| Biography | | Chautauqua Co. Hx: "educated under Prof. Eaton, Troy; went to Detroit, Mich., as lecturer on different scientific subjects; returned to Fredonia, and studied medicine with Dr. Walworth. He married Harriet Stevens, of Fredonia, and settled in Detroit at the age of twenty-four. He there practiced medicine and surgery; but left the practice for the, to him, fascinating studies of geology and botany. He was physician to the expion under Schoolcraft that discovered the sources of the Mississippi river. He was also sent out as physician, by the general government, to vaccinate the Indians on Lake Superior. He was state geologist of Michigan, and passed through Lake Superior several summers in birchbark canoes."
JWH: "He was a graduate in medicine and the first state geologist in Michigan. He was the first one to give to the world an intelligent description of the immense deposits of iron and copper in the Lake Superior region, and his reports led to the development of those mines in this country. He was drowned at the mouth of Eagle River, in Lake Superior, in a sudden snowstorm, while coasting the above in an open boat with four companions. The original survey of the state was undertaken and continued until his death. He issued seven annual reports, which are now exceedingly rare and valuable. Under his direction, the state was among other things to be mapped by counties, and six maps were prepared, beautifully engraved and printed, and the work on the other had progressed, almost to completion. With the death of Houghton, the work ceased, after an expenditure of $32,829.03. Much of the material gathered by the geologist was lost with him in Lake Superior, and much more which he gathered in the form of notes was unavailable, as none other than himself could put them in shape for publication. But the work that Houghton did for Michigan was most important, first calling attention to the mineral resources of the upper peninsula, first discovering salt, and also being the first to discover gypsum. His reports are scholarly efforts, and are remarkable for their accuracy and comprehensiveness. The matter of reprinting them has often been discussed in scientific circles."
Who Was Who, p. 261: "grad. Rensselaer Poly. Inst., Troy;m. Harriet Stevens, 1833, 2 daus. Asst. prof. chemistry and natural history Rennselaer Poly. Inst., 1829; Lectured on biology, geology and chemistry, Detroit, 1830; licensed [Chautuaqua Co.] as med. practicioner, 1831; apptd. surgeon and botanist H.R. Schoolcraft's expdn. to find sources of Mississippi River, 1831-32; practicing physician and surgeon, Detroit, 1833-1837; prof. geology and mineralogy U. Mich., 1838-45; mayor Detroit, 1842-43; mem. Literary and Hist. Soc. of Que., Boston Soc. Natural History. Drowned in Lake Superior, Oct. 13, 1845."
Ray Nelson: He was "selected as one of two boys from Chataugua to attend Rensselear Institute...and was Mr. Eaton's asst. in scientific escursion to Niagra; sent to Detroit to lecture in Geology; stud. medicine and began practice in Detroit...surgeon on expedition under Schoolcraft that discovered the source of the Mississippi R....abondoned medicine and became Professor at Univ. of Michigan and the state geologist..."Campbells' Outline..Hist. of Michigan": says he was U.S. Geologist and member of several foreign societies."
Cyclopaedia of Amer. Biog.: "At an early age he removed to Fredonia, N.Y. He erected a hermitage in his father's orchard, where he began his research into the laws of nature. Among his experiments was the manufacture of percussion-powder, which had been recently invented. An explosion occurred in which he was blown up with his manufactory. Although receiving no serious injury, he bore evidence of this accident through out his life. He was graduated at the Rensselaer polytechnic institute in 1829, remained there as adjunct to the junior professor of chemistry and natural history. He delivered a course of scientific lectures in Detroit in 1830, which attracted large audience. In 1831 he was licensed to practice medicine by the medical society of Chautauqua country, and at this time served as physician and botanist on the government expedition organized by henry R. Schoolcraft to explore the sources of Mississippi river. His report on the botany of this region proved his extensive knowledge of the flora of the northwest, and extended his reputation. He settled in Detroit, where he practised as a physician and surgeon from 1832 to 1837, when he projected the geological survey of Michigan, and received the appointment of state geologist. In 1838 he was appointed professor of geology, mineralogy, and chemistry in the University of Michigan. In 1840 he explored the sourthern coast of Lake Superior, the results of which research he reported to the legislature. In 1842 he was elected mayor of Detroit. He was a member of the National institute of Washington, D. C., of the Boston society of natural history, an honorary member of the Royal antiquarian society of Copenhagen, and of other scientific and literary associations. He lost his life while engaged in a new government survey on Lake Superior. Anxious to arrive at his destination, he did not heed the warnings of the threatened snow-storm, his frail boat encountered the violent sea, and he was drowned."
