In my last posting I provided numerous references to columnar sedimentary rocks where the columns resemble the columnar structure of basalt. When I wrote that posting I believed that William Logan (1850, 1863) was the first to report on columnar structures in sedimentary rocks in Canada. Since then I have determined that both John Finch (1833) and Captain R. H. Bonnycastle (1833, 1836) reported on horizontal, basaltiform, lithographic limestone at Murney's Point, Kingston, Upper Canada (now, Ontario).
The word ‘basaltiform’ is not an adjective that is much used these days. It means ‘like basalt in form: columnar’, and was not uncommon in geological papers in the nineteenth century (e.g., Dawson, 1855, page 63; Gesner, 1836, page 211) . ‘Lithographic limestone’ was originally defined as a hard limestone that is sufficiently fine-grained, homogeneous and defect free to be used for lithography (a method of printing where an image was drawn with greasy chalk onto the surface of a smooth limestone plate; the stone was subsequently moistened but only the parts not covered by the grease absorbed the water; an oil-based ink would be applied, repelled by the water, sticking only to the original drawing; the ink would be transferred to a blank paper sheet, producing a printed page). Today geologists use the term lithographic to refer to carbonate rocks with a grain size under 1/250 mm. What is interesting about John Finch’s and Captain R. H. Bonnycastle’s reports is that the columns in the limestone were horizontal and that the stone was used in lithography.
John Finch was an English geologist who visited North America from 1823 to 1831. In 1833 he published a book describing his travels in the United States of America and Canada with comments on geology and minerals. In the book he mentions that he visited Kingston, Upper Canada, a town of “about five thousand inhabitants,” where he noted:.
“A very remarkable geological fact ..., one mile west of the town. Limestone of the upper transition formation is crystallized in the form of basaltic columns. The stratum of limestone is three feet in thickness. The columns are usually octagonal, and vary in length from six inches to three feet. It may be called basaltiform limestone. The mountain at Montreal exhibits a similar arrangement, but on a larger scale, and the columns are there vertical. At Kingston they are horizontal.”
Captain R. H. Bonnycastle was a member of the Royal Engineers stationed in Kingston, Upper Canada who had an interest in geology. He authored a paper on the geology around Kingston that was published in the American Journal of Science in four parts published in 1830, 1831, 1833 and 1836. In the third part of this paper, published in 1833, he mentions (at pages 102-104) that Mr. John Finch had been in Kingston “employed on a course of mineralogical lectures” and had discovered that several of the limestone beds of the Cataraqui Formation “were regularly divided into prismatic forms, by a species of huge crystallization, resembling that exhibited by basalt, but always in a horizontal position. ... , regularly formed into almost interminable horizontal columns of an hexangular or octagonal shape, not jointed or connected by a cup and socket, as those of basalt often are, but irregularly, disunited only by occasional rents, evidently the result of the action of time, or of unequal coherency.”
Bonnycastle comments (1833, page 103) that this occurred at a number of localities at Kingston, noting that “the octagons, which are the most usual forms, as at Murney's Point, the upper and lower, as well as the vertical sides are straight and almost or quite equal, whilst the angular faces are slightly concave and much less in size.”
Bonnycastle also notes (1833, page 104) that the basaltiform limestone “is an excellent lithographic stone for all the common processes of that admirable art, and is now extensively employed in the surveyor general's office at York, under the management of Mr. S. O. Tazewell, ... This lithographic limestone is darker than the usual beds of the Cataraqui formation, and I have not seen any fossils in it ; it is very compact and hard, and, if kept at a good temperature, bears the press better than the German stone.”
Bonnycastle (1836) included a lithograph showing the basaltiform limestone made from two of Bonnycastle’s drawings and printed by Tazewell on lithographic limestone. He commented (Vol 30, 1836, page 233) “These drawings represent the basaltiform lithographic limestone of Kingston, as viewed at two points, near the western end of the town. The upper one, shews the beds, as they appear from the edge of the water forming the bank; the under one, the beds viewed at their extremities, left open by quarrying, and in this view the octagonal figure is completely displayed.” The drawing is produced below.
The lithograph bears the title of the article “Transition Rocks of the Cataraqui’ above the drawing, and under the drawing bears the words: - From Drawing by Captn. Bonnycastle R. E.;
- Basaltiform Lithographic Limestone of Kingston U.C. near Nickall’s Hop Ground; - Tazewell, lithr from Canadian Stone; - York U.C. 1833.
