James Duncan Hague (18361908) was an American mining engineer, mineralogist, and geologist.

Early years

Hague was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to the Rev. William Hague and Mary Bowditch Moriarty.Hague, James Duncan
in ''

Marquis Who's Who Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

'' (1901–1902 edition); via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

He attended school in Boston and Newark, New Jersey, before enrolling at the

Lawrence Scientific School The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is the engineering education, engineering school within Harvard University's Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, offering degrees in eng ...

at Harvard University in 1854. The following year, he headed to the Georg-August University of Göttingen in Germany to study chemistry and mineralogy for a year before studying mining engineering at the Royal Saxon Mining Academy in Freiberg for two years.

Career

After returning to New York, Hague was selected by financier William H. Webb to explore several equatorial coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. Webb was involved in the

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

business, and Hague examined and documented phosphate deposits on

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

, Howland, and

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s. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he spent 1862 and 1863 in

Port Royal, South Carolina Port Royal is a town on Port Royal Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 14,220 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hilton Head Island–Bluffton metropolitan area. Port Royal is home to Marine Corps R ...

, as a judge advocate for the U.S. Navy, handling negotiations involving the

Atlantic Blockading Squadron The Atlantic Blockading Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy created in the early days of the American Civil War to enforce the Union blockade of the ports of the Confederate States. It was formed in 1861 and split up the same year for t ...

. He then worked for Edwin J. Hulbert, developing the Calumet and Hecla copper mines in Michigan, before joining

Clarence King Clarence Rivers King (January 6, 1842 – December 24, 1901) was an American geologist, mountaineer, and author. He was the first director of the United States Geological Survey from 1879 to 1881. Nominated by Republican President Rutherford B. ...

in 1867 as an assistant geologist on the

Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel The Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel was a geological survey made by order of the Secretary of War according to acts of Congress of March 2, 1867, and March 3, 1869, under the direction of Brig. and Bvt. Major General A. A. Humphrey ...

. In 1871, he headed to California to work as a consulting expert on mining engineering, working with both private and governmental clients throughout the western U.S. and Mexico. In 1878, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Exposition Universelle in Paris, writing a report on the mining companies and innovations on display. In 1887, Hague acquired the North Star Mining Co. on Lafayette Hill near Grass Valley, California, which he had helped develop during his time in the state. He reorganized the company in 1889 and acquired several other mines, including Gold Hill. Working with his brother-in-law,

Arthur De Wint Foote Arthur De Wint Foote (1849–1933) was an American civil engineer and mining engineer who impacted the development of the American West with his innovative engineering works and entrepreneurial ventures. In Northern California in the late 1890s, ...

, he grew North Star's operations, eventually deciding to commission North Star House as an event space for the company and home for the company's supervisor, Foote.

Affiliations

Hague was a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

and in 1904 he became a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. From 1906, Hague was vice president of the

American Institute of Mining Engineers The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. The association was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Penns ...

. In 1887, he became a fellow of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

before becoming a councillor in 1907 and the society's vice president a year later.

Personal life

In April 1872, Hague married Mary Ward Foote (18461898). They had three children: Marian (18731971),

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

(18751954), and William (18821918). He died August 3, 1908, at his summer home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and was buried in

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Menands, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical ...

in Colonie, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hague, James Duncan 1908 deaths 1836 births Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers American Geographical Society 19th-century American geologists Scientists from Boston American mining engineers American mineralogists Mining engineers