This is Mazon Monday post #149. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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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.
Dr. Adolf Carl Noé (1873-1939) was a pioneer in North American coal-ball studies. Noé worked at the University of Chicago. And, was contacted by George Langford when he began seriously collecting Mazon Creek in the 1930's. At the time, Noe' was considered one of the top paleobotanists in the country.
A coal ball
Biographical Note from the University of Chicago Library where his papers are stored.
Adolf Carl von Noé, paleobotanist, was born October 28, 1873 in Graz, Austria. He attended the University of Graz and the University of GOttingen before coming to the United States in 1899, and received an A.B. from the University of Chicago in 1900. Although his earlier training had been in paleobotany, it was easier in the U.S. to find work as a German teacher. He taught at Burlington (Iowa) Institute and Stanford University, then returned to the University of Chicago as a Fellow in German in 1903. He was an Assistant in German in 1904, received his Ph.D. in Germanic and Romance languages in 1905, and served as an Instructor in German from 1905 until 1910, when he was made Assistant Professor of German Literature. Noé was married to Mary Evelyn Cullaton in 1901, and they had two children, Mary Helen and Valerie.
As well as teaching a full load of courses in German, Noé also worked half time as an assistant librarian in classification and cataloguing from 1910 to 1920. During this time he published several articles on bibliographical topics, and edited the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America for the years 1913 and 1914.
Noé had served in an Austro-Hungarian hussar regiment in 1894-1895, and as a naturalized U.S. citizen volunteered for service in the Illinois National Guard in 1916. Although rejected because of eye defects, he was a sharpshooter and expert rifleman, and later helped organize and instruct the University of Chicago Rifle Club. He also coached the fencing team, and in 1915 conducted military drills for upper classmen on the Midway.
Demand for German classes dropped during the war. Registrations began to pick up after the armistice was signed in 1918, but the Germanic Languages and Literatures Department was still badly overstaffed. Noé found it advantageous to return to his earlier interests in paleobotany (and to drop the "von" before his name). In 1920 he began teaching German courses designed for students in the natural sciences, and also taught two courses in paleobotany in the Geology and Botany departments. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Paleobotany in 1921, although he continued to teach German until 1923. In 1924 he was made Associate Professor of Paleobotany and Curator of Fossil Plants at Walker Museum, serving in both those capacities until his death in 1939.
Noé began work for the Illinois Geological Survey in 1921, continuing through the rest of his career, and also worked for the geological surveys of Kentucky in 1922 and Iowa in 1923-1925. Coalmines were a major source for fossil plant specimens, and Noé's knowledge of coal formations and geology were of value to the mining industry. Noé developed close relationships with mine owners and operators in many parts of the country, sometimes working as a consultant, other times conducting field work for his own research. He developed a collection of over 25,000 specimens of fossil plants at Walker Museum, and in the 1930s helped prepare a reconstruction of a Carboniferous forest at the Field Museum of Natural History.
Noé was one of the first to offer complete training in paleobotany in the U.S., and thus was able to attract many of the best students in the field. He was well known for his book Pennsylvanian Flora of Northern Illinois (1925), and for initiating the study of coal balls in North America. Coal balls, limestone concretions containing plant fragments found in coal seams, were crucial to the study of the internal structure of paleozoic plants. Noé did field work throughout the Midwest and in Texas, Arizona, Mexico, the Canal Zone, and the Donetz Basin of Russia. The friendships and contacts he made with officials and mine workers who helped him collect specimens were much appreciated by the researchers who followed him. Noé was scheduled to retire in October 1939, but died on April 10 of that year.
In 1925, Noé wrote a book entitled "PENNSYLVANIAN FLORA OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS ", which was published as the Illinois State Geological Survey Bulletin No. 52. It can be found here as a PDF.
The Preface, written by M.M. Leighton, then Chief of the the State Geological Survey, describes the source of some of the specimens shown in the book and the ultimate aim, which was to publish a "comprehensive monograph on the flora of the Pennsylvanian system of Illinois". Unfortunately, that didn't happen until 1939, when Raymond Janssen published "Leaves and Stems from fossil forests: a handbook of the paleobotanical collections of the Illinois State Museum" (see Mazon Monday #51) and in 1940 when he published "SOME FOSSIL PLANT TYPES OF ILLINOIS: A Restudy of the Lesquereux Types in the Worthen Collection of the Illinois State Museum, Augmented by Descriptions of New Species from Mazon Creek". Those books were the go-to references for Mazon Collectors until the Langford books appeared in 1958.
During parts of the field seasons of 1905, 1906, and 1907, the Illinois Geological Survey had the valued services of America's dean of Carboniferous paleobotany, Dr. David White, in a general reconnaissance of the Upper Coal Measures, now precisely referred to as the Pennsylvanian system. Previous to that time but little work had been done, chiefly by Leo Lesquereux from collections by A. H. Worthen and associates. White's work led to a general correlation of the strata of the Illinois coal field with the eastern field, and to a division of the Pennsylvanian system into three series: the Pottsville (lowest), the Carbondale, and the McLeansboro.
