THE MATHER SURVEY COLLECTION AT MARIETTA COLLEGE: A RARE ASSEMBLAGE OF EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY GEOLOGIC SAMPLES AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN INTERPRETING NINETEENTH-CENTURY GEOLOGIC TERMINOLOGY

The first Ohio Geological Survey, known as the Mather Survey, produced two pioneering volumes on Ohio Geology, both published in 1838. Geologic terminology has changed since that time, however, resulting in some difficulty in determining exactly what these early Ohio geologists meant by their use of terms such as buhrstone (used for manufacture of millstones), hornstone, kidney and other types of iron ore, and hydraulic lime. Such items were of great economic importance at the time of the Survey and some of them continued to be important into the later nineteenth century. In February of 1842, a catalog of geological specimens collected by the Mather Survey was submitted to the Ohio Legislature. This catalog listed labeled suites of specimens, two of which were to be held in the State Cabinet, and the rest of which were to be distributed to colleges in Ohio. Only one of these collections, the one sent to Marietta College, is known to be extant. The Marietta College collection consists of 166 specimens from 16 counties in Ohio. The Pennsylvanian Series is especially well represented; specimens collected in Jackson, Tuscarawas, and Vinton counties account for close to half of the specimens. There are also specimens from other areas of Ohio, however, and two specimens are from Indiana.

The specimens in the Marietta College collection provide objective evidence for early nineteenth-century geologic terminology and rock and ore identifications. The Mather catalog lists many additional specimens that may or may not still exist. Still, the catalog itself is important as it contains locality information that complements the locality information in the 1838 Mather Survey reports. Both the collection and the catalog are key elements in the interpretation of early nineteenth-century geologic reports.