This is Mazon Monday post #97. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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The book "Historical Perspective on Early Twentieth Century Carboniferous Paleobotany in North American" was published in 1995 by the Geological Society of America (GSA). It's dedicated as a memorial volume for William Culp Darrah (1909-1989), who was a pioneer in the study of the Carboniferous of North America. The book is freely available on Google Books as PDF. Individual chapters cover paleobotanists from North America and a few from Europe with influence in North America. They are written by various authors, quite a few are written in whole or part by Elsie Darrah Morey daughter of William Darrah. Both professional scientists and amateurs are covered.
The foreword is a good introduction to the content of the book.
The William Culp Darrah Memorial Volume is a tribute to William (Bill) Culp Darrah (1909-1989), American paleobotanist, who was a pioneer in studies of late Carboniferous floras of North America. He was the focal point for paleobotanical correlations of the European and North American upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) sequences. As a twentieth century Renaissance man with a gift for historical studies- as indicated by his classic book. Powell of the Colorado (1951, Princeton University Press) Bill Darrah kept extensive records and correspondence, beginning in the late 1920's, of his contacts with the leading paleobotanists of the early twentieth century. These files-The William Culp Darrah Collection, including a wealth of correspondence and photographs organized by his daughter, Elsie Darrah Morey, form a fundamental source for this volume. They are a part of the rich legacy of North American and European paleobotany. It is our desire in this volume share this legacy with the paleobotanical community worldwide. Darrah's historical reservoir of paleobotanical information and his influence on the paleobotanical development of two of the editors (E. D. Morey and P. C. memoir. The third editor. Lyon) provided the impetus for this memoir. R. H. Wagner, shares with Darrah a common mentor-W. Jongmans, one of the foremost twentieth-century authorities on Carboniferous stratigraphic paleobotany. As an undergraduate. Wagner was also influenced by Darrah's book, Principles of paleobotany (1939, Chronica Botanica), which was the textbook Wagner used at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
An underlying theme in the W. C. Darrah volume is the influence that Europeans had on the development of Carboniferous paleobotany in North America. Leo Lesquereux, the father of North American paleobotany, was of European birth. W. J. Jongmans and Paul Bertrand came to the United States in 1933 to study firsthand the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian floral succession from a European perspective. Walther Gothan's student, Hans Bode, also focused on biostratigraphic problems between the European and North American floral successions. The development of American Carboniferous paleobotany was further enhanced by some North Americans notably W. A. Bell, W. C. Darrah, and H. N. Andrews, Jr.-going to Europe during the early twentieth century to study and examine floras in European museum collections.
The book contains quite a bit of historical information about collecting and researching the Carboniferous deposits in Illinois. There are a four chapters that hold content of particular interest to those who are interested in the Mazon Creek flora.
Chapter 4 is called "History of Significant Collections of Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian) Plant Fossils in Museums of the United States" and was written by Elsie Darrah Morey and Richard L. Leary.
Abstract
This chapter discusses nineteenth- and early-twentieth century Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian) collections of plant fossils in the United States. There are two extensive pre-1950 collections of Carboniferous plant fossils in the United States: at the US. National Museum of Natural History and at Harvard University. Both of these contain many type specimens. Other less prominent historical collections, which include type or figured specimens of fossil plants, are also included in this overview on Carboniferous paleobotanical collections in the United States. The special significance of the early museum collections is that they include the research collections that contain the type specimens on which later determinations are based. In other words, the type specimens are the permanent records for taxonomic purposes. Thus, this report provides useful information for research paleobotanists who need to determine the locations of type and other specimens for taxonomic and other paleobotanical purposes.
As expected, there are quite a few mentions of Mazon Creek in this chapter, including some of the early collectors George Langford (Joliet, IL), L.E. Daniels, J.C.Carr (both from Morris, IL.), and John McLuckie (Coal City, IL.) and researchers Leo Lesquereux and A.C. Noe.
