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Home , Gogebic Range, Northwest Territory, Stephen Moulton Babcock

CHEMISTRY IN THE OLD NORTHWEST12

AARON J. HIDE, Departments of Chemistry and History of Science, University of , Madison, Wi 53700 Abstract. Immediately after the War for Independence, Americans began to move westward in earnest. There were numerous factors pulling migrants westward, among them the fertile land which had a particular appeal for farmers. felt the impact first; settlement of Wisconsin was delayed until opening of the lead mines during the later Indian wars. Settlers in the Northwest revealed a penchant for the exploitation of the territory's resources and the creation of educational institutions. Excellence of the soil led to significant agricultural expansion and, later, to growth of an innovative food industry. Mineral resources stimulated the growth of a metals industry and an energy industry based first on coal, then on petroleum. The exten- sive forests in the northern part of the territory supplied a forest products industry. Pioneer developments took place without benefit of science but after 1850 science took on increasing significance as the colleges and universities prepared individuals for a role in the innovative growth of agriculture, industry, and medicine. A critical ques- tion revolves around the disproportionate regional excellence in science (chemistry in particular) shown by universities and colleges of the region. OHIO J. SCI. 78(2): 59, 1078

Migrants into the territory created by to distant markets to the east and south. the Ordinance of 1787 were attracted by did not become an important crop readily available resources, including the until much later, when animal husbandry excellent conditions for agriculture. Set- took on greater significance. tlers in the were Agricultural activities stimulated in- characterized by an enthusiastic exploita- dustries utilizing agriculturally derived tion of the region's resources and the raw materials, not only food-processing creation of educational institutions. The industries such as meat slaughtering, territory's soil had a significant attrac- grain milling, cheese making, and can- tion for the early settlers. Seaboard ning, but derivative industries such as soils, never impressive for their fertility, tanning and soapmaking. With the were being rapidly depleted. The lands growth of slaughter houses around mid- to the west, even when forested, as in century, in line with expansion of live- Ohio, , and Wisconsin, were stock production and improvement in attractive and the rich prairies of In- preservation processes (canning, refriger- diana and became veritable mag- ation), large slaughtering centers began nets for farmers. The cultivation of to spread westward. became developed rapidly since it pro- such a famed pork packing center that it vided a cash crop wThich could be moved was referred to as "Porkopolis." Chi- to more densely settled regions on readily cago dominated meat packing later in available waterways which were begin- the century, especially after development ning to carry steamboat traffic. Wheat, of the refrigerator car by Gustavus Swift in unmilled form, kept well when shipped in the seventies. The packers became economically powerful, not only by taking Manuscript received July 16, 1976 and in advantage of available livestock and pro- revised form October 13, "1977 (#76-61). cessing it efficiently by disassembly line 2Presented at the Symposium on the History techniques, but by encouraging profiit- of Chemistry in Ohio sponsored by the Ohio Academy of Science at Columbus, Ohio, April able disposal of inedible by-products— 3, 1976. offal and bone into fertilizer, hides into 59 60 AARON J. IHDE Vol. 78 leather, tallow and waste into soap lence of the forests for lumber attracted a and candles and, in the twentieth cen- particularly exploitative class of entre- tury, glandular extracts into pharma- preneurs who, in the last part of the ceuticals (hormones). nineteenth century, moved in rapidly to Soap-boiling was originally a farm en- remove the forests; then moved on to the terprise utilizing waste household virgin timber in the . and potash produced from wood ashes. In various places and at various times In 1820, when James Gamble's family the forests served as a source of chemicals, immigrated from Ireland, he was ap- particularly potash and tanbark. Early prenticed to a local soapmaker in Cin- in the nineteenth century, alkalies for cinnati and in 1828 he started his own soapmaking and glassmaking were chron- business. His product was soon peddled ically in short supply. During much of by William Proctor, an English immi- the century small operators extracted grant who had learned candlemaking in potash from wood ashes for use locally for London and operated a candle works in soapmaking or for sale in markets as Cincinnati. The two men, who married distant as . Such operations were sisters, joined their business activities in never large in scale and seldom were they 1837, forming a company which steadily long