury, 1917b, p. 419). 23 Original Footnote: “New Mollusca of the Santo Domingan Oli- gocene, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., designed for the April number which was not issued in April. Advanced separates issued May 4, 19177" 24 Note that until Volume 36, Number 155, Bulletins of American Paleontology had two different sets of page numbers. One referred to the issue or number, and another the entire volume. Here Maury is referring to the page numbers of the issue. The cited reference uses the volume page numbers. 94 BULLETIN 350 The type specimens from this expedition are now in the PRI collections. The following year the Harris-Maury relationship continued on the same level of cordiality and respect, albeit with some indication of tension over the funding of her work. Knowing what was to follow, this seems to be the first hint of trouble. Maury wrote to Harris about expenses incurred in obtaining some fossils from Africa. This excerpt from her letter also illustrates the difficulties encountered in obtaining such samples and what had to be done to move them from the field site to the laboratory collection. “Replying to your letter I would say that the expenses to be paid on the East African fossils are: (1) Transportation from outcrop in wilderness to the port which I think was Durban. Due to Dr. F. B. Thomp- son, Bizara, Pondoland, East. ; (2) Shipment from the East coast port to Cape Town. (3) Transportation by rail from Cape Town to Wel- lington where the fossils were stored a year for safety. (4) Transportation by rail from Wellington to Cape Town. (5) Shipment from Cape Town to Boston. (6) Transportation from Boston by rail to Ithaca. Miss [illegible] has kindly paid (2),(3),(4),(5),(6) and this loan is to be refunded to her, also any additional expenses she may have incurred. She will tell you the various amounts. I do not know at all what they were. We are greatly indebted to her for advancing the money and taking all the trouble. “As regards (1) Dr. Thompson who collected the fossils was most kind and did not charge for all this work nor would he tell me the cost. But I am sure it must have been several pounds and I am sure some such amount should be sent to reimburse him. ... “I left with you all the important literature on the Bokkveldt, Port Elizabeth and Pondoland fossils. I was never reimbursed for those pamphlets, which amounts to 10 or 12 dollars, but will present them to your department. I also give my work and various expenses connected with obtaining the fossils as I have no doubt the expenses of transportation will use up or exceed the $50 remaining of the $100 appropriation”>. “I presume you remember that $50 only was placed in my hands and of that I presented an accounting several years аро. 26 25 The $100 was an appropriation from the Cornell University Trustees to Harris for obtaining South African fossils from Maury, but Harris had given her only $50 of the appropriation. This infor- mation is contained in a letter from Heinrich Ries to Gilbert D. Harris, November 11, 1915, and two days later Harris informed Ries that the South African material had arrived. Gilbert D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, November 13, 1915. Heinrich Ries Collection, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-24. RMC-KL, Cornell. 26 Carlotta Maury to Gilbert D. Harris, February 5, 1918. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. The first definite record ofa problem between Maury and Harris is in a letter to Harris from Avery D. An- drews acting for un-named oil companies. A later letter in this sequence carries the letterhead of “Тһе Carib- bean Petroleum Company" and was signed by W. B. Рагдее. 27 Andrews’ letter, dated September 2, 1925, was in reply to a previous letter from Harris, of which no copy survives: “Please pardon our delay in replying to your letter of June concerning the paleontological work which Dr. Mau- ry has been doing for our companies in Venezuela; but correspondence with both London and Venezuela has been necessary in order to reply definitely to your suggestions. “In the first place I wish to assure you that Dr. Maury has been acting in accordance with the original instructions and agreements made many years ago when our work was commenced in Venezuela. At that time we were the pio- neers, and naturally wished to maintain the utmost secrecy concerning our work. Now that the Venezuelan fields are more widely known, we are willing to modify our arrange- ments somewhat, and suggest that the following procedure can be adopted if it appeals to you as satisfactory. “We propose that in the future fossils forwarded to Dr. Maury shall be sent as far as possible in duplicate, and that after her study is completed and reports made, опе of each duplicate may be retained by Cornell University as a loan from the particular Company furnishing the fos- sils. A list of such fossils so loaned should be furnished u$ from time to time, and it should be quite clearly under- stood that the transaction is entirely in the nature of à loan, and that all such fossils remain the property of the particular Company from whom they are received, and subject to return to that company when desired. “All other terms and conditions of our arrangement with Dr. Maury remain unaltered, and I particularly invite at- tention to the agreement that no information accruing from these fossils so furnished will be published without OUT specific knowledge and consent. “If this agreement meets with the approval of Cornell University, we shall be glad to put it into effect upon receipt of appropriate advices from them"??? Apparently Harris did not reply, and a few weeks later, Andrews wrote: “On September 2 I wrote you concerning the Paleonto- logical work which Dr. Maury has been doing for OUT companies in Venezuela. Not having received a reply: fear that my letter may not have been received. I have 79 27 From about 1914 until the 1920s, Harris was a consultant И an oil company in Louisiana which was part of the “Pardee Lan Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”. There may have bee? í connection between that earlier company and the W. B. Pardee 9 the Caribbean Petroleum Company, but unfortunately the signature on the letters cannot be read. 28 Avery D. Andrews to Gilbert D. Harris, September 2, 1925. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 95 desire to hasten your conclusions, but would be glad to know whether my former letter was received and that the matter is receiving your consideration in due course.’’2? There is no known immediate reply to Andrews’ sec- ond letter either, but Harris did respond the following March, about six months later: “I have been looking after the material you sent me some time ago, hoping to be able to hit upon the exact horizon from whence your material was derived; but so far without Success. Since it is all practically new no very definite correlations can be made. But, I shall soon send you a complete account of the paleontology of the macroscopic forms, and the plates can be used in the field for further collection and соггејаноп.''30 Harris then gave brief descriptions of several fossils in the collection sent by Andrews; including representa- lives of the genus Rimella which he said were, “The most striking molluscs in your collection ..." It is noteworthy, however, how late Harris was with his response and, more importantly, that his letter said Nothing about the need to keep a duplicate set of the fossils at the University. Later this was to become quite Important. In November of 1925, from Hastings-on-Hudson, aury wrote a letter to Harris which seems to suggest their relationship was still cordial: "Dear Professor Harris: "Your letter gave me a real thrill, think of our seeing the Opus?! with our mortal eyes! A hope long since aban- doned! "As I am boarding for the time being in Yonkers [prob- ably with or near her sister], it would be best if you would be so kind as to send the package on to me at: 179 Locust Hill Ave., Yonkers, N.Y. But Hastings-on-Hudson is best for a permanent address when writing from time to time. "If the package is in a bad condition perhaps, if you asked one of the boys, like Weisboard [sic] or Olsson,they and Mrs. Palmer?? would be so good as to put on an extra Wrapping to protect it safely hither. — i Eee Зи Avery D. Andrews to Gilbert D. Harris, September 25, 1925. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. E Unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to A. D. Andrews, ^im 6, 1926. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. tol "Opus" probably refers to her 250 page paper on the paleon- d of Trinidad (C. J. Maury, 1925). Norman E. Weisbord (A.B.'24, M.S.'26), a student of Harris 9 went on to work with various oil companies, e.g., Standard Oil Отрапу, Atlantic Refining Company, and Mobil. He spent many “ars while with these companies working in South America and © Caribbean. He became a professor of paleontology at Florida University in 1957. He was a charter member and great friend аа. Katherine У. W. Palmer (Ph.D.'25; 1895-1982), also а stu- А Ot of Harris’, а founding member of PRI and was present at the Ying of the corner stone. She was also the second director of PRI. yi “I should have liked very much to have seen Mr. Olsson. "Isn't it fine about the Bulletins! I should think the British Museum author on Madagascar ammonites? would be quite a feather in your Bulletin's cap. "Best regards and thanks. Sincerely always, Carlotta J. Maury [signed] [Emphasis in the original.]?* The dedication in the “Opus” she mentions further indicates the close professional relationship she had with Harris and the respect she had for him and his work: "TO THE PUBLISHERS OF THE BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY AND PAL/EONTOGRAPHICA AMERICANA DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR WHO HAS WATCHED WITH ADMIRATION THE MAKING OF THESE PUBLICATIONS FROM THEIR INTREPID INCEPTION TO THEIR PRESENT SUCCESS: WORKS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF PALEON- TOLOGY, ORIGINAL AND FEARLESS Anno amicitia tricesimo" (C. J. Maury, 1925, Pg. 157) This peace and tranquillity, however, lasted only another year. The following December Maury was at Cornell working on samples from the same oil com- pany that had earlier sent samples which Harris had identified. While at Cornell she received a copy of a letter that W. В. Pardee, Assistant Secretary for “Тһе Caribbean Petroleum Company" [at the same address as Andrews] had written to Harris in reply to a letter from him (no copy known): "With reference to your [Harris'] letter of November 30th, it is our understanding that Dr. Maury has in several instances sent specimens of fossils to different authorities in order to obtain as much data as possible but, in all cases, the specimens have been returned. “There apparently has been some misunderstanding in regard to the return of specimens for as stated in our letter of November 19th, it is our desire to assist the Cornell University laboratory as much as possible and we certainly would not discriminate against Cornell. We regret the un- pleasantness that this apparent misunderstanding has caused but trust that matters will rectify themselves and 33 Spath (1925). ** Carlotta J. Maury to Gilbert D. Harris, November 19, 1925. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 96 BULLETIN 350 that there will be no further trouble in regard to the fos- Bilg: = Harris did respond to Pardee’s letter, but apparently not to Maury herself. A copy of that reply was for- warded to Cornell President, Livingston Farrand, and to Heinrich Ries, Head of the Geology Department. Harris told the company: “Caribbean Petroleum Company Messrs; “Referring to the subject over which we now have had considerable correspondence let me state that over a year ago I informed you that I did not consider it proper to send materials here to be looked over and reported upon without conforming to the regulation practice of having it proper [sic] labeled and a provision for a duplicate set to remain here for general reference work. You have seen fit to send here a large collection of fossils without my consent and have directed Miss Maury to work it up here. For- tunately we have no objections to Miss Maury personally. But you are taking advantage of help and conveniences here and wholly ignoring just obligations. “The term ends December 18th and I am asking that you have all packed and shipped by that date as I shall not allow work to go on here of that character beyond that date. If in the future you will conform to the regulations above noted I shall of course do what I can to help you along just the same as with others. And, if I receive your reply within 48 hours stating that you will conform strictly to the above mentioned conditions your specimens will be cared for till the 18th, otherwise I shall not hold myself responsible for whatever may happen to the material. Yours as always G.D. Hane Note the reference to the “duplicate set" in his re- sponse. When Harris had examined a set of fossils for the same company earlier, and discussed that work in his letter of March 6, 1926, there was no record or mention of any request for a duplicate set of the fossils to be added to the collections in his laboratory at Cor- nell. Apparently, he was now expecting Maury to do something he did not do himself when he examined fossils for the same company. Others working on oil company material in Harris' laboratory at the same time apparently did not disclose detailed information about the samples. Note the sim- ?5 W. B. Pardee to Gilbert D. Harris, December 2, 1926. HA-PRI Ithaca, NY. 36 A copy of the letter dated December 6, 1925 from Gilbert D. Harris to the Caribbean Petroleum Company is in the Heinrich Ries papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23, and another copy is in the President Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. RMC-KL, Cornell. ilarity of the disclaimers, especially the second and third ones: “This article is based on more than two years of field work in Venezuela unraveling the stratigraphy and paleontology of certain areas for one of the American [oil] companies operating in that country. We propose here to describe some of the new material collected during this investiga- tion with general reference to type localities and general age determination. “At some future time when interests of the company for whom the work was done permit, we hope to publish more definite information as to the exact locatity [sic] of each collection, the type sections, and the stratigraphic range and age determination of the species described." (F. Hod- son, 1926, p. 173) “Only descriptions of species with general localities and general ages can be given at present, but later when the interests of the company permit, we hope to publish def- inite localities and stratigraphic ranges for the species." (H. Hodson, 1926, p. 2) “The collections upon which this article is based were made in Venezuela for an American company. Only de- scriptions of species with general localities and general ages can be given at present, but later when the interests of the company permit, we hope to publish definite localities and stratigraphic ranges for the species.” (Hodson et al., 1927; p. 2) A further aspect of this issue is related to Harris’ own private geological work, details of which have been given in another section. Starting in 1921, Harris was employed as a consultant by several oil companies for work in Trinidad (Trinidad Petroleum Develop- ment Company, Ltd.) and Venezuela (Standard Oil Company of Venezuela, for which both Hodsons worked)’. But aside from that one time when he did the identification work mentioned previously, Harris does not seemed to have been employed by The Ca- ribbean Petroleum Company. Given the situation, àt the very least, this is a major conflict of interest. Maury's company response to Harris' demand went to her by telegram, and sent in care of the Paleontology Laboratory at Cornell: “Miss Charlotta [sic] J. Maury Paleontological Laboratory Cornell Univers., Ithaca, N.Y. “Prof. Harris has written us giving notice that unless with- in forty eight hours we agree to certain conditions he wil not be responsible for anything which may happen to out fossils and materials now in his laboratory stop we ther efor [sic] request that you finish your examination and remove ?' Another former student, Axel Olsson, was working for sinclait Oil Company at this time and he used the laboratory facilities when” ever he had company samples to identify. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 97 all materials at the earlies [sic] possible date and not later than december [sic] eighteenth the end of the present term Stop we are telegraphing Prof. Harris as follows quote your letter December sixth just received we will consider your Proposals and remove our materials as soon as practicable but with regard to your forty eight hour ultimatum please take notice that for any loss or injury to any of our ma- terials in your possession we will hold you personally and Cornell University strictly responsible in damages unquote Please keep us advised by wire “Caribbean Petroleum Company “8 5 6 A. М.в Harris replied to the telegram on December 9 by letter: “Caribbean Petroleum Co. “Messrs: “Your Postal Telegram of yesterday was duly received. I note with surprise my, and the University’s responsibility Over your collection, sent here contrary to my wishes at least under conditions I have never agreed to. This is a new angle, but I accept it with of course proper compen- sation. Your material has been here now occupying space, you have been furnished heat, light, library and museum facilities for some and whatever any competent committee Should judge these facilities worth, I am willing to accept[.] Perhaps $100.00 per months [sic] would not be excessive. Please let me hear from you before the removal of your collection and greatly oblige[.] "Yours always "G.D.Harris'?* It is not hard to imagine the confusion reigning in the fourth floor paleontology laboratory of McGraw Hall, with Harris sending letters to and receiving tel- grams from her company, and Maury trying to do her Work while getting telegrams telling her to pack up and Clear out, and all the while evidently having little, if апу, communication with Harris. Based on statements a letter by Ries, quoted below, very little of what Was passing between Harris and her company was be- mg communicated to her by Harris. She was apparently faring enough, however, to feel very pressured. Fi- Nally, perhaps in desperation, on December 10, Maury с E Copy of a telegram (night letter)from Caribbean Petroleum | 9mpany to Carlotta Maury, December 7-8, 1926. Original in Liv- "Bston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7. Box 20, File 20-51; copy in Heinrich les Papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. = Letter from G. D. Harris to Caribbean Petroleum Company, ecember 9, 1926. A copy is in Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, RM 20, File 20-51, in Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23. ib IC-KL, Cornell. Also, an unsigned carbon copy on “Paleonto- Bical Laboratory, Cornell University” letterhead, is at PRI. HA- I, Ithaca, NY. turned to Heinrich Ries, Head of the Department of Geology, in a letter on which she gave the department as the return address: “Му dear Prof. Ries: "May I lay before you as Head of the Geological De- partment of Cornell University, a matter which relates to the University policy towards commercial companies that are carrying on research in the University's laboratories? I wish also to protest against Prof. Harris' threat to eject the material of the company that I represent within 48 hours unless the conditions he imposes are agreed to. “The company I represent has always been most cour- teous in its attitude towards the University, and desirous of returning any favors possible in recognition of the priv- ilege of using from time to time the books and fossils necessary for identifying their fossils. A very important collection comprising the first lower Eocene material ever found in the entire Caribbean and Northern South Amer- ican region was presented to the Geological Department by them some years ago. Were it possible, this depositing of duplicate, labeled sets and types in the University lab- oratories would have been continued and a few weeks ago, the company asked me to deposit duplicates of the fossils upon which I am now working. "But I wrote back advising most strongly against this- because [sic] I saw that my company was to be betrayed. The University was being used as a decoy to capture a very important set of fossilsfor [sic] the use of another company whose interests lie in the same field. “It is a fact obvious to all that this other company is using as its laboratory the paleontological research labo- ratory of the University, practically to the exclusion of everyone else. The students are perfectly aware of this and I have heard it much criticized. "As far as I am concerned I took both my degrees at Cornell. My Dominican collection is deposited here, also the Eocene I spoke of, and many casts of my Brazilian types. I have held two fellowships, one of the University, one from outside, but the work was done here. I cannot but think that the books I have published coming out from this Department have given credit to the University, no- tably my Monograph for the Brazilian Government, but others as well. Indeed you cannot take up any work on the Tertiary of the Caribbean or Northern South or Central America, without seeing constant references to the work I have done. “In token of my affection for the University, for years I have left in my will a legacy of ten thousand dollars. "] mention these details so you may know that I am not merely using the University's laboratory and giving noth- ing in return. "I know I am here now only by courtesy of the Uni- versity, but I wish to ask why, if the University grants the privilege of research here to one Commercial Company, it should deny it to another? Why should one company be granted an entire laboratory for a year, and another be denied the use of a table for a few weeks? Why should one company have the right to say to another, if you do not give me your fossils all labelled for my use in the field in which we are rivals, they will be confiscated! “Very truly yours, [Signed] “(Carlotta J. Maury)" [Emphasis in the original.]^? Accompanying Maury's original double-spaced let- ter in the Ries files is a badly typed single-spaced copy, perhaps typed by Ries himself to keep this problem from reaching the department secretary (for obvious reasons), and at the bottom of page two of the copy is, “P.S. I enclose Prof. Harris’ letter to the company and their telegram reply to me." Apparently Ries made the copy for President Livingston Farrand and included those items with the copy, all of which were forwarded by Ries to President Farrand.^' This letter from Maury may have caught Ries by surprise and he may not have been very well informed as to what was happening only a few floors above him. This would be a reasonable assumption, considering the very strained professional and personal relationships that existed among the de- partmental faculty. In the Ries papers is a small un-signed and un-dated note in Ries' handwriting. It appears to be the text of a telegram sent to the Caribbean Petroleum Company either just before or after he received Maury's letter. Determining who really instigated the telegram is com- plicated by the fact that both Ries and Maury had residences on Eddy Street in Ithaca at this time. The telegram read: “Please wire me (Eddy Street address) copy of letter by Prof. Harris containing stipulations referred to in first paragraph of his letter of Dec. six, nineteen twenty six.” [the word stop written and crossed out.]^? Given the fact that Ries included the company reply to his telegram with the material he gave the Cornell President, he may have been working on the situation before Maury's letter reached him. Ries' letter to the University President, which accompanied his copy of Maury's letter to him, is dated December 11, only one day after Mary sent her letter to Ries. The quotation given below is from the original letter Ries sent to Farrand. Annotations are added from what appears to be a draft of this letter which is with the Ries Papers. 40 Carlotta J. Maury to Heinrich Ries, December 10, 1926. Hein- rich Ries papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. 41 Badly typed copy of Carlotta J. Maury’s letter to Heinrich Ries isin the Livingston Farrand Papers; 3/5/7. Box 20, File 20-51. RMC- KL, Cornell. ? Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23, RMC-KL, Cornell. BULLETIN 350 In places the draft has slightly different wording from what he sent to Farrand. Again, it appears Ries was typing his own letters to avoid using the department secretary. “Му dear President Farrand. “I [Ries] submit herewith a protest received from Dr. Carlotta J. Maury, relating to her treatment in the Pale- ontological Laboratory, as well as several communications bearing on the matter. “This case is brought to your attention on the advice of Dean Ogden, as it involves important matters of Univer- sity policy and also unfortunately presents other serious aspects. “Some explanation of the situation is necessary in order that you many better understand the conditions, although the bearing or significance of all the facts stated may not be clear until after you have read the attached commu- nications. “The Paleontological Laboratory of Cornell contains 4 remarkably fine collection of Tertiary fossils, many of them type specimens [“‘species” used in the Ries copy]. I have always assumed that there was no objection to persons using it for consultation and reference, and I do know that some of our graduates who have been engaged in field work for oil companies, have brought their fossil collec- tions back to Ithaca, and individually have spent several months at a time identifying [their specimens]. I have never heard of their being charged for this privilege. “I understand that Prof. Harris has done considerable work for the Stand Oil Company [Standard Oil] or it$ subsidiaries. There is of course no objections to this. [The last phrase was left out of the typed copy in the Ries Papers.] Further more for over a year Mr. Hodson? and his wife, assisted at times by a stenographer and others have practically monopolized the working space in what is known as the Research room of Prof. Harris’ quarters. They have been engaged in working up fossils which they collected in Venezuela for an oil company, said to be Stan- dard. During this period they have worked days and nights have used any quantity of electricity and water, and so far as I know their company has not paid the University one cent for the privilege, Moreover to facilitate their work electric wires for lights, etc. had been strung in such ? careless manner that the insurance inspector reported it. These were altered at the University expense. “I once asked Prof. Harris if Hodson’s company was going to leave with the University a named duplicate set of fossils, and was told that he ‘supposed’ they would, but he did not state that the privileges extended oil represen” tatives were conditional upon their giving the Department a set of duplicates. “Hodson’s Ph.D. thesis was on the genus Turritella, the specimens of which were collected by him during his wor ^ Floyd Hodson (Ph.D.'26) and Helen Kind Hodson, chart? members of PRI. For examples see F. Hodson (1926), H. Hodso (1926), and Weisbord (1926). GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 99 for the oil company in Venezuela. I was a member of his graduate committee, and after examining his thesis com- mented on the fact that although he had described a num- ber of new forms, there was no definite information re- garding the localities or horizons from which they came.^* Mr. Hodson explained this by saying that the company for which he was working had not yet obtained control of the property from which these fossils came, and that con- sequently for commercial reasons they did not want this information made public. “T [Ries] mention this because Hodson’s and Miss Mau- ry's companies are rivals, working in the same general region (Venezuela), so that if Hodson's company consid- ered it proper to suppress this information, and no objec- tion seems to have been raised against it by Prof. Harris, it seems a little curious that the Caribbean Company should be criticized for doing what is somewhat the same thing. In other words if the latter deposited its specimens labeled as to locality and horizon in the collection it might be very useful for Hodson's company. “The following facts have been given me by Miss Maury. During the past sixteen years Miss Maury has had ap- proximately 8 boxes of fossils sent her by the Caribbean Company for identification. She had deposited here one large collection which she worked up for the predecessor of her present company. “The 8 lots referred to above, had few or no duplicates and consequently no extra collection could be left. Al- though Prof. Harris expressed a desire to get duplicates of the fossils which Miss Maury worked over, he never made any stipulation to her. Moreover all his communication to her company have been sent without her knowledge. "In the winter of 1925-26, while Miss Maury was in Egypt, the Caribbean company, not knowing that she was away, sent a box of fossils addressed to her at Ithaca. Prof. Harris saw the box and wrote to the company suggesting that he could do the work, This he was allowed to do, and was paid for it. So far as Miss Maury knows he retained no duplicate set. "About May or June 1926 the Caribbean Company ad- vised Miss Maury that another box of specimens had been Sent to Ithaca for her to identify, so she came up here and Worked on it. No set of duplicates was available to leave here, and Prof. Harris raised no objection. "In October 1926 Miss Maury came here to work up another small collection. This material fills a box about 20 x 18 x 18 inches. In working it up she occupies two small tables over which there hung one electric light. She has not used over [^not" and “over” scratched out in the Farrand copy, but left in the typed copy in the Ries Papers] about 12 books for consultation, not over 6 of which be- longed to Prof. Harris. There were very few duplicate spec- ^ This work was published without listing any localities (F. Hod- ia 1926). The list of localities was kept separate and never pub- ied; it is in the PRI archives. х Morris’ letter of March 6, 1926 about this work is quoted earlier; ĉe page 21, imens in this last lot of material sent, and the collection has been returned to N.Y. City. The [These] data given in this last paragraph have a bearing on the statements made in Prof. Harris’ last letter. “I am informed also by Miss Maury that in this last piece of work she has referred chiefly to her own collection from San [sic] Domingo which she presented to the Uni- versity. She has for ethical reasons been careful not to look at the material collected by Hodson but she has noticed in passing by the specimens are identified merely by num- bers or signs. "] have given you above such facts as are in my pos- session, and which it seems to me have some bearing on the attached letters. As the matter is a serious one involv- ing University policy towards commercial companies, I feel that it deserves being called to your attention. Prof. Harris will no doubt wish to explain his attitude, and I think he should be given an opportunity to, Miss Maury also stands ready to answer any questions you may wish to ask her. “It is gratifying to feel that Cornell possess a paleon- tological collection sufficiently valuable to be regarded as [the "as" is missing in the copy in the Ries Papers] a standard for reference, and I believe that all workers should be given equal privileges to consult it so long as the Uni- versity rights are properly safeguarded, and it involves no interference with the work of our regular students, either graduate or undergraduate. I cannot see however that the representatives of any one company should be allowed to enjoy a monopoly. “It is also to be regretted that any member of the faculty should appear to demand personal compensation for the granting of privileges which do not belong to him, as such action cannot fail to be prejudicial to the reputation of the Department and also the University. "Yours very truly, [Signed] H. Кіеѕ””46 While Ries was sending his letter to Farrand, Maury received the following from Avery D. Andrews, dated December 10: "Many thanks for your letter of December 9th just re- ceived. While the Caribbean Petroleum Company does not itself care to make any complaint against Professor Harris, we certainly have no objection to you, as an Alum- nus of Cornell, placing such facts before the Authorities as you may desire. "In this connection, I have just received a further letter [December 9, 1926], presumably from Professor Harris. The signature is typewritten and over it are the penciled initials ‘G.D.H.’