I have been unable to locate any other reference to Nickall’s Hop Ground, Kingston, Upper Canada, though I did find an 1833 mention of John Nickall’s brewery in Kingston.
Bonnycastle mentioned that the the octagons are the most usual forms at Murney's Point. The location of Murney’s Point will be familiar to everyone who has lived in Kingston, to everyone who has attended Queen’s University, and to many tourist who have visited Kingston, as a Martello Tower was built on the point in 1846, and since 1925 the Murney Tower Museum has been a tourist attraction in Kingston. I can recall walking across and sitting on the outcrops at Murney’s Point while at Queen’s University and on numerous visits to Kingston. Below is an extract from Google Maps, Satellite View, showing the location of the Martello Tower and the outcrops. The outcrops are along the shore of Lake Ontario between the Murney Tower and the Richardson Bath House.
Carson (1982; Map P2496) of the Ontario Geological Survey mapped the Paleozoic geology of this part of Kingston and assigned three outcrops at Murney’s Point to the Ordovician Gull River Formation (middle member). In the legend to his map he states that “The middle member is characterized by pale to dark grey and medium to dark brown lithographic to sublithographic lime stone interbedded with pale brown and pale green calcareous or dolomitic siltstone that weathers pale green and buff. Stylolites and calcite-filled vugs are common .... Shaly limestone and silty limestone also occur in minor amounts.”
Should the COVID lockdown be lifted and I visit Kingston again, I will be sure to visit Murney’s Point and look more closely at the outcrops.
Captain R. H. Bonnycastle, Royal Engineers ( 1791 – 1847)
The best descriptions of Captain R. H. Bonnycastle’s life are found in Chichester (1900) and Raudzens , (1988). He was a military engineer, army officer, artist, and author, with an interest in geology.
He studied at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England, becoming a lieutenant of the royal engineers. He served in the Napoleonic Wars and in the War of 1812 acting as engineer in charge of fortifications erected by the British on the Castine peninsula, Maine. He attained the rank of captain in 1814. Raudzens (1988) states that “In 1826 he was sent to Upper Canada, serving at Fort George (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and Kingston until 1832, when he was posted to York (Toronto). ... In 1837 he was promoted brevet major and placed in command of the engineers at Kingston, with the specific task of completing construction of the new Fort Henry, begun in 1832. By late 1837 Bonnycastle, directing a force of mostly Irish artisans and labourers, had finished work. Almost immediately afterwards came the rebellions in the Canadas.” Captain Bonnycastle is credited with assembling and arming a force of militia and volunteers which deterred an attack. In March 1840 was knighted for his efforts. He was promoted a regimental lieutenant-colonel in 1840, did a tour of duty as commanding engineer in Newfoundland, and retired in 1847. He died in 1848 at Kingston.
Bonnycastle published two articles on geology, the one noted above and 1829 article on the rocks and minerals of Upper Canada, and also described the geology of Newfoundland in a chapter in a book (1842) he wrote on that province. He was a prolific author, writing two books on Spanish America and numerous books on Canada. His works are listed below.
John Finch (1791-1854)
The best descriptions of John Finch’s life are found in Neitzke-Adamo et al. (2018) and Rail (2012).
John Finch was an English geologist, not a Scot as stated in various sources. John Finch was born at Heath-Forge, Wombourne, Staffordshire, and appears to have spent the majority of his life in the West Midlands area of England.
He visited and traveled in North America from 1823 to 1831 (or 1833). While in North America John Finch gave several series of lectures on geology and mineralogy, including a series in Boston in 1823 (Rail, 2012), at Philadelphia, Pa. in 1823, in Baltimore, Maryland in 1824 (Rail, 2012), at Princeton in 1825 (Young, 2019), at Wilmington, Delaware in 1827, at Hartford, Connecticut in 1829, lectures at Columbia and Yale, and fifteen geological lectures Rutgers in 1829 (Neitzke-Adamo, 2018). Kuntz (2010) mentions that in 1830 and 1833 John Finch gave lectures on geology in Montreal and that the 1830 series of sixteen lectures on geology were sponsored by the Natural History Society of Montreal illustrated by drawings and specimens, which was "fashionably and numerously attended" "by nearly 50 gentlemen and about 30 ladies”. Bonnycastle (1833) reports that Finch visited Kingston to deliver lectures on Mineralogy. Based on Gundy’s (2003) history of Tazewell’s use of the Kingston Lithographic stone in 1831, it appears that Finch must have visited Kingston in 1831 or earlier.