In 1921, in connection with an intensive study of the coal resources of Illinois, the State Geological Survey undertook a program of a more detailed study of the plant forms found in strata associated with the coal beds, fully realizing that the facts to be uncovered by such an investigation would likely be of inestimable value to a proper correlation of the coal beds in different parts of our State and to our knowledge of their extent and relationships. The work is being conducted by Dr. A. C. Noe', Associate Professor of Paleobotany of the University of Chicago, and has already reached an advanced stage.
The study is far-reaching in its relations to the functions of the Geological Survey, to the proper identification of coal beds which the Survey uses in determining the existence of favorable structures for the commercial occurrence of oil and gas, to the estimates made of the State's coal resources, to the scientific contributions which the Survey is in position to make on both the character of the vegetation, climatic environment, and physiographic conditions of the Pennsylvanian period, and on the life history of the plant kingdom, and finally, with unneglected attention, to providing secondary schools and colleges of the State with desirable educational material.
It is designed eventually to publish a comprehensive monograph on the flora of the Pennsylvanian system of Illinois, properly illustrated and containing descriptions of both old and new species, and the conclusions to be drawn regarding coal correlations. The field, however, is very extensive, and, in order that advantage may be taken of data obtained in the course of the study, short bulletins covering sub-units of the State will be issued. The present bulletin is an account of the Pennsylvanian flora of northern Illinois, marking the completion of the work of one of the subunits. Its treatment is feasibly popular, and such technical descriptions as new and old species may require are left for the monograph.
This book leaned heavily on identifications made by Leo Lesquereux in his books, which were published in the 1880's. The "Collections" section lists some of the old-timers from Morris, who collected from the Mazon River as the strip mines of the Wilmington, Coal City, and Braidwood areas didn't open until the 1920's.
The material which is described in this bulletin was collected partly by the author and his students, and part of it is in other existing collections. The most prominent collectors during the latter part of the nineteenth century and of the present time were C. D. Young, J. C. Carr, and L. E. Daniels, all of Morris, Illinois; W. J. Knoblock, of Quincy, Illinois, and George Condie, of Spring Valley. The mine management of the Wilmington Star No. 2 mine also contributed a valuable specimen for this description.
Mr. C. D. Young of Morris has donated his extremely valuable collection to the University of Chicago. The Carr and Daniels collections were acquired by the University of Illinois and are kept in the Museum of Natural History, Urbana, Illinois. Mr. Knoblock's collection is in his home at Quincy, but a portion of it was generously lent to the University of Chicago for a period of time in order to be described. The collection of Mr. Condie is in his home in Spring Valley. The author wishes to express his appreciation of the assistance which he has received from Mr. F. C. Baker, Curator of the Natural History Museum, University of Illinois, who not only facilitated the study of the collection at the Museum but lent a portion of it for a specified time to the University of Chicago.
Many of the specimens shown came from the "Skinner No. 2 mine". This later became part of the Peabody Coal Co. Pit 2 strip mine. It operated from 1919 to around 1928.
The fossil flora herein set forth was collected from the so-called No. 2 coal bed of District 1 in northern Illinois. One of the main localities where such plants have been collected are the mine dumps northeast of Braidwood in Will County. The majority of plants from concretions and all the Braidwood plants from shale were collected at the Skinner No. 2 mine two miles northeast of the Chicago and Alton Railroad station at Braidwood in the NW. 1/4 of Sec. 4, T. 32 N., R. 9 E. in Will County.
In the acknowledgements, Noe' mentions J.C. Carr (and his son) and L.E. Daniels among other early collectors from Morris, IL
The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to D. C. Young, the donor of a beautiful collection of fossil plants from the Mazon Creek deposits to the University of Chicago; to Ed. Carr, son of the collector, J. C. Carr, for many courtesies and numerous fossils given to the University of Chicago; to F. C. Baker, Curator of the Natural History Museum, University of Illinois, for his great kindness in facilitating the study of the Carr and Daniels collections; to W. J. Knoblock in Quincy and George Condie in Spring Valley for the loan of valuable fossils; to Dr. W. E. Walsh in Morris for specimens and valuable assistance; and to W. Oswald of Braidwood for his courtesy and help.
The deepest gratitude of the author is felt toward the State Geological Survey of Illinois which has facilitated and published these studies. Special thanks are also due to the former Chief of the Survey, Mr. F. W. DeWolf, and to the present Chief, Dr. M. M. Leighton, who authorized and generously supported these investigations. The author is much indebted to Dr. Harold E. Culver, who was in charge of the coal investigations of the Illinois State Geological Survey and who gave invaluable aid throughout the investigation. To Dr. David White, who has critically read this report and offered most valuable suggestions, the author wishes to express his sincere appreciation.