lived. Nevertheless, substantial expanded by developing innovative prac- amounts of alkali were produced by such tices in production and merchandising. operations (Ihde and Conners 1955). They soon adopted the lime saponification Tanbark was another forest resource process invented by de Milly in France. which took on significance when leather When they later adopted Tilghman's production became important in the autoclave process, they were sued for Northwest. When farmers turned away patent infringement—the first lawsuit from wheat growing to concentrate on involving a patent of a chemical process. dairying and meat production, and as The suit, which ended in the Supreme animal slaughtering grew in importance, Court, upheld the concept of a chemical first in Cincinnati and later in process being patentable (Haynes 1954). and , hides became available and The extensive waterways in the terri- a substantial tanning industry developed tory, both rivers and lakes, figured promi- in those cities. Forests also supplied nently in economic expansion of the re- charcoal for the early metal extractive in- gion. The development of the steam- dustries but charcoal declined in im- boat during the first half of the century portance as a reducing agent when metal- •coincided with growth of the territory lurgical operations increased in magnitude ;and played a significant role in bringing and coke became the reductant of choice. immigrants and essential goods in, and Ultimately, the timber lands, now largely carrying produce out. Later, in the second growth and to some extent the second half of the century, growth of result of tree farming, provided pulpwood railroad lines stimulated further expan- for the paper industry. sion of commercial activities (Klingaman Minerals figured prominently in the and Vedder 1975). economic development of the Old North- At various times, the timber which west. Coalfields of the Allegheny Moun- grew luxuriantly in the northern tier of tains extended into Ohio and provided a states was a prime attraction but else- product suitable for metallurgical coke, where it was considered a nuisance. a factor in the ultimate development of Clearing of land for farming was back- and Youngstown as metal- breaking work and trees were generally lurgical centers. Coalfields were also hacked down and burned. Except for present in southern and central use in log cabins, out-buildings, and and . These deposits, fences, and occasionally for charcoal and while dirty and frequently high in sulfur, potash production, the trees were looked were important not only as fuels but as upon as an evil to be removed. Lack of industrial raw materials used in metal- trees on the prairies made those regions lurgy, for illuminating gas production, particularly attractive. In upper Michi- and in the chemical industry. The north- gan and Wisconsin, however, the excel- east quartile of Ohio developed into an Ohio J. Sci. CHEMISTRY IN THE OLD NORTHWEST 01 area of heavy industry, not only in discovered in and proximity to the shore but Wisconsin, and ultimately in . alongside the bank of the The northwest ore made the where the industry mirrored the develop- steel center of the nation after 1873 ment on the West Virginia side of the when the Edgar Thompson Steel Co. was river. The Chicago-Gary complex also incorporated there. The Carnegie Steel benefrtted from easy access to coal from Co. was incorporated in 1892 and in 1901 Indiana and Illinois. and the U.S. Steel Corp. was created by The southern tier of states was favored merging the major works. with substantial deposits of petroleum Iron deposits were recognized in the and natural gas. The oil deposits of area at the time that Ohio, exploited soon after the original Douglass Houghton, an 1829 graduate of development of the industry in western Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, began , made Cleveland an im- making geological surveys in Michigan portant base in the development of the after appointment as state geologist in Standard Oil complex. 1837. Before drowning in Lake Superior Geologically, a large part of the terri- cut short his career in 1845, Houghton tory had been overlain by an inland sea had mapped the rock salt springs and extending from eastern New York to wells which became the basis of the central Wisconsin. The inland sea was Michigan chemical industry and had responsible for several strata of limestone located various copper and iron deposits underlying these states and for the rock in the Upper Peninsula. At the time of salt deposits of New York, Ontario, his death, Houghton was serving as the Michigan and Ohio. These salt de- first professor of geology, mineralogy, posits figured prominently in a chemical and chemistry at the University of industry directed toward the production Michigan. Other mineral prospectors of alkalis, chlorine and bromine, related carried on from the foundations laid by salts, and metallic magnesium. The him. limestone deposits figured prominently, The Marquette Range, discovered by not only as a source of stone and quick- William