. I enclose a copy of this letter which is exact in all particulars, including punctuation. I mention 46 Heinrich Ries to Livingston Farrand, December 11, 1926. Orig- inal is in the Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. A typed copy, with minor differences, is in the Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. 100 this because it seems rather a crude production to come from a great University. “Professor Harris apparently wishes us to pay him per- sonally $100 a month for the use of ‘heat, light, library and museum facilities’ of Cornell University. If the proper authorities of Cornell see fit to make a charge against all persons using these facilities of the University, we will pay our share; but we certainly do not intend to pay any sum whatever to Professor Harris personally for the use of any such facilities which do not belong to him, nor have we any intention of replying to his letter. “You are at liberty to show this letter to the Authorities, if you so desire. “Trusting that you will very soon be able to close this work and ship all of our materials, and with best wishes, I am “Very sincerely yours, “Signed Avery D. Andrews”* Andrews also sent another telegram at about the same time as the above letter: “Miss Carlotta J. Maury “125 Eddy St. Ithaca, N.Y. “Letters referred to by Professor Harris practically iden- tical first paragraph his letter December sixth of which you have copy stop he stated other companies left duplicates for museum and inasmuch as you had asked help from members of their surveys and made comparisons with their specimens without reciprocating it placed you in em- BULLETIN 350 barrassing position. “Andrew D. Andrews” Ries added a typed note to the transcription of Maury’s telegram, quoted above (based on information presum- ably provided to him by Maury) which he sent to Pres- ident Farrand: “Miss Maury denies the general character of the accusation in last part of message. She claimed that she used only Weisbord and Olson [sic] collections for reference, and that these two men have used her books and specimens for reterence, On the same telegram copy in the Farrand Papers is a handwritten note by Ries not present on the copy in the Ries Papers: “Miss M. claims that in addition to consulting her own collections deposited here she has used only Weisbords [sic] and Olsons [sic], (This was a thesis), and that they have referred to her books and specimens, and she has given them help." [There was a pencil line drawn from 47 Letter from Avery D. Andrews to Carlotta J. Maury, December 10, 1926. Livingston Farrand Papers 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51; and a copy is in the Heinrich Ries Papers 14/15/691, File 1-23. RMC- KL, Cornell. 48 Transcription of telegram from Avery D. Andrews to Car this pencil note up to “their surveys" in the telegram tran- scription.] [Parenthetical in the original.]** The day this telegram was sent, Maury wrote to Ries again: “In connection with the statement that Professor Harris told the Company I represent over a year ago that certain conditions must be followed if their fossils were to be studied here, I would like to ask this question:— “Why was it right for him to study the Rimella zone box in my absence under circumstances that would be wrong for me? He reported on this box of fossils and was paid to do so. “Tf he retained duplicates where are they? And why were they not pointed out to me now when I was studying similar horizons and the person most entitled to have access to them for comparison?^? *Perhaps I might add that the Caribbean Petroleum Company has international affiliations, with offices in New York, London and the Hague and is, I think, associated with the Royal Dutch Shell Company. “Very truly yours, Carlotta J. Maury [signed]^? At this point it seems President Farrand asked Harris for an explanation. What Harris may or may not have said in that interview is known only from notes of Heinrich Ries. Ries was certainly not an unbiased ob- server, and he furthermore put these notes together several years after Harris had retired: * .. thecase of Dr. Maury (C.U.Ph.D.) who came to Cor- nell to check up some Tertiary fossils for the company she was working for. Harris demanded that she leave а сот” pletely labeled set with the University as he claimed others had done (a statement which is not true) and issued an ultimatum to her company that failing to do this he would demand payment for use of laboratory facilities, and that if the company did not meet this condition all their ma- terial would have to be removed in 48 hours or he would not be responsible for it. Miss Maury took the matter to the President, to whom she presented a copy of all cor- respondence (as well as one to myself). Harris when ques- tioned by the President in my presence denied that he had jotta Maury, December 13, 1926. Original transcription with pencil not? added is in the Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20: 51; the other copy without the additional pencil note is in the He!" rich Ries Papers 14/15/691, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. ^ Here, and in the previous paragraph, Maury refers to the У Harris reported in his letter to Andrews on March 6, 1926 quote above. In this letter there was no mention of any duplicate set e fossils being left at Cornell. Н 5° Carlotta J. Maury to Heinrich Ries, December 13, 1926. Liv’ ork ingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. RMC-KL, Cor nell. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 101 ever made such a demand.” [Parentheticals in the origi- nal.] 5! In another set of notes, Ries remembered the events this way: “Miss Maury, a Cornell Ph.D., had a bunch of fossils to identify, which she had collected in connection with her field work for an oil company. She assumed that she might have the courtesies of the department and come here to identify them. "Shortly after she arrived Harris demanded that she leave a duplicate set here. She replied that she was not sure that she had a compete duplicate set, and furthermore would have to get permission of her company to do so. "Harris thereupon wrote a letter to her company re- peating his demand. He said if it was not complied with by a certain date she would have to get out, and failing to do so he would not be responsible for what happened to her material. If she remained [at Cornell] a payment of $100 a month for the use of space, books, light, and col- lections. He did not say this was to be paid to the Uni- versity. Miss Maury came to me with a copy of the entire correspondence (which I [Ries] still have). I took the mat- ter to the Dean and he ruled that the President should handle it. I therefor [sic] told Miss M. to see Pres. Farrand, Which she did, and also gave him a copy of all the letters. Farrand called Harris and myself into his office, and asked the former about it, and whether he had demanded any money of Miss M's company. Harris denied that he had, and Farrand did not contradict him, even though he knew Harris was not telling the truth. He [Farrand] later gave me the lame excuse that a professor could do about what he pleased in his quarters."5? Based upon the surviving letters, Ries seemed to have the facts correct, and one therefore may assume he is Correct about what transpired at his meeting with Far- тапа and Harris. What we know about what Harris put in writing Comes from an unsigned carbon copy of a letter he Wrote on “Paleontological Laboratory" letterhead to the Cornell President on December 16, five days after des filed his letter with President Farrand. Note how different Harris sounds in this letter to the University va Un-signed and un-dated typed notes, believed to have been Prepared by Heinrich Ries after or shortly before his retirement in 939, Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-2. RMC-KL, Ornell, 4 Although these notes are un-signed notes, the use of phrases uch as, “.. , after I became head, . . .” suggest they were written by ĉinrich Ries. Based on a note attached to one set of these notes, y, least one version was prepared in 1944 for Charles Nevin who 45 then head of the department. Among the Ries papers are at least Tee different versions of these notes, each evidently prepared at a erent time, Heinrich Ries papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-2. C-KL, Cornell. President after their meeting than he did in his earlier letters to the oil company personnel. “My dear Dr. Farrand: “If there really seem to be any dangers of ‘foreign en- tanglements’ at any time, I wish to suggest a way, a rather poor one however, but a certain one out. “I have had occasion to bring here a considerable num- ber of books, equipments of various kinds, private collec- tions &c, presuming, I think correctly, that the value to work here pays floor-space rental. I confess to having worked hard to have various outsiders, oil companies and others send me materials here to work up, feeling that the space they take up is very trivial in proportion to the help they give investigational studies, and best of all feeling that in practically every case such material will forever remain where last worked over. "Now, if in handling these materials I have overstepped my proer [sic] [proper] authority relative to University matters, I am anxious to apologize most humbly. But so far as partiality to outside individuals or corporations is concerned, anything but the most stupid type of self in- terest would check the slightest leanings. “If necessary to protect the University from criticism I can build some roomy apartment, off the University prop- erty and collect therein ally [sic] my own and these various collections that might possibly cause embarrassments and hence relieve all anxieties. But the expense involved would be considerable and the proximity to my work of my own books instruments, and the various collections while at the University seem to make the carrying out of this plan advisable only as a last resort. “Your most sincerely, Unsigned” 53 A few days after Harris wrote this version of an apology letter to Farrand (there seems to be no evi- dence that he ever corresponded with Carlotta Maury again), Maury was again writing to President Farrand. Based on her letter, Harris, or Farrand repeating Har- ris, must have said something to her about how much work she did in the paleontology lab, and implied that she spent vast amounts of time there doing work for her company, for she seemed to be more than a little upset when she wrote this on December 18: "My dear President Farrand: “That you may know the slight amount of commercial work done by me in the paleontological laboratory of Cor- nell, I give the following list of a// my commercial reports, the number of pages, and when recorded, the number of days: “1912 Large report published in Jour. Phila. Acad. Sci- ence, in their de luxe [sic], 100th birthday, volume. I wrote 53 Unsigned carbon copy of letter from Gilbert D. Harris to Liv- ingston Farrand, President, Cornell University, December 16, 1926. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. the report and paid Professor Harris to make the drawings. All the fossils which were described were brought back by me from South America and presented by the Company I represented to Cornell University. I was not paid to write this report and it was chiefly purely scientific. “1915 About 1/2 dozen shells sent for identification. Report maybe 2 pages. No copy retained. “1922 May 29, A few shells. Report 5 pages, including summary of past results. *1924 December 20. Report 8 pages. #1925 June. Report 4 1/2 pages. “1926 June. Report 11 1/2 pages. 14 days. "1926 Dec. Report 67 pages. 56 days. “From this you may see how trivial the matter in its relation to the use of the Universities [sic] facilities really. [sic] has been. It is only this last report which has taken any time worth considering. “In my letter of protest to Professor Ries, I have men- tioned some of the non-commercial Memoirs and Mono- graphs that I have written in the University’s laboratories. All have been published and for the most part the collec- tions and types are deposited in the Geological Museum. All, indeed, except the types belonging to the Brazilian Government which of course I had to return to Brazil, but whenever possible casts were made of these Brazilian types and are also deposited in the University’s Geological Mu- seum. “Му own feeling is this: I am deeply appreciative of the opportunities and privileges the University has afforded me to carry on my scientific work here, but I feel that I have given in return as far as I could. I have given collec- tions; and I cannot but think that I have also brought scientific credit to the University. “Very sincerely yours Carlotta J. Maury [signed] “P.S. I have not retained for myself a single specimen of all the various collections I have studied. Everything in my power to give, I gave to the University.” [All emphases in the original.]^* Two additional letters from this controversy bring it almost to a close. The first is from Maury to Farrand on December 28 and then his reply on the 29: “Му dear President Farrand:— “As under the present circumstances it is not possible for me to complete here a paleontological report I am engaged on for the Brazilian Government, I would like to 54 Carlotta J. Maury to Livingston Farrand, December 18, 1926. Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. RMC-KL, Cornell. BULLETIN 350 return soon to New York. But, having made a protest against unfair discrimination, I am ready to stand by, if it seems best to do so. “Should you desire it, I would be glad to answer any question you might wish to ask me. And I enclose a mem- orandum of my principal monographs and memoirs and collections. “Since there are in the Geological Department a great quantity of Venezuelan fossils belonging to the Standard [Oil Company] and affiliated Companies, it is difficult to explain the feverish desire manifested to obtain the few I held in trust, except in one way. Fossils from our highly productive wells would be illuminating for comparison with those from experimental drillings. They might be very helpful in the selection of land tobe [sic] leased for oil exploitation, in the same neighborhood. “Whatever the motive, two facts remain:- the 48 hour ultimatum and the $100. a month, retroactive, private charge for use of University property. “Most vital to me is the question whether I am to be debarred from all future privilege of studying in the Geo- logical Department, and even of making comparisons with my own collections and types therein deposited. “Very sincerely yours Carlotta Maury [signed]" The following memorandum accompanied the above letter. "COLLECTIONS DEPOSITED IN THE GEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT BY C. J. MAURY *Freshwater Mollusca Central and Western New York. Cayuga Lake Basin Interglacial Mollusca.°* French and Belgian, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene Fossils. Trinidad Eocene, and Venezuelan Cretaceous Fossils. South African, Permian, G/ossopteris flora. Pondoland Cretaceous Fossils. Port Elizabeth Tertiary Fossils. Dominican Republic Miocene Fossils. A large and beau- tiful collection obtained by my own expedition. Brazilian, artificial casts of types, returned to Rio de Janeiro. (For further detail ask Professor Ries, Head of the Depart ment) PRINCIPAL MEMOIRS PUBLISHED BY C. J. MAURY “Paleontology of Trinidad Island. Chiefly Eocene. Jour Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1912. Santo Domingo Type Sections and Fossils. Bull. Ame" Paleont. Nos. 29 and 30, 1917. : Tertiary Fossils Porto Rico. Ann. New York Acad. 56!» Scientific Surver Porto Rico & Vol. 3 Pt. 1, 1920 5° This was the material from the Fernbank site on the western shore of the lake; see page 91. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 103 Paleontology of Trinidad Island.Miocene. Bull. Amer. Pa- leont. No. 42, 1925. Tertiary and Cretaceous Fossils of Brazil. (Fosseis Teriarios do Brasil &) Servico Geologico do Brasil, Monographia 4, 1924-25. Also an annotated Catalogue of the Mollusca of the Gulf of Mexico, and many minor articles on correlation, new species, new formations, &, in Science,; Amer. Jour. Sci.; Nautilus; Jour. Geology. (All these are deposited in the main University Library)." [All emphases in the original.]5* Farrand's reply: "My dear Miss Maury: "I have your letter of yesterday and am not as yet in a position to make any positive statement. I am quietly gathering such information as I can as to the situation in general and have no doubt in due time a satisfactory mode of procedure in the laboratory will be worked out. "Under these circumstances, I see no reason why you Should remain in Ithaca, for I think I have before me the essential facts from you which would be significant. As to the notice to remove your property, I believe that is not à question of immediate embarrassment, and as to a monthly charge for the use of University property, that if made at all, should be worked out on a basis applicable to all such users. "As to your own future relation to the Department, I can make no statement because that is obviously a per- sonal situation. I know of no institutional reason why the same privileges should not be extended to you as to any other graduate or inquirer but I know of no way to remove mutual personal prejudices. "In conclusion I can only say that I trust a working basis Will be arrived at after further consideration. "Sincerely yours, Livingston Farrand’’5” Maury wrote one last letter to Farrand before de- Parting from Ithaca: "Before leaving I would like to thank you for your letter, and to express appreciation of the desire of justice to all that you have shown. I am very glad you intend to place research work of industrial concerns at the University on àn equitable basis. The University should have a proper return, but I think a Company should not be required to Surrender materials potentially of great commercial value. " Letter and memorandum from Carlotta J. Maury to Livingston . àrrand, President, Cornell University, December 28, 1926. Liv- Meston Farrand Papers, 3/4/7, Box 20, File 20-51. A copy of the "ler only is in the Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell a Livingston Farrand to Carlotta J. Maury, December 29, 1926. 'Vingston Farrand Papers, 3/4/7, Box 20, File 20-51; additional Сору in the Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Ornel], “I am not an economic geologist. The Caribbean Com- pany has thirty-eight oil geologists working in the Mara- caibo field. They look on me as a scholar in pure pale- ontology and stratigraphy, and I am glad that they have this confidence in me. It's going to be hard to do the work away from the University, but I shall manage somehow. “I should be very sorry to have you think that I came knowing I was unwelcome. Had I known, I should not have come. Professor Harris was writing to my company without my knowledge. I returned, as I supposed, on the old friendly basis, I wrote, called on arriving, and asked at his office if I might have a table. He seemed very pleas- ant. Ten days before the eviction I was invited to dine at his house and all seemed kindly. "Yet I lost trust in his sincerity. “Т am glad I have had no altercation with Professor Harris. When he saw me replacing books and trays, he said: [Harris] “What, you aren't going are you?" [Maury] ‘Of course. You do not suppose I would remain under these conditions!’ [Harris] ‘What is going on? I can't make it all out. I seem to be Nobody! [Maury] ‘A great deal of injustice is going on!’ [Harris] ‘Come and tell me about it.’ [Maury] ‘I do not wish to discuss it.’ That was all. “I could not do otherwise than protect the materials and interests entrusted to me, and it seems right to me to have protested against injustice and attempted betrayal. I do not think it will be of any help to me, but it may prevent the reoccurrence of such an incident which is very unfor- tunate for those involved, and injurious to the reputation of the University. Conditions of commercial research in the Geological Department, being upon no established ba- sis, now almost invite attempts to wrest valuable facts or materials from seemingly weaker rivals. "Yet І am more sorry than I can say that this has taken place. For Ithaca can never seem the same. I may never return, But my affection of the University, though sad- dened, remains otherwise unchanged.”58 There was, however, a change in her affection for the University. Almost exactly a year later, December 16, 1927, Farrand received the following: “Dear President Farrand: “Lately a representative of the Cornell Alumni fund called. In reply to the request for money I said that I had just cancelled my long-standing legacy to the University. It was my purpose to double instead of cancelling this gift. But after waiting a year and receiving no reply to my protest regarding Professor Harris’ very unscrupulous ac- tion I conclude that you condone it. “Не is an old man,°? and was my highly esteemed Pro- fessor and friend. I wished him no harm but thought he should be restrained from trampling on others. 58 Carlotta J. Maury to Livingston Farrand, January 4, 1927. Liv- ingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. RMC-KL, Cor- nell. 59 Harris was 62 on October 2, 1926. 104 BULLETIN 350 “Although I told the Alumni representative to say noth- ing, perhaps after all you should know that this matter has cost the University a loss of twenty thousand dollars. “Sincerely yours, “Carlotta J. Maury [signed]*? Farrand made an attempt to smooth the situation, but to no avail: “I have your letter of December 16th. Naturally I regret the situation which arose between Professor Harris and yourself a year ago and which I made every effort to clarify. As I told you at the time, there can be no institutional discrimination of any kind. Personal differences are un- fortunately beyond administrative control and in the last analysis such differences seemed to form the crux of the situation at that time. I feel sure that Professor Harris is willing to conform to any general procedures which may be deemed equitable and wise. I am, of course, very sorry that you do not think you can work out with him the personal difficulty which arose between you but after re- peated conferences I could not see a definite admissible step which would insure satisfaction to you and all con- cerned. “Sincerely yours"?! A few months later Farrand received what appears to the last word from Maury and he forwarded a copy to Ries: “Dear President Farrand: “The exposure of the corruption of the Sinclair-Standard methods may open your eyes to the truth of the situation in the paleontological department when I appealed in vain to you for fair play. “Mr Sinclair has been Professor Harris’ hero for many years, unhappily replacing his admiration for the great men of the intellectual world. The Sinclair methods are the ideals of the paleontological department. The same deceit, and falseness, and fraud, is there, The ‘oil smudge’ is not only on the Republican party. It is also Academic. Hence 6 Carlotta J. Maury to Livingston Farrand, December 16, 1927. Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. RMC-KL, Cornell. 61 Carbon copy of a letter from Livingston Farrand to Carlotta J. Maury, December 22, 1927. Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. RMC-KL, Cornell. 62 Maury was probably referring to the scandals involving the leas- ing of Naval Oil Reserve land which rocked the political world in the 1920s. In 1922 President Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, A. B. Fall, allowed Harry Sinclair to lease Tea Pot Dome (Wyoming) area and Edward Doheny (Pan-American Oil) to lease the Elk Hills (California) area without any competitive bidding in return for siz- able “contributions.” Although Fall was convicted of accepting a bribe and went to prison, both Sinclair and Doheny were acquitted. Sinclair did go to prison for contempt of court for refusing to answer questions and attempting to influence a jury (Allen, 1931). Details of the scandal would have been in the headlines in 1927-28. I sadly withdrew my allegiance from Cornell. Not from personal resentment. “Sincerely yours “Carlotta J. Maury’’® Farrand wrote to Ries: “Dear Professor Ries: *For your personal information and not for quotation in any way I enclose a copy of a letter just received from Dr. Maury. Is there anything at all in her charge? Don't take this up with Professor Harris, as I see no reason for re-opening that matter unless you think it advisable to do so. “Sincerely yours [Signed] Livingston Farrand^ The bequest had been withdrawn and now her **alle- giance" was withdrawn as well. As a result of what she felt was a breach of professional ethics, she severed all ties with Cornell and with Harris. This situation ap- parently was not a total secret, for many years later in a set of typed notes Ries left the final word with regard to Carlotta Maury, Harris, and Cornell: *Miss Maury had in her will left an appreciable sum of money to Cornell for visiting lecturers in Geology. She canceled this bequest after the episode . . .""6? As mentioned earlier, by the time the Maury incident occurred, Harris had been working for several years as aconsultant for various oil companies. Why he appears to have stepped beyond the bounds of propriety in this one case is not clear. Perhaps he was struck with 4 touch of avarice, for the oil companies apparently were paying him quite well and he saw an opportunity 10 raise his standing with his company, and concomi- tantly his salary. Perhaps the mixture of commercial and scientific activities that were being conducted in his laboratory at that time blurred the distinction be- tween them in his mind. Was it a case of his temper taking control of his actions? If so, what made him angry? He left no record of his motivation, but Carlotta J. Maury left little doubt as to her feelings. 63 Carlotta J. Maury to Livingston Farrand, President, Cornell University, March 19, 1928. Original letter is in the Livingston Farrand Papers, 3/5/7, Box 20, File 20-51. A typed copy is in the Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691. RMC-KL, Cornell. ^ Livingston Farrand to Heinrich Ries, March 20, 1928. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691. RMC-KL, Cornell. 55 Un-signed notes prepared by Heinrich Ries (uses the phra “after I became head,. . ."). Based on a note attached to anothe! draft in the file, these were prepared in 1944 for Charles Nevin who was then head of the department. In the Ries papers are severa versions of these notes and each set differ but slightly in content: Heinrich Ries papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-2. RMC-KL, Cornell. 56 GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 105 Based on the many letters and memos which Harris wrote to Ries and the other department heads, some of which have been quoted in a previous section, his difficulty with Maury seems to fit into a pattern of defensiveness and self-preservation. Some of this de- fensiveness is apparent in his letters to Maury. Harris does not refer to her as “Dr. Maury", the title she is given in some of the company correspondence and one that he had used for her in previous years, even though She received her Ph.D. under his direction. Perhaps this is related to the fact that he never received an earned doctorate himself, but was surrounded by col- leagues who had, and he felt he had to “prove” himself in their eyes. Certainly the most profound result to arise from the Maury episode seems to have been the Paleontological Research Institution, which Harris founded six years later. In the “apology” letter to the University Presi- dent, Harris used the phrase, *... I can build some roomy apartment, off the University property . . .” This appears to be the first hint, at least in print, of what later developed into the Paleontological Research In- stitution, a private entity totally divorced from Cor- hell. In this way, he was able, at last, to gain control Over his collections without the interference of Uni- Versity officials. Harris’ bitterness towards Cornell only deepened as the years went by, and was perpetuated by his daughter long after his death. In her will, Re- becca Harris indicated that the $50,000 she left to PRI Was to be donated to other charities if PRI ever “merg- 657 with Cornell. This same feeling evidently translated Into the feelings of Harris' successor and protegé, Kath- erine Palmer. Responding to questions from the Na- tional Science Foundation in December of 1961 as to Current or future plans for any formal connection with Cornell, Palmer stated: “The Institution has no formal connection with Cornell University nor does it plan to establish any such connec- tion in the foreseeable future.... The Institution coop- erates with Cornell University as with other institutions: to maintain much the same relationship as exists between the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, American Philosophical So- ciety or other similar institutions in the same area.’ aS ** "Information in reply to questions" sent to the National Science 9undation, December 6, 1961. PRI Archives, Ithaca, NY. The fact that this was written 29 years after the laying of the PRI corner stone and almost 10 years after Har- ris’ death gives some indication of the depth of ani- mosity that existed between Harris, his family, and those who followed him at PRI and Cornell. Not until the 1990s was PRI to have any significant connection with Cornell. It also appears that the situation between Harris and Maury foreshadowed the current difficulties of decid- ing where university research ends and private com- pany enterprise begins that exist within many univer- sities today, especially with regard to molecular biology and pharmaceutical research. Now, however, faculty at many institutions are required to sign annual “Соп- flict of Interest" and “Disclosure Statement" forms declaring participation and/or ownership of any com- mercial venture even remotely related to their univer- sity teaching and геѕеагсһ.6 In this way the university seeks to protect itself, or at least gain prior knowledge of any potential difficulty, and situations like the Har- ris-Maury conflict should not arise. There is an old saying that time heals most wounds, and to some extent, this seems to be applicable for Harris, and perhaps for Maury as well. On December 30, 1936, just over two years before Maury's death, in his address as retiring President of the Paleontological Society, Harris presented a history of Cenozoic pale- ontology (Harris, 1937b). In several places in his ad- dress, Harris acknowledged Maury's work and its im- portance to paleontology, e.g.: "C. A. White’s mistakes in assigning all his fossil material on the northeast coast of Brazil to the Cretaceous were corrected in Maury's large memoir, published by the Bra- zilian government in 192495." (Harris, 1937b, p. 456) Perhaps this recognition by her former mentor and protagonist brought comfort to Maury before she died, and may have served to partially remove the deep bitterness resulting from their estrangement. Maury died at her home in Yonkers, New York, on January 3, 1938, after a year-long illness. She was only a few days shy of her 64th birthday. 