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University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

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Address:

1150 Beal Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113, USA
bentley.ref@umich.edu

Douglass Houghton Papers, 1829-1845

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Summary

Creator:
Houghton, Douglass, 1809-1845
Abstract:
State geologist of Michigan. Field notes, 1837-1841, of his geological survey of the state, including some original drawings [original and typescript copies, and microfilm of pages 197-291]; letter book, 1841-1845; miscellaneous correspondence and field notes, including letter, May 31, 1841, to Abram Sager; notes and other papers collected by Mrs. John Ehlers for her book on Houghton, including copies of papers of Bela Hubbard; and photographs.
Extent:
0.4 linear feet (1 box)
2 oversize volumes
3 oversize folders
Language:
English.
Call Number:
851483 Aa/2; Ac; UAx; AC
Authors:
Finding aid prepared by: Leonard A. Coombs (reprocessed, 1988)

Background

Scope and Content:

The Douglass Houghton manuscript collection at the Michigan Historical Collections includes one volume of field notes, 1837-1841; typed transcripts of the field notes; a one volume letterpress book, 1841-1845; miscellaneous correspondence, newspaper clippings and other papers (photostats and typescripts of materials in other repositories); and notes collected by Mrs. John Ehlers for a book on Houghton.

An appendix to this finding aid contains an inventory to the manuscript maps found in the collection, and other Houghton maps.

The reports of Houghton's work for the Michigan Geological Survey have been published in Geological Reports of Douglass Houghton: First State Geologist of Michigan, 1837-1845, Lansing, Mich.: Michigan Historical Commission 1928. [MHC call number EA/153/MG345/G345, available online through HathiTrust]

Biographical / Historical:

As Michigan's first state geologist, Douglass Houghton was responsible for the expansion of scientific knowledge of the state's geography and geology in the period immediately after statehood. The results of his work had an important influence on the economic development of the state, especially in the development of copper mining in the Keweenaw Peninsula, but also in the exploitation of salt springs and, through the Geological Survey's mapping program, in the growth of the agricultural counties in the southern part of the state.

Houghton was born in Troy, New York, in 1809, but moved shortly afterward to Fredonia, New York. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic in 1829, and became assistant professor of chemistry there. The following year he was invited to Detroit as a lecturer and remained a resident of Michigan for the rest of his life.

Houghton served as surgeon and botanist with Henry R. Schoolcraft's 1831 and 1832 expeditions to the source of the Mississippi River. He practiced medicine in Detroit for several years and helped organize the Detroit Young Men's Society in 1833, becoming the society's second president.

In 1837 Houghton persuaded the state legislature to establish a geological survey to conduct a comprehensive study of Michigan's natural resources. He was appointed the first state geologist the same year. During the summers of the following years, Houghton and his assistants, chiefly Bela Hubbard, Sylvester Higgins, and William Burt, conducted field work in the northern parts of the state: in 1838 the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan shores of the Lower Peninsula were surveyed; in 1839 the eastern and southern parts of the Upper Peninsula from Sault Ste. Marie to Green Bay; in 1840 the Lake Superior coast and the copper region of Keweenaw Point; in 1841 the Michigan-Wisconsin boundary, the Ontonagon River area, and the Marquette iron region.

Houghton proposed in 1843 that the U.S. land survey of the Upper Peninsula be combined with the state geological survey of the area. The following summer he contracted to perform the combined surveys. While engaged in the survey of the Keweenaw Peninsula in 1845 Houghton drowned in a fall storm on Lake Superior.

After Houghton's death, the surveys he had contracted to do were taken over by Hubbard, Higgins, and William Ives. In 1846 Hubbard and Burt edited and published a report on the copper region based on Houghton's notes from his 1845 survey.

Acquisition Information:
The bulk of the collection was transferred to the Bentley Historical Library from the Rare Book Room of the University Library (Donor 1278 ). The field notes volume was given to the University in 1858 by Houghton's widow. See Alexander Winchell's paper "History of the Controversy About Dr. Houghton's Field Notes" in Box 19, of the Winchell collection. The letter book was donated to the University in 1895 by Frantz H. Coe. Smaller portions of the collection were transferred from the William L. Clements Library (Donor 1333 ) and donated by William C. Steere (Donor 2068 ) and Russell Bidlack (Donor 2635 ). Photostat copies of maps were donated by the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology (Donor 9273 )

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:
Geology -- Michigan.
Surveyors -- Michigan.
Geology -- Michigan -- Maps.
Geology -- Minnesota -- Maps.
Geology -- Wisconsin -- Maps.
Formats:
Daguerreotypes.
Digital file formats.
Photographs.
Names:
Ehlers, John., Mrs.
Houghton, Douglass, 1809-1845.
Sager, Abram, 1810-1877.
Hubbard, Bela, 1814-1896.
Mason, Stevens Thomson, 1811-1843.
Woodbridge, William, 1780-1861.
Places:
Alcona County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Alpena County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Antrim County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Arenac County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Baraga County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Bay County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Benzie County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Charlevoix County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Cheboygan County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Chippewa County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Delta County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Emmet County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Gogebic County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Grand Traverse County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Gratiot County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Houghton County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Huron County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Iosco County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Kalamazoo County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Kent County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Keweenaw County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Leelanau County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Luce County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Mackinac County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Manistee County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Marquette (Mich.) -- Maps.
Mason County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Menominee County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Muskegon County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Newaygo County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Oceana County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Ontonagon County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Ottawa County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Presque Isle County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Saginaw County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Sanilac County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Schoolcraft County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Tuscola County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Van Buren County (Mich.) -- Maps.
Minnesota -- Maps.
Wisconsin -- Maps.
Upper Peninsula (Mich.) -- Maps.
Superior, Lake, Region -- Maps.

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open to research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Unpublished writings of Douglass Houghton are in the public domain. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[item], folder title, box no., Douglass Houghton Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

[item], [URL], Douglass Houghton Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.],

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Collection

Douglass Houghton Papers, 1829-1845
Call Number 851483 Aa/2; Ac; UAx; AC
Total components 22
Items available online Online 1
Last indexed 2023-12-08