Ernest Ingersoll (March 13, 1852 – November 13, 1946) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

naturalist, writer and explorer.

Biography

A native of

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonom ...

, Ingersoll studied for a time at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of highe ...

and afterward at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, where he was a pupil of

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

. Agassiz died in 1873, and Ingersoll made his journalistic debut with an article for the ''

New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'' in January 1874 on Agassiz' work, for which he received $40 and the request for more scientific articles. In 1874, he went

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

as zoologist in the

Hayden Hayden may refer to: Places Inhabited places in the United States *Hayden, Alabama *Hayden, Arizona *Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona *Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California *Hayden, Colorado * Hayden, Idaho *Hayd ...

survey of 1874. In 1875, Ingersoll published a scientific paper describing what he had collected, mostly

mollusks Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

. On the expedition he made friends with photographer

William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of Am ...

. They were the first scientists to investigate and describe the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. Ingersoll sent dispatches to the ''Tribune'', and the result was an offer to join its staff that year, which he accepted. While working as a reporter, he also wrote articles for an antecedent of ''

Field and Stream ''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American online magazine focusing on hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. The magazine was a print publication between 1895 and 2015 and became an online-only publication from 2020. History ...

'' and other magazines. In 1877, he made a second trip West, again writing articles for periodicals on his experiences. 1879 found him visiting

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

and writing on mining operations. That year he also began his work describing

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environ ...

eries for a joint project of the

United States Fish Commission The United States Fish Commission, formally known as the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, was an agency of the United States government created in 1871 to investigate, promote, and preserve the fisheries of the United States. In 1 ...

and the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

. That project lasted until 1881. His reports treated modern fisheries, and also discussed shellfish utilization much earlier by Native Americans and early societies worldwide. Ingersoll was an early advocate of protection of wildlife and natural habitats, and preferred field notes and photographs to taking specimens. These views he presented in popular lectures around 1888. From the 1890s to 1905, he updated guide books for

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution c ...

. He took up residence in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1900. At that time he was writing a weekly column for a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

paper. Letters he received from readers indicated a need for material on bird identification, and he did a series of articles presenting a list of Canadian birds with descriptions. He did a similar list for Canadian snakes, which his daughter Helen helped write and illustrate. Helen also helped illustrate some of his books. He stopped writing the column in 1938, when he retired. Ernest Ingersoll was 94 years old when he died in a

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about ...

, nursing home after a four-year illness.

Family

He married Mary Schofield (1853-1920) in 1873. They had two children: Helen (b. 1874), and Geoffrey (b. 1889).

Select bibliography

Books

* ''Nests and Eggs of North American Birds'', parts i-vii (1880–81) * ''Oyster Industries of the United States'' (1881)
''Friends Worth Knowing''
(1881)
''Birds'-nesting''
(1882)
''Knocking Round the Rockies''
(1883) * ''The Ice Queen'' (1884),

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

''Country Cousins''
(1884)
''The Crest of the Continent''
(1885) * ''Down East Latch Strings'' (1887)
''Handy Guide to Washington and the District of Columbia''
(1896), Rand, McNally & Co. *''The Silver Caves, A Mining Story'' 1890
''Wild Neighbors''
(1897)
''Gold Fields of the Klondike and the Wonders of Alaska''
(1897)
''The Book of the Ocean''
(1898) * ''Nature's Calendar'' (1900)
''Handy Guide to New York City''
(1900), Rand, McNally & Co.
''Wild Life of Orchard and Field''
(1902)
''Life of Animals: The Mammals''
(1906; second edition, 1907)
''Eight Secrets''
(1906)
''The Wit of the Wild''
(1906)
''Animal Competitors''
(1911) * ''Birds in Legend, Fable, and Folklore'' (Longmans, Green and Co., 1923) * ''Dragons and Dragon Lore'' (with Henry Fairfield Osborn) (1928); ''The Illustrated Book of Dragons and Dragon Lore'' (2013). Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN B00D959PJ0

Articles

* * * * * * * He also contributed articles to the ''

New International Encyclopedia ''The New International Encyclopedia'' was an American encyclopedia first published in 1902 by Dodd, Mead and Company. It descended from the ''International Cyclopaedia'' (1884) and was updated in 1906, 1914 and 1926. History ''The New Inter ...

'' and ''

Encyclopedia Americana ''Encyclopedia Americana'' is a general encyclopedia written in American English. It was the first major multivolume encyclopedia that was published in the United States. With ''Collier's Encyclopedia'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclo ...

''.

References

External links

* * *
"Hard to Hit" by Ernest Ingersoll, in ''The Junior Classics'', Chapt. 21, Vol. 8, librivox, audio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingersoll, Ernest 1852 births 1946 deaths American explorers American science writers Harvard University alumni Oberlin College alumni People from Monroe, Michigan United States Fish Commission personnel