Figure 3. John McLuckie at his home in Coal City, Illinois. The photograph was taken in 1936 by Frederick 0. Thompson. From the William Culp Darrah Paleobotanical Collection.
An important collection at the Smithsonian Institution is the McLuckie Collection. John and Lucy McLuckie were long-time residents of Coal City, Illinois. and close neighbors of the strip mines of the Mazon Creek region. John McLuckie (Fig. 3) began collecting fossiliferous nodules about 1930 while operating machinery for the Northern Illinois Coal Company. Lucy soon joined her husband and began collecting “out of self defense.” Later, their three children often accompanied John and Lucy into the strip mines. Over the years, the McLuckies assembled a large collection of fossils from the area. The basement of their home became a “museum,” the walls lined with cabinets filled with Pennsylvanian plant-fossil specimens. Eugene Richardson of the Field Museum (Chicago) called it one of the finest private collections in the country. The fame of the McLuckie Collection spread, and people from all over the world came to view the outstanding specimens. Leading scientists, scholars, and amateurs were given tours of the McLuckie’s “museum.”
The McLuckies and their children often encountered George Langford and his son in the strip mines (see Chapter 23, this volume). Over the years, a friendship developed and the families shared specimens and experiences. The McLuckies were friendly, generous people who encouraged many amateur collectors.
John McLuckie died in 1963 and Lucy McLuckie in 1982, leaving the future of their fantastic collection uncertain. Collectors and dealers wanted to buy the collection for resale, spreading decades of accumulation around the world. Museums, not wishing to see the valuable collection dispersed, sought to acquire it intact. Financially, of course, museums and universities cannot compete with dealers. Finally, after years of disagreement among the heirs, the collection was donated in April 1988 to the USNM in Washington, DC. The Smithsonian Institution received about 2,500 excellent specimens. Most of the nodules are no doubt from the various pits around Coal City, although the exact locations are not recorded. The collection consists primarily of plant fossils; some animal fossils are also included. The collection will be available to scholars. Some specimens are on display in the USNM.
Figure 6. Leo Lesquereux (1806—1889), father of paleobotany in the United States. Lesquereux identified most of the early fossil speci mens from the early collections of Lacoe. Photograph republished courtesy of and with permission from the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Leo Lesquereux did the pioneering monographic work (1879-1884) on Pennsylvanian (late Carboniferous) floras of the United States (Darrah, 1934, 1969). According to Darrah (1934), the first systematic studies of Carboniferous fossil plants in the United States were published in 1854 and 1858 by Lesquereux. Lesquereux (1806-1889)—the father of paleo botany in the United States—examined, named, described, and labeled nine-tenths of the Paleozoic fossil plants then known from the United States (Hayden, 1901). The majority of the fossil plants described in Lesquereux’s “Coal flora” (1879 1884) came from the private collections of R. D. Lacoe, an amateur collector, under whose patronage Lesquereux worked from 1878 until his death in 1889. In 1892, Lacoe donated most of his collection of fossil plants to the US. National Museum (USNM) in Washington, D.C.
Chapter 14 is titled "Adolf Carl Noe’ (1873-1939): Pioneer in North American Coal-Ball Studies". Noe' worked at the University of Chicago and was an early researcher of coal balls. And, was contacted by George Langford when he began seriously collecting Mazon Creek in the the mid 1930's. At the time, Noe' was considered one of the top paleobotanists in the country.
A coal ball
Abstract
Adolf Carl Noé von Archenegg was born in Graz, Austria, in 1873. He emigrated to the United States in 1899 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1899, Noé began his long and distinguished academic career at the University of Chicago where he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1905. He was an instructor and assistant professor of Germanic languages from 1903 to 1923, when he turned his interest to paleobotany and established the paleobotanical program at the University of Chicago. Noé was vice president of the Paleontological Society in 1931. He was elected as the first chairman of the Paleobotanical Section of the Botanical Society of America in 1936. Noé contributed considerable work on the fossiliferous nodules of the Mazon Creek flora of the Illinois basin, pioneered coal ball discoveries in North America, and established the Carboniferous stratigraphy of the Eastern Interior basin of the United States. Noé’s revision and translation of Stutzer’s textbook, Geology of Coal, has become a classic.