A. Burt in 1844, was the first lime for the building trades, but as a major discovery in the area. It flux in the metallurgical industries. lay close to Lake Superior near the Metal ores played a significant part in present city of Marquette. The Meno- the industrial development of the region. minee Range was recognized in 1848, but Small deposits of iron ore were located it was across the state where transporta- in many parts of colonial America; those tion to a lake port was impractical until of Pennsylvania were particularly ex- the railroad made a connection to tensive. Deposits were worked accord- Marquette. A third major deposit, the ing to traditional procedures on a local , lay at the western end basis. Such iron working practices ex- of the Michigan peninsula and extended tended into the Northwest Territory as southwest ward into Wisconsin. All of settlement took place but were aban- these ore bodies were composed of hard doned when the small deposits of rich ore magnetite and siderite. They were mined became exhausted. Various temporary underground by traditional methods in- operations developed in Ohio, Michigan, troduced by Cornish miners who flocked and Wisconsin. They seldom developed to the copper and iron mines after mid- beyond simple operations which took care century. Transport from Lake Superior of local needs, since competitive iron was ports to Pittsburgh became practical by available from Europe and a large iron boat after 1855 when the U.S. govern- industry developed rapidly in Pittsburgh ment opened a lock and canal at Sault after 1810. Pittsburgh was the major Sainte Marie, making it possible for ore iron producing center by mid-nineteenth boats to move from Lake Superior into century; favorably located with respect by-passing the falls of the to limestone and coking coal, although St. Mary's River. The "Soo' locks and suffering from a shortage of nearby iron canals, substantially enlarged in 1881, ores. Rich and extensive ore fields were 1895-6, 1914-1919, and during World 62 AARON J. IHDE Vol. 78 War II made it possible to exploit the the local Indians to smelt the ore. A as a transportation system lead mining boom took place in the area for carrying rich but heavy iron ore from in the 1820's attracting immigrants from its source to Pittsburgh and other lower the South and East. Troubles with the lake metallurgical centers. U.S. Steel Indians slowed early activity but con- created a new steel center at Gary in clusion of the was fol- 1906. This took advantage of coal and lowed by rapid development. The sur- limestone deposits in Indiana and Illinois, face deposits were quickly exhausted and while reducing transport distance for ore it became necessary to go underground. and producing the steel near an expand- Timber for charcoal needed in smelting ing population center. was soon exhausted and operations be- The Michigan-Wisconsin ranges soon came marginal near mid-century. The took a minor rank to the Minnesota iron miners turned to farming, or left for more ranges, all in the northeastern part of the attractive mining activities elsewhere. state which had been a part of the North- Although zinc was associated with these west Territory. The most northerly lead deposits, it was not seriously ex- range, the Vermillion, opened in 1884 ploited before 1860. After the Civil with ore being hauled to Duluth by War a zinc boom occurred but this was rail and there transferred to ore boats. of short duration. The lead and zinc de- In 1890 the was dis- posits of the area took on marginal im- covered. Made up of soft hematites and portance, with mines operating vigorously limonites lying close to the surface, the in times of high prices (as in wartime) deposit was workable by open pit methods then closing down until the next price and soon became the major source of sup- escalation. ply for the steel producing centers. Copper, present in substantial quantity Still another Minnesota range, the Cay- in the of upper una, southwest of Duluth, began ship- Michigan, was scattered glacially through ments in 1911. the Mississippi Valley, some of it in the The Lake Superior ore deposits figured form of native copper. Early explorers prominently in the economic growth of were surprised to find the local Indians, the country. The fortuitous combina- a Paleolithic people, using copper arti- tion of rich iron ore resources, Great facts. These objects were made not by Lakes transportation to steelmaking cen- smelting copper ores but by manipulating ters on or near the southern shores, satis- pieces of native copper. The Keweenaw factory sources of coking coal and lime- deposits attracted Houghton's attention stone near the smelting centers, and a and federal mining permits were issued populous market in a growing nation as early as 1844. On the northern tip of figured in the rise of the country to world Keweenaw, the Cliff Mine was rich in power. Unfortunately, the destructive- native copper and the nearby Minnesota ness of two world wars saw the end of Mine yielded a 420-ton mass of copper these rich deposits. To be