Charles Henry Hitchcock (August 23, 1836 – November 5, 1919[1]) was an American geologist.
Life
Hitchcock was born August 23, 1836, in Amherst, Massachusetts.[2] His father was Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864) who was a professor of geology and natural theology and then president of Amherst College. His mother was Orra White Hitchcock, who illustrated much of his father's work. He graduated from Amherst College in 1856,[3] and considered entering the ministry. He married Martha Bliss Barrows.[2]
He was assistant state geologist of Vermont 1857-61 and state geologist of Maine 1861–62.[3] In 1866 and 1867, Hitchcock studied at the Royal School of Mines in London, examined fossils in the British Museum, and visited glaciers in Switzerland.[4]
Hitchcock served as New Hampshire state geologist from 1868 to 1878. His survey produced a three volume report, and an atlas of maps. It was the first set of detailed maps of the geology of the state.[5] In connection with his survey of New Hampshire, he maintained, during the winter of 1870, a meteorological station on Mount Washington, the earliest high-mountain observatory in the United States.[3] He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1870.[6]
^Carol Ann McCormick (May 2007). "Charles Henry Hitchcock". Collectors of the UNC Herbarium. Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2010.