OHITJUARY NOTICE:
oF THE
LATE PRINCIPAL GEOLOGIST OF KENTUCKY,
DAVID DALE OWEN, M. D.
The decease of our late distinguished chief in the Geolog-
ical Survey of Kentucky, which occurred in the afternoon of
November 13th, 1860, at his residence in New Harmony,
Indiana, at the age of 53, will be deeply deplored through-
out the wide circle, in this country and in Europe, in which
he had, by his great industry and eminent services in the
field of exploration of American Geology, deservedly ac-
quired a reputation as elevated as it is extensive.
Dr. Owen was born June 24th, 1807, at Braxfield House,
Lanarkshire, Scotland; and surrounded by the picturesque
scenery of that locality, and witness of the stirring events
connected with the great social experiment of his father, Rob-
ert Owen, the distinguished philanthropist and large mill
owner, whose efforts were directed to ameliorating the condi-
tion of the laboring classes, Dr. Owen was early led to
admire the works of nature and taught to examine and think
for himself; inducing habits of self-reliance, which he retained
throughout life.
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324 OBITUARY.
On leaving home, with a younger brother, to receive
instruction in the celebrated educational establishment of
Emanuel Fellenberg, at l1ofVyl, Switzerland, their father's
parting advice was to devote a large share of attention to
the science of chemistry, so practically useful in its bearings
on the other branches of science as well as on the arts and
manufactures. This judicious advice was faithfully followed
at this institution, during the years 1824-5-6, as well as
afterwards under the distinguished Dr. Andiew Ure, in Glas-
gow, in 1827, and subsequently with Dr. Turner, in London,
whilst on a visit of two years made after his removal to
America.
In the fall of 1827 Dr. Owen accompanied his father to
this country, settling in New Harmony; of Rhich town the
latter had purchased a large part, for testing his philanthropic
and educational plans. Dr. 0. landed in New Orleans Jan-
uary, 1828, and with the exception of some time spent in
Paris, France, to improve himself in drawing, for which he
had considerable talent, as exhibited in the numerous sketches
in his various Geological Reports, and the courses of lectures
on chemistry and geology in London, the remainder of his
life was spent in this region, devoted to study and to practi-
cal geological and chemical pursuits connected with the
development of our mineral and agricultural resources in the
western, northwestern, and southwestern States.
In 1833 he was associated, as a volunteer explorer, with
the late Dr. Gerard Troost, then engaged on a geological
reconnoissance of Tennessee; and, after two years assiduous
devotion to medical studies, received the degree of Doctor
of Medicine from the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, O.,
in 1835. In 1837 he married Miss Catherine Neef, daugh-
ter of Joseph Neef, the former associate of Pestalozzi in
OBITUARY.
Switzerland, and later in New Harmony with that distin-
guished early promoter of American geology, NIr. William
Maclue, a considerable portion of whose geological and min-
eralogical collections form the basis of the truly immense
cabinet which has been accumulated by Dr. Owen during his
active life, by purchases, exchanges, and in his numerous geo-
logical explorations. A collection which is itself a vast mon-
ument to his industry and zeal in the pursuit of science, and
which, recently offered by his executors to the State of Indi-
ana, it is hoped will be purchased by that Commonwealth to
be preserved entire for the purposes of future reference and
instruction, in accordance with the feelings of the late owner.
In 1837 Dr. Owen was appointed Geologist of Indiana,
and began his active life as an independent explorer in the
extensive field of American geology and mineralogy by a
general reconnoissance of Indiana; the report of which formed
a small octavo volume, which was reprinted by the Legislature
in 18-.9, when he was again appointed Chief Geologist of that
State, under the auspices of the State Agricultural Society,
and with the active co-operation of his brother, Col. Richard
Owen, who has recently been appointed his successor as State
Geologist, and who, by agreement, was to perform the field
work. With this assistance, and the co-operation of others
in the field and in the laboratory, the Geologico-Agricultural
Survey was carried over a considerable portion of the State;
the report of which, constituting a very valuable contribu-
tion to geological and agricultural science, is now passing
through the press at Indianapolis, under the charge of his
brother and successor in the survey.
On the 31st of July, 1839, Dr. Owen was appointed by
the General Government to explore the mineral lands of
Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and required to complete the
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O6BITUARY.
survey before winter set in. The notification of his appoint-
ment and his instructions reached him in New Harmony
August 17th following, yet, by the exertion of unusual energy,
and by the aid of one hundred and thirty-nine sub-agents
and servants, whom he had employed in an incredibly short
space of time, provided with tents, provisions, chemical tests,
&c., &c., and organized into twenty-four working corps, each
furnished with skeleton maps of the townships assigned them
-each to examine thirty quarter sections daily, and report
to him at appointed stations-he was enabled to make a sat-
isfactory exploration, in every quarter section, of about
eleven thousand square miles of territory, mostly wild and
uncultivated, within the limited time allotted, and to forward
his report to the Land Office in the month of January fSllow-
ing. During the course of this almost incredible labor he
crossed the district under examination, in an oblique direc-
tion, eleven several times. The report of this survey, pub-
lished in the documents of the 1st session of 28th Congress,
with its accompanying diagrams, maps, and plates from
beautiful sketehes of scenery by his own pencil, forms an
enduring memorial of his great executive abilities and untir-
ing zeal and industry.
During the years 1847-8-9-50, again under the appoint-
ment of the General Government, he, with his several corps,
surveyed, in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and part of Ne-
braska Territory, an extent of country in area exceeding two
hundred thousand square miles, or four times greater than
the State of New York. The report of this survey, pub-
lished by Congress in 1852, forms a very large and elegant
quarto volume, containing more than 600 pages of text, and
numerous wood cuts, maps, diagrams, and other engravings;
amongst which are some of fossils which were medal-ruled on
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OBUARY. 327
steel, a process never before applied to the illustration of
organic remains. Another report by him, of his survey of
the Chippewa Land District of Wisconsin, was published by
the General Government in 1849-50.
