Edward Orton Sr. | |
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| Born | Edward Francis Baxter Orton (1829-03-09)March 9, 1829 Deposit, New York |
| Died | October 16, 1899(1899-10-16) (aged 70) Columbus, Ohio |
| Occupation | Geologist |
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Edward Francis Baxter Orton (March 9, 1829 – October 16, 1899) was aUnited Statesgeologist, and the first president ofThe Ohio State University. Orton founded The Ohio State University's first academic department, the Department of Geology, and founded theOrton Geological Museum.
Orton came fromNew York State, born in the town ofDeposit inDelaware County and raised in theLake Erie town ofRipley.[1] He enteredHamilton College in 1845, graduating in 1848. He then spent time atLane Theological Seminary (1849–50),Lawrence Scientific School atHarvard (1852–53), and thenAndover Theological Seminary. During those times he taught to get income, but was interested in entering the ministry. He was ordained in 1856.[2]
From 1856 to 1859, he was professor of natural science in theNew York state normal school at Albany. From 1859 to 1865, he was principal of the preparatory academy ofChester, New York. He became professor of natural history atAntioch College in 1865, and became its president in 1872. A year later, Orton became president of what was then the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Ohio State University), where he also became professor of geology. He resigned the presidency in 1881, but continued as professor of geology until his death.
Orton was assistant state geologist of Ohio from 1869 to 1875. He was named state geologist in 1882, and continued in that position until his death inColumbus, Ohio, on October 16, 1899.[1] He was a member of scientific societies, and was president of the state sanitary association of Ohio in 1884–1885. He suffered a partially paralyzing stroke in 1891, but continued to work.
Orton served for a time on the geological surveys of the United States, ofKentucky, and ofKansas, and was president of theGeological Society of America (1896),[3] and of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (1898–99). He was essentially an economic geologist, and specialized in the study of oil and gas, developing several well-known theories, notably the"anticlinal theory,” becoming widely known as an authority on the nature and geological occurrence of these products.
Orton was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1897.[4]
Through his marriage to Anna Davenport Torrey, Orton was an uncle of U.S. President and Supreme Court Chief JusticeWilliam Howard Taft and a brother-in-law to Taft's father, U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of WarAlphonso Taft.
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The Ohio State University constructed a building to house its geological museum, the university library, and the Department of Geology, in 1893, and named itOrton Hall, in tribute to Orton's seminal contributions to the university. In 1920, his sonEdward Orton Jr., the first Chairman of Ceramic Engineering at TheOhio State University, honored his father with the Orton Memorial Library of Geology, inside Orton Hall, for perusing the theories and records of earthly change.
An Orton monument is located just outside ofClifton, Ohio within theClifton Gorge State Nature Preserve and theJohn Bryan State Park. It is on the Orton trail running through these parks.
He was also the author of various addresses, scientific papers, and contributions.
| Academic offices | ||
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| New institution | Ohio State University President September 17, 1873 – June 6, 1881 | Succeeded by |