Biog Dict. of Notable Amer. V:
Houghton, Douglass, naturalist, was born in Troy, N.Y., Sept. 21, 1809; son of Judge Jacob and Mary Lydia (Douglass) Houghton. His paternal ancester came from england about 1658. He removed with his parents to Fredonia, N.Y., in 1812 and as a boy made investigations and experiments in explosives which came near ending his life. He was graduated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1828; was adjunct professor of chemistry and natural history there, 1829-30, was licensed to practice medicine by the medical socity of Chautauqua county in 1831; served as botanist and physician on the Schoolcraft government expedition to the head waters of the Mississippi in 1831-32 and made a valuable report. He practiced medicine in detroit, Mich., 1832-37; was state geologist of Michigan, 1837-45, and professor geology, mineralogy, and chemistry in the University of Michigan, 1839-45. He declined the presidency of the university. He explored the southern coast of Lake Superior and reported his observations to the legislature in 1840, and was mayor of Detroit, 1842-3. He was a member of the National Institute of Washington, D.C; of the Boston Society of Natural History, and an honorary member of the Royal Antiquarian Society of Copenhagen. While making a government survey of Lake Superior he lost his life in a storm, Oct. 13, 1845.
Herringshaw's Enc.: He erected a hermitage in his father's orchard and engaged in research. . Among his experiments, he manufactured the newly invented percussion powder.
The county, town, and Lake Houghton, Roscommon Co., MI, were named after him.
He was supt. of the Salt Works project in Saginaw Co. on the Tittabarrapee? River.
He was 5'5" in height. He and schoolmate, William Hart, in 1825, made gunpowder for a year as a business, until, while carrying some gunpowder, a spark hit the oven, and the gunpowder exploded. It threw him through the mill door.
Dict. of Amer. Biog.: "When he was born, Douglass was undersized and feeble, but he increased in health and strength as he grew to boyhood. His early training was gained at te then newly established Fredonia Academy where his record was that of a good student, high-spirited, and well meaning. He was early recommended as a candidate for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, N.Y., from which he graduated as a bachelor of arts in 1829, a few months later receiving through the influence of Amos Eaton an appointment as assistant professor in chemistry and natural history. In 1830 when Eaton was asked by Gov. Lewis Cass and members of the Michigan Legislature to recommend to them a person to deliver a course of lectures on chemistry, botany, and geology at Detroit, he promptly named Houghton, somewhat to their astonishment, owing to his yourth and still more youthful appearance. His success as a lecturer was immediate and in 1831 he was given an appointment as surgeon and botanist to an expedition under Henry R. Schoolcraft, organized for the purpose of discovering the sources of the Mississippi. Before entering Rensselaer Institute, when but seventeen years of age, Houghton had studied medicine under a local physician and in the spring of 1831 he had qualified as a practicioner. After his return from the expedition he practised for five years (1832-1837) as physician and surgeon in Detroit. It is stated that he was also an adept in dentistry. Throughout this time, however, he carried on studies in the natural sciences, and in 1838 he was appointed professor of geology and mineralogy in the University of Michigan. This position he held until his death. In 1842 and in 1843 he was elected mayor of Detroit.
In 1837 he matured a plan for a geological survey of Michigan, which was favorably received by the legislature. An organization was formed with Houghton at its head, but its life was short owing to failure of appropriations in1841. Houghton then conceived the idea of a thorough geological, mineralogical, togographical, and magnetic survey of the wild lands of the United States, contemporaneously and conjointly with the linear survey of the public domain already projected by the government. In advocacy of this plan he went to Washington where he finally convinced Congress of its feasibility, though not until he had given his personal guarantee ot carry it out at the cost estimated. Field work was begun in 1844. What might have been accomplished must remain conjectural owing to his death by drowning the year following, when he and four others, in an open boat, were overtaken by a storm on Lake Superior.