Early in 1854 Dr. Owen, as Principal Geologist, began
the Geological Survey of Kentucky, of which he personally
made a complete general reconnoissance, and to which he
devoted most of his attention up to the time of the com-
mencement of his labors in Arkansas. His "General Report,"
which forms the beginning of this volume, is his last contri-
bution to this work, and was written whilst suffering under
general ill health which preceded his dissolution.
Appointed, in April, 1857, State Geologist of Arkansas,
he commenced in October of that year, as soon as his engage-
ment in Kentucky was ended, under the then existing appro-
priation, a general reconnaissance of Arkansas, which he car-
ried on successfully up to the time of his death. His last
efforts, in that way, even after disease had so far mastered his
corporeal frame as to render necessary the aid of an aman-
uensis, were in the daily dictation, up to three days only
before his death, of the second volume of his Report on the
Geology of that State. His first "Report of a General
Reconnoissance of the Northern Counties of Arkansas," a
handsome octavo volume, with plates from his own drawings,
was published at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1858; and the
second volume, to the completion of which he devoted his
dying energies, is now passing through the press under the
supervision of his brother, Col. Richard Owen.
During the last two years of the prosecution of the Geo-
logical Survey in Kentucky, the practical labor, in the field
and in the laboratory, was carried on by Messrs. Lyon, Les-
ley, Lesquereux, and Peter, under the immediate direction of
327
OBITUARY.
Dr. Owen. Ile, by the terms of his continuance in the
office of Principal Geologist of Kentucky, being allowed to
devote a considerable portion of his time to the General
Reconnoissance of Arkansas; that of Kentucky having been
completed by him, and the condition of the survey and the
experience of his assistants in that State being such that it
was no longer necessary for him to devote to it his exclusive
personal attention.
In addition to these labors, under public patronage, Dr.
Owen made many geological explorations for individuals and
corporations, and contributed by his pen to various scientific
journals and other periodicals. His wvide-spread reputation,
in this country and in Europe, secured him an extensive
correspondence; and whilst it brought him into reciprocal
intercom se i ith such men as Murchison, Lyell, Mantell, Ver-
neuill, and others, and kept up agreeable associations with the
leading scientific minds of this country, levied a heavy tax
upon his time and industry. Often the claims for rest, abso-
lutely requisite to the daily recuperation of his over-wrought
powers, were set aside for the pleasures of science or the
calls of duty or of friendship; and the light in his labora-
tory, shining far into the "small hours" of the night, might
indicate to his solicitous fiiends the too rapid consumption
by him of that taper of life which he so freely sacrificed to
his favorite and engrossing pursuits.
The disease, which was the immediate cause of the death
of Dr. Owen. was rheumatism, determining finally to the
heart, and induced, doubtless, by his severe labors and expo-
sure in his field explorations.
The bent of Dr. Owen's mind was decidedly to practical
results. Hence his great fondness for the applications of
chenmical research to the purposes of every-day life. Hence
328
OBITUARY.
his efforts to discover the cause of milk-sickness, and his
great desire to develop and improve agriculture in this
country. To the eminently useful information conveyed to
the enlightened farmer by accurate soil analyses he always
devoted special attention, and we are gratified to state that
the practical results thus obtained have been extensively and
repeatedly acknowledged. We learn that, besides the valua-
ble articles on agriculture which he contributed to the several
volumes of these reports, he had also partly written out some
important suggestions on the best means of preserving the
fertility of the soil unimpaired.
The labors of our lamented friend were peaceful and
unpretending, but they will connect his name forever with the
history of science at large and the improvement of this
country in particular. For whilst the political storms which
periodically sweep over the country may leave no other
remembrances but of confusion and disaster, the quiet record
of the discoveries of the man of science yield a perennial
harvest of beneficial application.
As a man Dr. Owen was modest and undemonstrative, yet
firm, independent. and self-reliant. A gentleman of the
strictest honor, and of the most child-like honesty in his
dealings with the world. Wholly absorbed in his much loved
science, his money, his time, even his life, were freely and
exclusively spent in its pursuit. Unselfish and ever careful
to give every one his due on all occasions, he always awarded
to all his various associates, in his reports of his numerous
explorations, their just share of honor and responsibility.
The loss which is sustained in his death is very great. In
the language of an obituary notice of him in Silliman's
American Journal of Science, "In view of his great execu-
tive and scientific abilities, rich experience, and comparative
42
329
OBITUARY.
age, science had much to hope for in the continued life of
Dr. Owen, and his loss is great in proportion to these hopes."
The monument which he was erecting to his genius and
labors, in the four volumes of the Reports of the Geological
Survey of Kentucky, is left incomplete; first, by the failure
of the last General Assembly to appropriate funds for the
continuance of the survey, and secondly, by his decease; but
the work thus commenced by him, and so ably carried on
by the aid of a liberal policy, will not certainly be suffered
to lose a great part of its utility by being arrested before
reaching the point most fivorable for practical application.
Its completion at an early day is at once necessary to the
full development of the immense mineral and agricultural
resources of the State, as it would be gratifying to the
numerous friends of the deceased and to the world of science
in general. Kentucky will yet redeem, to her intelligent
citizens and to the civilized world, the pledges she gave in
the commencement of our great Geological and Agricultural
Survey; and the results of the latest labors of our lamented
associate will be crowned, by completion, a perennial monu-
ment of her enterprise and liberality in the advancement of
improvement, a land-mark in the world of science, and a
sflcred depo: itory of the honored name of her late distin-
guished Chief Geologist.
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