sure, lean metal at a depth of 150 feet. Removal ores known as ultimately be- of the latter was a problem which occu- came exploitable as a consequence of pied 20 miners more than a year since scientific innovation but at striking cost the block had to be laboriously cut into in terms of damage to the environment. small pieces. The Isle Royale lode, con- Other metal ores figured prominently, sisting mainly of copper sulfide ores near if not as spectacularly, in the develop- the present site of Houghton, required ment of the region. In fact, the first conventional techniques of underground mining boom was not associated with mining which attracted Cornish miners iron but with lead, needed for shot in the in significant numbers in 1852. opening of the west. Early explorers The Calumet Conglomerate attracted recognized outcrops of galena (lead sul- major capitalization from the East in fide) within the present boundaries of 1864 with the incorporation of the Calu- Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. These met Mining Co. and the Hecla Mining were exploited on a small scale from the Co. but the minerals proved difficult to seventeenth century when traders taught work and profits slow in coming. The Ohio J. Sci. CHEMISTRY IN THE OLD NORTHWEST two companies merged in 1871. One in- granted by Congress in the dependent company, the Tamarack, had Symmcs Purchase. Academic creations mined ore 2270 feet underground when were not limited to the state or to religious it was taken over by Calumet and Hccla denominations because municipalities also who followed the ore down more than a created local schools; most of which ulti- mile. These mines saw the introduction mately became part of the state system of numerous innovations in mining tech- of higher education. nology such as air compressors for opera- Although none of the states of the tion of rock drills, and the use of dyna- Northwest Territory matched Ohio in mite to break up rock masses. the creation of educational institutions, The ore of the area was not incxhaust- all of them created a substantial number able, however, and in time operations be- of colleges and universities before the end came marginal since they involved costly of the nineteenth century. A surprising underground operations in competition number of these schools achieved a high writh open pit mining in the western states level of distinction. While the original and in foreign countries. Processing in- objective of many of the colleges was novations such as flotation made the religious, they quickly broadened into mining of low quality ore profitable in various areas of learning and frequently time of good prices. Recently, promis- lost their denominational status. Start- ing ore deposits have been located in ing from lowly foundations, these schools Florence and Barron counties in upper gradually acquired distinguished facul- Wisconsin. ties and gained academic recognition The above account summarizes the among the nation's institutions of higher principal resources of the Old Northwest learning. This was true not only for and the nature of the activities toward state supported institutions but the pri- exploitation of these resources. Excel- vate colleges and universities as well. lent as the resources were, they were not Table 1 lists colleges and universities inexhaustable. Neverthless, they wTcre founded in the 5 states arising out of the generally treated as if they were. Northwest Territory. The table does not include all institutions of higher CREATION OF EDUCATIONAL learning but is restricted to those insti- INSTITUTIONS tutions whose chemistry program reached The settlers of the Northwest Territory sufficient distinction to be given approval showed a surprising enthusiasm for higher by the American Chemical Society's education. This is reflected in more than Committee on Professional Training. thirty colleges and universities founded While it may be argued that this cri- by 1851 (Hoover, 1946). Many of these terion overlooks schools which were once schools were denominational colleges, strong in chemistry but are strong no created for education of young men for longer, a concerted effort to uncover such the ministry. The large variety of de- cases has been unsuccessful and the cri- nominations reflects the diversity of teria for inclusion appear sound. The religious groups populating the region. larger schools introduced graduate pro- The settlers of the eastern part of the grams at the beginning of the twentieth Territory created in century and became outstanding graduate 1804, the year after the region was schools at the national level. Table 2 granted statehood. Settlers in Ohio con- indicates the rank of universities located tinued creating colleges during the next in the Old Northwest according to quality century—to the point that the state was of graduate education in chemical studies. frequently nicknamed the "Mother of There have been, since 1925, four major Colleges''. Most religious denominations rankings of this sort (the Hughes Study were represented besides the early public of 1928, the Keniston Study of 1959, the institutions. Ohio University at Athens Cartter Assessment of 1966, and the was funded out of proceeds derived from Roose-Anderson Rating of 1970). These two townships granted by Congress to four studies of graduate programs set as the . Miami University their principal objective the evaluation of at Oxford was similarlv created from a quality of graduate education in various 64 AARON J. IHDE Vol. 78