Plates of specimens... many names have changed since the 1920's. Names in the captions are from the book.
Plate II
1. CALAMITES SUCKOTVI Brongniart, from La Salle, x 1/5, U C Coll. No. 32000.
2. CALAMOSTACHYS SOLMSI (WEISS) Weiss, from Braidwood, U C Coll. No. 32001.
3. CALAMITES SUCKOWI Brongniart, from Braidwood, x 2/3 U C Coll. No. 32002.
Plate III
1-5. ANNULARIA STELLATA (Schlotheim) Wood. 1,2, and 4. From Mazon Creek, U. C. Coll. No. 32003. 3 and 5. From Braidwood, U I Coll. No. P 1281.
Plate IV
1. CALAMOCLADUS EQUISETIFORMIS (~ch1otheim)J Schirnper, from Morris, Ill., x 2/3, U I Coll. No. P 1282.
2. ANNULARIA RADIATA (Brongniart) Sternberg. On branches of a Calamites stem, from Mazon Creek, x 2/3, U I Coll. No. P 1283.
Plate VII
1. LEPIDOSTROBUS OVATIFOLIUS Lesquereux (cone of Lepidodendron).
2. LEPIDODENDROS LANCEOLATUM Lesquereux.
3. LEPIDOSTROBUS COMMUNIS Lindley and Hutton.
4. LEPIDODENDRON LATIFOLIUM Lesquereux.
All are from Mazon Creek, K Coll.
Plate XIV
SPHENOPTERIS CHAEROPHYLLOIDES (Brongniart) Presl, from Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32023.
Plate XVI
1. MARIOPTERIS MURICATA VAR. NERVOSA (Schlotheim) Zeiller, from Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32024.
2-3. MARIOPTERIS MURICATA (Schlotheim) Zeiller, from Mazon Creek, U I Coll. No. P 1286 and No. P 1317.
4. MARIOPTERIS MAZONIANA (Lesquereux) White, from Braidwood, U C Coll. No. 32025.
5. MARIOPTERIS MURICATA VAR. NERVOSA (Schlotheim) Zeiller, from Braidwood, U C Coll. No. 32081.
Plate XVII
1-3. NEUROPTERIS RARINERVIS Bunbery.
1. From Spring Valley, x 1!2, C Coll.
2. From Mazon Creek, x 2/3;U I Coll. No. P 1287.
3. From Spring Valley, s 1/3, C Coll.
Plate XIX
1-2. CYCLOPTERIS ORBICULARIS Brongniart, from Braidwood, U C Coll. No. 32027 and No. 32082.
Plate XX
1. NEUROPTERIS FLEXUOSA Sternberg, from Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32028.
2. NEUROPTERIS CLARKSONI Lesquereux, from Mazon Creek, s 2/3, U C Coll. No. 32029.
3. NEUROPTERIS OVATA Hoffmann, from Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32030.
Plate XXIV
1. NEUROPTERIS VERMICULARIS Lesquereux, from Mazon Creek, x514, K Coll.
2-4. NEUROPTERIS DECIPIENS Lesquereux.
2. From Mazon Creek, s 2/5, U I Coll. KO. P 1296.
3. From Braidwood, U C Coll. No. 32034.
4. From Mazon Creek, x 312, U C Coll. Yo. 32035.
Plate XXV
1-3. NEUROPTERIS DECIPENS Lesquereux
1. From Braidwood, U C Coll. No. 32035.
2-3. From Mazon Creek, x 21'5, K Coll
Plate XXX
1. PECOPTERIS MILTONI Artis, from Mnzon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32047.
2. PECOPTERIS VESTITA Lesquereux, from iWazon Creek, U I Coll. 50. P 1301.
3. PECOPTERIS SQUAMOSA Lesquereux, from iWosolz Creek, U I Coll. No. P 1302.
Plate XXXVI
1-4. PTYCHOCARPUS UNITA (Brongniart) Weiss, with sor
Nos. 1, 3, and 4. From Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32049-51.
No. 2. From Mazon Creek, x 211, U C Coll. No. 32087
Plate XXXVII
1-2. ODONTOPTERIS SUBCUNEATA, Bunberbury from Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32052-3.
3-4. ODONTOPTERIS WORTHENI, Lesquereux, from Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32054-5.
Plate XXXVIII
1-2. ALETHOPTERIS SERLII (Brongniart) Goeppert, from Mazon Creek, U C Coll. NO. 32056-7.
3-4. ALETHOPTERIS SERLII (Brongniart) Goeppert, from Braidwood, U C Coll. No. 32058-9.
Plate XLI
1-4. CALLIPTERIDIUM SULLIVANTI (Lesquereux) Weiss.
1, 4. From Mazon Creek, U I Coll. No. P 1311-12.
2, 3. From Mazon Creek, U C Coll. No. 32061-2.
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Thanks to ESCONI member Jeremy Zimmerman, who provided us a copy of this book.