Houghton was of slender build, quite boyish in appearance, and a trifle lame owing to a severe hip trouble which he suffered in boyhood. Because of burns occasioned by the accidental explosion of gunpowder in one of his youthful experiments his ears, nose, and mouth were slightly scarred. He was a man of unusual power of perception, and of independent thought. His social and conversational powers were also exceptional and he had more than common capacity for friendship; "the little doctor" and "the boy geologist of Michigan" were terms applied to him. His local popularity is futher shown by the frequent recurrence of his name as applied to lake and township. He was an honorary member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and Antiquarian Society of Copenhagen, and a member of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, the Boston Society of Natural History, and other societies of local importance. In 1833 he had married Harriet Stevens of Fredonia, by whom he had tow children, both girls." [Bela Hubbar, "A Memoir of Dr. Douglass Houghton," Am. Jour. of Sci. and Arts, Mar. 1848; Alvah Bradish, Memoir of Douglass Houghton (1889); R.C. Allen, memoir of Houghton, in Mich. Hist. Colls., vol XXXIX (1915); G. P. Merrill, "Contributions to a Hist. of Am. State Geol. and Natural Hist. Surveys," U.S. Nat. Museum Bull. 109 (1920); full bibliog. of Houghton's writings in J. M. Nicles, "Geologic Literature on North America," U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 746 (1923); H. R. Schoolcraft, Narrative of an Exped. through the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake (1834); H. B. Nason, Biog. Record of the Officers and Grads. of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1824-86 (1887); J.W. Houghton, The Houghton Geneal. (1912); Democaratic Free Press (Detroit), Oct. 28, 1845, and following issues; Geol. Reports of Douglass Houghton (1928), ed. by G. N. Fuller.] G.P.M.
http://www.geocities.com/histmich/houghton.html:
Dr Douglass Houghton was a versatile physician who came from New York to Detroit in 1830, to lecture about geology and chemistry, and later became the states first geologist, in 1837. Earlier, he had explored the northern reaches of Michigan on two trips with Indian Agent, Henry Schoolcraft, and civic activist, Bela Hubbard, where he found copper traces on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As state geologist, he discovered the Saginaw Valley salt beds, and in his 1841 report to Legislature about copper findings in the Upper Peninsula, he triggered a mining rush.
In 1842, he was elect Mayor of Detroit, and the first free public schools opened during this tenure. He died in 1845, when his boat capsized in Lake Superior.
A city, county, and the state's largest inland lake, are all named in his honor.
http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Robert_Root/Guide/Houghton.htm:
An Example of a Historical Text
The handwritten text that follows comes from the 1840 journal of Douglass Houghton, describing Isle Royale. Try to read the handwriting on your own before consulting my transcription of the text. I have transcribed the manuscript page so that the lines of the manuscript and the lines of the transcription have the same length. After you’ve read the manuscript once, read it a second time with particular attention to the following problematic elements of the handwriting:
Transcription of Houghton’s Journal Page Above Line by Line Isle Royale is situated upon the northerly side of lake Superior & its central portion falls very nearly in the parallal of the 48th degree of Lat. & the 89th of Longitude. It has a length of about 45 miles & an average breadth
of from 6 to 7 miles stretching in its length in the same general direction of the north coast of the lake from S. W. to N. E. Its south westerly extremity approaches most nearly to the mainland being about 15 miles distant. Between this island & the main land, it will be recollected
the boundary between our own & the British possessions passes. Isle Royale in the distance appears as an irregularly Elevated island composed of a chain of hills having the same general direction as the island itself & a more close inspection shows it to be almost wholly composed
of rocky hills covered with a dwarf & for the most part sparse growth of timber, & with low marshy grounds & small lakes filling
up the spaces between these hills. The hills upon the N.westerly side rise quite abruptly from the water & their more Elevated
portions are probably elevated from 3 to 400 feet on the southest Easterly side the ascent is less sudden there usually being an intervening
comparatively level plateau of from 1/4 to 1/2 mile in width. Although there are many bare knobs of rock & in fact it may be said
Find a grave:
Detroit Mayor, Scientist. He was Michigan's first geologist and naturalist, coming to Detroit in 1830 at the request of Territorial Governor Lewis Cass as well as John Biddle and Lucius Lyon, the Territorial Delegates to Congress. In 1831, he joined his friend Henry Rowe Schoolcraft on a federal expedition to discover the source of the Mississippi River. Not only did he report on new plants discovered along the difficult canoe voyage, but he also gave smallpox vaccinations to hundreds of Indians. His reports regarding the copper regions of Keweenaw played an important role in the economic development of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. During his absence in the wilderness in 1841, he received word that he had been elected mayor of Detroit, and office he served in in 1842. In 1844, he came very close to being elected Governor during another absence in the northern wilds. On October 13, 1845, he and four others lost their lives en route from Eagle Harbor to Eagle River in the Keweenaw Peninsula when a sudden storm overturned their boat. His body was found the following spring on the Lake Superior shoreline and was brought back to Detroit. He was buried in the Family Plot that would eventually include his Jacob. Jacob led an expedition that discovered many iron ore deposits in the remote regions of the Upper Peninsula in 1842.In 1852, Jacob Houghton sold Andrew Carnegie, also in the exploration party, his first iron mine.