TABLE 1 Colleges and Universities founded before 1900 (now approved by American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training).*

Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan Wisconsin

Ohio U, 1804a Miami U, 1809 U of Cincinnati, 1819 Indiana U, 1820a U of Michigan, 1817a Kenyon, 1824 Case Western Reserve, 1826° Oberlin, 1833 Wabash, 1832 Kalamazoo, 1833 Marietta, 1835 , 1837 DePauw, 1837 Knox, 1837 Albion,1835 Ohio Wesleyan, 1842 Notre Dame, 1842 Baldwin-Wallace, 1845 Beloit, 1846 Wittenberg, 1845 Carroll, 1846 Mount Union, 1846 Earlham, 1847 Lawrence, 1847 U of Akron, 1850 U of Wis. Madison, 1849a Capital, 1850 Northwestern U, 1851 Ripon, 1851 Dayton, 1850 Monmouth, 1853 Hiram, 1850 Evansville, 1854 111. State U. Normal, 1857 Antioch, 1852 Butler U, 1855 Wake Forest, 1857 Mich. St. U, 1855b Valpariso, 1859 Wheaton, 1860 Wooster, 1866 Ind. State U, U. of Illinois, 1867a- b Hope, 1866 Marquette, 1864 Terre Haute, 1865d Ohio St. U, 1870b Purdue, 1869b Loyola, 1870 Wayne St. U, 1868 UW-Oshkosh, 1871b d U of Toledo, 1872 Southern Ill U, 1874 Calvin, 1876 U of , 1877 Cleveland State U, 1881 UW-Milwaukee,

Central State U, 1883 Mich. Tech. U, 1885 — John Carroll, 1886 Alma, 1886 — U of Chicago, 1891 Ill. Inst. Tech., 1892 Central Mich. U, 1892 — Northern Ill. U, 1895d — UW-Stevens Point, 1894d Bradley, 1897 — UW-Superior, 1896'1 DePaul, 1898 Northern Mich. U, 1899 —

*Amer. Chem. Soc. 1969. aOriginal university of the state. bLand grant college under Morrill Act of 1862. cCase Inst. of Technology (founded 1880) and Western Reserve U. (founded 1826) merged in 1966. dFounded as normal schools or teachers colleges, later raised to university status. learned disciplines. While such rankings CHEMISTRY IN THE COLLEGES should never be accepted as absolutes, Chemistry instruction in the early col- they can be taken as having comparative leges followed the pattern of such instruc- merit. The 1925 rating, published in tion in established institutions in the east. 1928, was fairly limited. Subsequent Scientific disciplines were usually taught rankings included larger numbers of by theologians. Since members of the schools and disciplines, and perhaps re- ministry were frequently the best edu- flect greater reliability, particularly the cated members of the community, they two most recent studies under the aus- appeared eminently qualified to offer in- pices of the American Council on Educa- struction in all fields of learning, including tion. A significant number of Old North- science. This pattern characterized in- west universities apparently have taken a struction in science in the denominational prominent place in graduate education in colleges well into and sometimes through chemical areas in the , a the nineteenth century. ranking perhaps surprisingly high, con- Exceptions are found in certain col- sidering that only 5 of the 50 states of leges where physicians were called upon the Union are represented. to offer instruction in the sciences. Such Ohio.]. Sci. CHEMISTRY IN THE OLD NORTHWEST 05

TABLE 2 these two masters. This pattern accele- Rank of NW Territory Universities in rated after mid-century with the found- ratings of graduate education. ing of the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard and the Sheffield Scientific Chemistry School at Yale. The founding of the scientific schools reflected a new phe- University 1909 1904 1957 1925 nomenon characterizing American higher education—the appearance of German- Illinois 0 6 3 8 trained Ph.D.'s (Ihde 1964). Chicago 8* 9* 4 4 The German pattern of graduate edu- Wisconsin 8* 7* 5 13 cation in the universities had a profound Northwestern 14 14* 12* Purdue 15* 16* effect on American higher education Ohio State 17* 10* 10 14* after 1850. While a few German immi- Michigan 20* 19 14 12 grants were taking a prominent place in Indiana 20* 20* American science after 1850, the German Michigan State 24* Case Western universities attracted a steady flow of Reserve 30* American boys who sought a German Notre Dame 35* scientific education and returned to their Total ranked 38 28 1(5 15 homeland to follow educational and in- dustrial careers. The inflow of German- Biochemistry trained chemists was noticeable in the Old Northwest after 1850, particularly Wisconsin 5 4* after 1875. Illinois 16* 10 Beloit College was almost unique in Chicago 16* 17* Case Western America for the steady utilization of Reserve 19* 12* German Ph.D.'s from Gottingen after Michigan 23* 15* 1854 (Siegfried and Ihde 1953). Chem- Purdue 26* — istry was taught at Beloit by a succession Michigan State 28* — 30* — of four Gottingen Ph.D.'s from