While John Finch described himself as Fellow of the Philosophical Society of Birmingham, and Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Rail (2012) notes that John Finch was a “member of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution, and sometimes, rather grandly, signed himself 'Fellow of the Philosophical Society of Birmingham', and, 'F.B.S.' He was never admitted to a fellowship of the Geological Society.” I could not find that John Finch was associated with any university or college, and suspect that John Finch employed the term "professor" to mean "one who teaches a branch of knowledge" or “a person who professes to be an expert in some art or science”. On the title page his 1833 book he inserted under this name “Cor. Mem. Nat. Hist. Soc. Montreal; Lit. & Hist. Soc. Quebec. Hon Mem. West Point Lyceum; Delaware, West Chester, &c. &c.”
In the period from 1823 to 1833 Finch authored numerous articles that were published in Silliman's American Journal of Science and Arts, including seven on geology or mineralogy and at least six others. Finch’s (1833) book ‘Travels in the United States of America and Canada’ also contained comments on the geology and mineralogy of those countries.
Finch is most often mentioned for his “Geological essay on the tertiary formations in America” published in 1823 and for his collection Tertiary fossils collected in North America. Before Finch’s 1823 paper geologists in the United States referred to the whole Atlantic Coastal Plain as the “Alluvial Formation”. Finch was the first to suggest that the ‘Alluvial’ was the equivalent to the Tertiary formations of Europe and elsewhere (see Berry, 1916).
Thomas Say (1824) described Finch's collection, identifying forty new species. Kenworthy and Santucci, (2003) note that “Say and the other scientists ... all mistakenly listed the collecting locality for Finch’s fossils as coming from Saint Mary’s River, Maryland” when in fact the specimens were collected from near Yorktown, Virginia. Kenworthy and Santucci, (2003) identify the locality as the Pliocene Yorktown Formation (approximately 4.5 - 3 million years old). Bullen (1902) reports that on returning to England “Mr. Finch offered his collection for purchase to the Trustees of the British Museum .... This offer was accepted, and on the conclusion of the usual preliminaries the collection became the property of the Museum at the close of the year 1834.” As of 1902 only part of the collection could be found.
Samuel Oliver Tazewell, Lithographer
The best descriptions of Tazewell’s career as a lithographer are provided by McLeod (2014) and Gundy (2003). McCleod mentions that “In January 1832, [Tazewell] produced the first map of the Town of Kingston on his lithographic press. .. .The prospect of winning a government contract through Surveyor General S.P. Hurd enticed the lithographer to move to York in late 1832. (York became Toronto in March 1834.) Tazewell received short-term jobs but he met with stiff competition and sharp criticism. Draftsman James Grant Chewett of the Crown Lands Department drew expensive maps by hand. He considered lithographic maps unworthy, cheap substitutes for his elegant, detailed work. ... No government contracts were offered to the lithographer.” Gundy notes that “Denied any government contracts .. .by September 1835 [Tazewell] had moved to St Catharines and taken up his old trade of jeweller, watchmaker, and piano tuner. He continued to produce the occasional lithograph”
Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario
References and Suggested Reading
Allodi, Mary 1980
Printmaking in Canada : the earliest views and portraits = Les débuts de l'estampe imprimée au Canada : vues et portraits. Toronto : Royal Ontario Museum. xxviii, 244 p. : 28 cm
[Catalog of an exhibition held at the Royal Ontario Museum, with biographies of early engravers and printers such as Samuel Tazewell]
https://archive.org/details/printmakingincan0000allo/
Berry, Edward Wilber, 1916
The lower Eocene Floras of Southeastern North America, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 91 , 591 pages https://doi.org/10.3133/pp91
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/32005#page/609/mode/1up
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry , Captain, Royal Engineers, 1818
Spanish America, Vol. 1 (of 2). London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, Paternoster-row 336 pages
https://archive.org/details/spanishamericao02bonngoog/page/n10/mode/2up
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Captain, Royal Engineers, 1818