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia, Copyright © 2001:
HOUGHTON, Douglas, naturalist, born in Troy, New York, 21 September, 1810; died 13 October, 1845. At an early age he removed to Fredonia, New York He erected a hermitage in his father's orchard, where he began his research into the laws of nature. Among his experiments was the manufacture of percussion-powder, which had been recently invented. An explosion occurred in which he was blown up with his manufactory. Although receiving no serious injury, he bore evidence of this accident throughout his life. He was graduated at the Rensselaer polytechnic institute in 1829, remained there as assistant, and in the following year was appointed adjunct to the junior professor of chemistry and natural history. He delivered a course of scientific lectures in Detroit in 1830, which attracted large audiences. In 1831 he was licensed to practise medicine by the medical society of Chautauqua county, and at this time served as physician and botanist on the government expedition organized by Henry R. Schoolcraft to explore the sources of Mississippi river. His report on the botany of this region proved his extensive knowledge of the itora of the northwest, and extended his reputation. He settled in Detroit, where he practised as a physician and surgeon from 1832 till 1837, when he projected the geological survey of Michigan, and received the appointment of state geologist. In 1838 he was appointed professor of geology, mineralogy, and chemistry in the University of Michigan. In 1840 he explored the southern coast of Lake Superior, the results of which research he reported to the legislature. In 1842 he was elected mayor of Detroit. He was a member of the National institute of Washington, D. C., of the Boston society of natural history, an honorary member of the Royal antiquarian society of Copenhagen, and of other scientific and literary associations. He lost his life while engaged in a new government survey on Lake Superior. Anxious to arrive at his destination, he did not heed the warnings of the threatened snowstorm, his frail boat encountered the violent sea, and he was drowned.
His portrait hangs in the Lansing, MI capitol building.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Douglass Houghton (September 21, 1809–October 13, 1845), was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.
Early Life and Education
Houghton was born in Troy, New York, the son of Jacob Houghton, a lawyer and later a county judge, and Mary Lydia Douglass. Raised in a closely-knit, cultured home in Fredonia, New York, Douglass was a small person with a nervous, active temperament inclined toward the practical and scientific. He exhibited early his lifelong interest in the natural world, and in spite of a slight speech impediment and facial scarring from a youthful experiment with gunpowder he was at ease with all levels of society.
In 1829 Houghton entered the Rensselaer School at Troy, New York where, under the direction of Amos Eaton scientific training was emphasized, particularly in geology. That same year he received both the bachelor's degree and a teaching appointment in chemistry and natural history there. He also studied medicine with a doctor friend of his family and was licensed to practice in 1831.
Career
His association with the Michigan Territory began the previous year, when the city fathers of Detroit took their search for a public lecturer on science to Eaton, who strongly recommended the youthful Houghton. He was enthusiastically received in Detroit and rapidly became one of its best-known citizens, with the young men of his acquaintance soon styling themselves “the Houghton boys.”
