Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
Silas Watson Ford: A Major But Little-Known Contributor to the Cambrian Paleontology of North America
Silas Watson Ford: A Major But Little-Known Contributor to the Cambrian Paleontology of North America
Page Range: 246 – 263
Silas Watson Ford (1848-1895), telegrapher and paleontologist born in Glenville, New York, in 1848, made significant contributions to Cambrian paleontology from 1871 to 1888. The focus of his work was the allochthonous Taconic rock that lies east of the Hudson River in easternmost New York. His discovery of a ‘Primordial’ fauna in this region was instrumental in helping to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the age of this older portion of the Taconics. While most of his papers were published in the American Journal of Science, a series of seven papers on the ‘Silurian Age’ was published by the New York Tribune in 1879. For this work he was subsequently awarded an honorary master's degree by Union College. Ford was hired by his contemporary, Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927), to work for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1884 to 1885. Highly regarded by James Hall (1811-1898), James Dwight Dana (1813-1895), Joachim Barrande (1799-1883), and many other prominent geologists of the time, he was often consulted for his expertise in collecting and describing Cambrian-age fossils. While Walcott's career continued to flourish, Ford faded into obscurity after 1888. Plagued by personal problems, he was forced to give up his personal library, his fossil collection, and finally, his career. He died in 1895 at the age of 47, with his passing virtually unnoticed by his professional colleagues.
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1872 Descriptions of some new species of Primordial fossils, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 3:419-422.
1873 On some new species of fossils from the Primordial or Potsdam group of Rensselaer Co., N.Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 5:211-215.
1873 Remarks on the distribution of the fossils in the lower Potsdam rocks at Troy, N. Y., with descriptions of a few new species, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 6:134-140.
1875 Note on the discovery of a new locality of Primordial fossils in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 9:204-206.
1876 On additional species of fossils from the Primordial of Troy and Lansingburgh, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 11:369-371.
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1877 Note on Microdiscus speciosus, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 13:141-142.
1877 On some embryonic forms of trilobites from the Primordial rocks at Troy, N. Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 13:265-273.
1878 Descriptions of two new species of Primordial fossils, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 15:124-127.
1878 Note on Lingulella caelata, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 15:127-129.
1878 Note on the development of Olenellus asaphoides, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 15:129-130.
1878 On certain forms of Brachiopoda occurring in the Swedish Primordial, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 15:364-366.
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1880 Note on the trilobite, Atops trilineatus of Emmons, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 19:152-153.
1880 On the western limits of the Taconic system, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 19:225-226.
1881 Remarks on the genus Obolella, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 21:131-134.
1881 On additional embryonic forms of trilobites from the Primordial rocks of Troy, N. Y., with observations on the genera Olenellus, Paradoxides, and Hydrocephalus, American Journal of Science, 3d series, 22:250-259.
1884 Note on the discovery of Primordial fossils in the town of Stuyvesant, Columbia Co., N. Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 28:35-37.
1884 On the age of the glazed and contorted slaty rocks in the vicinity of Schodack Landing, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 28:206-208.
1885 Observations upon the great fault in the vicinity of Schodack Landing, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 29:16-19.
1885 Note on the age of the slaty and arenaceous rocks in the vicinity of Schenectady, Schenectady Co., N. Y., American Journal of Science, 3d series, 29:397-398.
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