that date Indiana until 1920. Other schools in the Old Total ranked 32 26 Northwest also began to utilize German Chemical Engineering Ph.D.'s, or more frequently, American youth who had capped their education by Wisconsin 1 1* a year or two in Germany. A few ex- Illinois 6* 8 amples are: Frank Jewett, who studied at Michigan 8 6* Gottingen before becoming professor of Northwestern 11* 10* chemistry at Oberlin in 1880; Harvey W. Purdue 17 — Wiley, who spent several months in Ger- Total ranked 17 15 many before becoming the first chemistry professor at Purdue; William A. Noyes *Tied with at least one other school. of Illinois who worked with Baeyer in Munich in 1888-89; Lewis Kahlenberg medically trained science teachers were of Wisconsin who took his Ph.D. in commonplace in the chemistry depart- Leipzig in 1895 (Ihde and Schuette 1952); ments of the state universities from the and Henry A. Weber of Ohio State who beginning and they also began to appear studied with Liebig from 1866 to 1868 in the denominational colleges as the (McPherson 1931). century came to a close. By 1900 many colleges and universities Exceptions to the D.D. and M.D. sci- in the Old Northwest had at least one ence teachers appeared around mid- German trained Ph.D. on their chemistry century in the form of graduates of Ben- staff. Such professors were frequently jamin Silliman's science program at Yale research oriented and carried on a modest and that of Amos Eaton at Rensselaer research program. They were joined by Polytechnic Institute. Graduates of American Ph.D.'s who had taken their these schools tended to follow the meth- degree at Harvard, Columbia, Penn- ods of scientific instruction deriving from sylvania or Johns Hopkins where they 6G AARON J. IHDE Vol. 78 received their training under such Ger- he perfected a simple, rapid, and reliable man-trained Ph.D.'s as T. W. Richards, test for butterfat in milk, thereby laying C. F. Chandler, E. F. Smith, and Ira the foundations for reform in the market- Remsen. Consequently, it is no sur- ing of milk (Ihde 1971). Babcock was prise that the larger universities were also skeptical about traditional ideas re- undertaking graduate instruction in chem- garding the nutritive value of animal istry by the turn of the century and that feeds and encouraged his younger col- some of these institutions ultimately rose league, E. B. Hart, to undertake a study to a high level of distinction. of comparative values of cattle rations scientifically compounded from the parts CHEMISTRY IN AGRICULTURE of specific cereal crops. The famous Because of its strong agricultural base, single grain experiments at Wisconsin chemistry in the Northwest institutions laid important foundations toward the showed a strong orientation toward that recognition of trace nutrients in foods. field. This was reflected in rapid crea- E. V. McCollum and , tion of agricultural colleges following pas- younger associates of Hart in the single sage of the Morrill Act of 1862 and the grain experiments, went on to make im- establishment of agricultural experiment portant contributions in the development stations even before passage of the Hatch of the newer knowledge of . Act in 1887. While early agricultural McCollum introduced the use of white chemistry on the experimental farms was rats as test animals for studying the bio- directed toward practical problems such logical value of foodstuffs and thereby as quality of fertilizers and feeds, the recognized, independently but concur- agricultural stations quickly took on rently with others, the importance of greater significance when they turned trace nutrients in foods. McCollum their attention to basic research on plants (1964) recognized the presence of vitamin and animals. Rather than recounting A in butterfat and vitamin B in the general trends in agricultural research, a aqueous fraction of milk. Although few specific developments are emphasized McCollum left Wisconsin in 1917 to con- in the paragraphs which follow. tinue his career at Johns Hopkins, his When Harvey Wiley became professor pioneering studies were extended at Wis- of chemistry at Purdue he was also named consin by Hart, Steenbock, Elvehjem, State Chemist. Because of his strong and their students (McCollum 1957). interest in sugars and syrups he quickly Steenbock made an important break- recognized the widespread adulteration through in the early twenties when he of such foods. He left Purdue in 1883 recognized the conversion of naturally to become Chief of the Division of Chem- occurring sterols in foods into vitamin D istry in the U.S. Department of Agri- by irradiation with ultraviolet light. culture and extended his studies to purity Hart made important contributions to of foods in general and revealed the wide- the understanding of vitamin and mineral spread extent of adulteration. This metabolism and his former student, Con- aroused his deep concern for protective rad A. Elvehjem, made broad contribu- legislation to insure pure foods and drugs tions toward understanding mineral me- for the American public. Wiley's work, tabolism, the