Franklin Benjamin Hough

Papers, 1840-1885

SC7009

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Biographical Note:

Benjamin Franklin Hough, physician, scientist, historian, statistician and "father of American forestry," was born in Martinsburg, New York, on July 20, 1822, to Horatio Gates Hough and Martha Pitcher Hough. Horatio, a physician from Meriden, Connecticut, was the first medical doctor to settle in Lewis County, New York. Horatio Hough died in 1830 when Benjamin was eight years old, at which point he began to go by his middle name, Franklin.

As a young man, Franklin showed an interest in mineralogy and long hikes. He graduated with a degree from Union College in Schenectady in 1843, and in 1846 he was married to Maria Eggleston of Champion, New York, and a daughter, Lola, was born. He also published the first of his major scientific writings, A Catalogue of Indigenous, Naturalized, and Filicord Plants of Lewis Counties, New York. In 1848, he received an M.D. from Western Reserve College in Cleveland, Ohio. The same year, Maria died.

Hough set up a medical practice in Somerville in St. Lawrence County, New York. He devoted his spare time to natural history, and it was during this period that he discovered a mineral that would bear his name, houghite, a local variety of hydrotalcite. In 1849, he married Mariah Kilham; a daughter, Mary Ellen, was born to them in 1850 and seven additional children were born to the couple between 1854 and 1872.

In 1852, Hough stepped down from the practice of medicine to concentrate on research and literary pursuits. He moved first to Brownville to pursue research and publication of histories of counties in northern New York: A History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, New York (1853) and A History of Jefferson County in the State of New York (1854), A few years later, he compiled A History of Lewis County (1862). Altogether, these works gained him the reputation as "the pioneer author of county histories of New York State." He wrote prolifically, keeping three or more different manuscripts in progress at the same time in different rooms of his house. Explaining his work habits, he said, "I seek repose in labor."

In 1854, Hough moved to Albany to accept the appointment as superintendent of the 1855 New York State census. After much of the work with the census was complete, Hough served as foreman of the statistical department under the direction of J.H. French, who was the chief compiler of the Historical and Statistical Gazetteer of New York (1860).  In 1872, a revised edition of the Gazetteer was compiled under the direction of Hough.

He returned to Lewis County in 1860 to settle in Lowville, New York, where he continued his many interests in research and writings. However, he would soon be on the move again with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.  Hough took up a position as inspector for the United States Sanitary Commission. In 1862, he enlisted as a surgeon in the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The same year, he translated French military surgeon Lucien Baudens's account of medical conditions during the Crimean War, publishing it as On Military and Camp Hospitals. After the war, he published an account of his war experiences in History of Duryee's Brigade (1864). Brigadier General Abram Duryée had commanded the 97th, 104th, and 105th New York Infantry regiments, and the 107th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. 

Hough was again appointed superintendent of the state census when it was done again in 1865. While comparing data from the 1865 returns with those of 1855, he noted with alarm the declining trend in the availability of timber. Finding additional evidence in the federal census of 1870, which he also supervised, he presented his analysis of his findings in a paper entitled On the Duty of Governments in the Preservation of Forests at the 1873 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Portland, Maine. In this paper, Hough argued that Mediterranean countries had harmed the environment by excessive harvesting of trees, and that a similar problem faced the United States. He proposed regulation of the use of forests and the establishment of forestry schools. As a result of Hough's presentation, the AAAS formed a committee to educate Congress and state legislatures on the dangers of deforestation, and to recommend legislation to avoid it. Hough was appointed chairman of the committee. In 1876, as a result of the association's lobbying, Congress created the office of Special Agent in the United States Department of Agriculture to assess the state of the forests and lumber in the United States. Hough was appointed to fill the new position by Agriculture Commissioner Frederick Watts.

By then, Hough had spent five years traveling and gathering data across the United States and from countries around the world. He compiled the data into the massive Report on Forestry, which was published in 1877. It was the first of four reports highly critical of contemporary attitudes and practices. The reports laid a solid foundation for serious discussion of American forest conditions at the height of the Industrial Revolution. In 1881, the position of federal forestry agent was elevated to division status, and the U.S. Division of Forestry came into being. Hough had thus become the first chief of the Division of Forestry.