Spanish America, Vol. 2 (of 2) . London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, Paternoster-row 359 pages
https://archive.org/details/spanishamericao03bonngoog/page/n15/mode/2up
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry , Captain, Royal Engineers, 1819
Spanish America . Philadelphia: Abraham Small, 481 pages
https://archive.org/details/spanishamericaor00bonn
Bonnycastle, R. H., Captain, 1829a
On account of some Meteorological Phenomena observed in Canada, by Captain Bonnycastle, R. E. In the years 1826-27; Transactions of the Literary & Historical Society of Quebec. Volume 1, pages 47 -52
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54240#page/103/mode/1up
Bonnycastle, R. H., Captain, R. E. 1829b
Desultory Observations on a few of the Rocks and Minerals of Upper Canada, by Captain Bonnycastle, R. E.. Transactions of the Literary & Historical Society of Quebec. Volume 1, 62 -70 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54240#page/118/mode/1up
Bonnycastle, R. H., Capt. R.E., 1830, 1831, 1833, 1836
On the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqui, American Journal of Science, Vol. 18, 1830, pp. 85-104; Vol. 20, 1831, 74-82; Vol 24, 1833, 97-104; Vol 30, 1836, 233-248 .
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir, 1842
The Canadas in 1841. London, Henry Colburn. Volume 1.
https://archive.org/details/canadasin184101bonn
page 57-59 geological character
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir, 1842
Newfoundland in 1842: A sequel to “the Canadas in 1841.” In two volumes, Vol. 1., 367 pages
London, Henry Colburn. Chapter III, Geology and Geological Relations, pages 179-222
https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Newfoundland_in_1842/24wtAQAAMAAJ
https://archive.org/details/newfoundlandin00bonn/page/n13/mode/2up
Vol. 2, 351pages
https://archive.org/details/newfoundlandin1800bonn/page/8/mode/2up
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry 1846
Canada and the Canadians, Volume I. London: Henry Colburn,
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20014/20014-h/20014-h.htm [this is the new edition 1849]
Bonnycastle , Richard Henry ,1849
Canada and the Canadians, Volume II. London.
Bonnycastle, Sir R . 1852
Canada , As it was , is, and may be. London: Colburn & Co. , vol. 1, 315 pages
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.173206
Volume 2 https://books.google.ca/books?id=eK4NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1
Bumsted, J.M., 2008
Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle. The Canadian Encyclopedia
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-richard-henry-bonnycastle
Carson, D. M., 1982
Paleozoic Geology of the Gananoque-Wolfe Island Area, Southern Ontario, Ontario Geological Survey. Map P 2496. Geological Series - Preliminary Map. Scale 1:50000. Geology 1981.
Chichester, Henry Manners, 1900
Bonnycastle, Richard Henry. In Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 05
London: Smith, Elder & Co. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=3257
Dawson, Sir John William, 1855
Acadian Geology. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. 388 pages
Finch, John, 1823
Geological Essay on the Tertiary Formations in America, by John Finch, Fellow of the Philosophical Society of Birmingham, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy. {Read before the Academy of Natural Sciences, at Philadelphia. July 15, 1823.] Am J. Sc. 7, 31-43
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53598#page/36/mode/1up
Finch, John, 1824a
On the Celtic antiquities of America; by John Finch FBS, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, American journal of science and arts vii, 149-61
Finch, John, 1824b
A sketch on the geology of the country near Easton, Penn.; with a Catalogue of Minerals, and a Map., Am J. Sc. 8: 236-240, map, 1824
Finch, John, 1824c
On the forts around Boston, which were erected during the War of Independence; by J Finch FBS, American journal of science, and arts. Volume viii, 338-48.
Finch, John, 1826a
Memoir on the New or Variegated Sandstone of the United States. Am J. Sc. 10, 209-212, 1826
Finch, John, 1826b
On the Tertiary formations on the borders of the Hudson River, Am J. Sc. 10, 227-229 1826
Finch, John, 1828a
On the geology and mineralogy of the country near West Chester, Penn., Am J. Sc. 14 , 15-18
Finch, John, 1828b
On the effect of the physical geography of the world, on the boundaries of empires Pt I; by John Finch, MCS, &c, American journal of science and arts , xiv, 18-23.