67 This is the situation for the University of Pittsburgh. 68 С. J. Maury (1924). 106 BULLETIN 350 CHAPTER 8. CORNELL COLLEAGUES Harris came into a difficult situation when he re- turned to Cornell in 1894. He and Adam C. Gill, the mineralogist, joined Ralph S. Tarr in a department that had been running with temporary appointments and graduate students for almost two years. Even with the additional faculty, Tarr was still required to teach eco- nomic geology, which was not to his wishes, and he continued to request another person. According to notes left by Heinrich Ries, later Head of the Department: “Pres. Schurman apparently agreed to this [hiring another geology faculty] reluctantly, but told him [Tarr] that if he appointed one the man need never expect to be promoted to a higher rank!.... Tarr was hoping to get a Harvard man as that was his Alma Mater. I heard of the position accidentally and applied. Gill subsequently told me that Tarr could not very well refuse me with my record and experience”? Thus in 1898, the situation was further complicated by the arrival of Heinrich Ries?, an economic geologist, who apparently was not Tarr’s first choice. Eventually Ries split from Tarr and by 1902 each of the four was conducting business as a separate entity, and each com- municated with the others formally on his own sepa- rate letterhead. In essence, there was no “Department of Geology” during this time. Even the University ac- knowledged that this arrangement had been in effect for many years in a committee report to the Board of Trustees in 1906: “the Department was conducted by three independent heads; Professor Tarr having charge of dynamic geology and physical geography, Assistant Professor Gill having charge of mineralogy and petrography. and Assistant Pro- fessor Harris having charge of paleontology. Dr. Ries, who came as instructor to assist Professor Tarr, was in due time promoted to an assistant professorship with special charge of economic geology.’”* ! This turned out not to be true, for Ries was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1902 and Professor in 1906 (A. L. Anderson, 1952). 2 Page 2 of typed, undated and unsigned notes. Because of the use of “I” and “те” in the narrative, these must have been written by Ries and based upon an attached note, they were prepared about 1944 for Charles Nevin, then head of the Department. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-2. RMC-KL, Cornell. ? Heinrich Ries appointed Instructor in Economic Geology for 1898—99, at a salary of $750; Cornell University Board of Trustees meeting minutes, April 12, 1898. ^ Report on the state of the Geology Department and another related item, promotion of Heinrich Ries, presented to the Cornell University Board of Trustees by S. D. Halliday, R. H. Treman, and J. G. Schurman. Trustee meeting minutes, May 15, 1906. For almost 10 years these four people, Harris (pa- leontology), Gill (mineralogy and petrography), Ries (Economic Geology), and Tarr (Dynamic Geology and Physical Geography) ran their respective sections, all in McGraw Hall, but acting as if they were virtually on separate planets. Although not many department records survive from this period, apparently each per- son was sending the university president a separate annual report each year.? This was the climate in which Harris interacted with his colleagues. ADAM C. GILL As might have been expected, Harris and Gill be- came close friends, and that friendship endured until Gill’s death only five months after his retirement from Cornell in 1932. When the Harris' lived on Eddy Street in Ithaca, Gill, a bachelor at the time, was a frequent visitor. Harris prepared the professional memorial for Gill which appeared in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America in 1933 and he recalled his friend- ship with Gill: “Early in 1894 Cornell University decided to broaden its work in earth sciences, and in the place of the former professorship in geology, have, at first, three assistant pro- fessorships, which were assigned as follows: Mineralogy, A. C. Gill; Physical Geography and Dynamic Geology, R. S. Tarr; Paleontology, G. D. Harris. It was then that the writer became acquainted with Professor Gill, and from that time until the day of his death our relations as col- leagues and neighbors were most intimate and most сог" dial." (Harris, 1933, p. 326) The Gill residence was on Wycoff Avenue, not far from where Harris built a home on Kelvin Place, and both shared a love of flowers which grew profusely in their back gardens. No doubt the two men walked together across the bridges over Fall Creek gorge countless times as they went to and from McGraw Hall. Perhaps be- cause of this, there is, unfortunately, little record 9 their friendship aside from the Gill memorial. RALPH STOCKMAN TARR There is a similarly sparse record of the Harris-Tat! relationship, but apparently there was little love lost between them. As noted earlier, the University ad- ministration did not include Tarr in the decision (0 hire Gill and Harris, even though he had repeatedly requested additional assistance. When they were hirec Harris and Gill were afforded the same rank as Tat 5 There are copies of Harris’ reports for 1899-1900 and for 1900“ 1901; each printed with his own letterhead, HA-PRI, Ithaca, IN GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 107 even though Tarr had been there for almost two years Operating as a defacto department head. No doubt Tarr had some feeling of betrayal; this was probably not the kind of reward he expected after all his hard work to keep the Department functioning after the departure ОЁН. S. Williams. His only advantage, and he may not have even known this, was that he was paid a higher salary than Gill or Harris, for they each received $1400 while he was paid $1700.° Add to this situation the fact that the University administration did not make an official designation for a department head when the faculty was enlarged. On the contrary, Harris came to Cornell armed with a letter from the President, quoted earlier, which stated that each person was to be in- dependent of the other. All in all there was very little here to create a condition of cooperation and friend- liness, at least between the two new faculty members and Tarr. Ries described the situation between Harris and Tarr this way: "Tarr had not introduced me to Harris at all. I knew him by sight, so one day walking home to lunch I overtook him and introduced myself. Told him I was to teach Eco- nomic Geology. Said he was glad to hear it as the way it had been taught was execrable [sic]. (Tarr had been teach- ing it.) [Parenthetical in original.]’ HEINRICH RIES . The only person to keep much a record of daily Interaction with Harris during these years was Ries, Who joined the faculty only four years after Harris and Was head of the Department for almost 30 years. As the administrative officer, like Williams before him, it 5 expected that he would keep good records. The De- Partmental records of Williams and Ries, along with their personal notes, form the basis for much of what Ollows, From the tone of the communications between Ries and Harris, it is clear that they simply did not get along Well’, According to Harris’ former student, Druid Wil- ‘on, when Н. S. Williams retired in 1914, Harris ex- Pected to be named head of the department, but, in- Stead, the position went to Ries. Also, Wilson, who New both men, felt that Ries “. . . never gave Harris his Que."? In defense of Ries, a department head often ^ Cornell University Trustees meeting minutes, January 9, 1894. MC-KL, Cornell. not Notes on past conditions in Geology Department” Set of typed . 68 by Ries complied for Charles Nevin c. May 1944. Heinrich P Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-2. RMC-KL, Cornell. This was confirmed by Dr. Lois (Schoonover) Kent. Personal munication, September 9, 1995, Personal communication, July 12, 1995, со must hold а different view of things than the average professor, on matters such as operating costs and en- rollments. From the existing records, it seems Harris’ portion of the Department was very costly to run due to the small class sizes. As examples, the following are taken from Annual Reports Ries prepared for 1914— 1915 and 1919–1920:19 1914-1915 Cost per Student-hour Class Ist Term 2nd Term Elem & Econ. Geol P» 277 $ 3.02 Physical Geography 5.40 6.08 Mineral — Petrology 10.50 8.70 Paleo & Strat. Geol 35.00 23.20 Dept. Average 4.30 5.00 Number of 1919-1920 Students ^ Cost/Student-hour Class ist 2nd 181 2nd Term Term Term Term Elem. Geology 207 301l $ 320 3 3.495 Phys. Geography 155 79 4.30 9.75 Min — Petrology 73 80 12.00 1300 Historic — Paleo 14 30 41.00 19.00 Economic Geol 12] ГЖ 4.10 4.50 A check of several other Annual Reports shows that, in general, Harris’ classes had lower enrollments than any of his colleagues. As Ries had to answer to the University administration each year on these costs, no doubt this affected his personal relationship with Har- ris. Ries was not the only one to note the low enroll- ments in Harris’ classes and the fact that for many years Harris was on campus only part of the regular academic year. As mentioned previously, in 1915 Pres- ident Schurman inquired as to whether Harris was even needed full time or пої!!. Apparently Harris had little to do with the academic advising of undergraduates, a task that is vital to any department. Ries commented in a letter to Henry Leighton"? that everyone in the Department had taken their share of undergraduate advising, almost everyone that is; "At present only Professor Harris, I believe, 10 Annual Reports for 1914-1915, Box 2, File 2-1; 1919-1920, Box 1, File 1-85. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, RMC-KL, Cor- nell. 11 Jacob Schurman to Heinrich Ries, Мау 28, 1915. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-22. RMC-KL, Cornell. ? Henry Leighton (A.B.'06) worked for the Pennsylvania Geo- logical Survey and was Professor of Geology at the University of Pittsburgh where John Wells was one of his students. It was Leighton who encouraged Wells to come to Cornell (Brice et al., 1995). 108 BULLETIN 350 has never done so."!? Certainly this would not have endeared Harris to his colleagues, all of whom were doing not only their share of the undergraduate ad- vising, but his share as well. Yet, regardless of the personal feelings, Ries defend- ed Harris’ portion of the Department and tried to maintain and increase financial support for paleontol- ogy. For example, in 1920-21, even though Harris had only 17 students in the first term, Ries filed this request with the President: “Professor Harris urges the need of a museum in which he can display his extensive collection of Tertiary fossils." In another report by Ries: “The collections which he [Harris] has crowded on the top floor [of McGraw Hall], can probably not be duplicated anywhere in this country, and are of great value for stu- dents interested in his particular field.” !4 While Ries did show some sympathy for Harris' sit- uation with regard to the need for collection space, he told Harris that McGraw Hall simply did not have any extra room. Ries, however, was not totally sympathetic to the request, and he continued: “Indeed I question whether the many type specimens of Tertiary fossils which he has, and which are of interest chiefly to a few graduates taking special work in that line, could not equally well be preserved for study in special cases of drawers.” !5 Asis often the case, the professor can be the dreamer, but the department head must deal with realities: *Professor Harris wants to see vertebrate paleontology developed, but to do this would entail more expense as to equipment and space, ... The number of students taking it would probably be very small, and it is my [Ries] per- sonal opinion that is should hardly be attempted until we have plenty of money and space. He [Harris] likewise ex- presses a desire to have an instructor in Paleozoic Pale- ontology."!6 In some of his private correspondence, Ries was less than complimentary even about Harris’ research: **. . . Harris has I think the most cheerful habit of writing 13 Heinrich Ries to Henry Leighton, October 21, 1926. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-3. RMC-KL, Cornell. ^ Annual Report for 1924-1925 by Heinrich Ries submitted to Dean R. M. Ogden, May 7, 1925, p. 3. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/ 15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. 15 Annual Report for 1920-21; N.D. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/ 691, Box 1, File 1-85. RMC-KL, Cornell. '6 Annual Report for 1925-1926 by Heinrich Ries submitted to Dean R. M. Ogden, N.D.,p. 3. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. up every little bit of work he does as if no one else had ever been in the region, . . ."!? How much the conflict between Harris, the profes- sor, and Ries, the department head, colored their per- sonal relationship is very difficult to tell, but, based upon the surviving documents, it appears the personal side was as contentious as the professional. From what Ries wrote in a letter to the President in 1929, some jealousy existed over some of Harris' advantages. Note Ries' ability to both praise and damn in the same sen- tence: “I am returning herewith the letter which you received from Mr. К. E. Schmidt’? regarding the establishment of a publication fund to assist Professor Harris with his pub- lications. I may say that Professor Harris has for a number of years published at his initial expense the bulletins [sic] of American Paleontology and the Paleontographica [sic] Americana. The articles which have appeared in these are mostly papers on Paleontology by himself and his own students!’ and contain much valuable material. These have never been for free distribution but have been sold by him. It would of course be very nice if we can have a publication fund for the Department but I think that the rest of the Department might feel of course that if such a fund were established that the other branches should share in it. This other side of the matter is one which Mr. Schmidt knows probably nothing about as I find in looking up his record that he took 25 hours of work under Professor Harris and was not registered for an hour in any other branch of the Department. By publishing the paleontological papers himself Professor Harris is of course able to publish them in full with many illustrations while the rest of us have tO be content with sending our papers and those of our stu- dents to the scientific journals in which they must песе” sarily appear in very much condensed form.”’”° Such was their relationship for over 50 years. HENRY SHALER WILLIAMS For Harris, and perhaps others, one of the saddest situations within the Department was the deterioration ofthe relationship between himselfand H. S. Williams: his former professor and often strong supporter. Cer- tainly they maintained a strong friendship in the early days, for very soon after receiving his appointment 10 17 Heinrich Ries to Н. P. Cushing, March 10, 1906. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-84. RMC-KL, Cornell. : 18 “Hans” Schmidt who was on the two Ecphora excursions 2r 1914 and 1915. ; 1° About 70% of the papers in the first 100 issues of the Bulletin’ and all but one of the first 13 issues of Palæontographica were by Harris or his students. ; 20 Heinrich Ries to Livingston Farrand, April 12, 1929. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-7. RMC-KL, Cornell. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 109 Cornell in 1894, Harris wrote to Williams, who was then at Yale: “Having now received the appointment myself I shall spare no time and means to put invertebrate paleontology at Cornell on the best footing possible, i.e., within my power.’’?! It was not until Williams returned to Cornell that the two men became disenchanted with one another. In 1904, H. S. Williams left Yale and returned to Cornell to assume the duties as head of the Geology Department, but with a concurrent half-time appoint- ment with the U.S.G.S.?? Part of Williams’ duties for the University also included overseeing the museum Which was housed in McGraw Hall. During his stay at Yale Williams had apparently kept In touch with Harris, and shortly before his return to Cornell Williams wrote to him about a project: "...to map the Paleozoic rocks of the Ithaca Quadrangle this year. And if nothing arises to hinder [Edward M.] Kindle and I will be at work in the neighborhood during the summer.'?3 Williams asked Harris for recommendations for a field assistant who would have the highest potential. He also Indicated that at least part of the collections resulting from this study would stay at Cornell. In this letter, however, Williams gave no hint that he was contem- plating a return to Cornell, and indeed, there seems to àve been little consultation by Williams or the Uni- Versity administration with any of the geology faculty about his return to the campus. Of all the faculty, Harris appears, at first, to have been the most supportive of Williams. J. C. Branner E to Harris at the time Williams returned to Cor- Nell: “In regard to Wms [sic] and Cornell: I find that Tarr has been trying to kick up a great dust about it, and that he has written to people outside of the University that he is 80 put out that he is disgusted almost or quite to the point 9f resignation. Of course such views should be expressed Only to the President. “Tam very glad that you told W. that you would frankly Cooperate in building up a museum and in strengthening я Letter fragment, G. D. Harris to Н. S. Williams, believed written оте March 26, 1894. Н. S. Williams Papers 14/15/728, Box 28. мск, Cornell. Pártm illiams was appointed Professor of Geology, Head of the De- of TN and Director of the Museum, but only on half-time salary bec 50, Plus $250 as department head and museum director, to Оте effective in 1904-05 academic year. Cornell University Board >, USlees meeting minutes, February 6, 1904. RMC-KL, Cornell. angel S. Williams to G. D. Harris, May 30, 1903. HA-PRI, a, NY, the graduate work. W. thinks highly of you, and of course nothing is to be gained by being cantankerous. A head to the department will greatly strengthen geology all round at Cornell. It certainly will look better to the world outside. You are not to infer from this that I have had any finger in the pie. I never knew anything about it until I heard a rumor of it when I was in N. C. but I ought to tell you frankly that it seems to me on the whole an excellent thing, though of course it is none of my business except in so far as it affects my friends, and affects the study of geology.”’*4 Williams’ return, however, only made a bad situa- tion worse. While Ries’ notes are admittedly not the most unbiased source, they are among the few surviv- ing records of these times: “Williams was a mild mannered and kindly in his dis- position, and if the others had been decent to him I feel sure he would have done a lot for them. Tarr was the most openly aggressive of the three, and did not hesitate to show his feelings.” Things did seem to move smoothly for a while, at least on the surface. In his second Annual Report, Wil- liams sounded optimistic: “There has been greater harmony and cooperation, to- gether with the greatest freedom of the individual initiative consistent with good organization and best efficiency of the whole. ... “The coordination and organization of the several in- dividuals into a harmonious department, providing the best possible opportunity for students to perfect them- selves in geological science as a whole, is the end toward which my chief energies are directed. My feeling is that this spirit is becoming more and more appreciated by my colleagues and is resulting in increasing regard for the gen- eral interests of the department.'?e But the honeymoon did not last long, for Williams had a different philosophy for paleontology as a college subject than Harris did. This he outlined in a draft of his Annual Report for 1904-05: “Му attitude toward the general policy of conducting the branch of work in Paleontology I will frankly state, *Al- though it is my favorite branch of geological study my conviction is that it is of secondary importance as an el- ementary branch of university study; that it is a special field of investigation, of value to specialists as a prepa- ration for professional work, but on account of the im- 24 J, C. Branner to С. D. Harris, March 24, 1904. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ?5 Page 2 of a typed, undated and unsigned notes prepared by Ries about 1944 for Charles Nevin, then head ofthe department. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-2. RMC-KL, Cornell. 26 Annual Report for 1905-1906 by H. S. Williams. H. S. Williams Papers, 14/15/728, Geological Correspondence Box. RMC-KL, Cor- nell. perfection of the materials presented for study it is inex- pedient to allow students who are untrained in zoology and botany to specialize in the subject.’ Further, I believe that to raise the study of paleontology from a mere ex- amination of curiosities to the position of an exact science requires in the student a trained mind, in the first place, and, secondly, an immense amount of careful, systematic study. It is therefore my judgment that it is cruelty to encourage an ignorant freshman to play at study by allow- ing him to spend time at collecting and identifying fossils before he knows the elements of either zoology, botany, or geology, such as can be taught to beginners in the uni- versity. When, therefore, I discover that it is possible by the elective system for freshman to specialize in paleon- tology without either being trained to study and having no preparation in other sciences, I am disturbed and wish to disallow the practice."?7 From this it is obvious that the teacher and his pupil had developed very different ideas since they had last shared a classroom, and the teacher was now once again in a position of control. Harris was guilty of allowing his students to take few classes outside the area of paleontology. Ries com- mented on this in the quotation above concerning Karl Schmidt’s letter and in a set of notes: “Не [Harris] was interested in what he called bio-geology and saw no reason to make students in historic geology even take a course in elementary geology first.” Certainly this was not the approach to paleontology recommended by Williams. In yet another way teacher and pupil had moved apart. Williams did not consider the study of paleon- tology a suitable livelihood for most students: “Не [Williams] considered the field of scientific paleon- tology to be limited in its possibilities for a livelihood, and consequently he never offered undue encouragement to prospective students to enter the work. To those who were bound to enter, however, he gave the best council and advice of which he was capable." (Weller, 1918, p. 700). Meanwhile, Harris seemed to be doing just the op- posite by having students work with him in the Lou- isiana Survey and with his extended boat excursions and field camp work. Harris, especially with his work with the Survey, demonstrated that the study of pa- leontology could provide a good living. The size of Harris’ classes, however, did indicate that he was not bringing large numbers of students into paleontology. 27 Draft of Annual Report for 1904-1905. Н. S. Williams papers, 14/15/728. RMC-KL, Cornell. 28 Typed notes prepared by Ries sometime between Harris’ re- tirement in 1934 and the early 1940s. Heinrich Ries Papers, 1/4/ 15/691, Box 3, File 3-2, RMC-KL, Cornell. BULLETIN 350 In May of 1905, after a brief discussion that included a request for a pay raise for Ries, Williams wrote to President Schurman: “While speaking of this matter [pay raises], too, the case of Prof. Harris comes in. While I realize that Prof. Harris is a man of high merit as an investigator, as suggested in the conversation some time ago, there is the misfortune to him of having me as his colleague. I cannot recommend to the trustees to devote an excess of funds to the pale- ontological side of geology. Although I feel appreciative of Prof. Harris? ability I am not ready to urge increase of salary in that line, although I would like to see him ap- preciated and honored in such a way as the trustees can do.... He does not ask for a raise of salary at present as he has funds from the Louisiana Survey and from the U.S.G.S. sufficient to run his research work finely, and both of these outside [activities] helps detract from the amount of time he can give to the University."?? From this, it appears Williams was not happy with the half-time arrangement that Harris was working every year. It was during this period that Harris came very close to leaving Cornell. In October of 1905, the beginning of Williams' second year back at Cornell, Harris began to make inquiries about a position at Louisiana State University (LSU), where most of the previous state geologists had been faculty members. In reply to his expression of interest, the LSU President responded: “I should like nothing better than to see a geological de- partment established at this University, and to have you in charge of it. In fact, I have long had this step in mind, but it has never seemed practicable to carry it out. I am glad to find now that you are thinking along the same line: and that there is a possibility of our securing your services to build up such department here, and work in the state. . · ° I should be glad for you to write me at once giving a” outline of your plans for the organization of the geological work here, and state when you could begin the work 25 professor of geology at this University, whether it is your idea to remain here permanently or only temporarily, what salary you would wish, what sum would be needed to purchase the desired collections, and how you think your salary and your time should be divided between the Uni- versity and the Experiment Stations [the State Bureau Чл” der which the Geological Survey operated]."?? Within days of receiving Boyd's letter, Harris must have written to J. C. Branner about his plans, for Bran" ner offered this sage advice: 2 Н. S. Williams to J. С. Schurman, May 12, 1905. H. S. williams Papers, 14/15/728, Geological Correspondence Box. RMC-KL, Cor nell. : to Gir 30 Thomas D. Boyd, President, Louisiana State University, bert D. Harris, October 2, 1905. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 111 "I can't tell you how sorry I am to get your letter of the 12th. There is no mistake about the fact that I have never in my life heard Williams say anything but good of you and your work. There is so much good scientific work to be done in this world that it seems to me a great pity that any one should spend his energies in personal controver- sies. The things you complain of are unworthy of your Serious attention, and I cannot help thinking that you are being egged on by someone who is seeking to make a fool out of you by exaggerating the importance of a lot of very trivial matters. "None of the relations of life are just what we should like to have them; there is something to be put up with Wherever we are and whoever our associates may be. Be patient, my dear fellow, and don't listen to the growler and the faultfinder. I hope to have better news from you next time.’’3! Part of Harris’ disillusionment may have stemmed from the fact that by this time he had been at Cornell about 13 years, started his Bulletins, produced several Ph.D. students, amassed a large collection of fossils, and served with distinction as Geologist in Charge of the Louisiana Geological Survey, yet he had not been Promoted to the rank of Professor (apparently there Was no associate professor rank at that time). This, Coupled with the return of Williams, certainly explains Some of his frustrations. Harris was not alone, how- *ver, in trying to flee the department; it seems that all of'them, except Gill, were threatening to resign in 1905 and 1906, Williams wrote to all the geology faculty quoting from a letter from President Schurman: “ “I [the President] have received a letter from Professor Tarr in which he objects to the organization of the new Course on practical geology and mineralogy which you have been contemplating for Engineers. _ “ ‘I have already notified you that Professor Tarr has informed me that he expects to leave Cornell University at the end of the next academic year. In view of that fact I Suggest for your consideration the desirability of post- Poning for one year the establishment of the above men- tioned course for Engineers.’ ''32 , Harris carried his search for the position at LSU "ght to the point of being appointed: “I do not know whether the Secretary of the Board or I àm most to blame for not sending you a formal notification of the action of our Board on the 10th ult., but to avoid Mistakes, I will take the responsibility, and humbly beg your pardon for the delay. The Board elected you Professor м I John С, Branner to G. D. Harris, October 18, 1905. HA-PRI, thaca, NY, 32 n Ma Henry S. Williams to Professors Tarr, Harris, Gill, and Ries, T ch 23, 1905, HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. of Geology, with the understanding that you will divide your time between the instruction of the University and the field work for the Experiment Stations, and that one half of your salary will be paid by the Experiment Stations and one half by the University. After conferring with Mr. Dodson as to the meaning of your letter October last, I have concluded to offer you a salary of $2500 per annum, your expenses, of course, to be paid while engaged in sur- vey work for the Station. If I have misinterpreted your letter, please set me right at once. Please also let me know when you wish to begin the work in Louisiana, which term of our session you would prefer to spend in giving instruc- tion at the University, and what courses of study you wish 16 0067. “With kindest regards, and with much rejoicing over the prospect of having you with us permanently, . . .'