In 1882 he published a handbook entitled Elements of Forestry and launched a periodical called the American Journal of Forestry. However, forestry had not yet received sufficient attention in this country to secure support of such a journal, and it was suspended after the completion of the first volume. Through the influence of Hough, forestry associations were formed, and the system, adopted in many states, of planting trees on Arbor Day. Yet his repeated calls for the management and withdrawal of the remaining forest land within the public domain continued to be ignored.

Hough was demoted in 1883 by Secretary of Agriculture Loring from chief of the Division of Forestry to special agent. Then he was replaced by Nathaniel Egleston, a political appointee with little forestry knowledge.  Although he was deeply disappointed by this action, Hough stayed in the division.  Hough is regarded as the first leader of the forestry movement in the United States. Gifford Pinchot later referred to Hough as "perhaps the chief pioneer in forestry in the United States." Many other scientists and university professors praised Hough's lifetime of dedication and accomplishments.

Hough continued to be actively engaged in research and writing as well as his work in forestry to the very end of his life. He died June 11, 1885, at his home in Lowville, New York.

Scope and Content Note:

The Franklin B. Hough papers document his professional activities and literary endeavors in a wide array of fields of study, including education, forestry, history, statistics, and meteorology. These papers include correspondence, notebooks, manuscripts of his writings, original historical manuscripts, transcriptions of historical manuscripts, maps, printed materials, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and broadsides. Hough's ability to gather, organize, and analyze statistical data is also quite evident in many of these files. The papers also include personal letters and correspondence with family and friends as well as diaries, school and college notebooks, and genealogical and family history research materials.

The collection also includes printed and manuscript maps related to upstate New York and various Civil War battlefields. The manuscript maps of Civil War battlefields show the regions surrounding Bull Run in northern Virginia, and Hampton Roads region of Virginia. Maps related to New York State show Fort Carleton, and Penet Square in Jefferson County; the towns and patents of Greig, Castorville, New Bremen, High Falls, Martinsburgh, Leyden, and Watson's West Triangle in Lewis County; and Ogdensburg in Saint Lawrence County. There is also a notebook with nine maps entitled "Mineral Localities of Northern New York," and oversize manuscript copy maps of Lot 611 in the village of Philadelphia, Jefferson County, and a map showing townships in Jefferson, Lewis, and Herkimer counties in New York State.

Series Descriptions:

Series 1: Personal and Family Papers. Correspondence, Family and Friends, 1843-1885; diaries, 1843-1883; school and college; biographical and genealogical
Boxes 1-6, 113-117

Series 2: Meteorological Records and Papers, 1824-1864. Journals and records, mostly northern New York; studies of weather conditions and climate in New York State (includes statistical charts and maps)
Boxes 7-9

Series 3: Census Papers. New York State Census, 1855, 1865 and 1875 (includes instruction manuals and official forms); history of census taking in New York; notebooks and scrapbooks
Boxes 10-15

Series 4: Civil War Papers, 1861-1865. Bureau of Military Statistics: documents and official forms (blank); New York State regiments: history, list of officers, news clippings and notes; Regiments of other states: historical notes; Casualties: list of names by state; correspondence; writings; Sanitation Commission study of military camps
Boxes 16-38

Series 5: Forestry Papers, 1870-1875. Conservation and Preservation - Government Action (includes papers relating to the establishment of the U.S. Bureau of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture and the creation of the Adirondack Forest preserve); patents (inventions using forest products); circulars with statistical data collected by U.S. Bureau of Forestry, 1875-1880
Boxes 39-51

Series 6: Education Papers. Correspondence, 1874-1876, re: exhibit of educational institutions of Centennial Exhibition, 1896; colleges and universities: material from different institutions; centennial history of the New York Board of Regents, manuscript
Boxes 52-66, 113-116

Series 7: Historical Research and Writings. Local history: Jefferson County, Lewis County, St. Lawrence County, and Franklin County, New York (includes annotated galleys; notes and scrapbooks); Gazetteer of New York, annotated galley and notes; New York State History: colonial, Revolution, and Indian affairs; United States history: exploration and settlement; constitutional and legal history; biographical directory; statistics and research methodology
Boxes 67-106

Series 8: Scrapbook Collection.
Boxes 107-111

Series 9: Broadsides and Printed Materials
Box 112-113

Series 10: Maps (filed with extra-large documents)

Box and Folder List