vitamin B complex, and even while at Purdue, was important for recognized nicotinic acid as the antipel- its emphasis on improvement of analyti- lagra factor. Related studies of animal cal procedures and shortly after going to nutrition took place in other midwest Washington he founded the Association agricultural stations and these studies, of Official Agricultural Chemists which although carried out by agricultural took leadership in developing reliable an- chemists, had important consequences for alytical procedures for agricultural ma- (Ihde and Becker 1971). terials. Somewhat in the same mold was the CHEMISTRY IN INDUSTRY early work of Stephen M. Babcock who The chemical industry showed unique joined the Wisconsin agricultural experi- developments in the region of the Old ment station in 1888. Within two years, Northwest with Ohio taking on particular Ohio J. Sci. CHEMISTRY IN THE OLD NORTHWEST (57 significance as the center for the industry. of brines. Dow's company was success- Substantial chemical industries also de- ful in marketing bromides in the face of veloped in Michigan and in the industrial German competition and gradually ex- complex surrounding Chicago and ex- panded into production of a broad range tending into . As in of inorganic halogen salts and halogen- the case of agricultural chemistry, it is ated organic chemicals. The Dow Chem- impossible in a short paper to do full ical Company later became important for justice to the history of chemical in- the electrolytic extraction of magnesium dustry in the region of the Old North- from brine and later from sea water, and west, so attention will again be focused played on important role in the commer- on a few substantial and unique develop- cialization of that metal. ments (Haynes 1949). Still another Ohio youth, Charles Ohio took on importance in the rapidly Martin Hall, had an important role in the developing petroleum industry. Sub- commercialization of aluminum. While stantial amounts of Ohio crude oil, how- a student at Oberlin College, Hall learned ever, were high in sulfur and the un- from Professor Jewett of Wohler's isola- pleasant odor and sulfurous fumes as- tion of aluminum in 1825. Jewett pointed sociated with kerosene produced from out that while aluminum was abundant such crude oil put Ohio petroleum pro- in the earth's crust, it was prohibitively ducts at a commercial disadvantage com- expensive to extract from its minerals. pared to those coming from Pennsylvania Following graduation, Hall undertook and later from midcontinent wells. A the preparation of aluminum by electroly- German immigrant, Herman Frasch, de- sis. Recognizing that aqueous solutions veloped procedures for desulfurizing oil of aluminum compounds fail to electro- by treatment with copper oxide. While lyze satisfactorily, Hall discovered that his process was first applied commercially aluminum oxide can be dissolved in to crude oils in Ontario, his invention melted cryolite (Na3AlCl). By utiliz- quickly attracted the attention of John ing carbon electrodes he was able to re- D. Rockefeller who hired him as a con- lease molten aluminum from the solu- sultant and obtained rights to the Frasch tion (Carr 1952). Hall encountered process. This made possible the large numerous difficulties before the process scale exploitation of high-sulfur crudes was successfully commercialized, par- from Ohio deposits. ticularly since Paul Herault discovered Herbert H. Dow became interested in the same process in France at approxi- the salt deposits of the region while mately the same time. Patent conflicts studying with Charles F. Mabery at Case were ultimately resolved by joint agree- Institute of Technology. Mabery, the ments and developmental research led to first professor of chemistry at Case, not successful commercial production; first only developed the chemistry depart- at Pittsburgh, then on a more substantial ment but gave attention to local in- scale at Niagara Falls where cheaper dustrial problems, particularly those of electricity was available. the petroleum industry. During his The development of the internal com- student years at Case, Dow recognized bustion engine and its use in the auto- the presence of bromine in brine from mobile led to rapid transformation of the certain salt wells and developed a process petroleum industry after the turn of the by which bromine might be released by century. Gasoline became the most val- electrolysis and aerated from the solution. uable fraction of crude oil while demand Soon after graduation he organized the for kerosene fell off as a result of ex- Canton Chemical Company for produc- pansion of lighting with coal gas and tion of bromides (Whitehead 1968). Al- also with electricity. Petroleum refin- though this business venture was un- eries found it difficult to keep up with profitable, Dow utilized his experience by demand for gasoline while kerosene stocks organzing a new firm at Midland, Michi- accumulated and remained unsold. Un- gan in 1890 where he slowly mastered the der these circumstances, interest devel- problems of