°33 Members of the department must have known Har- ris was actively seeking another position, for just as Harris was receiving the news that he had been ap- pointed to the position at LSU, Williams was writing to Schurman expressing concern about Ries seeking another position, but showing little concern if Harris left: “The fact seems to be that he [Ries] is going right ahead seeking for another position, on the ground that he cannot get along with his present salary; believes he is worthy of a better salary; and receives from you no hope ofa rise. . . . "My position has been very seriously attacked by men considering themselves to be friends of the University. I have endeavored to prevent harm to the university by giving no occasion for complaint on their part or those two members of the department who have openly sought to upset all the plans originating with me in the depart- ment. This policy has so far resulted in preventing these two men, messrs. Tarr and Harris from resigning. . . . “I think the Department would not be seriously weak- ened by the loss ofthe Assistant Professor of Paleontology, though he is a thoroughly able and energetic man in the line of paleontology he has cultivated. So that in consid- ering the future of the department, I think it would not be inexpedient to make no reappointment at the termination of his term of office. .. . it will give less offense to Mr. Harris and his friends if the termination of his appoint- ment be placed on the score of economy, rather than on any comparison with other needs of the department or with the merits of another member of the department. No doubt objections will be raised, whatever is done; but the criticism of the President and of his appointment of me over the department have come from both Mr. Harris and Mr. Tarr, and neither of them has as yet fully adapted the spirit of ‘harmonious cooperation’ which you indicated in your report as so essential to the . . . university. . . . *With the many matters in your mind you may not be 33 Thomas D. Boyd, President, Louisiana State University, to G. D. Harris, June 2, 1906. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 112 BULLETIN 350 able to realize the intensity of the strain at particular points of the institution, but I trust you will be able to give this matter sufficient thought to not allow the active departure of Mr. Ries from the University. “We must not lose our friends, while we are protecting ourselves from the attacks of our enemies."?* Asit turned out none of them resigned. Ries received a raise and stayed: “After Pres. S. [Schurman] agreed to raise me, I withdrew my application out there [University of Michigan, at $2500/ year.” Instead of actually resigning, in 1906 Tarr took his portion of geology completely away from the Geology Department and created his own independent De- partment of Physical Geography*ć, that was also housed in McGraw Hall. This arrangement remained until Tarr’s death in 1912 when geology and geography were once again combined into a single department. Harris, too, apparently had second thoughts: “I [LSU President] very much doubt whether it would be well to make the temporary arrangement you suggest at this time. My idea when I asked the Board to elect you Professor of Geology here was to secure your whole time for the University and the Experiment Stations; but under all the circumstances I think you have acted wisely in not severing your connection with Cornell. This being the case, it now seems to me that it would be better for you to confine your work in Louisiana for the Stations just as you have been doing for the last number of years, and not to take up the work of teaching at the University until we can have a full personal conference about the courses of study to be offered.’’*’ Even though he did not leave, it appears that Harris did not become a model member of the department, at least not according to his colleagues. Complaints continued to pour forth to Williams. Responding to Williams’ request for him to teach introductory lab- oratory classes, Harris wrote: “Last spring I found the assistance in my branch of geology entirely inadequate for the large amount of work we were called upon їо do. . . . I do not think it desirable or dignified for the professor who gives an elementary course to per- 34 H, S. Williams to J. С. Schurman, June 2, 1905, Attached note in Williams’ hand says, “Personally discussed with him; letter not delivered." H. S. Williams papers, 14/15/728, Geological Corre- spondence Box. RMC-KL, Cornell. ?5 Heinrich Ries to H. S. Williams, July 22, 1906. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-75. RMC-KL, Cornell. 36 Cornell University Board of Trustees meeting minutes, May 15, 1906. RMC-KL, Cornell. 37 Thos. D. Boyd, President, Louisiana State University, to G. D. Harris, July 25, 1906. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. sonally follow it up in the laboratory when cheaper help should do the work. I do not think such practice is cus- tomary."?5 Still using letterhead paper with the heading “Cornell University” to one side and “Paleontology and Strati- graphic Geology, G. D. Harris” to the other, and no mention of the “Geology Department", Harris used quite a terse and sarcastic tone in some of his letters to Williams: “Memorandum relative to aims and needs of the Pale- ontological and Stratigraphical Division of the Geology Department of Cornell University, 1908. “The AIM of this division, section, or department at Cornell . . ."[Emphasis in the original.]?? At one point Harris even addressed a letter as, “Prof. H. S. Williams, Dean, Geol. Dept., C. 1.749 Despite this rancor, and perhaps unknown to Harris, Williams was requesting support from the University administration for his area of paleontology: “I think give more attention to development of Professor Harris's [sic] special line of work. One of the chief needs connected with such development is putting in order of the vast amount of collections pertaining to the Paleon- tology museum.""^! In 1907, Harris had sought promotion to the rank of Professor by appeals directly to the University Pres- ident, apparently not going through his department head. He received this reply: “The Trustees were not prepared to establish an additional full professorship in the geologicaldepartment [sic]. And the conferring of a title without the corresponding emol- ument was felt to be a dangerous precedent to establish. "АП this simply means that the Trustees are unable 10 promote to higher positions many men who have rendered long, faithful, and meritorious service in their present PO sition. ”4? Harris responded by saying that he had not asked for any additional salary, and further that he had agreed to never ask for a full year’s pay. He went on: зв G, D. Harris to Н. S. Williams, October 2, 1907. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. 39 Memorandum, April 15, 1908. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15! 691, Box 3, File 3-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. | 40 G, D. Harris to Н. S. Williams, April 14, 1909. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. а Annual Report for 1908-1909 by Н. S. Williams, April 28, 1909, p. 7. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-6. RMC-Kh Cornell. 42 J, G. Schurman to G. D. Harris, May 31, 1907. Jacob Gould Schurman Papers, 3/4/6, Vol. 20, pg. 118. RMC-KL, Cornell. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 113 “Rumor has it that the Geological Department is already Overmanned. This state of affairs has come about, if at all, by recent appointments over which the professor here con- cerned had no authority. He should not be made to suffer on account of the cost of new men."^? No doubt one of the “recent appointments" to which Harris referred was that of Williams three years earlier. When it was to Harris’ advantage, however, he was quite willing to cooperate with Williams. Just before he received his promotion and at about the time the funding for the Louisiana Survey had an uncertain future, Harris wrote to Williams from Louisiana: “Just now I am not bound by contract to anyone for the time mentioned. I thought perhaps as you have often ex- pressed a desire for the arranging of General Geology under one man and as you have kindly suggested I would be the most fit for the work, would it not be well just now to Suggest the matter to the President [of Cornell]. Naturally I should expect the beginning ‘full’ professor's salary, i.e., $2500 but since this would relieve Dr. Ries of so much Work it would naturally give him the chance to dismiss One instructor. So the (1) cost would be no more to the University, (2) your idea would be finally carried out, (3) Students would have more of two professors in place of an instructor. What objections can properly be made to these three points? Still, I am not thrusting myself any- Where. I simply suggest this now as it seems that I should know where I stand before agreeing to too much outside Wwork,’’44 Williams must have interpreted this as a thinly veiled request for promotion, for he answered: "I have just received your letter this morning? and have taken it into the President and consulted him regarding the matter, and he says to tell you that there are several €partments in the University sadly needing more full Professors, but that the Geological Department is not one of them, and he cannot recommend to the Trustees the appointment of another full professor in the Geological Department. "This, is seems to me, settles the question you raise. . . . “I still think it would be a desirable thing to have the €neral course in one man's hands, but the reply of the President seems to make this impossible, in the way at least, that you suggest 11.74% 4 TX page, printed (probably by Harris) legal-looking extract. bine ee of title with no change in compensation Case of и m P rofessor Harris asking to have the word 'Assistant' dropped M 15 title.” N.D. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. · D. Harris to Н. S. williams, November 2. 1908. Heinrich Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-6. RMC-KL, Cornell. Ote the two day mail service between Jennings, Louisiana and » New York in 1908. Ris; P S. Williams to G. D. Harris, November 5, 1908. Heinrich apers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-6. RMC-KL, Cornell. Ries 45 It аса, 6 Harris seemed to get the message loud and clear, but was, at the same time, saddened by the recommen- dations of the President: “Ат very glad to hear the plain truth about the Geol. Dept. [sic] as seen by the President and shall naturally trim my sails accordingly. There are a whole lot of things I want to do here [Louisiana] in the next five years and according to present indications I shall have many more students down here at work than I ever had before. This Iam willing to do and and [sic] teach 1/2 year at Cornell; but I am perfectly frank to say that in my judgment it would be no more than mere decency and of real advantage to all con- cerned to give me the rank as well as the pay (now given) of full professor while I am at the University. It would cost nothing (even in dignity) it seems to me to make the change. I wish there were some way of making the Pres- ident give his reasons against the change. I have already agreed to swear off from all claims of permanency and to never ask increase in pay. There is some .. . [one behind this] . . . and the President isn't going to point him out.” 4 There is no way of knowing who Harris thought was standing in the way of his promotion, but given the past differences he had with Williams, it is not unrea- sonable to assume he felt Williams was that person. Later, despite all their differences, Williams even- tually was able to obtain Harris' promotion. Note Wil- liams' use of the word "again" in the letter below. This evidently was not the first time he had attempted to gain Harris’ promotion: “Recognizing the fact that peace of mind and good feeling are essential to the most effective work, I want to call attention to the unhappiness of my colleague Assistant Professor Harris because he is still rated an Assistant Pro- fessor. I believe his ability is widely recognized through out the country as a first class Geologist and Paleontologist and I believe he should be recognized as a full Professor. He devotes half of the year most earnestly and effectively to the work of the Geological department, and is a devoted loyal Cornellian. I therefore, again, (and urgently) rec- ommend that some way may be found to give him the title of Professor of Paleontology.’’** Harris was promoted to “Professor of Paleontology and Stratigraphic Geology (part time)” by action of the Board of Trustees on May 19, 1909.49 In this same letter Williams made another attempt to bring peace and harmony to the department. At this point, apparently in desperation, Williams did relin- 47 G. D. Harris to Н. S. Williams, November 7, 1908. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-6. RMC-KL, Cornell. 48 H. S. Williams to J. G. Schurman, May 19, 1909. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. ^9 Cornell University Trustee Meeting Minutes for May 18-19, 1909. RMC-KL, Cornell. 114 BULLETIN 350 quish his control of the department with a suggestion to the President and Trustees that the department be run by a committee, “The Geology Conference.”*° This action tends to support Ries' assessment of Williams' personality mentioned earlier, and it shows that Wil- liams was trying to get, and keep, the department run- ning smoothly. The committee approach, however, did little to ease the situation. This constant bickering between the Williams and Harris continued at various levels until Williams’ final retirement in 1912, and even beyond. Williams had been granted some research space on the top floor of McGraw Hall, and Harris had eyes for some of the storage drawers located there; Ries had other ideas: “As for your room on the top floor; no one will be allowed in there. That is for your private use, as long as you want IE... “Harris as you know has the southwest room on the top floor. He wants to put a lot of drawers in racks along the east side of that room. It was for this purpose he suggested the possibility of getting the vacant racks in your room. .. . “I [Ries] told him [Harris] this morning that actually and proportionately he had more floor space now that any other branch of the department." [Emphasis in the orig- inal]?! So, the relationship between Harris and Williams which began with warmth and mutual respect, ended with bitterness and distrust. The last few years of Wil- liams' life were spent in Cuba, and he died in Havana in 1918 (Weller, 1918). Even after Williams? death, however, Harris was not above appealing to the memory of his colleague to advance his own cause: ** | . there should be at once a move made to raise funds for an International Devonian Museum here, in the center ofthe best Devonian section in the World [sic]. This should be a shrine, as it were, to the memory of Professor H. S. Williams and should be financed by the Williams family. They have given little so far but I believe might take hold of such a proportion if properly approached. This naturally should be quite separate from the general paleontological museum.” 5? Many years later, Harris still did not acknowledge that his actions had any thing to do with the turmoil that existed during Williams’ tenure as head of the department: 50 The suggestion was approved by the Trustees; Cornell Univer- sity Board of Trustees meeting minutes, May 19, 1909. For details, see the chapter “Period of Confusion” in Brice ,1989, p. 74-83. 51 Heinrich Ries to H. S. Williams, December 12, 1914. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-76. RMC-KL, Cornell. 52 G, D. Harris, Annual Report for Heinrich Ries, May 8, 1928. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-7. RMC-KL, Cornell. “Professor H. S. Williams could have done wonders here [at Cornell] if he had managed a little differently financially and had gotten material to work on for Cornell, and not for the U. S. Geol. Survey."?* In defense of Harris, however, it can be said that while Williams came with high hopes for the depart- ment, his focus may have been a bit narrow. In his diary, written the first week of April 1904, Williams said: “I believe it may be truthfully said, that with the return of the Devonian laboratory of the U. S. Geological Survey to Cornell no other university will possess the facilities so well adapted for advanced research in regard to problems ofevolution of Paleozoic life and their relation to historical geology and to the principles of correlation in the Paleozoic rocks as Cornell.’ Williams also wrote about the need for vertebrate pa- leontology, more exhibits, and certainly emphasized his own area of Paleozoic paleontology, but he said very little about Tertiary paleontology. Perhaps wil- liams was so focused on the old rocks he had little time for the younger ones and the people who did. O. D. VON ENGELN Harris and Oskar D. von Engeln may have had an amiable relationship. Von Engeln сате to Cornell as a student in 1904 and was associated with the De- partment until his death in 1965; more than 60 years. Exactly how amiable the friendship was between Har- ris and von Engeln is difficult to say because “Von”, as he was known, was a student and protegé of R. 5. Tarr, and from what can ђе determined, Tarr and Наг“ ris did not get along very well. But according to Ries, Harris and von Engeln must have been friends: “There did not seem to be any use objecting [to appointing O. D. von Engeln an assistant professor] and I felt that! [sic] I said anything against [the appointment] Harris would tattle it їо О. D. [von Engeln]. . . ."5* Von Engeln had a home on Kelvin Place not faf from Harris and Gill, and it would have been norma for him to join the others in walking from home {0 McGraw Hall. Perhaps photography provided von Еп“ geln and Harris a mutual interest. Von Engeln was Фе photographer on several expeditions to Alaska wit Tarr, and he took what may be one of the most famous 53 Annual Report by G. D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, May 8, 1928 p. 2. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-#4 Cornell. я 54 H, S. Williams’ Diary and Course Book, p. 119. Heinrich Ric Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-9. RMC-KL, Cornell. : 55 Typed note by Ries complied c. 1944 for Charles Nevin. Hein rich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-2. RMC-KL, Cornell. | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 115 Photographs of the Cornell campus in the early Twen- teth Century. Von Engeln sold copies of it under var- 1005 names, “Кату Day on Campus" and “In College Precincts” (Brice, 1989), and it appeared in magazines of the day (Von Engeln, 1907).59 The photograph was the product of a serendipitous event, for he was just testing a camera in the rain before embarking on the 1906 expedition to Alaska?". He set up the camera outside McGraw Hall, and tripped the shutter just as two students walked by. He framed the pair as they Walked in the rain under the stately elm trees that used 10 grace the Arts Quadrangle of Cornell. Both von Engeln and Harris believed in the power of illustrations, and in their teaching they used lantern Slides, large 3" x 4" glass black and white positives Which could be projected on to a screen (today replaced by the 35 mm color transparency). In their publications von Engeln used photographs of landscapes while Har- HE used photographs of fossils and outcrops. Perhaps this common interest overcame what differences might have existed with von Engeln's association with Tarr. Von Engeln was one of the three people who pre- Pared Harris’ faculty memorial which stated, **Profes- Sor Harris did not cultivate wide social contacts." (Her- ПСК er al., 1953, p. 16A). Von Engeln evidently had Опа memories of Harris, for he dedicated is 1961 book to “The Faculty Stalwarts: Tarr, Gill, Harris of the Good Old Days in the Geology Department of Cornell niversity” (von Engeln, 1961). Apparently, however, ! ‘ere was little social contact between the two, for in 18 Reminiscences,’ а 214 page handwritten autobi- graphy prepared when he was 83, von Engeln made almost no mention of Harris. The only reference to arris appears in the section in which von Engeln was describing the situation when H. S. Williams returned to the department in 1904: "The return of Williams and elevation to head was most distasteful to all three, Tarr, Gill and Harris and later, 1914, [the] succession of Ries Williams’s [sic] protege, was Sreatly resented by the survivors, Gill and Harris.’’*? Thus, even though they were colleagues in the same Ullding for almost 50 years, that is all von Engeln had 9 Say about Harris in the telling of his own life’s story. N. The photograph was on the cover of The Interior, Educational „бег, v. 38, по. 1940, August 1, 1907. A Photograph of von Engeln developing film in a glacial mel- На ar Stream during the 1906 expedition was reprinted in National „Saphic, v. 188, no. 2 (August), 1995, p. 130 ae D. von Engeln Papers, 14/15/856, Box 1, File 1-45. RMC- 59 twat ornell, RM O. D. von Engeln Papers, 14/15/856, Box 1, File 1-45, p. 136. C-KL, Cornell. RETIREMENT Harris retired from Cornell in 1934, after 40 years of association (Plate 13). To mark the occasion, the University Faculty and the Cornell Board of Trustees unanimously adopted the following resolution: “Gilbert Dennison Harris born at Jamestown, New York, October 2, 1864; graduated by Cornell University in June, 1886, with the degree of Ph.B.; assistant and associate professor® of Paleontology and Stratigraphic Geology at Cornell from 1894 to 1909; Professor of the same since 1909; retired as of October 2, 1934 [his 70th birthday]. "Because of various preempting factors occurring in more general fields of geology, Professor Harris soon became interested in the belt of Tertiary rocks which occur all over that vast territory of the United States from Maryland to Texas. Thus, he early began to make intensive studies of the stratigraphy of the Tertiary and of the fossils lying at hand everywhere over that wide area. It was not long before he became known throughout the world as an au- thority on Tertiary Stratigraphy. “During the six years immediately following graduation, Professor Harris became successively a member of the Arkansas Geological Survey, of the United States Geo- logical Survey, and of the Texas Geological Survey. Sub- sequently he was State Geologist®! of Louisiana for ten years and for a time special lecturer in Paleontology and Stratigraphy at the University of Texas. Professor Harris and his students have described hundreds of species of fossils from the Tertiary of the southern United States, Central America, South America and Africa, and their studies have extended to southern England and northern France. As a result of these studies, hundreds of type spec- imens of fossils have accumulated which constitute a price- less and absolutely essential collection to all students of the Tertiary in the countries indicated. “Не was one of the first to recognize the relationship existing between salt domes and commercial oil and gas fields and years ago made a special study of salt domes with the publication of several pioneer papers on the sub- ject. “Professor Harris early recognized the necessity of a medium for the publication of the original descriptions of new forms and of the papers on stratigraphy by himself and students. He, therefore, established the Bulletins of American Paleontology for the more general papers and the Palaeontographica Americana for the monographic pa- pers. These publications he has always printed on his own private press, has, indeed, set the type himself for many of them and formerly made the plates. This work, with the Bulletin now in its 22nd volume, and with many mono- graphs of the Palaeontographica, has been truly prodi- 60 This rank did not exist during that time period. There were two grades of assistant professor. Trustee minutes for May 18-19, 1909, state, “Assistant Professor G. D. Harris to be Professor of Paleon- tology and Stratagraphic [sic] Geology . . ." 5! His official title was, “Geologist in Charge" (Pope, 1988). 116 BULLETIN 350 gious-difficult to understand how it has been possible for one man to do. Moreover, the plates of two publications have scarcely been equalled in quality and finish and are still considered the best in their field today. “Tn addition to his extensive labors here at Cornell and in Louisiana, he has been consulting geologist for the Trin- idad Petroleum Development Company and Paleontolo- gist to Standard Oil Company of Venezuela. “As a teacher, his courses have been rather specialized and technical for the undergraduate but no man anywhere has received greater admiration and unbounded loyalty from graduate students than has Professor Harris. His qui- et, restrained, modest character, combined with his de- votions to the interest of his students and to the ultimate fruition of their labor has inspired many of these men and women with a fervent zeal and lasting allegiance to him and to Cornell. “Professor Harris is now preparing with the greatest enthusiasm to carry on his work in paleontology and stra- tigraphy of the Tertiary. He has great collections available and properly housed. Several of his former graduate stu- dents are now at work with him and our best wishes are extended to him for many productive years of labor in his chosen field"? This and a small reception at the Department orga- nized by a Mr. J. M. Parker, 3rd? and given by the Department, Chi Upsilon, and Sigma Gamma Epsi- lon,° ended his formal connection with Cornell. 9? Adopted at the Trustees meeting of February 2, 1935. Reso- lution was drafted by A. H. Wright, C. M. Nevin and Glenn W. Herrick. These names are on a copy of the resolution at HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 63 The name is mentioned in a letter from George M. Martin to Heinrich Ries, October 6, 1934. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-25. RMC-KL, Cornell. Harris did, however, maintain an office in McGraw hall for several years after retirement. A former stu- dent, who was at Cornell shortly after Harris retired, remembers seeing him carrying fossils and manuscripts back and forth everyday from home to the office. He was so afraid of a fire in McGraw Hall, that he would not leave important materials in his office.^ Ries de- scribed the situation: “Professor Harris works over here [McGraw Hall] spas- modically. He retains his desk in the same place it has been for years, and all of his Tertiary (except for what he has taken away) is in the next room, ..., Harris suffers no retrenchment.''66 Harris was certainly leaving his mark on McGraw Hall, for about the time he was retiring, Ries informed him that the University officials were concerned about the load on the floors in McGraw Hall from the many drawers of rocks and fossils that were stored there." But two years earlier, Harris had already begun 2 project that was to remove him permanently from Mc- Graw Hall and Cornell, and which would occupy him for the rest of his life, the Paleontological Research Institution. ва This information comes from a small article, believed to be from the Ithaca Journal, but exact date and page are unknown, most probably in October, 1934. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 65 Lois Schoonover Kent, personal communication, September 8, 1995. 66 Heinrich Ries to John L. Rich, April 8, 1935. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-24. RMC-KL, Cornell. 67 Heinrich Ries to Gilbert D. Harris, October 15, 1934. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. CHAPTER 9. “SOME ROOMY APARTMENT”: POST-RETIREMENT AND THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION The years after his retirement in 1934 were, as was normal for Harris, busy ones, as he continued to edit and publish his two journals. In fact one of the last known photographs of Harris, taken three years before his death, shows him bending over his printing press as he printed yet another issue (Plate 14). He continued to personally run the press until 1949, his 85th year, and number 134 of the Bulletins, when failing eyesight! forced him to relinquish his position as editor, printer, 1 “Му eyes are rather going back on me but maybe they have a right to after 86 years.” Original letter, Gilbert D. Harris to H. C. Kugler, June 15, 1951. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. and publisher (Palmer 1953a, b). There was a delightful newspaper article by Carl B. Kaufmann entitled: "А fessor Still Active At 85 In Field of Paleontology. which was accompanied by the photograph of Harr!’ and his printing press. In the article Kaufmann note that although he was practically unknown “outside 9 science", Harris did not mind; it“. . . is of little concern ..." to him. Further, Kaufmann brought out the fa? that while the Journal of Paleontology was а “. . . SU sidized, staff-prepared affair.”, Harris’ journal was 1 one-person operation. At that time, only three years z 2 The Ithaca Journal, Thursday Evening, November 3, 1949, Р: 5 GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 15 before his death, he was running 600 copies of the Bulletins in a single press run. * In retirement there was time for more travel. For example, in November, 1935, with each person paying his or her own expenses and Harris providing the au- tomobile transportation, Rousseau Flower, Katherine Palmer, and Harris took a trip through Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida visiting ànd collecting in over 31 localities (Palmer, 1982). Two Years later, in 1937, Ralph Liddle (A.B.'18) and his Wife Pearle took Harris by automobile across the U. S. to California and the West Coast on a collecting trip. The next year, with assistance from a grant from the Geological Society of America, Harris, Katherine P almer, and her husband, E. L. Palmer, made an ex- tended trip to examine the Gulf Coast from Florida to Arkansas. One highlight of this venture came with the discovery of an unexpected fossil. While examining Some strata near Forrest City, Arkansas, Harris dis- Covered a vertebra of a zeuglodont, Basilosaurus ce- toides (Owen), which was part of the first known? re- Mains of this extinct whale found that far north (30 degrees) (Palmer, 1939). In 1902, based on other fos- Sils, Harris had assigned the Jackson units to the Eo- ene and В. cetoides confirmed the presence of these Jackson beds in the Forrest City area. He finally found the time to complete the opus on € turrid gastropod illustrations, a project he had start- ed almost a half century earlier (Harris, 1937a). He kept busy with other research publications (Harris, 1934p, 1940, 1951) and professional activities, serving ав President of the Paleontological Society in 1936, апа Vice President of the Geological Society of Amer- а in 1937. His address as the retiring President of the Paleontological Society provided him with an op- Portunity to outline the history of Cenozoic marine Paleontology, to which he and his students had added Many chapters (Harris, 1937b). In 1939, Harris was elected a “Correspondent of the Academy” by the Members of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Phil- €lphia, one of the oldest scientific organizations in the United States, founded in 18124. But on a personal side, these were lonely years for M Two years before he retired, Harris suffered two replaceable losses. First Clara, his wife of almost 42 Years and the mother of their only child, became ill in late 1931; ‘I have [sic] sorry to learn that Mrs. Harris is not well. E As of 1953, it was still the only such remains ever found that far "th (Palmer, 19532). ames A, С. Rehn, Corresponding Secretary, to Gilbert D. Har- September 26, 1939. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. n Tis, [sic] but I trust it is only temporary and it will not be long before she will be well once again.” But apparently the illness persisted well into March of 1932 and beyond: “Hope Mrs. Harris is improving."'6; and: “I was sorry to learn of Mrs [sic] Harris [sic] bad health. No doubt the unseasonable weather we have been having lately is largely responsible. The winter cannot last much longer and with the return of sure-enough Spring, Mrs. Harris's [sic] health will surely also return"? Her health did not return and Clara died on August 12, 1932.8 These life-long companions were not des- tined to go into their twilight years together. Then his friend, colleague, and neighbor, Adam C. Gill, died in November of that same year shortly after his retirement from Cornell (Harris, 1933). Despite all his activity and the best efforts of his friends and his daughter Rebecca, the loneliness and the void in his life caused by these losses must have remained: “But you can imagine the sadness of opening Christmas good wishes with the light of our home gone out, But I suppose such things must just be. ... “After a hard week of winter we are enjoying beautiful spring-time weather during holidays. ... Nature is О.К. if man is vile!" [Emphasis in the original.]? It appears that his sister-in-law, Bertha Stoneman, came back to New York after Clara's death: “We are expecting Mrs [sic] H.'s sister from S. Africa in Feb. but fear she will be so wedded to the dark continent that she will be returning after a few months.’’!° But apparently she did stay, at least for a while, for Palmer (1982) lists her among the Charter Members of PRI; however, she was not present at the laying of the corner stone. She was in Chatautqua County at that time, “R.D. 3, Jamestown, New York", and was one of the three people, along with Harris and Rebecca, who signed the $1,000 “Surety Bond" for PRI on Oc- tober 17, 1934!'. Bertha Stoneman's name appears 5 Axel Olsson to Gilbert D. Harris, December 28, 1931. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. The nature of her illness is not known. $ Cecil Card to Gilbert D. Harris, March 15, 1932. HA-PRI, Ith- aca, NY. ? Axel Olsson to Gilbert D. Harris, March 30, 1932. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 8 Ithaca Journal- News, Monday, August 15, 1932, p. 3. ? Original letter, Gilbert D. Harris to “Hodsoni” [Floyd and Helen Hodson], December 29, 1932. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 10 Original letter, Gilbert D. Harris to “Hodsoni” [Floyd and Helen Hodson], December 29, 1932. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 1 HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 118 BULLETIN 350 also on an undated, but obviously early, list!? of PRI members with her address listed as “PRI.” She did eventually return to South Africa!*, for PRI records show that she resigned her membership "April 31 [sic], 1943" (obviously a mis-typed date), and her address then was Huguenot University College, Wellington, South Africa.'^ As he approached his retirement in 1934, the largest part of Harris’ energies were directed toward his newly formed Paleontological Research Institution. PRI, as it was and is known, was founded in 1932 and char- tered by the State of New York as an educational in- stitution October 12, 19337. It is always difficult to determine an individual’s motivation when there are few records of their thoughts, but there seem to be at least three, and possibly four, major influences which caused Harris to create PRI. Alone probably none of these would have been sufficient, but in concert they were a powerful force. The first of these was Harris’ fear of fire.'é McGraw Hall was filled with wooden floors, ceilings, stairways, tables, chairs, etc., all of which were very flammable. One of Harris’s great concerns was that his collections could be lost if McGraw Hall ever caught fire. The old wooden inner structure and all the wooden drawers were hardly fireproof. His fears were not unfounded, for fires in university buildings had certainly occurred: “Although most of the records relating to your work at McGill University were burned in the fire which destroyed the Engineering building . . "7 Even at Cornell only a few months before Harris retired а fraternity house was destroyed by fire.!* As the years went by, he appears to have become more and more obsessed with this fear. As early as 1915 in a letter to Veatch after receiving his $1,000 donation, Harris said: 12 The list is typed on the same paper and accompanies a dues list which is dated 1936. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 13 She had a “Power of Attorney" recorded for her in Jamestown on July 9, 1936. Walter L. Miller, Attorney-at-Law, to Gilbert D. Harris, March 3, 1937. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 14 Membership 1950; Resignations. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 15 The Absolute Charter was granted on November 20, 1936 (Palmer, 1982). 16 An Ithaca newspaper column by John Chiment published at the time of the 61st anniversary of PRI made particular note of this fear in the title, ^The man who collected fossils and hated fires.” The Ithaca Journal August 14, 1993. Chiment, a former employee of PRI, was Dean of Freshman at Cornell University in 1995, 17 Frank Adams to L. C. Graton, March 15, 1913. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-17. RMC-KL, Cornell. 18 The Ithaca Journal, January 2, 1934, p. 3. “My feeling is that in the end the large collection of type and illustrated specimens to be hereafter collected as well as those that I have been bringing here for the past 20 years should be left finally at Cornell, provided the Uni- versity see to it that a fire-proof quarter is arranged for their reception. What funds we can accumulate should be left as an assistantship or scholarship with special reference to the care and upkeeping of these collections.”!” At this time Harris makes no mention of creating à private institution. Again in 1919, in his budget request to Ries, Harris said: “апа I hope every effort is being made to either have a small fire proof addition made to this building or to *fire- proof the entire structure. Insurance at present seems to be rather high for things in this building [McGraw Hall]."?? Ries certainly shared Harris’ concern about fire, for in his report for 1922-23, Ries complained about the fire danger in McGraw Hall and mentions the irre- placeable items that would be lost ifa fire should occur: “Professor Harris has added greatly to the collections of Tertiary fossils, which are a special feature of the research carried on in his branch of the department.’”?! In a letter to Ries, May 2, 1924, Harris carried the fire danger complaints further, this time trying the com- parison approach: * A student from a neighboring, impovershed [sic] insti- tution [unnamed] remarked the other day: What lots of fine things you have here, but Oh [sic] if you only had our building! A visiting professor from the West remarked: I admire the class of work you are turning out, but I dont [sic] like the quarters you work in. We shall hear these remarks again and again. . .. What is to be done? Personally I can get along without electric fans or even great and marble-floored apartments, even trudge sometimes dozens of times a day up the equivalent of 5 flights of stairs. But what stings me to the quick is the danger I am running here every day of the destruction by fire of almost my life's work. “I had supposed that mere buildings were comparatively easy to find donors for?*, but we seem to be in the plight 19 Typed and signed copy, with corrections in pen. Gilbert р. Harris to Arthur С. Veatch, по date, but written in response wW Veatch’s letter dated October 25, 1915 which accompanied his до“ nation. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 20 Gilbert D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, January 25, 1919, Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-1. RMC-KL, Cornell. 21 Annual Report by Heinrich Ries to Archie M. Palmer, May 23, 1923, p. 2. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC- KL, Cornell. 22 Perhaps it was never easy for Geological Sciences at Corn for a separate geology building, Snee Hall, was not dedicated u” 1984 (Brice, 1989). ell, til | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 119 of getting together most notable collections of materials and have no decent and safe building to put them int”? In his report to Ries for 1924—25, Harris emphasized Why fire was such a concern to him: "What is most needed here is a suitable building and fur- niture and help in curator work. No human being can teach, carry on investigational work, be getting the im- portant collections of this Hemisphere in his collections, and giving the results of his work to the world in completed Printed reports, and at the same time have time to properly clean, shellac, number, catalog, and put away in conve- nient place for reference the thousand and one specimens from hundreds of horizons and thousands of localities. Nor is it economical that he should so spend his time. So far as our building is concerned it certainly taxes ones [sic] moral courage to be buying expensive books, getting in invaluable collections and feeling, with good reason, that every time the fire whistle blows a great share of ones [sic] Interest in life may be going up in smoke. it seems as tho [sic] there must be some way out of this strange situa- tion,”’24 Ries was cognizant of the situation and, again, made а point of stressing in his Annual Report for 1924-1925 the value of Harris’ collections: “The collections which he [Harris] has crowded on the top floor, can probably not be duplicated anywhere in this Country, and are of great value for students interested in his particular field. "?* The following year Harris was at it again: "What is most needed inpaleontologic [sic] geology here at Cornell now is a modest, compact, fire-proof museum building with a curator in charge."?* In none of the existing letters and reports written before the autumn of 1926 in which Harris spoke about the danger of fire and the need for fire-proof quarters Oes he suggest having such a building anywhere except at Cornell. But note the change in this letter from 1927: "Of course, the chronic disease, the stupefying factor here 3t Cornell in Geology today is the lack of facilities for the utilization of such materials as we already fortunately have. - “Personally I am going into publication far more exten- Sively than heretofore, but with more and better room Could accomplish twice as much with half the energy. : Gilbert D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, May 2, 1924. Heinrich Ries zm, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. “Annual Report for 1924-25 by G. D. Harris, N.D., pp. 1-2. nrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. Ma Annual Report for 1924-1925 by Heinrich Ries to R. M. Ogden, n 7, 1925, p. 3. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File E RMC-KL, Cornell. Pa G. D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, May 4, 1926. Heinrich Ries pers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. “I have sometimes seriously thought of removing ev- erything not belonging to the University to an outside building, but have hesitated on account of desiring to teach by doing before the students themselves." [Emphasis in the original.]?’ In Harris' mind, the move had been made, and the reason seems clear; between the first letter quoted above (May, 1926) and the second (May, 1927), Harris and Maury had their confrontation (December, 1926), as detailed in a previous section. This change in Harris? mind from having all his collections at Cornell to leav- ing nothing at Cornell appears to have developed as a direct result of the Maury affair, and was an extension of his ideas on the need for a fireproof structure. In a portion of the ‘apology’ letter to the President in De- cember, 1926, cited earlier, this transition can be pin- pointed: “If necessary to protect the University from criticism J can build some roomy apartment, off the University prop- erty and collect therein ally [sic] my own and these various collections that might possibly cause embarrassments and hence relieve all anxieties.” [Emphasis added. ]?* Even as he was contemplating a solution to his dif- ficulties, Harris was still hammering away at the po- tential fire danger and Ries mentioned it again in his Annual Report for 1926—27, “Тһе danger from fire is a menace which is continually with us.'?? The following is yet another excerpt from a letter Harris wrote to Ries which further demonstrates his almost morbid fear of fire. Harris was writing on his own stationery, with the letterhead, ‘Paleontological Laboratory, Cornell University" and sending the typed letters to Ries; they were communicating by formal letter from one floor of McGraw Hall to another. In this letter Harris complained, again, about the fire dan- ger, but used somewhat stronger language about mov- ing his material elsewhere: "My amazement grows daily as I see heaps of ejecte- menta from the various geologic rooms and dens contain- ing semi-burned matches by the hundreds and smell the odor of ignited tobacco. *Now there must be some way of stopping this matter. Of course these yongster [sic] who have nothing at stake care little, but if we have several tens of thousands of 2 G. D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, May 24, 1927. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. 28 Unsigned carbon copy of letter from Gilbert D. Harris to Liv- ingston Farrand, President, Cornell University, December 16, 1926. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. ?» Annual Report for 1926-1927, by Heinrich Ries to R. C. Gibb, May 28, 1927. p. 4. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4, RMC-KL, Cornell. 120 BULLETIN 350 dollars worth of types and rare publications needed in the promotion of science it is not fair to let this matter drag along unchecked, and I shall certainly see to it that my things, are disposed of elsewhere if Cornell does not show a vivid interest in not particularly my welfare, butthe [sic] welfare of sience [sic].?? Ries looked into the situation immediately, and he did not let Harris get the better of him over the issue of fire hazards. As he explained in his reply, a quick in- spection of McGraw revealed the worst potential for a fire to be in Harris’s own paleontology laboratory: “If you will present me with a more exact information as to where you have seen these ‘heaps of ejectementa’ and ‘semi burned matches by the hundreds’, I shall be very glad to give the matter prompt attention. I have told you many times that no one is more worried over fire in Mc- Graw than I am, and I also suspect that I keep a much closer watch over conditions in the entire department than you do, for I have the interest of the whole organization at heart, and realize that others besides yourself have ir- replaceable collections. “Incidently, it may also be added that the fire inspector makes periodical visits to McGraw, and it was in your own rooms that he has reported some of the worst con- ditions. You may remember the time I visited the top floor with Mr. Curtis [the fire inspector], and in your northwest room found a lighted bunsen burner, perched on a narrow board over a bushel basket of waste paper. “Handwritten at the bottom.] P.S. Possibly some of the fumes of ignited tobacco which you refer to may come from some of your own students who are known to descend to the floor below yours when they want to smoke.” [Em- phasis in the original.]?! Yet, as indicated earlier, Ries was not unsympathetic to the need for better quarters. For years he had been trying, without success, to get the new and more fire- proof facilities Harris, and he himself, wanted. In the 1919-20 report, after stating what an unfavorable im- pression the geology facilities made on visitors, he as- serted that the department facilities were “actually hin- dering the growth of the department" [emphasis in orig- inal]. Ries had tried a different approach in 1923. As large enrollments forced the department to use the basement, in a letter to President Farrand, Ries com- plained that the area, “. .. is really not fit for women students to work 11.732 The university administration, 30 G, D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, April 20, 1928. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. ?! Carbon copy, with handwritten P.S., Heinrich Ries to G. D. Harris, April 20, 1928. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. 32 Heinrich Ries to Livingston Farrand, March 27, 1923. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-23. RMC-KL, Cornell. however, apparently never seriously considered build- ing new quarters for geology, even though President Farrand’s 1931 report mentioned that this was “опе of the real needs of the university.’’*? Given the animosity that appears to have existed between the two men, it would have been expedient for Ries to communicate to Harris what he was doing and that the fault of non-action did not lie with him or the Department, but it is difficult to tell if Ries told him or not. Harris did, however, know of Ries’ at- tempts to make the University Administration aware of the situation in McGraw Hall. Monroe С. Cheney™ appears to have sent Harris a letter he received from Ries in February, 1930, in which Ries described the needs of the department. At the top of Ries' list was the plea: **... we are sorely in need of a new building, in which we can feel safe from fire, ... For some years I have stressed this matter as strongly as I knew how in my annual reports to the Dean, until he must be tired of hearing it, but I shall continue to do 50.35 On the strength of that letter, just before a meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) in New Orleans, Cheney sent an open letter to “Fellow Cornellians" (presumably only those who had connections with the Department) in which he outlined the problems and requested assistance. In this letter he had a long quotation from a letter he had received from Harris. Once again Harris put forth his idea about a having separate entity. Cheney quoted Harris as writing: “I would like to see a small, very substantial fire-proof section of a building commenced in this generation, with a possibility in the plan for future expansion. And I am convinced that the value of such a building would be such that the building and materials would be known and used by all real geologic investigators, Cornellians or otherwise: I think there is a way of inlisting [sic] real men in a real cause, with no personal names or strings tied to it.” [EM phasis added.]*° 33 In a letter to “Fellow Cornellians", Cheney quoted Farrand 25 saying that, “. . . he [Farrand] considers that better geological quar ters and facilities are among the foremost needs of the University: M. G. Cheney to Fellow Cornellians, March 8, 1930. HA-PR^ Ithaca, NY. 34 Monroe С. Cheney (B.S. *16), later President, Anzac Oil Co^ poration, Coleman, Texas. The Monroe Cheney Fund was create at PRI by a donation from his widow in 1969. е 35 Heinrich Ries to М. С. Cheney, February 8, 1930, and bearing Ries’ signature. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 36 M, С. Cheney to “Fellow Cornellians", March 8, 1930; copy sent to Harris attached to Ries’ letter of February 8, 1930. HA-P RI, Ithaca, NY. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 121 Note Harris’ desire not to have a person’s name on this new building or organization. Later, this was to Play a major role when the final name for his new entity Was decided. The fear of fire, and his distaste for University in- volvement in what he obviously felt were his own af- fairs, appear to have planted the seed which in six years 8rew into reality. Yet PRI was nurtured by two addi- tonal conditions beyond his fears of both fire and not having total control of his own affairs and collections. As Harris approached retirement, he had greater and 8&reater anxiety about how to protect his collections and, at the same time, insure that the work to which he had devoted his life would continue. When Harris arrived at Cornell as a student in 1883, the center Portion of McGraw Hall from the second to the fourth floors was devoted to a large museum. The museum 1s largely forgotten now at Cornell, but it was a sub- stantial enterprise. At its peak, it included a large, three Story, open gallery with a central atrium lined with alconies on the third and fourth levels. It housed Many exhibits, both geological and non-geological, e.g., Several mounted specimens of recent animals and even а real Egyptian mummy (Brice, 1989). In addition to literally thousands of invertebrate fossils and Recent Shells37, the museum housed complete skeletons of fos- sil vertebrates, both real and full-sized casts, including а life-sized cast of a giant sloth skeleton. Harris had Watched this University museum and its collections Slowly disappear through neglect and indifference ( Tice, 1989). Now as he neared retirement, he was aced with the prospect of having his life's work being Similarly abandoned or at best not cared for properly: "I don’t want to see my material, the work of 40 years, thrown into ash-cans. Furthermore, I want to be sure that the research will be carried on where I left off and that the Collection will not fall into disuse in unsympathetic hands. After all, great cathedrals aren't built in a day or a year." So, this gave him another reason for having a separate acility; his fear of fire, the University having some “ontrol over who could or could not use the collections (exemplified by the Maury affair), and now his fear that 0 one would care for the material after he was gone. Bent there is one more condition which, when added X the other three, helps explain his desire to create a prete entity, separate from Cornell or any other uence. This, furthermore, may have been at the p of why there was such animosity and bad feeling Ward Cornell on the part of Harris and both his real 3 ch à 6.8., The Newcomb Shell Collection which was originally pur- ased by Ezra Cornell and now resides at PRI. 3 "Ithaca Journal-News, April 1, 1933. and his “paleontological” family; namely his percep- tion of how he and his work was judged by the Uni- versity administration and his colleagues. Running through many of his reports and letters to Williams, Ries, and other University officials are state- ments which suggest Harris felt his work was neither fundamentally understood nor appreciated by his su- periors. This is evident, for example, in his Annual Report for 1927-28: "I am well aware that all departments in the University could use to advantage more funds. But I say bio-geology should be considered first on account of what we have already personally done for its needs. The running of free excursions for 20 years by boat has not been duplicated by many departments, to mention but one item. The of- fering of ready means for publication of desirable pale- ontologic papers is not duplicated in every department. The use of photostat, type material, personal equipment in general, does not fall into the hands of students in every department."?? Earlier he had written: "We have had, therefore, to rely largely upon our own resources, chance associations with State and National sur- veys, special expeditions and various connections with exterior organizations for our support in our museum work and materials.''^9 “Апа until some rather sweeping changes are made in plan of work, plan of announcements, teaching staff, quar- ters and appropriations I cannot look forward to great improvements here [at Cornell].*! Even in a newspaper article about the founding of PRI, there is the comment: “This cataloging and collecting Professor Harris has been doing for forty years, [was] all [done] at his own expense, [and] mostly with his own hands. . . . He bought the press with his own funds out of a salary that until ten years аро was not more than $1,500 a year. He worked extra in summer vacations to raise small sums for geology expeditions"^ This is a classic case of not telling the entire truth. Certainly what is in the article is true, but what it doesn't say is that the $1,500 represented only half- salary and that Harris himself requested the arrange- 39 Annual Report for 1927-1928 by С. D. Harris for Heinrich Ries, May 8, 1928, p. 3. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. 40 G., D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, May 2, 1924. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC-KL, Cornell. 41 Page 1, Annual Report by G. D. Harris to Heinrich Ries, May 4, 1926. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-4. RMC- KL, Cornell. *? New York Herald Tribune. Sunday, July 16, 1933. 1227 BULLETIN 350 ments. But it seems Harris saw this article as an op- portunity to tell the world how badly Cornell had treat- ed him, and to demonstrate how unappreciated he was. Thus, is seems in Harris’ mind he had four different, but related, pressures pushing him toward the eventual split with Cornell. It is interesting to note that the split was not total, however; for over 10 years after his retirement, Harris still maintained some quarters at McGraw. At least that seems to be the situation de- scribed by Ries: * ..aninvestigation. . . [would] find that Professor Harris is now [1945] occupying considerably more space with his property than I am." ^? The small platen press remained in McGraw Hall until 1948 (Palmer, 1982). Starting as early as two years before his formal re- tirement from Cornell, Harris carried his idea to some of his former students, several of whom expressed their concern for the work at Cornell after he retired: “I am heartily in accord with the ideas expressed in your letter of February 20th regarding a building to be known as the ‘Hall of Types.’ "^ “Whatever is going to happen to the department which you've spent so many fertile years to build up? Your last letter in which you mention that as yet no visible successor was being groomed for the paleontological department, frankly perturbs me. .. . My technique would be to stress what the department has done and in true alumnus style vigorously inquire what is going to be done when the old guard goes. Please let me know what your ideas are on the subject, for I feel we all owe it to you to first ascertain what you think is best, not only for the personal attachment but for the good of the department with the workings of which you are fully acquainted."^* [Emphasis in the original.] Not all of his former students seemed to feel a separate organization was altogether a good idea, Olsson wrote: “We have made such a start in Tertiary paleontology and it would be an everlasting disgrace if this work was sus- pended at Cornell in the future. Under the deplorable con- ditions in which the world finds itself today, the only thing we can do is to wait and hope for the best. . . . Until there is at least a change for the better and some assurance for the future, I personally believe that any other plan now would be sure to fail. This may not be a very bright picture 43 Heinrich Ries to Edmund Day, President, Cornell University. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-9. RMC-KL, Cornell. ^4 A. C. Veatch to Gilbert D. Harris, May 16, 1930. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 45 Norman Weisbord to Gilbert D. Harris, January 10, 1932. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. to draw but all is not yet lost at Cornell and our first obligation is to her."'^* But Olsson finally gave his blessing to the idea, al- though at the time he did not feel he could offer fi- nancial support: “I am very much interested in your new plans for your lab. [sic] and I hope you will be able to carry the project through to completion. In normal times as it was a few years ago, I could and would have considered it a privilege to take part in it but at the present time I can see no way of doing so. With taxes and other expenses continually rising from which there is no escape and no income, these times are very difficult and the prospect of any immediate change for the better is not rosy. However when I am once again on an earning bases [sic] I will be very glad to join your Paleontological company and become a share-holder. I have always dreamed of having a paleontological lab. [sic], but your idea is much finer than anything I could possibly visualize. There is no doubt that Cornell has got into a rut and intends to stay there. Still you have a year or more at Cornell and so there is really no need of rush or worry."^? In only a few short months, Olsson was to become 4 founding member of this new organization. Harris worked with his family law firm in James- town, New York^*, to prepare a charter and a set of by-laws for a research institution. In the spring of І 932, Harris transferred title to a small strip of land on his property at 126 Kelvin Place that opened onto Dear- born Place to his new Institution, and the cornerstone for a future building was laid on June 28 of that year. This was marked with a simple ceremony, as might be expected of an occasion presided over by Harris. Each of those present inserted a particular object into the cinder block cornerstone, and, assisted by one of his graduate students, Stephen M. Herrick, (A.B.27, M.S.’29, Ph.D.'33), Harris cemented it over. Partici- pating in that historic event were Harris's wife, Clara, and their daughter, Rebecca; his friend, colleague, and neighbor, Professor A. C. Gill, and Mrs. Gill; Axel A. Olsson; three other former students, Pearl G. Sheldon: Beatrice Bolton (Mrs. Celton Hughes), and Katherine Van Winkle Palmer. The proceedings were watche over with great interest by Herrick's dog, Pat. Professo! E. Laurence Palmer, husband of Katherine, took pho- tographs and recorded the event on movie film, which 46 Axel Olsson to Gilbert D. Harris, March 17, 1932. НА-РЕ? Ithaca, NY. ^! Axel Olsson to Gilbert D. Harris, April 4, 1932. HA-PRI, Ithac? NY. 48 Wilson C. Price, Attorney and Counselor at Law, to Gilbert p. Harris, April 19, 1932. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 123 resides in the PRI archives. Apparently within about а year, Harris had a small building in place over this new corner stone: “Liddle was out to see me a few months ago and was much Pleased with the Cabina [the name of the first PRI build- ing]."49 Palmer (1982), however, indicated that the building nown as the “Cabina” was not erected until late 1934, the year after Liddle saw the "Cabina" according to p letter, and was not ready for occupancy until D "After his retirement from teaching in 1934, he [Harris] financed the construction of a two-storied cinder black Structure of 4800 square feet of four rooms with central Stairway and fireplace . . ." (Palmer, 1982, p. Ih Perhaps Harris meant to say that Liddle was pleased With the plans for the Cabina, or Palmer, who wrote the PRI history almost 50 years after the events, was Simply confused about the dates, even though she was there when it happened. To further confuse the issue, 11 1949 Harris himself said: ein 1932, a small fire-proof [sic] structure was erected, апа certain collections of fossils and books were installed.” (Palmer, 1982, p. 22; Reprint of a letter to the PRI mem- bership, May 1949). This seems to support the idea that there was a building In place before he retired. In any case, the building was Ult, PRI was really underway, and the first official Meeting in the Cabina took place on April 6, 1935. The official Founding Members were Harris and his daughter Rebecca; former students (in order of their 88sociation with Harris), Axel A. Olsson, Pearl G. Shel- don, Ralph A. Liddle, Katherine V. W. Palmer; and Pw nett Smith, a retired Syracuse University professor geology and paleontology (Palmer, 1982). After some wording changes in the Charter and By- aws required by the Board of Regents of the State б Ucation Department, PRI was granted a provisional arter on October 12, 1933, and a permanent charter Sy issued in 1936. Originally Harris had wanted to Se the name American Paleontological Institution??, 4 Hogs Binal letter, Gilbert D. Harris to * Hodsoni" [Floyd and Helen 35 Оп], October 15, 1933. