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Clinton Hart Merriam
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Clinton Hart Merriam
Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the "father of mammalogy," a branch of zoology referring to the study of mammals.
Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855 to Clinton Levi Merriam, a U.S. congressman, and Caroline Hart, a judge's daughter and a graduate of Rutgers Institute. The name Clinton, shared by both father and son, was in honor of New York governor DeWitt Clinton, whom the Merriam family had connections with. To avoid confusion, the younger Merriam went by his first initial combined with his middle name, his mother's maiden name, and thus often appears as C. Hart Merriam in both the literature of his time and thereafter.
Although born in New York City, where his parents were staying the winter, the family home and place where Merriam spent his boyhood days was "Locust Grove," a homestead in Lewis County, New York. It was located near the Adirondack Mountains, where Merriam's interests in the natural world flourished. Encouraged by his father, who gave the young Merriam a muzzle-loading rifle and an old storeroom to keep his trophies, Merriam began a collection of natural specimens at a young age, learning the basics of taxidermy from a retired army surgeon. At the age of fifteen, Merriam's father took him to see naturalist Spencer F. Baird at the Smithsonian Institution, who was impressed with the boy's collection. Professor Baird would have a lasting impact on Merriam's career as a naturalist, and he supported Merriam's entrance into the scientific community by setting up lessons with the taxidermist John Wallace, recommending Merriam to the Hayden Geological Survey, and providing assistance in Merriam's first publication following the expedition.
Through the recommendation of Professor Baird, the 16-year-old Merriam was appointed as naturalist of the Hayden Geological Survey of 1872. In June 1872 Congress had appropriated another $20,000 for completion of the notable Hayden Geological Survey of 1871. It had contributed to the founding of Yellowstone National Park. Both were part of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (1871–1877). Beginning in Ogden and the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, the expedition pushed between the Teton Basin and up through Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana and into the newly established Yellowstone National Park.
Merriam returned from the expedition with 313 bird skins and 67 nests with eggs. His report from the trip appears in the Sixth Annual Report of the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories and marks his first major contribution to the zoological literature. Following the expedition, Lt. George Wheeler, a rival of Hayden's in surveying the American West, tried to poach Merriam for his own survey, putting Merriam in the midst of an old feud between the two explorers. A third expedition, without Merriam, explored Colorado in 1873. Again Professor Baird stepped in on behalf of Merriam, resolving the issue by recommending that Merriam return to school to prepare for college.
Merriam followed Professor Baird's advice and prepared for college in 1872 and 1873 by attending Pingry Military School in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
In 1874, Merriam attended the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, where he studied natural history and anatomy. While at Yale, he joined St. Anthony Hall. Among the faculty there, Merriam received instruction from such prominent figures as Alpheus Hyatt Verrill, Sidney Irving Smith, and Daniel Cady Eaton. During this time, Merriam published a short paper entitled "Ornithological Notes from the South," following a trip to Florida with his father.
Around this time, Merriam also published "A Review of the Birds of Connecticut," significant in that it recognized that the distribution of birds' ranges is governed by temperature during the breeding season; as well as a number of short papers from observations of birds near his Locust Grove house.
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Clinton Hart Merriam
Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the "father of mammalogy," a branch of zoology referring to the study of mammals.
Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855 to Clinton Levi Merriam, a U.S. congressman, and Caroline Hart, a judge's daughter and a graduate of Rutgers Institute. The name Clinton, shared by both father and son, was in honor of New York governor DeWitt Clinton, whom the Merriam family had connections with. To avoid confusion, the younger Merriam went by his first initial combined with his middle name, his mother's maiden name, and thus often appears as C. Hart Merriam in both the literature of his time and thereafter.
Although born in New York City, where his parents were staying the winter, the family home and place where Merriam spent his boyhood days was "Locust Grove," a homestead in Lewis County, New York. It was located near the Adirondack Mountains, where Merriam's interests in the natural world flourished. Encouraged by his father, who gave the young Merriam a muzzle-loading rifle and an old storeroom to keep his trophies, Merriam began a collection of natural specimens at a young age, learning the basics of taxidermy from a retired army surgeon. At the age of fifteen, Merriam's father took him to see naturalist Spencer F. Baird at the Smithsonian Institution, who was impressed with the boy's collection. Professor Baird would have a lasting impact on Merriam's career as a naturalist, and he supported Merriam's entrance into the scientific community by setting up lessons with the taxidermist John Wallace, recommending Merriam to the Hayden Geological Survey, and providing assistance in Merriam's first publication following the expedition.
Through the recommendation of Professor Baird, the 16-year-old Merriam was appointed as naturalist of the Hayden Geological Survey of 1872. In June 1872 Congress had appropriated another $20,000 for completion of the notable Hayden Geological Survey of 1871. It had contributed to the founding of Yellowstone National Park. Both were part of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (1871–1877). Beginning in Ogden and the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, the expedition pushed between the Teton Basin and up through Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana and into the newly established Yellowstone National Park.
Merriam returned from the expedition with 313 bird skins and 67 nests with eggs. His report from the trip appears in the Sixth Annual Report of the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories and marks his first major contribution to the zoological literature. Following the expedition, Lt. George Wheeler, a rival of Hayden's in surveying the American West, tried to poach Merriam for his own survey, putting Merriam in the midst of an old feud between the two explorers. A third expedition, without Merriam, explored Colorado in 1873. Again Professor Baird stepped in on behalf of Merriam, resolving the issue by recommending that Merriam return to school to prepare for college.
Merriam followed Professor Baird's advice and prepared for college in 1872 and 1873 by attending Pingry Military School in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
In 1874, Merriam attended the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, where he studied natural history and anatomy. While at Yale, he joined St. Anthony Hall. Among the faculty there, Merriam received instruction from such prominent figures as Alpheus Hyatt Verrill, Sidney Irving Smith, and Daniel Cady Eaton. During this time, Merriam published a short paper entitled "Ornithological Notes from the South," following a trip to Florida with his father.
Around this time, Merriam also published "A Review of the Birds of Connecticut," significant in that it recognized that the distribution of birds' ranges is governed by temperature during the breeding season; as well as a number of short papers from observations of birds near his Locust Grove house.
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