Houghton quickly was selected by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to act as physician-naturalist on expeditions through Lake Superior and the upper Mississippi valley in 1831 and 1832. On these trips Houghton did extensive botanical collecting, investigated the Lake Superior copper deposits of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and provided medical services to the Indian tribes they encountered.
In 1833 he married his childhood friend Harriet Stevens, with whom he had two daughters. The establishment of a flourishing medical practice in Detroit earned him the affectionate designation, "the little doctor, our Dr. Houghton," but by 1836 he had largely set aside the medical profession to concentrate on real estate speculation. His scientific interests remained strong, however, and as Michigan achieved statehood in 1837 he returned again to public life and his love of the natural world.
One of the first acts of the new Michigan state government was to organized a state geological survey, following a pattern already established in other states. Houghton's appointment as the first state geologist was unanimously hailed, and he occupied that position for the remainder of his life.
In 1839 he was also named the first professor of geology, mineralogy, and chemistry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, but he continued to reside in Detroit. He and his survey assistants spent many weeks in the field each season, mapping and evaluating Michigan's natural resources, and his personal influence with state legislators kept the project moving in the face of many financial difficulties. His fourth annual report, based on field work done in 1840, appeared February 1, 1841. It helped trigger the first great mining boom of American history, and earned him the title of "father of copper mining in the United States."
He was a founding member and treasurer of the Association of American Geologists and Naturalists (the predecessor of the American Association for the Advancement of Science) and served on several of its committees. A lifelong Episcopalian and staunch Democrat, he was elected to a term as mayor of Detroit in 1842, apparently against his wishes, but his competent administration raised the possibility of higher political office, perhaps governor.
Death
In 1844, with the state survey moribund because of the lack of funds, Houghton organized a combined linear and geological survey of the Lake Superior region that was funded by the federal government, but while working on that survey he and two companions were drowned in Lake Superior near Eagle River when their small boat was swamped in a storm. His demise sent waves of shock through Michigan and the entire country, but his reluctance to yield to the expressed concerns of his voyagers about the worsening weather conditions may have contributed to the disaster. His remains were discovered on the shoreline the next spring and returned to Detroit, where they were buried in Elmwood Cemetery. Neither of the surveys on which he was working at the time was ever completed.
Legacy
Following his death, an enduring tradition arose claiming that many of Houghton's geological insights had been notably in advance of those of his contemporaries. In particular, it has been repeatedly asserted over the years that Houghton was the first geologist to recognize that the unique native copper deposits of the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior could be profitably mined, contrary to what all previous mining experience would have suggested. These claims, however, cannot be supported by the available evidence, which indicates, rather, that his geological conclusions did not differ significantly from those of his professional colleagues, and that credit for that recognition belongs to Charles Thomas Jackson.
Houghton's place in American history is somewhat problematic. Although he was the state geologist of Michigan for eight years, for reasons not entirely clear he never wrote the long-anticipated final report that had been the goal of the survey from its inception and which could have fully established his scientific reputation. His multiple abilities were ideally suited to the needs of the society of his day, but he was not always successful in reconciling the conflicting demands of the various roles he filled. As a scientist his potential seems to have been considerable, but his tragic death prevented that potential from being fully realized.
The city of Houghton, Houghton County, and two Houghton Lakes are Michigan features named in his honor, as is Douglass Houghton Hall, a dormitory at Michigan Technological University. A plaque commemorating Houghton is at the entrance to the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Michigan. He and three other professors are also memorialized by a monument near the University of Michigan's Graduate Library that features a broken pillar symbolizing lives cut short.
References
Helen Wallin, Douglass Houghton, Michigan's First State Geologist 1837-1845, Michigan Geological and Land Managment Division (2004).
Laudatory biographies are:
Alvah Bradish, Memoir of Douglass Houghton, First State Geologist of Michigan (1889).
Edsel K. Rintala, Douglass Houghton, Michigan's Pioneer Geologist (1954).
A brief introduction to Houghton and the Lake Superior copper deposits can be found in:
Ira B. Joralemon, Copper: The Encompassing Story of Mankind's First Metal (1973).
A revisionary analysis of Houghton's geological work is found in:
David J. Krause, The Making of a Mining District: Keweenaw Native Copper 1500-1870 (1992).