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. E he name appears in the photostat of a letter from Charles E. ig to Gilbert D. Harris, April 6, 1933. In the letter Weaver 5 $ with Harris that the arrangement is, “. . . an opportunity for on рв of an organization where research may be carried Ye Out restrictions of any University and for that reason it seems ag t H TY desirable to have the entire plant off of University grounds . . ." "PRI, Ithaca, NY. but the State Education Department felt that this name was too broad and presented some misrepresentation (Palmer, 1982): *...the Regents do not approve of American Pal. Inst. as a name, fearing we are pretending to be more han [sic] we are, presumably. I have suggested other ways our but have failed. Still, maybe some of my last suggestions will carr , [sic] and Oct. 12th [sic] was the day they were o [sic] decide on charter granting.''5! That name did appear in a newspaper headline atop an article about the founding of PRI which was pub- lished before the state charter was granted. The head- line was “Harris? Museum of fossils Forms Nucleus of American Paleological Institution."?? In another letter Harris used the name American Institute of Paleontology?*, which is close to the final name. Even though Harris used the word Institute in a letter, Palm- er said: "Tt always annoyed Prof. Harris when the organization was referred to as the Paleontological Research ‘Institute.’ There is a difference [which Palmer did not explain]." (Palmer, 1982, p. 5) As indicated earlier, Harris was adamant that neither his nor any other person's name be in the title of the Institution, and that there be no official connection with Cornell University (Palmer, 1982). By the time the provisional charter was granted in 1933 the PRI had captured at least some of the media. Even the New York Herald Tribunehad an article about it: “Museum built for Shell and Bone at Ithica [sic]’’*4 quoted Harris as saying the reason for creating it was, "to keep safe some ‘things money can’t buy." The "things', according to the article were, “said to be part of life of 100,000,000 years ago." ; the article didn't even get the age correct. As an aside, it is interesting to note that in the con- 5! Original letter, Gilbert D. Harris to *Hodsoni" [Floyd and Helen Hodson], October 15, 1933. Also in this letter Harris indicates that he had been ill for several weeks with kidney problems. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 52 The Ithaca Journal-News, April 1, 1933. 53 This name is typed in capital letters at the top of an unsigned carbon copy of a letter, Gilbert D. Harris to “Dr. Bowen", March 12, 1933. This would be C. F. Bowen of Standard Oil Company as Harris received a letter from him June, 12, 1933, with a list of Brazilian fossils and the March letter was about Brazilian fossils. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 54 New York Herald Tribune. Sunday, July 16, 1933. The page and section are not known, for the article appeared in a regional edition, and that part was not included in the microfilm records which were of the “Ета! Editions" of the newspaper. 124 BULLETIN 350 versations on which this article were presumably based, Harris appears to have used the word evolution: “They [the fossils] are things which evolution discarded and threw out of the procession of life 100,000,000 years ago. Valuable because they are the last of their kind, re- cords of ‘horizons’ of the past, essential pieces in a jug- saw puzzle which is expected some day to show man ‘whence he came’ " This small statement is the only record known of Harris’ thinking on the concept of evolution. Even in his historical geology text he did not go into the subject in any depth. In the Introduction he said: “If we are, as geologists claim, not children of an hour but of the tenth part of a second, geologically speaking, how can we presume to know the course of past and future ages of earth history? Is the life history of any organism what- ever to be determined by a mere glance at its form at one stage of development? What botanist would attempt to write the life history of an oak if he never saw it except from the window of the Empire State Express?5* What zoologist would feel competent to rush into print con- cerning the life history of a porpoise if he had observed it but once from out the cabin window of a Transcontinental steamer as the creature darted between two waves? But reflect for a moment, if along side a full grown oak the botanist could get a glimpse of oaks all the way from but a few inches in height to those already falling with decay, and the zoologist could see a whole school of porpoises of various sizes or stages of development, then the life his- tories of these subjects would no longer be so obscure although many of their earlier stages could only be sur- mised... . (Harris, 1907c, р. 3) And in the section about the origin of life: “It is doubtless quite true that in general animals of simple structure preceded those of complex structure. The first forms of life were doubtless unicellular.” (Ibid, p. 57). From these excerpts from his text, it appears that Har- ris did at least agree with the idea of evolution. Exactly what he believed about the processes and mechanisms of evolution however, is unknown. Although in his text book he followed and described an evolutionary pattern of change in life forms, he apparently never published any general discussion of the topic. When the time came to begin the transfer of samples from the Cornell Geology Department to PRI, con- fusion must have reigned supreme. Years earlier, a former classmate had remarked on the chaos in Harris’ collections: “I am glad to learn that your are overhauling the plant material with the other fossils in the Museum. I hope you 55 The name of a fast passenger train of the day. will turn up some interesting material. I dare say that there is a great lot of work to be done on your collections. When finished the fossil series will be far more efficient as a means of instruction for students.'^* As the collections were divided, Ries had to shoulder the task of overseeing the collection separation and making certain that something was left for the Uni- versity: **... because of Prof. Harris’ retirement it became nec- essary to take stock of the collections on the top floor. As I [Ries] suspected they are in a most confused condition, and it will take some work to get them straightened out, for although some $1400 has been allowed for curatorial work on them during the past four or five years, little cataloging or arrangement of specimens has been done, in fact we had to depend to a large extent on Prof. Harris to tell us what belonged to the University and what to other people. I shall use the $200 allotted for curatorial work in the new budget towards making a start to get things in some sort of shape before a new professor is appointed." There was some truth to what Ries said about the lack of curation work with the fossils that were col- lected by the various expeditions. Apparently the groups would collect vast amounts of material, but then not have time to really prepare and describe what they brought back to the laboratory. Olsson (1914) and van Winkle and Harris (1919) used some samples collected on the 1897 Janthina trip, 22 years later. And in 1921: * ., more material from the ‘97 trip was found in the laboratory which had not been worked up." (Van Winkle; ЈЕ DE 502) (Certainly Harris was not unique in being slow tO get to material. For a thesis study (Howell, 1925), Hat ris loaned Princeton University several drawers of tr! lobites collected by C. F. Hartt in New Brunswick in the 1860s. These samples were not returned to Cornel until the 1980s.59) Even after some of the dust of Harris' move had settled, there were still problems concerning the col- lections. In Ries’ mind, Harris had removed much more than necessary. Note the reference to course pre 56 David White to G. D. Harris, April 18, 1910. HA-PRI, Ithaca: NY. 57 Annual Report for 1933-34 by Heinrich Ries, N.D., рр: 2-3. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-17. RMC-KL, Со“ nell. 58 These were returned to me after Snee Hall was opened in 1984. Princeton closed out paleontology and discovered the samples, stil in the original drawers, with the Cornell labels on them. A frien was on the Princeton faculty then and knew of my connection to the Cornell Department and gave them to me at a Northeastern Sectio? Geological Society of America meeting. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 125 Tequisites, which was always a subject of contention between Harris and Ries: “The courses in paleontology and stratigraphy are running Satisfactorily, but they are handicapped by lack of study Material, although Dr. Меггіат is attempting to over- come this trouble as rapidly as possible. I am glad to remark that he [Merriam] insists on his students having the proper prerequisites for his courses, so that is some- thing I have not had to worry about since he took charge of the work in his branch. . . ."* Several years later, Ries remembered the problems 9f collection ownership this way: "When Harris was about to retire an inventory was made of the property in Paleontology, whereupon it developed that of the 3300 odd drawers of fossils only about 1300 were acknowledged to be university property of which abut 300 [sic] are practically of no value unless we can find the key to the letters on them. About 1300 [drawers] were listed by Harris as his property, while Caster claimed about 250, the remainder being said to be the property of various Other people. It will be seen that the collection belonging to the university is wretchedly small. ... He [Harris] re- Moved all of his ‘types’ to his ‘Institute’ and with them Went some of the types that belonged to the university, as Was subsequently discovered accidently. A lot of Miss Maury’s San domingo types have disappeared.’’®! To fully appreciate the step Harris was taking in Starting PRI, one must consider the economic condi- tions of the nation at the time. 1932 was the height of the Great Depression; banks were failing by the hun- Teds, and bread lines were a common sight all across t € nation. Yet, Harris went ahead with his dream, '8Noring the pessimism of the day, for in his mind the alternative of leaving everything at Cornell was far Worse, But it was, even then, a strange type of insti- tution, for it came into existence with: · no elaborate fanfare, no fund raising, no ballyhoo, Nor subscription plan to start or promote the Harris con- crete, but perhaps Utopian, scheme of a long term estab- lishment. No private endowment funded or blessed this md informal modest enterprise." (Palmer, 1982, p. Jm is a certain irony in that as Harris was contem- Plating how he was going to raise the capital to put a 59 ih Charles W. Merriam, who replaced Harris (Brice, 1989). 3 Heinrich Ries to R. M. Ogden, Dean, Cornell University, May › 1937, р, 2. This letter served as the Annual Report for 1936- 19 аа i E Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 2, File 2-2. RMC-KL, nell, 61 ang Undated notes prepared by Ries after Harris retired in 1934 before Charles Merriam left in 1942. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/ $91, Box 3, File 3-2. RMC-KL, Cornell. 15, building around his new corner stone, to Hodson he related the following: "Simonds writes they are moving in their grand Geol. bldg [sic], a building far finer that he ever dreamed of, and he has lived to see it. Texas is putting thru [sic] a $5,000,000.00 [sic] building program."9? In addition to his salary from Cornell and the fees he was paid by various oil companies, Harris appar- ently was renting the family farm®? and he had sub- divided part of the land, built houses on some of it and was renting them. According to surviving records, in 1939 Harris was selling land for $200 and acre and $250 for a corner lot®*. Given the times, it is not sur- prising that he received the following letter; with a return address, “104 Harris Avenue": “I was wondering if it were possible for you to come down on our rent as I have had a fourteen 14.00 [sic] dollar a month cut in my salary and will be impossible for me to stay here at the present rate. I most assuredly hate to move from here as it is a very pleasant house & my wife & myself have become very much attached to it.”65 And another letter, this time from “68 Harris Ave- nue": “,.. I deposited $25.00 to your account yesterday which is to apply for the month of Feb. and I will make another deposit for the month of March at a later date.''55 As Harris approached the end of his time at Cornell, he began the transition from university professor to director of the private institution®’. He converted the third floor of his house into a temporary laboratory and a new rotary cylinder printing press went into his basement. Later, as furnishings were purchased for the Cabina, Harris allowed only metal tables, chairs, and specimen cabinets as they would not burn easily. Fi- nally he had his fire-proof building. Ironically, the only 62 Gilbert D. Harris to Floyd Hodson, April 12, 1933. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. $3 Cecil Card to Gilbert D. Harris, March 15, 1932. Mr. Card discussed the land taxes and electric bills he had paid, and requests Harris’ presence to *. . . get the work for the summer planned, . . .” HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 64 Unsigned carbon copy sent to Harris; Newman & Adams, At- torneys and Counselors, to William H. Feltcher, Jr., Esq., June 29, 1939. The letter was refusing an offer of $600 and outlining the prices Harris was asking. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 65 DeForest L. Strunk to Gilbert D. Harris, March 3, 1932. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. 66 W. Edwin Carlson to Gilbert D. Harris, March 6, 1932. HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY. 67 Although he was not officially elected to that office until June 2, 1950, everyone understood who was in charge (Palmer, 1982). 126 BULLETIN 350 source of heat for the building was an open fire place. As the 1930s vintage concrete blocks were quite porous to the cold Ithaca winter winds, that fireplace was, no doubt, well used. The newspaper articles about the creation of PRI underscored the fire-proof aspect, but most did not get the name correct: “This institution, already chartered by the state board of regents, is established in a fireproof museum named by Professor Harris ‘The Hall of Туреѕ,’% built with $3,000 of his own funds in the backyard of his home at 126 Kelvin Place = Certainly his former students appreciated the new fa- cility, especially for its “fireproof” nature: “It is also of considerable satisfaction to know that our type material will be securely housed and properly cared for in the fireproof vault of the Paleontological Research Institution which Professor Harris has sponsored, to his everlasting credit. May this institution grow and prosper and ever increase in usefulness to students of paleobiology. May it also quicken interest in and appreciation for pa- leontologic research in the community in which it was established." (Flower and Caster, 1935, p. 200) Not long after the beginning of PRI, Harris and a former student, Helen Tucker (Ph.D.'37; Mrs. Rich- ards Rowland), had a serious disagreement, along the same lines as the situation with Maury. This one seemed to be centered around fossil collections that belonged to her which Harris wanted for PRI. Tucker appears to have come to Cornell about 1932. Among Ries’ papers are letters of reference for her, and one is from Kirtley Е. Mather of Harvard University. She had attended a summer school course of his. One of Harris' former students, however, Ernest Rice Smith at De- pauw University, had not had a very pleasant expe- rience when she was in his department: “I don't believe you can realize the continual tension be- tween Miss Tucker and me. It is terrible. I never saw the beat of that woman. For instance, I have the feeling that she has sent a student who was griping on me to the Dean. I'm not the only one who feels so, yet no one can prove i 68 Harris used this name in a letter to Veatch in 1930, cited earlier. 6 The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, November 4, 1934. The page and section are not known, for the article appeared in a regional edition, and that part of the newspaper is not included in the microfilm records which were only of the “Final Editions." 70 Kirtley F. Mather to F. H. Richmeyer, Dean, Cornell University, March 7, 1932. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-61. RMC-KL, Cornell. 71 E, R. Smith to Gilbert D. Harris, November 16, 1931. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. “T will be perfectly frank. We have been under such heavy expense this year together with decreased income 1 had even considered not coming to Ithaca myself this sum- mer. yet I feel it very important for her sake, for my sake, for the sake of the department here, to move her on. How would you feel toward this? You urge her to try for the $300 scholarship there." 7? Eventually she did come to Cornell to do work in pa- leontology with Harris. Shortly after she came to Cor- nell, her life was further complicated by the loss of all of her money when a bank failed.”? In any event, she had difficulties and, given Smith's letters, in Harris mind she no doubt came to Cornell under a cloud of suspicion. But despite all this, she and Harris appeared to develop a good working and personal relationship which lasted for several years. She was a Charter Mem- ber of PRI.” Druid Wilson, a colleague of Tucker at Cornell, had known her at Florida Southern College prior to her coming to Cornell. He found her to be a good teacher. but not as careful with her research as she might have been. In fact Wilson said?? he was unhappy with some errors in their first joint paper (Tucker and Wilson, 1932a), but he never saw the manuscript until it was too late to have his name removed. According to Wil- son, the two of them were seldom in the field together, and he did most of the actual collecting, but they did publish a series of papers on Florida fossils (Тискег and Wilson, 1932b,c, 1933). So Tucker was active in paleontological research before and while she was àt Cornell. | In 1935, she was granted Department funds to sh!P the fossils she collected in Florida back to Ithaca.’° It addition she had amassed a collection of material fro™ Cuba, and Harris apparently wanted these collections: which through some arrangement with him were store in the basement of his house. He must have quote her a price that was not even reasonable: “At no time has my Florida, Cuba, or any part of my other collections been offered for sale. If it were, I am too wel informed in regard to the cost of collecting and trans porting it to Ithaca to sell it for any such figure as YO" quote to me in your note. I do not see how you can advance 72 Personal letter, E. R. Smith to Gilbert D. Harris, February 23, 1932. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. у 73 Heinrich Ries to Eliot Blackwelder, October 5, 1941. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 3, File 3-3. RMC-KL, Cornell ™ Helen Tucker is listed as a Charter Member in the minutes fo October 6, 1934 (Palmer, 1982, p. 6). 75 Personal communication, September 6, 1995, | 76 Heinrich Ries to Helen Tucker, July 22, 1935. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-61. RMC-KL, Cornell GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 127 any suggestion that I might beowing [sic] you freight.” I am very certain such can not be the case. If you like, I Shall be glad to consider any reasonable figure which you may quote for storage charges, even though you invited me to store the collections in your basement without any mention of such storage charges. I have the figure which Deans [a local moving and storage company] quoted to me at the time, and if you expect me to do so, I shall, of Course have no choice but to try to raise the money some- how, [sic] “I should like to have an answer at once so that I can make arrangements to have the collections moved to-day, or to-morrow [sic] at the latest. Do you also consider that my types an [sic] other figured material should be removed from the collections of the Paleontological Research In- Stitute? As I recall the matter, I have also a copy of Montfort’ temporarily on deposit there. "I had hoped, and I still see no reason for this move on Your part, that your feelings of bitterness against me might Not lead to the point where it would involve scietific [sic] Work or materials. However, it is your choice, and you very evidently do not care to explain the reasons for your actions. "Should you so desire, I shall be glad to send my fromal [5ic] resignation as a charter member of your Institution. Feeling as you do at present I can see no reason for my attempting to clear up the present situation." 7? What Harris wrote or said to her after receiving that Tst letter is unknown, but it certainly prompted im- Mediate action on her part: “I think it is well for me to carry out the plan which I Suggested to you in my first letter to-day [sic] —of removing all my collections and books from your basement and the Paleontological Research Institution. I have, therefore, ar- ranged with Deans to bring me over at ten o'clock, Thurs- ày morning, April 25th. I hope this will be convenient for you because it seems to be the only hour I am free that €ans can come. I hope that you yourself can arrange to there [sic] so that there may be no doubt in your mind in Tegard to the items which I remove. “I have number [sic] of boxes in the [Harris] basement; а book, a box of East Indian Permian, types and figured Material in the Paleontological Research Institution which Shall arrange to have placed in a fireproof warehouse. I ауе no intention of making it impossible for workers here, 9r elsewhere, to study any of my specimens either now or = the future, but I do intend to avoid a repetition of a Situation such as must have inspired your communication to-day [sic], "80 E In а previous letter Ries indicated the Department paid the Ping costs from Florida. таге and valuable book on mollusks published in 1810. nim Tucker to Gilbert D. Harris, April 23, 1935. Heinrich m apers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-61. RMC-KL, Cornell. Erin Tucker to Gilbert D. Harris, April 23, 1935. Heinrich apers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-61. RMC-KL, Cornell. Ship 78 79 Several months later, she still had not located all her collections, and even some of her personal property. She wrote to Katherine Palmer: "T am returning the toaster, which I had never seen before it was left at the house. Mine was, you may recall, a large one with a rack, and in good condition. If it has been misplaced we will simply drop the matter. “You may also recall that I sent you a small barrel, i.e., a nail keg, of Indiana Salem (Mississippian) fossils, of which you have returned a mere handful of the material from which the fossils have been removed. Have they, also, been misplaced, or may I expect them to be promptly returned?"'5! A few months later, Tucker, after removing all of her material, asked Harris for permission to study some of Olsson's Miocene types either at PRI, “... or to have Miss Schoonover?? bring them to McGraw Hall for that purpose." *? At this point Harris must have exercised his prerogative to select who would use the collections at PRI—one of the main reasons behind the creation of PRI—and he refused her permission to use the fossils. Tucker wrote to Harris in reply: "Last year I sent my resignation from membership in the Paleontological Research Institution. So far as I have been informed, no action was taken on the matter. Would [sic] it be unreasonable for me to ask for an immediate reply? “I have no wish to have my name connectend [sic] in any way with an an [sic] organization which refuses to cooperate with workers in other institutions, as I am in- formed yours does. Nor do I wish to be connected with an organization which seemingly attempts systematically to convey the impression that there is a connection be- tween it and Cornell University and then fails to open its facilities to students in the University."'5* So shortly after the creation of PRI, Harris was already exerting control over who could use its collections. This first physical structure for PRI, “Block II" in Harris’ long range plans (““Block I” was for some reason never built), as indicated earlier, was called the “Са- bina" by all who labored there. Construction began in October, 1936 on “Block III", and by autumn of 1937, a second two-story structure was added, with a base- ment and a furnace so the open fireplace was no longer needed. According to the surviving records, "Block 81 Helen Tucker to Katherine Palmer, September, 7, 1935. Hein- rich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-61. RMC-KL, Cornell. 82 Lois (Schoonover) Kent. 83 Helen Tucker to Gilbert D. Harris, January 28, 1936. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-61. RMC-KL, Cornell. 84 Un-dated and un-signed copy of a letter from Helen Tucker to Gilbert D. Harris. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/691, Box 1, File 1-61. RMC-KL, Cornell. 128 BULLETIN 350 III" cost $4,187.015^. Although the Institution’s Board of Trustees voted to expand the facilities in April, 1944, not until 1948, after the end of World War II, was “Block IV" added (Palmer, 1982). All three buildings were interconnected by a series of doors and steps, making it quite easy for the uninitiated to become lost trying to go from one room to the other. The expanded Cabina became the home not only for Harris’ collections, but also for his printing presses. From about 1934, even after the construction of the Cabina, until 1948, Harris printed his journals on a rotary-cylinder press that he had installed in the base- ment of his home. There was also a platen press still in McGraw Hall at Cornell University, where it had caused structural problems because of its weight and vibration. In 1948, both presses were moved into the basement of the PRI. Still preserved at PRI is the small platen press on which Harris did his original printing.** PRI was not established as part of Cornell, and as an Institution, it has never had any official connection with the University; it is a separate scientific and ed- ucational organization. Not everyone has understood that fact. In Bishop's A History of Cornell, when de- scribing changes at the University after world War II, he said: “The University took over the Paleontological Research Institution developed by Professor Gilbert Dennison Har- ris *86." (Bishop, 1962, p. 582). The media announcements that accompanied the founding probably are responsible for much of this misunderstanding. One story was headlined with, “Harris Turns Over Museum to Cornell"*7, but then the article went on to say that the museum was con- structed in his back yard. Ironically, in the late 1960s, when PRI moved to a new and much larger location at the former orphanage of the International Order of Odd Fellows on West Hill in Ithaca, the old PRI build- ings on Dearborn Place were purchased by Cornell for additional storage and research space for the geology department. In a letter to Science in 1934, Harris indicated his reasons behind the founding of PRI: 35 Statements from A. H. McPherson & Son, Contractors and Builders, January 5, 1937 and August 31, 1937. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. 86 Personal communication, Dr. Katherine Palmer, July 28, 1982. The press was still at PRI in 1995, 87 Newspaper and date are not identified, but it is assumed to appeared in the Ithaca Journal shortly after January 13, 1934 as the article was printed only a few days after the first Board of Directors Meeting which was held on that date. Heinrich Ries Papers, 14/15/ 691, Box 1, File 1-86. “Facilities for the conserving of types have been hitherto lacking here; hence a fireproof building has been privately constructed and deeded to this institution . . . “There are three leading ideas underlying the establish- ment of this institution: *(1) To prevent the labor and valuable acquisitions of each generation from being wasted or lost, as is too fre- quently the case in educational institutions without proper museum facilities. *(2) To furnish temporary working facilities for pale- ontological students home from abroad or not connected with regular university or museum organizations. “(3) To serve as a regional center (since our country is large and not unicentric as is France) where local youn£ students may see actual investigation going on and hence; perhaps, become interested in this branch of science." (Harris, 1934a, p. 381) Yet, idea number (3) notwithstanding, for most of its history PRI has been essentially invisible to the local region. It existed behind Harris’ house as a private domain for him, his students, and a few scholars who were involved in Tertiary paleontological research. EX- cept for the postal workers who handled the journals when each issue was mailed, there was little commu- nity interaction. In many respects Harris was not ful- filling the spirit of the *educational" charter; in another he was doing exactly what he set out to do. Little won- der the local people have been so confused about PRI over the years. In fact, according to Harris’ own words, it was never his intention to include a real *public" aspect to hi$ Institution’s activities** beyond the occasional visit ВУ school groups and local student clubs. In a talk Harts gave in June, 1939, to a group of natural history stu dents visiting PRI, he revealed much about his per ception of the Institution and why it was founded, ап expanded somewhat on the ideas he had published 1? Science five years earlier. First and foremost, he st! felt it was necessary to preserve collections gathere over 40-50 years of work, especially the generic ал specific types, to keep the material from being '*dumpe in the ash barrel." The continuity of work could be assured by preserving the material, which required, 9 course, a fireproof structure. Harris felt that any edu- cational institution becomes, essentially, the record 0 its graduates, and he wanted to preserve something b. which the graduates could return. Such an organization would give the students an opportunity to do the 167 essary work to gain eminence in their field. In Harri$ public Js 10 88 Beginning in the early 1990s, PRI began to improve its role through an active association with the local public schoo improve earth science teaching though school visits, student "° trips, and other educational programs, as well as expanded ех and educational programs at the West Hill building. hibits GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 129 View, this could not be done without the proper insti- tution, and his Institution was to be “of, by, and for Paleontologists” and it would be limited primarily to Tertiary paleontology??. His statements in a letter to the PRI members in 1949 show that he had not altered his thinking during the ensuing 10 years. Indeed the 1949 letter echoes two 9f the four conditions which prompted him to create PRI 17 years earlier; namely having an organization Dot under the control of a larger entity, and preser- Vation of collections. According to the letter, however, in Harris’ mind PRI really started with the founding of Bulletins of American Paleontology in 1895, and the Soul of the Institution was “research work", but he added: "The primal object of this Institution is to furnish a suit- able retreat for those workers who desire to carry on in- vestigations connected with their own collections, but who have по permanent affiliation with any large organizations, Such as public surveys, museums, universities, etc. Since all work is pursued on a strictly voluntary basis, funds received (from sale of publications, membership fees, do- nations) can be applied to building, equipment, publica- tion, and an eventual endowment fund. “A second, and by no means unimportant, function of this Institution is the preservation of paleontological ma- terials that might otherwise be lost." This applies, for €xample, to cuttings from wells in territories of abandon leases and collections from seldom-visited localities. The Success in accumulating such collections and funds for their study and preservation will depend on the alertness 9f the members. " And, indeed, if the Institution itself is to continue and Prosper, it will only be because of a shared faith and feeling of responsibility." [Emphasis in the original.] (Letter to PRI Members by G. D. Harris, May, 1949; reproduced in Palmer, 1982, pp. 22-23). ~ PRI remains a unique institution, housing and tio Ing for enormous fossil and Recent mollusk collec- ns (the “type and figured collection" now exceeds 000 specimens; the non-type collections are esti- mated to contain more than 1.6 million specimens, Placing them firmly among the 10 largest invertebrate ,95sil collections in the United States?!). Until recently, 8 ац оир the complete text of the Harris talk no longer exists, and ү ent, Lois Schoonover, later Mrs. Lois Kent, took detailed notes graph he notes are the source used for the information in this para- 90 А, П quotations are from these notes. