Background
George Hunt Barton was born in Sudbury, Massachusetts on 8 July 1852 to George Washington Barton (1824-1894) and Mary Susan (Hunt) Barton (1828-1863).
George Hunt Barton was born in Sudbury, Massachusetts on 8 July 1852 to George Washington Barton (1824-1894) and Mary Susan (Hunt) Barton (1828-1863).
He studied geology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), elected as secretary of his class, and earned a South.B. degree in 1880.
Barton married Eva May Beede (1855-1933) on 18 September 1884 in Stow, Massachusetts, and they had three children:Harold Beede Barton (1887-1887), Donald Clinton Barton (1889-1939),and Helen Mary Barton (1891-1973) Barton is a direct descendant of Phillip Bardens, an early resident of Walpole, Massachusetts. He is also descended from some of the oldest families in Sudbury, his hometown, including Edmund Rice, one of the founders of the town. Barton began his career as a scientific illustrator at Massachusetts Institute of Technology after his graduation (1880-1881).
Foreign two years from 1881-1883, he worked as a geologist for the Hawaiian Government Survey in Honolulu, and upon returning to Boston in 1883, he joined the faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor and he became an authority on glacial landscapes.
He conducted geological investigations of Middlesex and Norfolk Counties in the 1880s and 1890s, and was among the first researchers to recognize the New England landscapes as resulting from ancient glaciation. He also lectured at Boston University, and also served as president of the Appalachian Mountain Club.
He was a participant in the sixth expedition of Robert East. Peary to Greenland in 1896. Barton was a prominent public lecturer around Boston and the New England region at a time when public lectures were the primary medium for public dissemination of scientific knowledge.
Barton died 25 November 1933 while lecturing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is buried in the Barton family cemetery on the old family farm in Sudbury.
Barton"s son, Donald Clinton Barton (1889–1939) earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Geology from Harvard University in 1914. From 1927 to 1934 he operated his own business as a consulting geologist, and from 1934 until his death as a research geophysicist for the Humble Oil and Refining Company. He was a pioneer in the application of geophysical principles in the exploration for petroleum.
Fellow American Academy Arts and Sciences.
Married Eva May Beede, September 18, 1884. Children: Harold Beede (deceased), Donald Clinton, Helen Mary.
