Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Virginia Geological Survey, Records, 1834-1903. Accession 24815, State Government Records Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Emma Savage Rogers, May 10, 1903.

Biographical/Historical Information

The Geological Survey of Virginia was conducted in two phases. First, under an act passed by the General Assembly on March 6, 1835, a geological reconnaissance of the state was made to compile data of a general nature on geological features, and chemical compositions of soils, minerals and mineral waters for a report to the next session of the General Assembly.

Then the geological survey itself, which was devoted to a more detailed study than the reconnaissance, was established by an act of the General Assembly on February 26, 1836. This survey was to provide a careful and accurate chemical examination and analysis of various soils, and principal ores, marls, saline and mineral waters. Other goals of the survey were to determine the height of principal mountains, construct a complete geological map of the state for engraving, and to collect and catalog specimens of rocks, fossils, ores, mineral, compounds, and organic remains, so that there would be a sufficient amount to distribute to institutions of higher learning. Both acts called for the appointment of a geologist by the Board of Public Works, and in each case Professor William Barton Rogers of the University of Virginia was appointed. He was responsible for supervising the survey, submitting annual reports on its progress, rendering geological sections and a geological map of the state, analyzing minerals and waters for their chemical content, and distilling all the collected data into a final report at the conclusion of the survey. Members of his staff included William A.E. Aikin, George W. Boyd, Caleb Briggs, Jr., Charles B. Hayden, James Rogers and Israel Slade.

William Barton Rogers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 7, 1804, the son of a professor of physical sciences. He attended the College of William and Mary in 1820 and 1821, taught school at Windsor, Maryland, in 1826, was appointed a lecturer at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore in 1827, and succeeded his father in 1828 as professor of chemistry and physics at the College of William and Mary. On February 9, 1835, when enthusiasm for a geological survey of Virginia was running strong in the General Assembly where a bill had been introduced, Rogers appeared before a House committee appointed to study the matter and drafted the committee's report to the House of Delegates recommending the establishment of the survey. The next evening, February 10, 1835, Rogers delivered an extemporaneous address to a joint session of the House and Senate describing the benefits of a geological survey to the state. As a result of Rogers's efforts, the General Assembly passed a bill on March 6, 1835, authorizing the Board of Public Works "to appoint a suitable person to make a geological reconnaissance of the state, with a view to the general geological features of our territory . . . and to report to the next general assembly a plan for the prosecution of a geological survey of the state." The board appointed William B. Rogers to the position on March 25, and he accepted it on April 2. His brother Henry Darwin Rogers was appointed as his assistant.

The geological survey was continued by annual appropriations of state funds until 1842, when the General Assembly terminated the project because of a financial recession. In 1844 Rogers engaged Russell Smith, a Pennsylvania artist, to draw sketches and sections for the final report. Unfortunately, the money necessary to complete the report was never authorized by the General Assembly, although Rogers continued to hold the records of the survey until his death in the hope of receiving funds.

Rogers spent the summer of 1835 in the field, making notes for his report, collecting samples of rocks, ores, and mineral waters for chemical analysis, and compiling data for geological sections of the state to show the different mineral strata. In August he accepted a call to the chair of natural philosophy at the University of Virginia. The first half of the school year was employed in teaching and in drawing sections, analyzing specimens, and drafting his report to the General Assembly. The report was submitted to the House of Delegates by Governor Littleton W. Tazewell as president of the Board of Public Works on January 11, 1836. The report met with the approval of the General Assembly, which passed an act on February 29, 1836. Rogers was expected to make annual reports on the progress of the survey, as well as a final report when the survey was completed.

In the spring Rogers gave his assistants their orders for the season, pointing out particular areas for investigation. Until the school year ended Rogers was confined to the University, maintaining contact with his assistants in the field through the unreliable mail system. The assistants tried their best to keep Rogers informed as to their activities and whereabouts, their problems with sick horses, broken instruments, and lack of funds. As soon as he could, Rogers took to the field himself, visiting his assistants, conducting his own investigations and traveling to other states to study and compare the geology of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New England. When the University reconvened Rogers returned to Charlottesville, once again relying on the mails to communicate with his assistants. As winter approached the assistants visited Rogers on their way to their homes, turning reports and specimens over to him for study during the winter. By the first of the new year Rogers had prepared his annual report for the General Assembly and was making plans for the ensuing season. After the Panic of 1837, Rogers was forced to worry each year about whether the survey would be continued for another year.

In 1853 Rogers resigned his position at the University of Virginia, wishing to move to Boston, Massachusetts, to work with his brother Henry. Before leaving Virginia, however, Rogers spent almost three months in early 1853 in Richmond, in a last, futile attempt to persuade the General Assembly to fund the final report. On March 8, 1854, Rogers left Virginia for Boston and a new career as a founder and first president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Even after he left Virginia, Rogers continued to seek funding for the final report, but did not succeed. On May 30, 1882, as he was delivering a commencement address at MIT, Rogers collapsed and died.

Rogers's widow, Emma Savage Rogers, began a time consuming project of sifting through her husband's papers, selecting some for publication and destroying others. She presented the surviving papers to the Virginia State Library in two lots, the first about 1900 and the second on May 10, 1903. At first the papers were supposed to be the personal papers of William B. Rogers and were so described. However, the Archives staff came to realize that the documents were in fact state records which Rogers kept in his possession pending the writing of his final report. Accordingly, the records are now regarded as a subgroup within the records of the Board of Public Works. Records primarily concerned with the administration of the funds for the survey by the second auditor and the Board of Public Works have been described already by John S. Salmon, comp., in Board of Public Works Inventory (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978), entry 21, "Geological Survey."