Figure 1. Adolf Carl Noé looking at a coal ball in his laboratory at the University of Chicago. Photograph taken in the 1930s. Photograph republished with the courtesy of and permission from the Department of Special Collections, The University of Chicago Archives.
Chapter 22 called "Frederick Oliver Thompson (1883-1953): Amateur collector and patron of paleobotany" is about a little mentioned Mazon collector, Frederick Thompson. In addition to a great description of his life, this chapter has some very good pictures of collecting Mazon Creek in the 1920's. Thompson has more than a few species named in his honor - Macrostachya thompsonii (Darrah, 1936a), Arctinurus thompsoni (Miller and Unklesbay, 1944), Euproops thompsoni (Raymond, 1944), Medullosa thomsonii (Andrews, 1945), Sphenostrobus thompsonii (Levittan and Barghoorn, 1948), Mesoxylon thompsonii (Traverse, 1950), Neuropteris thompsonii (Darrah, 1969), and Mariopteris thompsonii (Darrah, 1969). It is interesting to note that Thompson had collected all of these specimens over his 20 years of collecting fossils.
Abstract
Frederick (Fred) 0. Thompson spent the last 20 years of his life collecting mainly plant fossils but also trilobites and other invertebrate fossils. He was one of the great amateur fossil collectors in the history of the United States. Thompson shared his knowledge and collections with many well-known paleobotanists, including H. N. Andrews, C. A. Arnold, H. Banks, E. S. Barghoorn, R. W. Baxter, W. C. Darrah, W. L. Fry, S. Leclerq, and S. H. Mamay. Universities in the United States as well as abroad benefited from Thompson’s collection efforts and the generosity of his financial support. In recognition of his great contributions to paleontology and paleobotany as an amateur collector, eight species were named in his honor.
Figure 8. F. 0. Thompson, 1949, at collecting site of Devonian inver tebrates in Iowa. William Culp Darrah Collection.
Figure 2. The first locality where F. 0. Thompson collected fossils in Coal City, Illinois, 1932. William Culp Darrah Collection.
Figure 3. High school students hired by John Herron and F. 0. Thompson. John Herron (wearing cap) is checking nodules that had been collected to be taken to the workshop in Coal City, Illinois. 1937. William Culp Darrah Collection.
Chapter 23 is also of particular interest to Mazon Creek as it's called "George Langford, Sr. (1876-1964): Amateur Paleobotanist and Inventor". George wrote a series of books on Mazon Creek flora and fauna in the late 1950's and early 1960's that were the definitive popular reference books for many years. Those books were published by Esconi Associates. He donated significant Mazon Creek collections to numerous museums around the country, including the Field Museum and the Illinois State Museum.
Abstract
George Langford, Sr., best known for his association with the fossiliferous nodules of the Mazon Creek region of northern Illinois, was also an industrialist, engineer, inventor, archeologist, athlete, artist, and author. He followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, graduating with an engineering degree and working in steel mills. He rose up the corporate ladder to the top, becoming president of the McKenna Processing Company. He inherited his father’s and grandfather’s interest in science, wide-ranging curiosity, and many talents. Following a successful career in industry, George Langford, Sr., retired and began, at age 71, a second career as paleobotanist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He continued there until his death in 1964. His works, represented by the two-volume set of popular books on the Wilmington Coal Flora and Fauna, will keep his memory alive for decades to come.
Figure 2. George Langford, Sr., at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Photographcourtesy of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, negative GEO80771.
The acknowledgement paragraph mentions some familiar names!
Thanks are given to Don Auler, Andrew Hay, Bill and June McLuckie, and Riner Zangerl for their assistance in obtaining information on George Langford, Sr. Any errors or omissions are my responsibility. The manuscript was reviewed by M. D. Henderson and T. L. Phillips; their comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