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. of hapa as the last two decades of the Twentieth Century, drawers ig: still were being transferred from the Department of Geo- 0 the а ciences at Cornell to PRI. Harris’ fear of what might happen ortun epartment collections in later years has become a reality, but 9 ately, his PRI exists to save the material. arren Allmon, person communication, August 1, 1995. few people ever saw this material, however, for public exhibit space in the West Hill building is minimal??. PRI publishes several scholarly publications, but is not an academic organization in the conventional sense, for it depends heavily on volunteers, and operates with only a small number of paid, full-time staff supporting its activities. PRI continues to be the world's only private organization devoted solely to advancing and preserving the science of paleontology, an increasingly important role at a time when many universities are closing or reducing their paleontology programs. In 1984, after the last surviving member of the party who laid the cornerstone had died, Peter Hoover, then the Director of PRI, and I decided it was time to open the cinder-block cornerstone. If it contained anything of historical interest, we felt, it would be better to re- move and preserve those items than to leave them in the block that had become quite porous with age. Ac- cordingly, on July 19, 1984, Dr. Hoover carefully opened the cinder block cornerstone in the presence of several very interested people. Inside were the badly deteriorated remains of the envelopes that held the articles deposited by those who were present at the laying of the stone.?? All but one person had deposited a Tertiary fossil in an envelope, and on each envelope they had written both the name of the fossil and his or her own name. Naturally enough, Harris's fossil was Ecphora, the symbol of the PRI and the name he gave to his last boat. Rebecca Harris, his daughter, was the only one who did not use a fossil for her remembrance. Instead, she placed a small Joan of Arc medallion in the cinder block, and with it was a card on which she had written: “Joan of Arc also saw visions and dreamed dreams." Those were, and still are, fitting words, for her fath- er's dream did come true. Through the dedication, loyalty, and sheer hard work of his students, friends, and fellow paleontologists, the publications and the Paleontological Research Institution he began are alive and well as we near the end of the Twentieth Century. ? During the summer of 1995, PRI created a temporary public exhibit of material in a building on The Commons in downtown Ithaca. The centerpieces of the exhibit were mechanical dinosaur models, but accompanying materials came from PRI collections and the PRI staff designed the entire exhibit. All told, more than 100,000 people viewed PRI exhibits or participated in Institution-sponsored programs in 1995. A fund drive for a suitable public museum has been started. 93 The articles removed are now in the PRI Archives. 130 BULLETIN 350 CHAPTER 10. FINAL WORDS Gilbert Dennison Harris rose from humble begin- nings on a farm near Jamestown, New York to be one of the premier paleontologists of his day. Through his students, publications, and professional consulting, he had a major impact on our understanding of the fossils and stratigraphy of the Tertiary rocks of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains. Harris had great energy for doing paleontological research; he was really able to go out and “get the job done", efficiently and quickly. During one trip late in his career, as he and Palmer were doing some roadside collecting they were man- aging to stay ahead of a road crew seeding the road cuts right behind them!. This enthusiasm he passed along to his students. According to Druid Wilson, few people have ever traced a single unit for over 1,000 miles as Harris did, and Wilson feels he deserves a place alongside Conrad, Aldrich, Lea, and others, as one of the all time giants of Tertiary paleontology?. Certainly some of his paleontological publications set a standard for the profession, and several of his papers are still considered the definitive work for particular groups of fossils or time intervals. The primary key to his good work rested in the fact that Harris was a good illustrator who supported his illustrations with the ap- propriate descriptions?. Even today, many, perhaps most, of the species that he first described are still considered valid. Once, when asked late in his life how he would like fellow geologists to think of him, Harris replied, per- haps with false modesty, “As a beginner in a limited number of branches of geologic sciences." And when asked were there any particular personal features he would like to be remembered, he offered two: “Building of boats for geologic excursions before the days of automobiles[.] "Establishment of the Paleontological Research Insti- tution at Ithaca for volunteer research workers [.]”* Of all his accomplishments, these were the most per- sonal to him. Based upon their success, for most of his students Harris fulfilled the role of mentor in the finest tradition of the word. For a student seeking training in the field of paleontology as it existed 50 to 100 years ago, he ' David Dockery, personal communication July 12, 1995. ? Druid Wilson, personal communication September 7, 1995. ? David Dockery, personal communication J uly 12, 1995. ^ Question included in Walter E. Hopper to Gilbert D. Harris, July 1, 1950; answers included in unsigned carbon copy, Gilbert D. Harris to Walter E. Hopper, July 5, 1950. HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY. or she could have done no better than to train under Gilbert Harris. At the time there were few places where students, even before they completed their studies, had the opportunity to serve in responsible positions with a state geological survey, but Harris' students could do just that while he headed the Survey for the State of Louisiana. And the fact that the professor had his own journal and was willing to publish student work, gave these students an almost ideal situation. Yet, Harris was an enigmatic person; kind and gen- erous, a wonderful mentor, and lasting friend, he could also be vindictive, mean, self-centered, and just down- right ornery. In a few words, he was human. His legacy to paleontology lives on through his publications, the work of his students and his students’ students and their students as the torch has been passed from gen- eration to generation. But mostly his bequest to pos- terity is kept alive most tangibly though his journals and the Paleontological Research Institution which ће founded in 1932. During the Depression, a time when most people were wondering how they would survive another day, Harris was looking to a future beyond the present misery. He was able to infect others with his dream of the future, and that small band of followers gathered one warm afternoon in June on a plot of land behind his house, and in the form of a cinder block, laid the beginning of that dream. As a student at Cornell Harris had the benefit of studying under Henry S. Williams, and some of his success as a teacher he owed to what he learned during his time with Williams. But Harris mostly learned bY doing and he expected his students to follow that path, and many who followed his path found that it led t° foreign shores. From Venezuela a student wrote tO Harris: “I certainly appreciate the training you gave me and your help in getting me started in Paleontological work.” Not everyone reacted well to this style of teaching but those that did went on to make their mark in the world of paleontology; his students included Kennet E. Caster, Monroe G. Cheney, Herdman F. Cleland, W. Storrs Cole, Stephen M. Herrick, Floyd Hodson: Charles W. Honess, Lois M. (Schoonover) Kent, Ed- ward Kindle, Henry Leighton, Ralph A. Liddle, Ca lotta J. Maury, Axel A. Olsson, Joviano A. A. Pacheco Katherine V. W. Palmer, Irving Perrine, Charles > pR! 5 Floyd Hodson to Gilbert D. Harris, January 7, 1932. HA- Ithaca, NY. | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 131 Prosser, Percy E. Raymond, Leopold Reinecke, John L. Rich, Helen I. (Tucker) Rowland, Pearl G. Sheldon, Ernest В. Smith, Arthur C. Veatch, Walter A. Ver Wiebe, Norman E. Weisbord, John W. Wells, Francis L. Whitney, Druid Wilson, and Charles Yeakle, just to mention a few. Harris also touched the lives of many who never majored in paleontology, but only had a class or two with him. Almost 35 years later they still remembered Vividly their brief encounter: “You can scarcely be likely to remember me—just one of Your elementary students of about 1913. I mean I took the lecture course in elementary paleontology up in your laboratory high in Mc Graw [sic], also your course in Geo- logic Mensuration and still have the notes! I also have a Photo of you at the steering lever of your Cayuga Lake Vessel." [Emphasis in the original.]$ In many ways Harris was a driven man; he was not а person who could sit still for very long, even in “‘re- Urement.” At age 73 he visited the University of Cal- fornia to study the Tertiary of the west coast. He cel- *brated his 82nd birthday while on a collecting trip to Albert G. Ingalls to Gilbert D. Harris, December 15, 1947. HA- Г, Ithaca, NY. Florida, Alabama, and Georgia (Palmer, 1953c) which totaled over 3700 miles and lasted almost a month. Right up to his death he was actively engaged in pa- leontological research. His last paper was published just a few months before he died (Harris, 1951), and in part was based upon the samples collected during his recent excursions to the south. Well past his 80th birthday, he was still running the presses to print his journals. Perhaps Harris described it best with his Christmas Greeting sent in his 85th year: “We are happiest when our hobbies and our "life's work’ become identical." (Herrick et al., 1953, p. 16A). Katherine Palmer, who worked with Harris from 1921 until his death in 1952, remembered him thusly (Palmer, 1953b, p. 2624): "Не was always stimulating and inspiring to those students of close contact and he continually planned training and provided opportunities for their scientific advancement. In turn he received steadfast loyalty and developed an idealism which is manifested in the projects which they in turn initiated or helped carry on. The monuments of basic endeavors which Professor Harris built along the way in paleontology and stratigraphy are bench marks from which the progress of those sciences can be measured. The worth of such factors is everlasting.” REFERENCES [Note: A complete bibliography of Gilbert Harris Was Published by Katherine Palmer (Palmer, 1953c; "printed in Ward, 1993).] Allen, p 1, 1931, Only yesterday. Bantam Classic, New York, 270 pp. Anderson, A. L. 1952, Memorial of Heinrich Ries. American Mineralogist, vol. 37, pp. 264-275. Anderson, H.V. 1960, Geology of Sabine Parish. Geological Bulletin 34, De- partment of Conservation, Louisiana Geological Survey, 164 pp. Anonymous. 1881, Illustrated historical atlas of the County of Chautauqua, New York from actual surveys and records. F. N. Beers and Company, New York. 1897, Note about Cornell. Science, N.S., vol. 5, no. 116, p. 473. 1908, The ten-year book of Cornell University, IV, 1868-1908. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 793 pp. 19153, Unique tribute to a teacher—gift fund of $1,000 to be administered by Professor Gilbert D. Harris. Cornell Alumni News, vol. 18, no. 11, p. 126. 1915b. Cornell Alumni Directory, vol. 13, no. 12, 582 pp. 1917. Miss Maury's successful work—a valuable report on the paleontology of Santo Domingo. Cornell Alumni News, vol. 19, no. 37, p. 434. 1922. Cornell Alumni Directory, vol. 13, no. 12, Cornell Uni- versity, Ithaca, NY, 582 pp. 1934. Article. (November 4), Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY. 1953. А word from Ward's, Ward's Natural Science Establish- ment, vol. 26, no. 4, p. 49. 1988. Arkansas. in The state geological surveys—a history. A.Socolow, ed., Association of American State Geologists, pp. 20-26. n.d. Special Announcement of the Helderberg School of Field Geology: Under the Auspices of the Department of Pa- leontology and Stratigraphic Geology, Cornell University. [Believed to have been prepared and printed by G. D. Harris for the summer of 1902]. Bishop, M. 1962. A history of Cornell. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 651 pp. Branner, J. C., and Coville, F.V. 1891. Annual report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas for 1888—the geology of Washington County. vol. 4, pt. II, pp. 155-252. 152 BULLETIN 350 Brice, W.R. 1989. Cornell geology through the years. Cornell Engineering Histories, vol. 2, College of Engineering, Cornell Univer- sity, Ithaca, NY, 230 pp. 1994a. Field camp in the Helderbergs— 1900 to 1909. (Abstract). Third Annual Meeting of the History of Earth Science Society, Troy, NY, July 7-9, p. 4. 1994b. Charles Frederic Hartt (1840-1878): The early years. Earth Sciences History, vol. 13, no. 2, pp.160-167. Field camp in the Helderbergs— 1900 to 1909. North- eastern Geology and Environmental Sciences, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 188-194. Brice, W.R., Philbrick, S.S., and Bloom, A.L. 1995, 1995. John West Wells, July 15, 1907 - January 12, 1944. in Memorial statements, Cornell University faculty 1993- 94. Office of the Dean of Faculty, Cornell University, Ith- aca, NY, pp. 121-125. Caster, K.E. 1930. Higher fossil faunas of the Upper Allegheny: Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 15, no. 58, pp. 145-316. 1973. Presentation of The Paleontological Society Medal to Katherine Van Winkle Palmer. Journal of Paleontology, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 599-601. Clark, W.B. 1891. Correlation papers. Eocene. United States Geological Sur- vey Bulletin, no. 83, 173 pp. Clark, W. B., and Miller. B.L. 1912. The physiography and geology of the Coastal Plain Prov- ince of Virginia. Virginia Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 4, 274 pp. Clark, W.B., Shattuck, G.B., and Dall, W.H. 1904. The Miocene deposits of Maryland. Maryland Geologic Survey, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, vol. I (Text), 543 pp.; vol. П (Plates). Cleland, H.F. 1900. Thecalciferous of the Mohawk Valley. Bulletins of Amer- ican Paleontology, vol. 3, no. 13, pp. 241-266. 1903. Further notes on the calciferous (Beekmantown) Forma- tion of the Mohawk Valley, with descriptions of new spe- cies. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 4, no. 18, pp. 30-50. 1918. Memorial of Henry Shaler Williams. Bulletin of the Geo- logical Society of America, vol. 30, pp. 47-65. Clendenin, W.W. 1896. A preliminary report upon the Florida Parishes of east Louisiana and the Bluff, Prairie and Hill lands of southwest Louisiana. Geology and Agriculture, Part III. Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton Rouge, pp. 163-256. Collins, W. H. 1937. Memorial of Leopold Reinecke. Proceedings of the Geo- logical Society of America for 1936, pp. 259-261. Conable, C.W. 1977. Women at Cornell — the myth of equal education: Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 211 pp. Conrad, T. A. 1832. Fossil shells ofthe Tertiary Formations of North America. vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 9-20, no. 2, pp. 21-28, Philadelphia. 1833. Fossil shells of the Tertiary formations. vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 29-38, no. 4, pp. 39-46, Philadelphia. Conway, J. K. 1994. True North—a memoir. Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 250 pp. Corbin, D. F. M. 1888. A life of Matthew Fontaine Maury, U.S.N. and C.S.N. Sampson Low, Marston, Searley & Rivington, Ltd., Lon- don. 326 pp. Cumings, E. R. 1916. Memorial of Charles Smith Prosser. Bulletin of the Geo- logical Society of America, vol. 28, pp. 70-80. Dall, W. H. 1893a. Determination ofthe dates of publication of Conrad's Fos- sils of the Tertiary formation and Medial Tertiary. Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington [D.C.], vol. 12, pp. 215-239. 1893b. Republication of Conrad's fossil shells (medial) of the Ter- tiary Formation. Wagner Free Institute of Science, Phil- adelphia, 136 pp. Dall, W. H., and Harris, G.D. 1892. Correlation papers, Neocene. United States Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 84, 349 pp. Dana, J. D. 1875. Thegeological story briefly told, an introduction to geology for the general reader and for beginners in the science: Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Company, New York. 263 pp. 1880. Manual of geology, treating of the principles of the science with special reference to American geological history: Ги" son, Blakeman, Taylor and Company, New York. 912 рр: 1895. Manual of geology: treating of the principles of the science with special reference to American geological history. 4th Edition. American Book Company, New York, 1087 pP: Downs, J. P., and Headley, F.Y. , eds. 1921. History of Chautauqua County New York and its people. American Historical Society, Inc., New York, 703 pp. Dumble, E. T. 1894. The Cenozoic deposits of Texas. Journal of Geology, V9 2, no. 6, pp. 549—567. Dumble, Е.Т., and Harris, С.р. 1893. The Galveston Deep Well. American Journal of Science vol. 46, pp. 39-42. Figueiróa, S.A F. de M. 1994. Charles Frederic Hartt and the “Geological Commission of Brazil” [1875-1877]. Earth Sciences History, vol. 14; no. 2, pp. 168-173. Flower, R. H., and Caster, K. E. 1935. The stratigraphy and paleontology of Northwestern Penn” sylvania; Part II, Paleontology; Section A-The cephalopo fauna of the Conewango Series of the Upper Devonian in New York and Pennsylvania. Bulletins of American Par leontology, vol. 22, no. 75, pp. 197-270. Guppy, R. J. L. 1907. Biographical notice of R. J. Lechmere Guppy (For priv circulation only). The Mirror Printing Works, Trinida® 10 pp. Harris, G. D. 1890. The genus Terebellum in American Tertiaries. America? Geologist, vol. 5, p. 315. 1891a. Notes on the geology of Southwestern New York. Amer" ican Geologist, vol. 7, pp. 164—173. l. ate 1891b. The Fayetteville-Huntsville section. in Annual report oí the Geological Survey of Arkansas for 1888 — The geolog of Washington County. F.W.Simonds, ed., vol. 4, pvo pp. 149-154. 1891c. On the confounding of Nassa trivittata Say and Nass? peralta (Con. sp.). American Geologist, vol. 7, рр: 164 178. 1893а. The Tertiary geology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland. Amer ican Journal of Science, vol. 45, pp. 21-31. 1893b. Preliminary report on the organic remains obtained ; the Deep Well at Galveston together with conclusions T specting the age ofthe various formations penetrated. from 18932. 18934. 1893е, 18942, 1894b, 18952. 18955, 18956. 1896a, 1896b, 18972, 1897p, 18976. 18993. 1899p, 18996. 1900, 1904, 19054. 19955. 19056, 19074. GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE logical Survey of Texas 4th Annual Report, 1892, pp. 117– 119. Introduction. in Republication of Conrad's fossil shells of the Tertiary Formations of North America. Rufus H. Dar- by, Printer, Washington, D. C. pp. 5-8 [reprinted by the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY, 1963, 121 pp.] Remarks on Dall’s collection of Conrad’s works. Ameri- can Geologist, vol. 11, pp. 279-281. Correlation of Tejon Deposits with Eocene Stages of the Gulf Slope. Science, vol. 22, p. 97. On the geological position of the Eocene deposits of Mary- land and Virginia. American Journal of Science, vol. 47, pp. 301—304. The Tertiary of Southern Arkansas. Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas for 1892, vol. 2, 207 pp. New and otherwise interesting Tertiary mollusca from Texas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. 47, pp.45-88. Claiborne fossils. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 1.10. 15 32 pp: Neocene mollusca of Texas ог fossils from the Deep Well at Galveston. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 1, no. 3, 32 pp. The Midway Stage. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 116-270. Introduction. in A reprint of the paleontological writings of Thomas Say. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 3-4 (273-274). An imaginary fleet. Science, N.S. vol. 5, no. 119, p. 586. A gasoline launch for field work. Science, N.S. vol. 6, no. 149, pp. 703-704. The Lignitic Stage, Part I. Stratigraphy and paleontology (Pelecypoda): Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 2, no. 9, pp. 193-294. Key to the Upper Devonian of southern New York— De- signed for teachers and students in secondary schools. El- ementary Natural History Series, no. 2, The Harris Com- pany, Ithaca, NY, 26 pp. The Lignitic Stage, Part II. Scaphopoda, Gastropoda, Pter- opoda and Cephalopoda. Bulletins of American Paleon- tology, vol. 3, no. 11, 128 pp. The establishment of meridian lines. Special Report No. 7. in Geology and Agriculture, Part V. A preliminary re- port on the geology of Louisiana. by G.D.Harris and A.C.Veatch. Made Under the Direction of State Experi- ment Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 311—324. A gasoline launch for field work. II. Science, N.S. vol. 12, no. 313, pp. 1009-1010. The Helderberg invasion of the Manlius. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 4, no. 19, pp. 55-77. Guide to the geology of Union Springs. Elementary Nat- ural History Series, no. 3, The Harris Company, Ithaca, NY, 16 pp. A report on terrestrial magnetism and meridian line work in Louisiana—by members of the Division of Terrestrial Magnetism of the coast and Geodetic Survey and members of the State Geological Survey. Geological Survey of Lou- isiana Bulletin, Report of 1905, no. 2, pp. 165-213. A report on the establishment of tide gage work in Lou- isiana. Geological Survey of Louisiana Bulletin, Report of 1905, no. 3, pp. 221-248. Notes on the geology of the Winnfield Sheet. Geological Survey of Louisiana Bulletin, no. 5, Report of 1907, 36 pp. 1907b. 1907c. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1912a. 1912b. 1913. 1915: 1919 1921. 1926. 1933. 1934a. 1934b. 1937a. 19375: 1940. 1991. 133 Cartography of Southwestern Louisiana with special ref- erence to the Jennings Sheet. Geological Survey of Loui- siana Bulletins, no. 6, Report of 1907, 60 pp. Elements of historical geology: Publisher unknown, but assumed to be printed by G. D. Harris, Ithaca, New York. (Library of Congress Certificate of Deposit for the book is dated March 19, 1907; HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) Rock salt, its origin, geologic occurrences and economic importance in the State of Louisiana; together with brief notes and references to all known salt deposits and in- dustries of the world (Assisted by C. J. Maury and L. Reinecke). Geological Survey of Louisiana Bulletin, no. 7, Report of 1907, pp. 60-259. The geologic occurrence of rock salt in Louisiana and east Texas. Economic Geology, vol. 4, pp. 12-34. Oil and gas in Louisiana with a brief summary of their occurrence in adjacent states. United States Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 429, 192 pp. Oil concentration about salt domes. Science, N.S. vol. 35, pp. 546-547. Dome theories as applied to gulf coast geology. Science, N.S. vol. 36, pp. 173-173. Immense salt concretions. Popular Science Monthly, vol. 82, pp. 187-191. Discussion. in The origin of the Louisiana and east Texas salines. by E.G.Norton, American Institute of Mining En- gineers Bulletin, no. 97, pp. 93-102; no. 101, pp. 1120- 1122; Transactions, no. 51 (1916), pp.502-513. Pelecypoda of the St. Maurice and Claiborne Stages. Bul- letins of American Paleontology, vol. 6, no. 31, pp. 1- 268. A reprint of the more inaccessible paleontological writings of Robert John Lechmere Guppy. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 8, no. 35, 108 pp. Notes on the paleontology [of Trinidad]. in The geology of the island of Trinidad, B.W.I. by G.A.Waring. Johns Hopkins University Studies in Geology, no. 7, pp. 87- IX Memorial of Adam Capen Gill. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, vol. 44, pp. 325-328. A Paleontological Research Institution at Ithaca, N.Y. Sci- ence, vol. 79, no. 2052, pp. 380-381. A low-price station indicator. Science, N.S. vol. 80, no. 2063, p. 38. Turrid Illustrations — mainly Claibornian. Paleontographica Americana. vol. 2, no. 7, 96 pp, 14 pl. Our first century of Cenozoic invertebrate paleontology (Presidential address — The Paleontological Society). Bul- letin of the Geological Society of America, vol. 48, pp. 443-462. The name Claiborne in geologic literature. Science, N.S. vol. 92, no. 2386, pp. 257-258. Preliminary notes on Ocala bivalves. Bulletins of Amer- ican Paleontology, vol. 33, no. 138, 54 pp. Harris, G. D., and Hodson, F. 1922. 1931. The rudistids of Trinidad. Paleontographica Americana, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 119-162. An Oligocene rudistid from Trinidad. Bulletins of Amer- ican Paleontology, vol. 16, no. 61, 9 pp. Harris, G. D., and Palmer, K. V.W. 1947. The mollusca of the Jackson Eocene of the Mississippi Embayment (Sabine River to Alabama River). Part I (1946); Part II (1947). Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol 30, no. 117, 503 pp. Harris, G. D., Perrine, I., and Hopper, W. E. 1909. Oil and gas in northwestern Louisiana with special ref- erence to the Caddo field. Geological Survey of Louisiana Bulletin, no. 8, 52 pp. Harris, G. D., and Veatch, A.C. 1899. Geology and Agriculture, Part V; A preliminary report on the geology of Louisiana. Made Under the Direction of State Experiment Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 354 pp. Harris, G. D., Veatch, A. C., and Pacheco, J. A. A. 1902. A report on the geology of Louisiana. Geology and Ag- riculture, Part VI, 288 pp. Harris, G. D., Veatch, A. C., and others. 1905. А герої on the underground waters of Louisiana. Geolog- ical Survey of Louisiana Bulletin, no. 1, Report of 1905, 77 pp. Harris, R. A. 1898a. On harmonic functions (Abstract). Bulletin of the Amer- ican Mathematical Society, vol. 5, p. 96-98. (Paper read before Section A of the AAAS Meeting in 1898.) 1898b. On harmonic functions. American Journal of Mathemat- ics, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 391-420. The tides in the Rigolets. in Geology and agriculture-a report on the geology of Louisiana, Part VI. by G.D. Har- ris, A.C.Veatch, and J.A.A.Pacheco, Baton Rouge, Loui- siana, Special Report 7, pp. 255-260. Heroy, W. B. 1942. Memorial to Arthur Clifford Veatch. Proceedings Volume of the Geological Society of America, Annual Report for 1941, pp. 201-209. Herrick, G. W., Von Engeln, O. D., and Wright, A. H. 1902. 1953. Gilbert Dennison Harris, October 2, 1864-December 4, 1952. Necrology of the faculty-1952-1953, Cornell Uni- versity, Ithaca, NY, pp. 14A-16A. Hewett, W. T. 1905. Cornell University—a history. Volumes I - IV. The Uni- versity Publishing Society, New York. vol. I, 456 pp.; vol. П, 417 pp.; vol. Ш, 431 pp. vol. IV (Register, Compiled by F. R. Holmes and L. A. Williams, Jr.) 611 pp. Hodson, F. 1926. Venezuelan and Caribbean Turritellas, with a list of Ven- ezuelan type stratigraphic localities. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 11, no. 45, pp. 171-220. Hodson, F., and Hodson, H. K. 1931. Some Venezuelan mollusks. Bulletins of American Pale- ontology, vol. 16, no. 59, pp. 95-132. Hodson, F., Hodson, H.K., and Harris, G. D. 1927. Some Venezuelan and Caribbean mollusks. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 13, no. 49, pp. 1-160. Hodson, H. K. 1926. Foraminifera from Venezuela and Trinidad. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 12, no. 47, pp. 1-46. Hollick, A. 1899. A report on a collection of fossil plants from Northwestern Louisiana; Special Report No. 5. in Geology and Agri- culture, Part V. A preliminary report on the geology of Louisiana. by G.D.Harris and A.C. Veatch. Made Under the Direction ofthe State Experiment StationBaton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 276-288. Howell, B. F. 1925. The fauna of the Cambrian Paradoxides beds at Manuels, Newfoundland. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 11, no. 43, pp. 1-140. Johansel, M. E. 1988. Texas. in The state geological surveys—a history. BULLETIN 350 A.A.Socolow, ed., Association of American State Geolo- gists, pp. 409—416. Jordan, D. S. 1922. Days of a man. Being memories of a naturalist, teacher and minor prophet of democracy: World Book Company; Yonkers-on-Hudson, NY, vol. I, 710 pp.; vol. П, 906 рр: Kiersch, J. K. 1964. Cornell’s forgotten fleet. Cornell Alumni Times, vol. 66, no. 6, pp. 7-9. Kindle, E.M. 1896. The relation of the fauna of the Ithaca Group to the fauna of the Portage and Chemung. Bulletins of American Pa- leontology, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 1-56. Lopus, P., and Ingham, E. , eds. 1977. Bible records. Contributed by Jamestown (NY) Chapter National Society of the Daughters of the American Rev- olution, vol. I, 103 pp. (#78.49.1 at the Fenton Historical Society, Jamestown, NY). Maury, C. J. 1902. A comparison of the Oligocene of Western Europe and the Southern United States. Bulletins of American Pale- ontology, vol. 3, no. 15, pp. 311-404. An interglacial fauna found in Cayuga valley and its 1€ lation to the Pleistocene of Toronto. Journal of Geology, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 564—567. 1917a. Santo Domingo type sections and fossils. Part I. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 5, no. 29, pp. 165-415 (17 2801). 1917b. маја Domingo type sections and fossils. Part II. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 5, no. 30, pp. 418-459 (17 43). 1908. 1 of 1918. Santo Domingan paleontological exploration. Journa Geology, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 224-228. 