Further Reading
Significant Houghton papers are in the Bentley Historical Library of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and in the Clarke Historical Library of Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. His annual geological reports are compiled in George N. Fuller, ed., Geological Reports of Douglass Houghton 1837-1845 (1928).
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglass_Houghton"
Michigan Historical Collections, Vol. 4:
DOCTOR DOUGLASS HOUGHTON,
The following is a brief abstract of a paper read February 5th, 1879, by Prof. Bradish, of Detroit, on Michigan's first geologist: DOUGLASS HOUGHTON was born in Troy, N. Y., Sept. 21, 1809. He graduated at the Van Rensselaer school in that city in 1828, and was soon after appointed assistant professor of chemistry and natural history in that institution, then under the control of Prof. Eaton. In 1830 General Cass, Major Biddle, Major Whiting, and others of Detroit applied to Professor Eaton for a person qualified to deliver a course of public lectures on chemistry and geology. Lucius Lyon, then a delegate in Congress from the territory of Michigan, on his return from Washington, called on Prof. Eaton to make the proper inquiries. Eaton listened to Mr. Lyon's request, then opened the door to the laboratory, and introduced the boy Houghton to the member of Congress, calling him by the familiar name "Douglass." Mr. Lyon was astonished and could hardly believe Prof. Eaton to be in earnest.
Young Houghton did not hesitate, and while retaining his professorship at Troy, came to- the border towm of Detroit. Thus commenced the career of the brilliant Houghton in the State of his adoption. Before he was 19 years old he had been admitted to practice medicine by the medical society of Chautauqua county, N. Y. He landed at Detroit before he Avas 20, a total stranger save the letter he brought, and he had just ten cents in money. He speedily made friends, and his lectures aroused great enthusiasm. Only a few months after his arrival in Michigan he received the appointment of physician and botanist to the expedition for the discovery of the source of the Mississippi, organized under the direction of Henry B. Schoolcraft. Houghton's labors with that expedition Avere skillfully performed, and his researches did much to extend our knowledge of the flora of the northwest. From 1832 to 1836 he practiced as a physician and surgeon in Detroit. He was also a. skillful dentist. He gained an extensiA'e practice, but never relaxed his studies in science. In 1834, when the cholera visited Detroit with such fearful results, no one could have been more devoted or made greater sacrifices to solace the sick and dying than young Houghton. Among his schoolmates he was a young Napoleon, organizing and leading in many mischievous and dashing enterprises; and the
same trait of character led him to stand courageously by the bedside of the cholera patients, and to be a leader in all his undertakings. His social qualities were singularly happy. He could not drop into a store or office without being surrounded by a group of admiring friends. In his habits he Avas absolutely temperate. His mind AA-as acute, disciplined, and ready,—not classical, perhaps not polished, but open, frank, and truthful. I t s culture had been scientific rather than classic or literary, and it was disciplined by wrting and lecturing, and made ready and accurate by a wide and' responsible intercourse with men, even before he was 20 years old. He read a great many books and plaved the flute with exceeding skill. In 1837 he matured the scheme for a geological survey of Michigan. There were few persons then in the State whose acquirements fitted them to give counsel in a, scheme of this kind, hence the labor and responsibility of projecting and maturing such a survey fell almost wholly on
him. He proposed to himself a system that should comprise four departments; namely, geology, zoology, botany, and topography, each having an official head, and all united under the general guidance of the State geologist. The first thing was to bring the matter before the Legislature and get its approval. The members of that body were not familiar with the fa'cts or the value of geologic science, and zoology and botany would appear to them, perhaps, of even less practical importance. Michigan had just entered the great family of States. She was inexperienced in public works of all kinds. Her people were sparsely scattered over a wide field of dense forests and oak openings. Through confidence in himself, a knowledge of men, tact, vigilance, courage, and labor, Houghton went before the Legislature and accomplished his purpose. Governor Mason, on the passage of a law establishing a geologic department, appointed Houghton State geologist. His able reports of his researches and discoveries are familiar to the public, but the arduous duties and sacrifices which he imposed on himself in developing the geology and the mineral wealth of Michigan can never be known. As an illustration of his intrepidity in time of danger, Prof. Bradish relates the following incident, which happened in 1840 or 1841. In that open Mackinac sail-boat (the same that was subsequently dashed to
