(Excerpt from Appendix to the Report of the Geological Sur...)
Excerpt from Appendix to the Report of the Geological Survey of North Carolina, 1873: Being a Brief Abstract of That Report and a General Description of the State, Geographical, Geological, Climactic and Agricultural North Carolina is situated on the Atlantic slope of the great Appalachian chain of mountains, which traverses the North American continent in a Northeast and Southwest di section from Canada to Georgia. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Washington Caruthers Kerr was born on May 24, 1827 in the Alamance region of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, the son of William M. and Euphence (Doak) Kerr. When he was quite young his parents died and he was adopted by the Reverend Washington Caruthers, a Presbyterian minister after whom he had been named.
Kerr received his early education under the guidance of Reverend Washington Caruthers. In 1847 he entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and in 1850 he graduated with high honors. Rapidly developing a love for geology, mathematics, and engineering, he entered the Lawrence Scientific School and remained there until 1856.
Kerr's first employment was as a school teacher in the nearby town of Williamston, a position he shortly resigned to accept a professorship in Marshall University, in Texas. In 1852 he became one of the computers in the Nautical Almanac office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Here he came into contact with some of the most noted scientific men of the day. In 1856 he accepted the professorship of chemistry and geology at Davidson College in North Carolina. In 1862 he was granted leave of absence to become chemist and superintendent in the Mecklenburg Salt Works at Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
When the fortunes of war brought about the destruction and abandonment of the works he returned to North Carolina where he was shortly appointed state geologist " 'nominally, and without pay and with especial instructions to look after certain chemical and mineral manufactures in which this state might be vitally interested'". The confused condition of affairs incidental to this closing year of the war naturally precluded systematic work, and the organization, if such it can be called, for he had no regular assistants, seems to have died a natural death. In April 1866, however, Kerr was reappointed by Governor Worth and continued to hold the position without interruption, though through many difficulties, until 1882, when he became connected with the United States Geological Survey with headquarters in Washington.
Kerr was a hard worker, energetic and efficient, though wholly untrained along any special lines of his profession. The state, despite previous work by Olmsted and Emmons, was still largely unknown territory, and there were no maps sufficiently accurate for plotting geological details. Under these circumstances, Kerr set himself to remedy the deficiencies. In a rough, in part mountainous, country, notorious for its poor roads, he was compelled to travel long distances on horseback and on foot.
The one great result of this survey was a map of the state published in 1882, sufficiently and accurately detailed to serve as a base map for future work. His most striking geological observation was that in both of the Carolinas the eastward flowing rivers always presented high banks and bluffs on the south side and low plains and swamps on the north, a fact he attributed to the co(tm)rdinate action of the flowing streams and the earth's revolution. He was also one of the first to call prominently to attention the phenomena of "soil creep" on inclined surfaces due to the joint action of gravity and frost. His observations relative to indications of possible glaciation within the state were not generally accepted. He worked wholeheartedly for the good of the state, but the times were evil, and for several years he shared the common fate of many public officials in the South. "His motives were misrepresented, his character assailed, his abilities questioned, his work maligned".
Declining health, however, compelled his final retirement in 1883.
During his lifetime Kerr was almost the only North Carolina-born scientist active in the state. He advertised the resources of North Carolina, especially minerals, as no one before him had done. One of his main achievements was is in providing the most accurate map of North Carolina for his time. He was also credited for improving the manufacturing process in Mecklenburg Salt Company.
(Excerpt from Appendix to the Report of the Geological Sur...)
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( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
The Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society at Chapel Hill elected him president in 1884.
Kerr was a man of slight, rather delicate frame, of a nervous, sensitive temperament, but hospitable and generous in the extreme.
Quotes from others about the person
"We used to call him 'Steam Engine, ' instead of Kerr, such was his promptness to time and rapid motion. "
In 1853 Kerr married Emma Hall, of Iredell County, North Carolina.
