{{short description|American geologist}} [[File:PSM V48 D320 Ebenezer Emmons.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Ebenezer Emmons]] [[File:1846 Emmons Agricultural Map of New York State - Geographicus - NewYork-emmons-1846.jpg|thumb|1846 Agricultural Map of the State of "New-York"]] '''Ebenezer Emmons''' (May 16, 1799{{snd}}October 1, 1863), was an American geologist whose work includes the naming of the [[Adirondack Mountains]] in New York as well as a first ascent of [[Mount Marcy]].
==Early life== Emmons was born at [[Middlefield, Massachusetts]], on May 16, 1799, son of Ebenezer and Mary (Mack) Emmons.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/History/emmons.html|title=Ebenezer Emmons|website=ees2.geo.rpi.edu|access-date=2020-02-05}}</ref> Emmons entered Williams College at age 16 and graduated with a degree in medicine in 1818. He went on to study medicine at [[Albany, New York]]. After graduating, he practiced as a doctor in [[Berkshire County, Massachusetts]]. In 1824, he assisted [[Chester Dewey]] in preparing a [[geological map]] of Berkshire County, in which the first attempt was made to classify the rocks of the [[Taconic orogeny|Taconic]] area.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Emmons, Ebenezer|volume=9|page=344}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/emmons/bio.html|title=Ebenezer Emmons, 1799-1863|website=docsouth.unc.edu|access-date=2020-02-05}}</ref> He eventually attended the Rensselaer School (now [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]]) for geology. There, he was inspired by professor [[Amos Eaton]], and graduated in the first class in 1826.<ref name=":0" /> While giving much of his time to natural science at [[Williams College]], he also became a professor in chemistry and later [[obstetrics]] at [[Albany Medical College]].<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
==Geological Survey of New York== Emmons was designated by [[Jules Marcou]] as the founder of American [[Paleozoic]] [[stratigraphy]], and the first discoverer of the primordial fauna in any country. In 1836, he became attached to the [[Geological Survey]] of the State of New York, and after a lengthened study, he grouped the local [[Stratum|strata]] (1842) into the Taconic and overlying [[New York (state)|New York]] systems. The latter system was subdivided into several groups that were by no means well defined. Emmons had previously described the [[Potsdam sandstone]] (1838), and this was placed at the base of the New York system. It is now regarded as Upper [[Cambrian]].<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Michael|date=2011-03-24|title=EBENEZER EMMONS AND THE SECOND NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AMIDST A TIME OF WAR|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272492737}}</ref>
In 1844, Emmons obtained fossils in his Taconic system for the first time. The species obtained were found to differ from all then-known Palaeozoic fossils and now represent the primordial group. Marcou advocated for the term Taconic to be generally adopted in place of Cambrian. Nevertheless, the Taconic fauna discovered by Emmons proved to include only the lower part of [[Adam Sedgwick|Sedgwick]]'s Cambrian.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name=":2" />{{Better source|date=February 2020}}
Emmons contributed to a series of volumes on the ''Natural History of New York'' (1848), writing about agriculture and geological topics. He also issued a work entitled ''American Geology'', containing a statement of the principles of science with full illustrations demonstrating the characteristics of American fossils (1855–1857).<ref name="EB1911"/><ref name=":2" />{{Better source|date=February 2020}}
The overthrust in New York, which places Lower Cambrian rocks in contact with Middle [[Ordovician]] rocks, is known as Emmons' line, formerly Logan's line after [[William Edmond Logan]]. This segment is named after Emmons and extends from Canada through [[Vermont]], New York, and farther south. It traverses through the city of [[Troy, New York]] and the [[Poesten Kill]] Falls and Gorge. He named the [[Adirondack Mountains]] (1838) and [[Taconic Mountains]] (1844) and acquainted the public with these regions.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/History/emmons.html |title=Ebenezer Emmons (1799-1863), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |publisher=Ees2.geo.rpi.edu |accessdate=2013-04-16 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120527060623/http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/History/emmons.html |archive-date=2012-05-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
A scientific disagreement with New York State Geologist [[James Hall (paleontologist)|James Hall]] regarding the age of the rocks in the Taconic System led Emmons to leave New York State. Emmons held that the Taconic System rocks were of Cambrian age, but Hall was convinced that they were [[Ordovician]] in age. (Emmons was ultimately found to be correct.) As a result of the dispute, Emmons was banned from the practice of geology in the state of New York and sued Hall for slander and libel. In 1851, after losing the lawsuit, Emmons was hired by the state of [[North Carolina]] for the newly created position of State Geologist.<ref name= cherniak/> While conducting a state-wide geological survey in 1857, he discovered a jawbone in the Egypt Coal Mine in [[Lee County, North Carolina|Lee County]] that would be categorized as proto-mammal ''Dromatherium sylvestre''.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.theassemblync.com/place/fossil-hunting-north-carolina/| title = The Thrill of the Fossil Hunt| last = Jameson| first = Blount| date = April 20, 2023| website = The Assembly| access-date = February 3, 2025}}</ref> He continued as state geologist until his death in 1863, at his plantation in [[Brunswick County, North Carolina]].<ref name= cherniak>D. J. Cherniak, [http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/History/emmons.html Ebenezer Emmons (1799-1863)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120527060623/http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/History/emmons.html |date=2012-05-27 }}</ref>
==Adirondack mountain climber== Emmons gave the Adirondacks their name in 1838.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> The name "Adirondacks" is an Anglicized version of the [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] ''ratirontaks'', meaning "they eat trees", a derogatory name the Mohawks historically applied to neighboring [[Algonquin people|Algonquian tribes]] due to their practice of eating the buds and bark of trees when food was scarce.<ref>Donaldson, Alfred L., ''A History of the Adirondacks'', New York: Century, 1921. OCLC 1383265. (reprint), pp. 34-35</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-osjdNH3g8C&q=did+algonquian+people+eat+tree+bark&pg=PA20|title=White Lies about the Inuit|last=Steckley|first=John|date=2008-01-01|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-55111-875-8|language=en}}</ref>
Emmons led the first recorded climb of [[Mount Marcy]] on August 8, 1837. His party was looking for the headwaters of the East Fork of the [[Hudson River]] which it claimed was at [[Lake Tear of the Clouds]] on the mountain.<ref name="syracuse1">{{cite web|author=Lauren Long, The Post-Standard |url=http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/08/first_reported_trek_up_mount_m.html |title=First reported trek up Mount Marcy occurred 175 years ago |publisher=syracuse.com |date= 19 August 2012|accessdate=2012-08-19}}</ref>
[[Mount Emmons (New York)|Mount Emmons]] in the Adirondacks is named for him.<ref name="syracuse1"/><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n118 119]}}</ref> {{Botanist|Emmons}}
==See also== * [[Taconic orogeny]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Ebenezer Emmons}} *[http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/emmons/bio.html William S. Powell (ed.): DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY] *{{cite book|author=Emmons, Ebenezer|title=American geology|year=1875|publisher=J. Munsell|location=Albany|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008630949}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmons, Ebenezer}} [[Category:1799 births]] [[Category:1863 deaths]] [[Category:People from Middlefield, Massachusetts]] [[Category:American geologists]] [[Category:American botanists]] [[Category:Williams College alumni]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni]] [[Category:Albany Medical College alumni]] [[Category:People from Berkshire County, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Williams College faculty]]