James Williams Gidley

Background

Gidley was born on January 7, 1866 in Springwater, Winneshiek County, Iowa, of parents who were among the pioneer settlers of that region. His father was Isaac Mosier Gidley, of Quaker stock, and his mother, Rebecca Penrose Williams.

Education

Gidley attended Albion Seminary, Albion, Iowa, and later Black Hills College, Hot Springs, South Dakota. His early environment in the Black Hills awakened in him an interest in vertebrate fossils, an interest that in 1892 carried him to the American Museum of Natural History, New York, where he gained experience in field and laboratory work. Soon, however, desirous of more academic training, he went to Princeton University, where he received the degree of B. S. in 1898. Here, under Prof. William B. Scott, he enjoyed a thorough preparation for his future career. In 1922 he was granted the degree of Ph. D. by George Washington University.

Career

After studying at Princeton, Gidley resumed his duties at the American Museum, where he was given the important research assignment of working out the history and development of the fossil horses in America. So successful was he in field and laboratory that he soon became the acknowledged authority on the subject, and models that he made, showing the evolution of the horse, found a place in many museums. In 1905 he was called to the United States National Museum and continued with that institution until his death. He was first preparator, then custodian of the collection of fossil mammals, and finally assistant curator of mammalian fossils, to which position he was appointed in 1911. Gidley had many outstanding discoveries to his credit. His finding of a herd of Equus scotti in the Staked Plains of Texas for the American Museum, his exploration of the Cumberland Cave in Maryland, the assembling of a large collection of vertebrate remains from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of southern Arizona, his extended exploration in the vicinity of Melbourne, Florida, in search of early man associated with Pleistocene vertebrates, the development of the famous Plesippus quarry near Hagerman, Idaho, and explorations of the Paleocene deposits of Sweetgrass County, Montana, all for the United States National Museum, were some of his notable accomplishments. Thus, while his activities were confined to North America, Gidley's explorations carried him far afield, and the specimens brought together formed the basis for original scientific research by himself and others. His bibliography consists of eighty-seven titles, the articles ranging from brief reports upon the identity of materials to detailed studies of faunal and phyletic groups. The first of his papers were devoted to the horse. The most important of these was "The Revision of the Miocene and Pliocene Equid' of North America" (1907), in which he redefined the several genera and rearranged them into four subfamilies. Another order in which he was greatly interested was that of the rodents. In collaboration with G. S. Miller he wrote "Synopsis of the Supergeneric Groups of Rodents" (1918), in which knowledge of the whole group is reviewed. His "Evidence Bearing on Tooth-Cusp Development" (1906) was in some respects his most significant contribution to paleontologic thought. He published many short articles on Paleocene mammals, of which his "Notes on the Fossil Mammalian Genus Ptilodus" (1909) and "Paleocene Primates of the Fort Union" (1923) were perhaps the most important. Gidley died on September 26, 1931, and was buried in Brooklyn, New York.

Achievements

• Gidley studied various fossil mammals throughout his career, including prehistoric rodents and horses. He published these studies in his books, for which he is best known.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Pleistocene Vertebrate Fauna From Cumberland Cave Maryland (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Pleistocene Vertebrate Fauna From Cumber...)

  • Warm-Blooded Vertebrates

  • book

  • Birds and Beats Volume Nine of the Smithsonian Series

Personality

Gidley was a thorough and conscientious worker, a man of independent thought, and a vigorous critic. He was of a genial disposition and always ready to give freely of his knowledge to his colleagues.

Connections

Gidley married Florence Emily (Martin) Gidley, on April 4, 1900.

Father:

Isaac Mosier Gidley

Mother:

Rebecca Penrose Williams

Spouse:

Florence Emily Martin