pieces) he was making his way along the rock-bound coast of Lake Superior. Night was approaching. Black clouds suddenly overcast the heavens and the darkness of midnight approached. He was opposite the celebrated "pictured rocks," well out to sea, some 15 miles from his destination. His men, obedient to his will, tried hard to keep the boat off shore. But the wind blew a gale. Thunder and lightning added their horrors to the scene. Despite all their efforts, the storm was taking them directly on to the rocks, against Avhich the waters were heard to dash. Houghton saw there was no escape, and the frail barque was speedily sweeping to inevitable destruction. He knew that at intervals along the perpendicular ledges there were narrow breaks or rifts cut away by rivulets. Such a break might, if reached in time, admit of shelter. While the winds whistled and moaned, and the waves broke in thunder tones, leaping high up the cliffs, the geologist stood firm at the proAV of the tossing boat, watching with intense eagerness for one of these slight breaks in the frowning shore. The boat was almost touching the dreaded rocks. Suddenly there came a lurid flash of lightning. Houghton perceived an opening in the rocks, and the frail barque with its precious freight was Avhirled in and shot up the slope, safe on the gravelly beach. Labor and hardship had no terrors for Douglass Houghton, and although he died at the early age of 36, he had performed an amount of work rarely excelled, and made for himself a name and fame as enduring as the history of the peninsular State. I t was on October 14, 1845, that Dr. Houghton was lost on Lake Superior. It was ten o'clock at night, and in an open Mackinac sail-boat with five companions he was making his way over the rough waters of that inland sea. They had only a few miles before them to reach Eagle river, where he expected to send dispatches to Detroit in the morning. They were not far from land, a snow storm: prevailed, and the wind blew a gale. The leader of the band was anxious to get around a point of rocks, a low, broken promontory that shelved to a considerable distance seaward. He encouraged his men to brave the storm. The waves had increased and were running high. Accustomed to steer his own boat, Houghton trusted to his own judgment, skill, and good fortune, to overcome and master even the elements. His men proposed to> go ashore. Houghton encouraged them to proceed, and said, "Pull away, my boys, we shall soon be there; pull steady and hard." Amid the increasing
violence of the gale the boat was capsized. They all went under for a moment. Houghton was raised from the water by his trusty companion and friend Peter, Avho told the doctor to cling to the keel, then uppermost. "Never mind me," cried Houghton; "go ashore, if you can; be sure that I will get ashore Avell enough." All his valuable instruments and specimens were lost and his notes and papers scattered on the waters. Very soon the boat Avas righted and these devoted heroes Avere all at their oars again. But this bright interval was of brief duration. In a moment after, a wave struck her with such violence that the boat, receiving the blow at the stern, was dashed clear over endwise, and all Avere again thrown into the fatal waves. Two of the hardy mariners were thrown on the shore in a. helpless condition, but the leader of that heroic band went down, not again to rise. Such was the fate of the noble Douglass Houghton, Michigan's first geologist.
Surveyors of the Public Lands in Michigan 1808-2000 compiled by Norman C. Caldwell, p. 204:
HOUGHTON, DOUGLAS
U. S. Deputy Surveyor 17 July 1844.
Detroit Mayor 1842
BORN: 21 September 1809 in Fredonia (Troy?), Chautauqua County, New York, son and 4th child of Judge Jacob and Mary Lydia (Douglass) Houghton.
MARRIED: Harriet Stevens in 1833, formerly of Frederick, New York. (The widow Mrs. Houghton later married the Reverend R. R. Richards)
DIED: Drowned 14 October 1845 while traversing in a small boat along the south shore of Lake Superior near Eagle River. The body was recovered in the spring and internment took place in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, site S-5, 15 May 1846.
SIBLINGS: Alured (B:1807, D:1829, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.)