1924. Fosseis Terciarios do Brasil, com descripcao de novas formas Cretaceas. Monograph no. 4, Servicio Geologica ё Mineral. do Brasil, 711 pp. 3 1925. A further contribution of the paleontology of Trinidad (Miocene horizons). Bulletins of American Paleontology: vol. 10, no. 42, pp. 155-402, 43 pl. Maury, M.F. 1891. Physical Geography. (Revised by Mytton Maury. versity Publishing Company, New York, 130 pp. Moore, D. R. 1978. Axel A. Olsson—an obituary—19 April, 1889 - 26 Qd tober, 1977. The Nautilus, vol. 92, no. 2, pp. 59-61. Moore, E. J. е 1995. (Review of) The G. D. Harris 1890 manuscript on L stratigraphy of Miocene and Pliocene beds at Yor ktow?» Virginia. by Lauck W. Ward (1993). Earth Sciences НІ tory, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 112-113. Nel, L. T., and Krahmann, R. 1937. Notes prepared for the Geological Society of South Proceedings of the Geological Society of America for 192 pp. 261-269. Ogilvie, M. B. n 1986. Women in science—antiquity through the Nineteen 2 Century. A biographical dictionary with annotated b! ography: MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 254 pp. Olsson, A. A. New and interesting Neocene fossils from the Atl ) Шак Africa anti? 1914. Coastal Plain. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. ^ no. 24, pp. 41-72. y 1916. New Miocene fossils. Bulletins of American PaleontoloP vol. 5, no. 27, pp. 121-152. it 1922. The Miocene of Northern Costa Rica with notes on GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 135 general stratigraphic relations. Bulletins of American Pa- leontology, vol. 9, no. 39, pp. 1-309. 1928. Contributions to the Tertiary paleontology of Northern Peru; Part 1. Eocene mollusca and brachiopoda. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 14, no. 52, pp. 1-154. 1929. Contributions to the Tertiary paleontology of Northern Peru; Part 2. Upper Eocene mollusca and brachiopoda. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 15, no. 57, pp. 67-116. 1930. Contributions to the Tertiary paleontology of Northern Peru; Part 3. Eocene mollusca.Bulletins of American Pa- leontology, vol. 17, no. 62, pp. 1-96. 1931. Contributions to the Tertiary paleontology of Northern Peru; Part 4. The Peruvian Oligocene. Bulletins of Amer- ican Paleontology, vol. 17, no. 63, pp. 97-264. 1932. Contributions to the Tertiary paleontology of Northern Peru; Part 5. The Peruvian Miocene. Bulletins of Amer- ican Paleontology, vol. 19, no. 68, pp. 1-272. 1934, Contributions to the paleontology of Northern Peru; Part 6. The Cretaceous of the Amotape Region. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 20, no. 69, pp. 1-104. 1944. Contributions to the paleontology of Northern Peru; Part 7. The Cretaceous of the Paita Region. Bulletins of Amer- ican Paleontology, vol. 28, no. 111, pp. 163-270. 1954. Memorial to Gilbert Dennison Harris (1864-1952). Pro- ceedings of the Geological Society of America, Annual Report for 1953, pp. 125-130. Palmer, К, У. W 1923. Foraminifera and a small molluscan fauna from Costa Rica. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 10, no. 40, pp. 1-18. 1937. The Claibornian Scaphopda, Gastropoda and Dibranchi- ate Cephalopoda of the southern United States, Part I. Text; Part II. Plates. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 7, no. 32, pt. I, pp. 1-548; pt. II, pp. 549-730, 89 pl. 1939. Basilosaurus in Arkansas. Bulletin of the American As- sociation of Petroleum Geologists, vol. 23, no. 8, pp. 1228- 1229. 1945. Fresh-water mollusca from the state of Monagas, Vene- zuela. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 31, no. 118, pp. 1-42. 1953a, Memorial. Gilbert Dennison Harris 1864-1952. Journal of Paleontology, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 615-618. 19535, Gilbert Dennison Harris (1864-1952). Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, vol. 37, no. 11, pp. 2620-2626. 19532. Memorial. (1864-1952) Gilbert Dennison Harris. Bulle- tins of American Paleontology, vol. 35, no. 146, pp. 1-23 1963, Preface. in reprinting of Republication of Conrad’s fossil shells of the Tertiary Formations of North America, by G.D.Harris, 1893. Washington, D. C. Paleontological Re- search Institution, Ithaca, NY, p. 2. 1982, Paleontological Research Institution, fifty years, 1932- 1982. Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY, Pope, p, p, Р? 1988, Louisiana. in The state geological surveys - a history. A. Socolow, ed., Association of American State Geologists, . 177-198. Powel, LW. : 1889, Eighth annual report of the United States Geological Sur- vey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1886-87. Washington, 1 D. C., U. S. Government Printing Office, 474 pp. 890, Tenth annual report of the United States Geological Sur- vey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1888-89. Part I, ge- ology. Washington, D. C., U. S. Government Printing Of- fice, 774 pp. 1891a. Eleventh annual report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1889—90. Part I, geology. Washington, D. C., U. S. Government Printing Office, 751 pp. 1891b. Twelfth annual report ofthe United States Geological Sur- vey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1890-91. Part I, ge- ology. Washington, D. C., U. S. Government Printing Of- fice, 675 pp. 1892. Thirteenth annual report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1891-92. Part I, report of the Director. Washington, D. C., U. S. Govern- ment Printing Office, 240 pp. 1893. Fourteenth annual report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1892-'93, Part I, Report of the Director: Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 321 pp. Powers, S. 1920a. The Butler salt dome, Freestone county, Texas. American Journal of Science, 4th Series, vol. 49, pp. 127-142. 1920b. The Sabine Uplift, Louisiana. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 117-136. Raymond, P.E. 1902. The Crown Point section. Bulletins of American Paleon- tology, vol. 3, no. 14, pp. 267-310. 1903. The faunas of the Trenton at the type section at Newport, NY. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 4, no. 17, pp. 9-18. Riddell, J. L., et al. 1856. Report of the Special Committee of the New Orleans Academy of Sciences on the importance of a geological and scientific survey of the State of Louisiana. Baton Rouge, Advocate Steam Press Printer, 11 pp. Ries, H. 1899. A report on Louisiana clay samples. Special Report No. 4. in Geology and Agriculture. Part V: A preliminary re- port on the geology of Louisiana. by G.D.Harris and A.C.Veatch. Made Under the Direction of State Experi- ment Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 263-275. Schmidt, K. P., and Olsson, A. A. 1916. From Cornell to the Carolinas. Power Boating, (May) pp. 15-22, 46. Schoonover, L.M. 1941. A stratigraphic study of the mollusks of the Calvert and Choptank Formations of Southern Maryland. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 25, no. 94B, pp. 165-134. Schram, F. R. 1992. Medalists of the Paleontological Society. Journal of Pa- leontology, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 469-476. Sheldon, P. G. 1916. Atlantic slope Arcas. Paleontographica Americana, vol. 1, no. 1, 101 pp., 16 pl. [Errata page at the end states that the actual date of publication was January 31, 1917.] Simonds, F. W. 1891. Annual report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas for 1888—the geology of Washington County. vol. 4, part I, pp. 1-154. Smith, C.E. 1902. Work of the Cornell summer school of field geology. American Geologist, vol. 30, pp. 396-397. Spath, L. F. 1925. Jurassic cephalopoda from Madagascar. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 11, no. 44, pp. 141-170. 136 BULLETIN 350 Tarr, R. S. 1892. Reconnaissance of the Guadulupe Mountains. Geological Survey of Texas Bulletins, no. 3, 42 pp. Tucker, H., and Wilson, D. 1932a. A list of Caloosahatchie Pliocene species. Indiana Acad- emy of Science Proceedings, vol. 41, pp. 355-356. 1932b. A list of species from Acline, Florida. Indiana Academy of Science Proceedings, vol. 41, p. 357. 1932c. Some new and otherwise interesting fossils from the Flor- ida Tertiary. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 18, no. 65, 24 pp. 1933. A second contribution to the Neogene paleontology of south Florida. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 18, no. 66, 20 pp. Tweedale, G. 1991. Geology and industrial consultancy—Sir William Boyd Dawkins (1837-1929) and the Kent Coalfield. British Journal for the History of Science, vol. 24, pt. 4, pp. 435- 451. Van Winkle, K. 1921. Illustrations and descriptions of fossil mollusca contained in the paleontological collections at Cornell University. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 8, no. 36, pp. 347-385. Van Winkle, K., and Harris, С. D. 1919. New and otherwise interesting Tertiary molluscan species from the east coast of America. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 8, no. 33, pp. 1-32. Veatch, A. C. 1899. The five islands. Special Report No. 3. in Geology and Agriculture. Part V: A preliminary report on the geology of Louisiana. by G.D.Harris and A.C. Veatch. Made Under the Direction of State Experiment Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 209-262. See Harris et al., 1902. The underground waters of Northern Louisiana and Southern Louisiana. Part II. in A report on the under- ground waters of Louisiana. by G.D.Harris et al. Geolog- ical Survey of Louisiana Bulletin, no. 1, Report of 1905, pp. 79-164. 1906a. Geology and underground water resources of Northern Louisiana with notes on adjoining districts. Geological Survey of Louisiana Bulletin, Report of 1905, no. 4, pp. 261-457. 1906b. Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas. United States Geolog- ical Survey Professional Paper, no. 46, 422 pp. 1902. 1905. 1907. Geography and geology of a portion of southwestern Wy- oming, with special reference to coal and oil. United states Geological Survey Professional Paper, no. 56, 178 pp. 1935. Evolution of the Congo Basin. Geological Society of Amer- ica Memoir, no. 3, 183 pp. Veatch, A. C., and Smith, P. A. Atlantic submarine valleys of the United States and the Congo submarine valley. Geological Society of American Special Paper, no. 7, 101 pp. 1959, Von Engeln, О. D. 1907. On and about a college campus. Harper's Weekly, vol. 51, по. 2632 (June 1), pp. 808-809. (reprinted in the Ithaca Daily Journal, Saturday, June 8, 1907.) 1961. The Finger Lakes region. Its origin and nature. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 156 pp. Walcott, C. D. 1891. Correlation papers. Cambrian. United States Geological Survey Bulletin, no.81, 447 pp. Ward, L. W. 1993. The G. D. Harris manuscript on the stratigraphy of Mio- cene and Pliocene beds at Yorktown, Virginia. Paleon- tological Research Institution Special Publication 20,1 18 pp. Ward, L. W., and Blackwelder, B. W. 1980. Stratigraphic revisions of upper Miocene and Lower plio- cene beds of the Chesapeake Group, Middle Atlantic coastal Plain. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1482-D, 61 pp. Waring, G.A. 1926. The geology of the island of Trinidad, B.W.I. Johns Нор“ kins University Studies in Geology, no. 7, 180 pp. Weller, S. 1918. Henry Shaler Williams, 1847-1918. Journal of Geology: vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 698-700. Wheeler, H. E. 1 1935. Timothy Abbott Conrad, with particular reference to hi$ work in Alabama one hundred years ago. Bulletins O American Paleontology, v. 23, no. 77, 157 pp. (reprinte 1977 by the Paleontological Research Institution, һас? NY) Weisbord, N. E. 1926. Venezuelan Devonian fossils. Bulletins of American Pa- leontology, vol. 11, no. 46, pp. 221-272. Miocene mollusca of Northern Colombia. Bulletins of American Paleontology, vol. 14, no. 54, pp. 233-306. 1934. Some Cretaceous and Tertiary echinoids from Cuba. Bul- letins of American Paleontology, vol. 20, no. 70C, рр: 165-266. White, С. А. 1891. Correlation papers. Cretaceous. United States Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 82, 273 pp. 1929. Williams, F. L. 1963. gers Matthew Fontaine Maury—Scientist of the sea. Rut University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, 720 pp. Williams, H. S. 1891. Correlation papers. Devonian and Carboniferous. united States Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 80, 270 pp. 1895. James Dwight Dana and his work as a geologist. Jou of Geology, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 601-621. Willis, B. 1948. Artesian salt formations. Bulletin of the American Asso” ciation of Petroleum Geologists, vol. 32, no. 7, рр: 1224 1264. rnal PLATES 138 BULLETIN 350 Plate 1.—Gilbert Harris in May, 1872, age 8. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | | BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 1 BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 2 | GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 139 Plate 2.—Gilbert Harris, ca. 1895, shortly after he began teaching at Cornell. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | | BULLETIN 350 Plate 3.—Field crew from the Louisiana Geological Survey, 1905. Harris is second from the right. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 3 | | BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 4 GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 141 Plate 4.— Harris at a tide gauge station near Weeks, Louisiana, 1905. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) 142 BULLETIN 350 Plate 5.— Harris (bent over on the stern) inspects his new launch Ecphora at Champaign’s Dock in Ithaca, 1914. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | | | BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 5 BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 6 GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 143 Plate 6.—Harris’ launch Ecphora, Cornell pennant on the bow, passing through a lock on the Erie Canal, 1914. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) 144 BULLETIN 350 Plate 7.— Harris at the helm of his launch Janthina, date unknown. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | | PLATE 7 BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 8 GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 145 Plate 8.—Class field trip to Yawger’s Woods, on the shore of Cayuga Lake, ca. 1927-28. Harris is seated, right foreground. (Photo: HA- PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | | | | 146 BULLETIN 350 Plate 9.—Harris and his students around the table in McGraw Hall, Cornell University, probably ca. 1915-1920. Left-to-right: A. Jacot, Karl Schmidt, Carlotta Maury, Harris, Axel Olsson, and E.R.Smith. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 9 | BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 10 ee 577“ GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 147 5 Plate 10. — A more formal (and possibly posed) photo, around the table in McGraw Hall, ca. 1921. Left-to-right: Axel Olsson, Harris, Pearl heldon, Carlotta Maury, Katherine Van Winkle Palmer. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) BULLETIN 350 Plate 11.—Carlotta Maury in the paleontology laboratory in McGraw Hall, date unknown. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | | | BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 11 BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 12 GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 149 Plate 12.—June 28, 1932, the cornerstone of the first building of the Paleontological Research Institution is laid near Harris’ house on Dearborn Place in Ithaca. In rear, left-to-right: Axel Olsson, Katherine Palmer, Mrs. A.C.Gill, Beatrice Bolton, Rebecca Harris, Pearl Sheldon, Clara Harris, Prof. A.C.Gill. Foreground, Stephen Herrick (left) helps Harris set the stone. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) | | | BULLETIN 350 Plate 13.—Harris’ official faculty photograph, taken around the time of his retirement from Cornell in 1934. (Photo: Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Cornell University.) | | | BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 13 BULLETINS OF AMERICAN PALEONTOLOGY, VOLUME 109 PLATE 14 GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 151 phe 14.— Harris, age 85, with his rotary printing press in the basement of the Paleontological Research Institution on Dearborn Place in aca, November, 1949. (Photo: HA-PRI, Ithaca, NY.) It INDEX OF PEOPLE NOTE: As the biography is about G. D. Harris, his name does not appear in the index. Page numbers marked with * means the reference is in a footnote on that page. Where there are multiple pages listed, e.g., 120—125, please check the footnotes on those pages for references to the person. ABE C. IN. iy. er cee ни nn Oey nD OO REET Ag tes 36 В ВШ: a seins Cr EPRETIRO E ен Peres 1197 AOXMID ГОВ н оне fee пе ene RET 43 ЦРО Charleb оу и tor ake Ved era 59, 60 Alon, Colorno M иие екет та ТАРА Е E. uui o ede oom dau ded ha ru o sn 12 Amon. Was S s ee а IHE $29" ПОТОП И awn ety ra a eee er ede cubs EST ee Androne, Avery Ds... oor 94, 94*, 95, 95*. 100, 100* ШОИР: КОКИ 2 ive do са decipi cn а на 9* Arias, Desidetio. пилона не eat ELLE eH hereto hes 93 Batrows, Rov: s ояе FEE WORT њу ee а 22 Вама L-A, а И ОК reer RE 64* Berliner, ВАШ но сенке oe ny eh Lr Py vano ed s 92 Blackwelder, BIOL, oiu couv teers eren ir ere br 126“ Bidom, ATUS errer ewes pith eee ees AINI ETT 91* Bolton, Beatrice (Mrs. Cohon EIugneg), еее. 122509112 Boyd, Thoma De «oos rater CERE ents 110-111 Bowen, C. Е id evi ТАГО ene ees Sores” Bronner, Job Ga o or 11,12.19,91.92/ 25 235; 357. exxad ee re 69, 69*, 89, 92, 92*, 109-111 Brice, Heather VW, occire terrre eE neee IET OU ONE EX 9 Brice, Wilian R, serar rrr rarene rode CH Rr IRAE. 3l Brown, Пау ss ees Ced LL aD C Ce B ка 46 Brunberg, МАЙСУР 8 Bullbrook, J. sc cei sae ари ents Lo bentes А 85* Burfoot, James |. ok ee) ee ee 45 Burns, АПК, ee ee te eri 29 Caine, Thond ение 47, 51 Card, Cecil, DE Soir cave wil ity Vae) Mere Ahr eie 122" Carson, W. Baiting o нат ти Re колика dr EORR UE TIUS ELE 125" Copter, ОВИ Se EE CURE RE RAS OR ERES 42, 43, 54, 130 Cian, MOOS Gin DA UEFA RT EE REEF 79", 120,120", 130 Chen W: D Er EG pra Ic oce noe P des TIS PME on СТОН, Job Еее ee G 118* ЕРСИ OU WINE Og ss cs eres ee aka anes been 41, 91, 91* Ngee VV ed Fs os ss et ERE т aay oe CUBANO ol (en a ae me SR a Y 40, 51, 130 СТЕПУ WARS Wo. еее ивент иво. 63 СО, Е ииине T) nec a RR 43 QUE SITE, aro oorr eer ee es 8, 46, 130 Colmon, Dou Do сасе ние cesar i ние I tt Rm DEOR И 8 Comstock, John Peary, еее ое oy enr EET 40 Compstock, Theodore, |... eorr reno Cre eee 46, 49 Conable; Charlotte; -. орки нтке инет 45 Conant, Georgianna Duncan, ...... eerie ern 46 Condb D. DES. ocio rye) eee ese Net Rr Cia 82*, 86 Conrad, Timothy Abbott, ...... 23, 32, 34, 34^, 35, 355, 98, 39 СОНУ DIEN erosut rrr terrm re tern tnm ree 45 CODE DEBA Lii aereo ken vee ea rere rhe ere EE 21 м Ша е 91 СЛЕ СВЕТОВНИ): oou eco xecirtecrenerso venter) er 9 Lydia—See Harris, Lydia MU on SEE GEO LOUER Aen Rea Ата 9 GIU ТОТИ cu as ua db ks 53, 53%, 54 Cuines, ОВА ous e corre се a пале TTL 4 Dall, William Henry, ........... 13, 14, 18, 22, 23, 24, 30, 31, nude E CEU. rd s 32, 32*, 35, 35*, 37, 54 Dana, James Dwight, ............... 11, 12, 35, 36, 37, 38, 32% Pads A C ODE. а oco da 62 Derby, Orville A., con cee кик и 36, 46, 46*, 89, 91, 91%, 9 [Jochen DAVE nie ND EIE i CUR 130* Томин € o o s 68, 68*, 69, 69*, 70, 70*, 72, 111 Donem BOARDS iene ания 104" Doty, Emily See Harris, Emily (Doty) ПЕ И А od ade. 33, 34, 39" UO Me AIMS Cres Puce e y ox UO eO TT RIPE ee ki CE 52 Von Busen ОВА D S o dcr IE 45. 45%, 114-115 FAR AR. EL Mig. Leser 104" Farana: ВТО Озо атон 84", 96-105, 108*, 119, 119*, 120" x Pelicier, УША Н Uhr и насели капитен eoe ка ска 125 EIUS ЈЕО ПВО неон кир Ри Кити ето еса u DUE TEM i Eiern 92,92 WOMOWAV life iaa Ca rom CH e CU ERUEOERIN ceret t 38 АТОНА ТАИ ИТ cree 18 КА АЈА пера aa те re eer CO e ба и вел 86 ОИ ИЕП ИИС 119. Gabe TES eh ee, 78, 79, 19 CoD S CHOR DN MN IU CM 29 Gill he ee 6, 37, 106-107, 111, 117, 122, PLY? Wie pies ie RE S CO MU es 122, Pl й CRIT opor еи MEE FASCE CR ei en at i GTO Blick cei rnin Рени re ra ЕРИ УА cea a wu a Oa tos 56, 56*, 57, 58, a CNN ьн P. ОО S ous hans Ce etre rea EI нето Guppy, Robert John Lechmere, ....................:: 39, 39 PION) bs seks HERO IUE OE hn UTERE CAO ee 41, " KENNEN ue o n РАНИ Пи И 10 Harris, * Clara (Stoneman) (wife), .... 6, 12%, 14, 14*, 15, 15*, 16, а 17, 17*, 18, 18%, 19, 19%, 20, 20*, 21, 21*, 22, 22%, 23,7 24, 24*, 25, 25%, 26, 26%, 27, 27%, 28, 28*, 29, 29% 7, е, 30*, 31, 31*, 33, 46, 117, 122,Р! DIEENE н 9, 14, 14*, 15, 15% ^j POU ООУ) а gis eck sev Y CHIC Recs stot ле 15, 2^ Florence Bell; See Floy Bell 5 МИРИНА 10, 10*, 13, 13%, 14, 14% 12; COR ne he OT OR ee 18*, 20, 21*, 31, 315 ^ Francis E АИ) ERE ses eee es 9, 14, 15, 10, 9 CORDIC ly) cc vee een dn eee qaa а E Gilbert, (Unis or G. D. Harris), «oov eer eee E. d. s M 9, 9*, 14, 14*, 20*, 35 ^, JEN OMUTI s reve rdv chris cass Wero soe И i GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS: BRICE 153 EN cie Cisne id ids iv cakes ce AREE DI 10 ОТР ОСЕТИТИ renee К d 9 Jonathan, UU MeL PLUCREL CET © hadnt Co e Я 9 EEUU o СРИ АНРИ АЊА НЕ. ~ 9 Lydia Helen (Crandall) (mother), 9-145 15-155 185-21 EOD créer de ERREUR T be Cie ROTER 9 ПИК... ihre ora ae лани. 10 Rebecca Stoneman (daughter) ....... 24, 30, 33, 46, 54, 105, VI 17, 125, 129, P112 Obert (name used for baby before birth), ............ 26, 29 Bolin Arthur, sisse 10, 10*, 14, 15, 20, 25, 28, 56 пара EA oe bong Pus Vile bias ДРЕ A ЕУ 9 B WE O D)e ccs ccs cus cle oh ee 13 ills) OO a Ga ee а а re Re У 9 oo MR TER т ih 9 Md Charles Frederic, ... 12, 12*, 36, 43, 46*, 61, 61*, 89, 124 eae DRG yo E EUR CURES мн 69%, 77, 78, 79 Да MAGIC а а а М 67* NEN Rb N Loon seme На 21, 21* Henderson, а pco vito used quide Moa 89, 90, 90* Bst у а ДРЕА АРА МЕНИ ee PEE d 116“ Hetrick, ОЕ Dco E CRI 122, 130. PI 12 tour ЫЕ CEU E E NS 66, 66* BENE o o oos с hina 3% - BEEN ДЕ e али њену Р BOLA 11 a LUNES еее 77, 78, 787, 79, 79“, 80 КОСОВО е 96, 117%, 123* И 85, 87, 98, 98%, 99, 99*. 125, 125%, 130, 130* Пе... edi eros Ит уан 87, 98* Hollick, E earan asn о С Eo а ДАР rre Dn НИ 130 cou WD qM ви времена yr 65 ОА на. 70, 70*130* а ОЕЕО И И 577 129 BEN, Walter Stacy, «cessere РА, 49, 49* Ingalls, Albert Gee ret ОАО СОК CER A 130* nu. WALLET ende отин oem vo eiat 77* Dur DEVI STAM és etas rs Quee cya re EHE 11 lo 98 ТЕО um T S cen o aa eeu aie. 45 E UN NUIT SS ЧАН CO eme She AA eme RR INR KDE cia MET er 72-195 7A, ТА 7S, On, 76, 76", ET ii. tee m 77, 78, 78*, 79, 80, 80*, 81, 81* атап, GUB aaa е с 116 pe Peter DEUM Сея 62, 62* E (Schoonover), 107*, 116%, 127, 127%, 129*, 130 ПЕТРО, Caroline Heminway, нм 45%, 46 ПИ na а ee ни id oh 59* m Bue ue ар 40, 109, 130 p tur, a dist ot a dias 72 a ES ar he a lu e di 72, 72* ian L, in. NN Карр; evi hai leis, a 72* насоса занн нои 72 ПИ е 84, 84%, 85*, 116* гаво, ОТАУ ое ве 107, 107", 108*, 130 Li tch, M a оваа 63 at “arle 117 Појина ДРЕ и Ван C Mo re Pur Tua MET M ME 85, 86* DICAS ЧАО US Dec dni ded ura d oet е 65 JO GEG OS) оа APO EX e Pica на doce EE aS 52 маја Gb AN. os НА оа sain gv Manin ОСА 81, 81* ОТЕТ CIC OT О s c URSUS IUS ОР ПИВА ИС ОМ 46 ТУТА) ООВ as eu e sione бини поља о К 106" МЕТЕО ШВУ ааа нкан ЕА 126,126" Maury Amonia Costra P Po a aaa con ee 91,9]* Carlotta, „=. 6, 39*, 46, 83, 85, 89, 90-105, 130, Pls. 9-11 МЕШЕТО, a LO dona dt eor оа. 91 МЕНИ UN iris ait relies а лана А vue werner нон и Wiens EIE E 91 БОТАШ а cM ME d E Mec QUNM AE i 91 УША Ca ces erre eere ex oe о Т 91 МОКОО ONN а РОУ ЧАН На а IN 94“ ME DONOR A БЕАРА АРА Sp ESI e ako CABE ISO eS 82 NIGGRTULVS MENY; па аи ка питала aos eur COUR ON RO ка И 5 MSS MAS e coUe C ee cae IN 44* ПУЛИ АТИ COMINGS e пао e x e oO Рт a ee 125; 1207 пене у ЕУ ENES; eM т 40 (МЕЈО Enidenel B. essc асана она ТИ ee 72*, 81 Wu hy WISIS Ss Coe Se a ts c о RAE 118* МОРО Victor ДУБ redes nen cin sues 56, 57 Monan, Gol; Bawiin Ви sandr ingen dk cee ee Ole МЕУ Bigs iri Ce toC ee a 66, 66*, 67, 67* Nevin, Charlos Mi o eee 45, 46, 101*, 104*, 106*, 1075, О И и 109%, 1145 116" Ogden Ri My перана н ресе чот 108%, 125“ Olson СТУ Ny- анаа оин 56, 57 Olsson, Axel A, ....... 42“ 48*, 52, 52%, 56, 56", 59; 595 60, 65%, 82; 82*, 87, 87%, 89%, 90, 92, 92%, 93, 95, 96%, 1070024, 122*,.123, 130; Pis 9, 10812 Pachecho, Joviano, ........... 48, 48%, 51, 52, 53, 67, 69", 180 Palmer B LATON, elt an ey ee TIN CHECA eee US 117; 122 Katherine (Van Winkle) .... 90,95, 95*. 10$, 117, 122-123; 127, 127*; 1287 130, 151; Pis. 10, 12 Pardee АО E d fore A oes T ot T acea ono 76, 79 сна 76,10". 77, 17%, 19, 18 494 19, 80, 805, 81, BE MM ccu i tor ic cq Qe 94*, 95, 96, 96* РАТЕ Uc cre PM c M т о 3rd, 116 РОО devil S uox eater Oe TI e rA 55" ва“, 120 Petersen Francis BUGGING) as coco EN tta S EET gr Ida (Harris) See Harris, Ida Pilsbry and Johnson, isins o у на ye eee a 93 АЕРО 1227 Prosser, Charles S., ........... 125-12") 133. 22,295, 51, 395 13. Powers; Sidney, s eee ass А as a ee а 69, 69* Raleigh, Sir Walter; иал К ооа 60 Raymond, РГСУ Ba еу eee кнежина CHR 40, 50*, 131 Reinecke, Leopold, ...................... 48, 52, 65, 65", 131 КОНА, ЈАНО Gig a cess enr aoe ee ens 119° Rich, ТОЕ, os 42, 42", 48, 48", 52, 52*, 53, 65, 65% 131 Richmever E Hu SOUCIS А 125“ RSS HOON оо 6, 33", 39%, 46, 46", 47", 53", 56, 59, 59*, 61, 62, 62*, 64, 89, 89*, 90, 90*, 92*, 93%, 94*, 96-114, 118-121, 124-127 Robinson, Emma Cop ou ovde rra torre e ERR 54, 54* епа» Rudali s РА И oen CERE Error hor on ЙК 41 Bios. Lilian Belle; «up cert er scene твари er Pre ic REY $0,450" ӨВ DOIG = tise cues езана Таљ он RRO 39, 39* Solan Karl E, uoo irre 56, 36", 57, око 3955.00; ај питу WM ке er 61, 82, 827, 92, 92*, 93, 108, 108“, 110. P1 9 БОНИ Ghalat, ооо ние те co en Крин Т Schurman, Gould, 3035095", 36, 3051019799775 49%, 53, 56, 56*, 59, 59%, 62, 81, 81*, 92*, 106, 106*, 107, 107*, 110-113 Schoonover, Lois See Kent, Lois Sueldon, Pearl G., oso 41, 56, 122-123, 131, Pls. 10, 12 Sheperd, ISU). Bie nse vos nore nck noe rada Bethe og ox d AGUIRRE Te Simonds, Frederick W., пе, ee nes 12, 135, 135529, 20973125 Ment BAM siu dor Qno er rares or o nd 104, 104* MCh OCT Wu. Leechers rn HYS 89, 89*, 90 Bh UIE: d vcr eed dr mittere о ле 123 Sem Cres En o ooer rerne periere en ROOD 52, 60 Sp BON E E a So) rege. s 67 Smith, Emest ues, ooo 56, 58, 59; 126, 1267, 131. РЕ. tee B o pete co ce ee d brin Chee ER 83,897 ч hihi Ранте ed eee oor E Res 31, 31°, 64 Stoneman BL "A. rU ie o entente cob A 16 Eon MP ми оосо 17, 21,23, 24,00, 207 AU, au ooo debs ot a pe eon e e 16, 17, 17*, 117-118 ORR Т.ини енн vh ar er Lol Pr a oe (QU нне а Oe Pe ТУ ОЕ EN. 16 Clara-See Harris, Clara Moret. Caos О Еа ree eee (61727. 31 Semak. DeForest Lj |. senec cen cage cnt nen оту 1235 Stubbs, Wiliam C, over 63, 00", 68, OS", 70, 71, 715,72 лара Henty. Rip „Ба Ране Groner tireta + rpm me engine 56 "Taro Ralph S., поена evens: cei cdi clans eren T igne ne 6, 35, 36, 36*, 37, 40, 59, 91, 106-107, 111, 111* ТОВ NAVAIR cence ect cur erty erties оета 59, en Taylor, Rev. Walter, BULLETIN 350 Thompson, James D., ATO У Ко civic de one beaks PES COE исне туза UNE АСУ Qu A vine vt сасе села ава Crus UO V UMEN 53 е ЛАРА ore cukc tec Cite eens on Po ME 106* Tucker, Helen (Mrs. Richard Rowland), ......... 126-127, 131 Tune ЈАКО Moirae нето и аа ent (ce oh с Van Winkle, Katherine See Palmer, Katherine Veatch AUTOS ai: Д4, 44", 50", 51, 53, 35, 55", 05:64, 66, 66", o Md Ser 24 MOR 83 Boy BOF, 87 Обу OE, 1225 131 Caroline Hornbrook (EVANS), «ccc eer vem n 45 Ver Wiehe, МАБ Ag ror verry rto о repr ORE 131 von Engeln, O. D. See under E ЕТСЕ D пега REIR TUE ке 13, 33,392 Wart, АО ИУ coe e cra ct сина (a. quo ot dta 18, 19 foedus, CIRQUE AL oi iets ec eo 83, 83*, 84, 84*, 85" Westen Blancs ADIÓS, сене син epee ree rir hee t mom 20 Weaver CI Ee oun (peo trt reo err nec ro past 123* Убе; Lewis George, cies ccs errore ener Boedo 86" Weisbord, Norman Е., 87, 88, 88%, 89*, 95, 95*, 122* 131 NINE MOD voir Pe ane ee Mer еа ne гоа 12 Wells, ЈОД ан cp eco 7, 8, 42, 42*, 46, 917, 107, 131 NONIS повика сек врату. крака ој ата 76 ПАКИ MM, sooo chars mood eater e 55 White, Charles David, .............. 11, 12, 29*, 31, ИУ E Witter Gi Aye etre kvl ва cers ato herr cre eap Whitney, Francis L., ..... 33, 48, 49*, 52, 53, 54%, 65, 65%, pi Williams Henry Shaler, ............,.. 12, 13, 22, 35, 36, 36%, 37, 38, VOS san D 42, 43, 51, 52, 52*, 107-115, 121, 130 Ratar D io co ELO E ERA ES 55, 557 10) 70° Vile a oorr виа yo oy ie CPR eet ee , Williams, samuel Gardner, (erc tives evn отне Wilson, Druid, ...... 18, 18*, 19, 32, 107, 126, 130, 130*, 13! Wilson, WOOQIOW,- оиготот aet en EE 5 У БАШ PALIN) cA sro, Oan ВИ volte P RR 56, 57 О И стење aate 116 ede, Chanol, acs corso сл rend be bende aoe 13! PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS Bulletins of American Paleontology usually comprises two or more sep- arate papers in two volumes each year. The series is a publication outlet for significant, longer paleontological monographs (i.e., more than approximately 50 printed pages), for which high quality photographic illustrations and the large quarto format are required. Submissions are welcome from any author, regardless of institutional or organizational affiliation. Authors must, however, be members of the Paleonto- logical Research Institution at time of publication; annual membership is currently US$25.00. Publication costs of the Bulletins are heavily subsidized by the Insti- tution, but authors are currently required to pay illustration charges at a rate of $120.00 per plate and $35.00 per text-figure. Important references for style and format are 1) Bulletins of American Pa- leontology “Instructions for Authors” (volume 108, number 347, pages 149-153); 2) Chicago Manual of Style (fourteenth edition) 1993. Recent issues of the Bulletins provide useful guides but note changes with the “Instructions for Authors” men- tioned above. Manuscripts must be typewritten, and double-spaced throughout (including direct quotations, tables and references). All manuscripts should contain a table of contents, lists of text-figures and/or tables, and a short, informative abstract that includes names of all new taxa. Format should follow that of recent numbers in the series. All measurements must be given in the metric system, alone or in addition to their English system equivalents. The maximum dimensions for pho- tographic plates are 178 mm x 229 mm (7 inches x 9 inches; outlined on this page). Single-page text-figures should be drafted for reproduction as single column (82 mm; 3% inches) or full page (178 mm; 7 inches) width, but arrangements can be made to publish text-figures that must be larger. Authors must provide three (3) printed copies of the text and accompanying illustrative material. Authors are strongly encouraged to prepare their manuscripts on word processors, as this considerably expedites publication. On initial sub- mission, however, only printed copies of the manuscript should be sent; the disk copy should be retained so that revisions can be made after the review process. The text and line-drawings may be reproduced xerographically, but glossy prints at publication size must be supplied for all half-tone illustrations and photographic plates. These prints should be identified clearly on the back. Referenced publication titles must be spelled out in their entirety. Particular care should be given to reference format. Consult the “Instructions for Authors," referred to above, as several changes have been introduced with that issue. Ci- tations of illustrations within the text bear initial capitals (e.g., Plate, Text-figure), but citations of illustrations in other works appear in lower-case letters (e.g., plate, text-figure). Format of systematic descriptions should follow that in any recent number of the Bulletins. Original plate photomounts should have oversize cardboard backing and strong tracing paper overlays. These photomounts should be retained by the author until the manuscript has been formally accepted for publication. The approximate position of each text-figure in the text should be indicated. Explanations of plates and text-figures should follow the References Cited. Gilbert Dennison Harris (1864 - 1952) Founder of the Bulletins of American Paleontology (1895) 1 |" ISBN 0-877 10-44