Finch, John, 1828c
On the atomic theory of chemistry; by John Finch, M.C.S., &c, American journal of science and arts , xiv, 24-28.
Finch, John, 1828d
On the effect of the physical geography of the world on the boundaries of empires Pt II; by John Finch, F.B.S., M.S.D., &c, &c, American journal of science and arts , xvi, 99-111.
Finch, John, 1830a
Circular scale of equivalents; by J Finch, American journal of science and arts , xviii, 196-7.
Finch, John, 1830b
Notice of a locality of Arragonite, near New Brunswick, (NJ); American journal of science and arts, xviii, 197-8. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/97096#page/217/mode/1up
Finch, John, 1831
On the mineralogy and geology of St. Lawrence County, State of New York, Am J. Sc. 19; 220-228 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54146#page/240/mode/1up
Finch, J., 1833
Travels in the United States of America and Canada, containing some account of their scientific institutions, and a few notices of the geology and mineralogy of those countries. 455 pp, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman
https://archive.org/details/travelsinunited01igoog/page/n10/mode/2up
Gesner, Abraham 1836
Remarks on the Geology and Mineralogy of Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Gossip and Coade, 273 pages @- Page 211
H. P. Gundy, 2003
“Tazewell, Samuel Oliver,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed May 1, 2021 http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tazewell_samuel_oliver_7E.html
Kenworthy, Jason and Vincent L. Santucci, 2003
Paleontological Resource Inventory and Monitoring Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network
http://npshistory.com/publications/paleontology/tic-d-340.pdf
Kuntz, Harry, 2010
Science Culture in English-speaking Montreal, 1815-1842 . A Doctoral Thesis in The Humanities , Concordia University
Logan William E., 1850
Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for 1849-50. Toronto: Lovell and
Gibson.
Logan, William E., 1863,
Geology of Canada. Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress from its Commencement to 1863. Montreal: Dawson Brothers. 983 pages..
McLeod, Susanna 2014
Tazewell put Kingston 'on the map'. The Whig Standard, March 5, 2014
https://www.thewhig.com/2014/03/05/tazewell-put-kingston-on-the-map
Neitzke-Adamo, L., Blandford, A.J., Criscione, J., Olsson, R.K., and Gorder, E., 2018,
The Rutgers Geology Museum: America’s first geology museum and the past 200 years of geoscience education, in Rosenberg, G.D., and Clary, R.M., eds., Museums at the Forefront of the History and Philosophy of Geology: History Made, History in the Making: Geological Society of America Special Paper 535, p. 217–236, https://doi.org/10.1130/2018.2535(14)
The Geological Society of America. Special Paper 535
https://geology.rutgers.edu/images/Neitzke-Adamo-et-al_2018.pdf
Newton, R. Bullen, 1902
List of Thomas Say's Types of Maryland (U.S.) Tertiary Mollusca in the British Museum.
Geological Magazine, New Series, Decade 4, volume 9, 302-305
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/96113#page/347/mode/1up
Rail, Tony 2012
Biographical notes for William Steill Brown (1800-1836) and his wife Eliza Finch (1795-1835), a granddaughter of Dr Joseph Priestley, with some genealogical notes of their descendants, and some biographical notes for John Finch (1791-1854). Copy of MSS in Harris Manchester College Oxford, citation: Harris Manchester College Library and Archives, MSS, Biographical notes for William Steill Brown, 2012
https://archive.org/stream/BiographicalNotesForWilliamSteillBrown/WilliamSteillBrown_djvu.txt
Raudzens, G. K. , 1988
"Bonnycastle, Sir Richard Henry". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. VII (1836–1850) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=3257
Say, Thomas, 1824
An account of some of the Fossil Shells of Maryland. By Thomas Say. Read July 20, 1824.
Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, volume 4, 124-155
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79352#page/134/mode/1up
Torrens, H.S., 1990,
The transmission of ideas on the use of fossils in stratigraphic analysis from England to America 1800–1840: Earth Sciences History, v. 9, p. 108–117, [I did not read]
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24137066
Young, Davis A., 2019
Joseph Henry and Geology at Princeton. Earth Sciences History (2019) 38 (2): 232–275. https://doi.org/10.17704/1944-6178-38.2.232
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