William E. A. Aikin, of Maryland, appointed assistant geologist effective June 1, 1837. Resigned April 13, 1839. Was teaching at the Baltimore Medical School in 1873; George W. Boyd, of New York, appointed assistant geologist on May 1, 1838. He died of asthma on September 23, 1840, in the home of William B. Rogers at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville; Caleb Briggs, Jr., of New York, appointed assistant geologist on June 1, 1839. He was paid for his services to July 1, 1842; Charles B. Hayden (January 22, 1817-January 28, 1883), of Connecticut, attended the College of William and Mary, and probably was a student of William B. Rogers, 1834-1835. Appointed assistant geologist effective April 1, 1837. Board of Public Works received notice that he had "retired from the service" on June 11, 1840. He taught school in Smithfield, Virginia, and later became a lawyer; Samuel Lewis, appointed assistant geologist effective June 1, 1840. He was paid for his services to March 1, 1841; Thomas S. Ridgeway, Jr., appointed assistant geologist on April 15, 1840. He was paid for his services to June 2, 1842; Henry Darwin Rogers (August 1, 1808-May 29, 1866), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, appointed assistant geologist on April 2, 1836. Resignation received by the Board of Public Works on May 8, 1837. Directed New Jersey and Pennsylvania state geological surveys, later collaborated with William B. Rogers on a paper concerning mountain elevation; James Blythe Rogers (February 11, 1802-June 15, 1852), of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, appointed assistant geologist in May 1837. Resignation received by the Board of Public Works on April 15, 1840. Reappointed assistant geologist on May 1, 1841. He was paid for his services to August 1, 1842. The major contribution of his career was the development of methods of chemical analysis.

Robert Empie Rogers (March 29, 1813-September 6, 1884), of Baltimore, Maryland. He was a chemist with the Pennsylvania Geological Survey and was professor of chemistry at the University of Virginia, where he collaborated with William B. Rogers, and at the University of Pennsylvania; Israel Slade, of Pittstown, New York. Employed by William B. Rogers (accepted offer on April 16, 1838) who paid him with his own funds. Appointed assistant geologist on April 15, 1840. He was paid for his services to July 1, 1842; A Maxwell Walker, appointed topographical surveyor on May 5, 1836. His resignation was received by the Board of Public Works on March 11, 1837; William Thompson Russell Smith (April 26, 1812-November 8, 1896), known as Russell Smith, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but moved to Pennsylvania in 1819 with his parents. The family eventually settled in Pittsburgh, where Smith became interested in painting and drama. He combined the two interests by painting scenery for the stage, and had a successful career that took him eventually to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. It was probably while he lived in Milestown near Philadelphia during the late 1830's and early 1840's that Smith became acquainted with William B. Rogers on one of the geologist's visits to the area. Rogers engaged Smith to execute a series of drawings of significant geological formations in Virginia for use in Rogers's projected final report on the state geological survey. Smith travelled to Charlottesville in June 1844, and from July to September he and Rogers explored western Virginia. Smith used the resulting sketches for his own benefit as well as for Rogers's, making them the basis for oil landscapes for exhibition. Eventually he mailed the sketches to Rogers for him to keep.

Scope and Content Information

The records are divided into three series: Series I: Correspondence of William B. Rogers, 1836-1903; Series II: Reports, sections, lists, and field notes, 1834-1884; and Series III: Drawings of Russell Smith, c. 1844.

Series I: The correspondence to Rogers was primarily from his assistants. Also included are letters from George W. Summers, member of the House of Delegates, and James Brown, Jr., Second Auditor of Virginia. There were also letters from Rogers and a letter from Emma Rogers, his wife, to William W. Scott, Librarian of the State Library.

Series II: The field notes and reports are from 1834 to 1884. William B. Rogers was one of four brothers, all of whom were noted chemists and geologists. Two brothers, Henry Darwin Rogers and James Blythe Rogers, served as his assistants at different times during the conduct of the survey, while the third, Robert Empie Rogers, contributed his observations on the geology of the Northern Neck. Rogers's other assistants, appointed by the Board of Public Works, were: William E. A. Aikin, George W. Boyd, Caleb Briggs, Jr., Charles B. Hayden, Samuel Lewis, Thomas S. Ridgeway, Jr., Henry Darwin Rogers, James Blythe Rogers, Robert Empie Rogers, Israel Slade and A. Maxwell Walker. In the spring, Rogers gave his assistants their orders for the season, pointing out particular areas for investigation, and as winter approached the assistants gave him reports on the geological, chemical and topographical discoveries which they had made.

Series III: Rogers personally hired a Pennsylvania artist, Russell Smith, to make drawings for the final report; Smith and Rogers spent most of the summer of 1844 afield for this purpose. The 52 sketches depict geographical features and are done on paper and cardboard, in ink, pencil, pastels, oils and watercolor.

Organization

Organized into the following three (3) series: I. Correspondence of William B. Rogers from 1836 to 1903; II. Field notes and reports from 1834 to 1884; and III. Drawings of Russell Smith, c. 1844.