Alexander
Sarah
Richard (B:1812, New York, D:12 September 1834)
Jacob Jr. (B:1827, D:1903)
sp:Theodosia P. Gillett (1833-1898)
Lydia
sp:Bradish
Christopher Columbus
CHILDREN: Harriet Douglas (B:8 June 1837)
Mary (B:1840+/-)
Katherine (B:21 October 1841)
A graduate of the VanRensselaer school in Troy, New York, in 1828, he was appointed as professor of chemistry and natural history at the school. At the age of 18 he had been admitted to practice medicine by the Chautauqua County Medical Society. He came to Michigan in 1830, arriving about 17 November, and was immediately appointed to the General Cass expedition and in 1831 served with Henry R. Schoolcraft as the physician and botanist for
the expedition organized to discover the source of the Mississippi River. From 1832 to 1836 he practiced as a physician and surgeon in
Detroit in partnership with Dr. Randall S. Rice. In 1837 he developed the concept of the Michigan Geological Survey, and became the first State Geologist. Bela Hubbard (DS 1846) in a report printed in the Pioneer Society annual, volume #3 from pages 189 to 201 recites: "The Michigan State Geological Survey was organized in 1837. In that year Geologist Douglas Houghton, accompanied by three assistants, C. C. Douglas, Bela Hubbard, and a dog named "Dash", set out to explore the Shiawassee and Saginaw River drainage system. The paper is far too voluminous to recite here in its entirety. The reader is encouraged to obtain a copy as it sets forth a very enlightening description of life and conditions in Michigan at this time. Mr. Hubbard is a very explicit writer and deals carefully with his observations and facts. One of the geology assistants was Harvey B. Lewis, formerly of Hardscrabble, Chittenden County, Vermont that moved to Michigan in 1833 and resided south of Battle Creek in 1835.
Others that aligned themselves with this energetic and knowledgeable leader were U. S. Deputy Surveyors William Austin Burt, Bela Hubbard, William Ives, Samuel W. Hill and Sylvester W. Higgins. Higgins is acknowledged as the assistant that helped compile the office reports and served as topographer for the expeditions. Houghton was one of the seven founding members of the "Young Mens Society of Detroit" in 1832. Others were Jacob M. Howard (U.S. Senator), George E. Hand, Franklin Sawyer Jr (editor), Charles W. Penny, Sidney S. Hawkins and Silas Titus. He was involved in the banking industry, being President of the Michigan Insurance Company and United States Deposit Bank at Jefferson and Griswold Streets, Detroit.
His affiliations included: Licensed Physician, Mayor of Detroit, Co-founder Detroit Temperance Society, President of Detroit Board of Education,
President of Detroit Young Mens Society, member of National Institute of Washington, member of Boston Society of Natural History, member of College of Natural History of Vermont, member of Literary & Historical Society of Quebec, Honorary member of Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, Vestryman of
2nd Protestant Episcopal Church of Detroit, member of Hartford Natural History Society of Connecticut, Honorary member of Antiquarian Society of Copenhagen Denmark, lst ward delegate to Detroit Democratic convention, member of Geological and Historical Society of Newark Seminary in Ohio, Professor of Mineralogy and Chemistry at University of Michigan, founding member and treasurer of the Association of American Geologists.
1845 Voyagers on his last trip on Lake Superior: Peter McFarland, Baptiste Bodrie, Tousin Piquette & Oliver Larimer. A compass and tools used by Houghton are archived at the Museum at Houghton Lake, Michigan
Detroit Mayor, Scientist. He was Michigan's first geologist and naturalist, coming to Detroit in 1830 at the request of Territorial Governor Lewis Cass as well as John Biddle and Lucius Lyon, the Territorial Delegates to Congress. In 1831, he joined his friend Henry Rowe Schoolcraft on a federal expedition to discover the source of the Mississippi River. Not only did he report on new plants discovered along the difficult canoe voyage, but he also gave smallpox vaccinations to hundreds of Native Americans. His reports regarding the copper regions of Keweenaw played an important role in the economic development of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. During his absence in the wilderness in 1841, he received word that he had been elected mayor of Detroit, an office he served in in 1842. In 1844, he came very close to being elected Governor during another absence in the northern wilds. On October 13, 1845, he and four others lost their lives en route from Eagle Harbor to Eagle River in the Keweenaw Peninsula when a sudden storm overturned their boat. His body was found the following spring on the Lake Superior shoreline and was brought back to Detroit.6,2,7,8,9,10,13,5,21,22,23,16 |