producing alkalis, bromides, oped in increasing the yield of gasoline, and bleaching powder by the electrolysis hopefully at the expense of the kerosene AARON J. IHDE Vol. 78 fraction. William M. Burton, a chemist pool of talented scientists and engineers with the Standard Oil Company of In- qualified to bring about successful appli- diana, attacked the problem about 1909. cation of scientific knowledge. The set- He undertook the cracking of the large tlers of the region were unconsciously hydrocarbon molecules of the kerosene being farsighted in supporting the growth and fuel oil fractions by passing the oil of high quality education, rather than through an appropriate furnace under being content to exploit only the valuable high pressure. Under these conditions resources that brought them into the many of the larger molecules were split area. into fragments in the gasoline range. LITERATURE CITED Burton took out his first patent on the American Chemical Society 1969 Summary process in 1912. This research was fol- of activities of the Committee on Professional lowed by a sequence of improvements by Training. Chem. Eng. News. 48(14): 59-72. Standard Oil and other midwestern re- Boyd, T. A. 1957 Professional amateur. The biography of Charles Franklin Kettering. search groups as well. E. P. Dutton and Co., New York. 242 pp. Another attack on the gasoline prob- Caley, E. R. 1969 History of the department lem, begun around 1920, was aimed of chemistry. The Ohio State University, Columbus. toward improvement of the combustion Campbell, E. D. 1916 History of the chemi- characteristics of gasoline. The leader cal laboratory of the , in this research was Charles Kettering 1856-1916. University of Michigan, Ann of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories. Arbor. Carr, C. C. 1952 Alcoa. An American En- Kettering was joined by Thomas Mid- terprise. Rinchart and Co., New York. gley, Jr. who sought gasoline additives 292 pp. which would improve the burning char- Cartter, A. M. 1966 An assessment of quality acteristics of the fuel in internal com- in graduate education. American Council on bustion engines (Boyd 1957). In 1922 Education, Washington, DC. 131 pp. Haynes, W. 1949 American chemical indus- Midgley discovered the antiknock char- try, vol. 6. The Chemical Companies. D. acteristics of tetraethyllead. Production Van Nostrand Co., New York. 559 pp. of ethyl gasoline soon followed, the lead - 1954 American chemical industry, vol. compound being added as an antiknock 1. Background and beginnings, p. 150. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York. 512 pp. agent. Since the antiknock agent im- Hoover, T. N. 1941 The beginnings of higher proved the burning qualities of the gaso- education in the Northwest . line, it became possible to utilize engines Ohio Hist. 50: 244-207. with higher compression ratios; thus Hughes, R. 1928 Quality of graduate educa- tion in thirty-eight universities. American obtaining improved engine performance. Universities and Colleges. 1st Edition. The above examples of chemical inno- Amer. Council on Educ, Washington, DC. vation in agriculture and industry repre- Ihde, A. J. 1964 The development of modern chemistry. Harper and Row, New York. sent applications of scientific knowledge 851 pp. which have had important technological 1971 Stephen Moulton Babcock—Be- and social impacts. It is difficult to nevolent skeptic. Perspectives in the his- avoid the conclusion that the compara- tory of science and technology. H. D. Roller, ed. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, tive success of life in the Old Northwest pp. 271-282. was attributable in some degree to the and S. L. Becker 1971 Conflict of chemical activities in the region. The concepts in early vitamin studies. J. Hist. abundent natural resources, such as fer- Biol. 4: 1-33. tile soil, timber, and abundant minerals, and J. W. Conners 1955 Chemical in- dustry in early Wisconsin. Trans. Wis. would have made the region a reasonably Acad. Sci. Arts Letters. 44: 5-20. successful one in which to live in any and H. A. Schuette 1952 The early case. Through the application of chemi- days of chemistry at the Universitv of Wis- cal knowledge to agriculture and to consin. J. Chem". Educ. 29: 65-72. Keniston, H. 1959 Graduate study in the technology the natural endowments were arts and sciences at the University of Penn- markedly enhanced. Certainly the vig- sylvania. University of Pennsylvania Press, orous growth of scientific education in Philadelphia. the schools in the Old Northwest played Klingaman, D. C. and R. K. Vcdder, eds._ 1975 Essays in nineteenth century economic his- an important role in the economic de- tory. The Old Northwest. Ohio University velopment of the region by providing a Press, Athens. 356 pp. Ohio J. Sci. CHEMISTRY IN THE OLD NORTHWEST 69

McCollum, E. C. 1957 A history of nutrition. Roose, K. D. and C. j. Anderson 1970 A Hough ton Mifflin Co., Boston. 451 pp. rating of graduate programs. America_n 1964 From Kansas farm boy to sci- Council on Education, Washington, DC. entist. University of Kansas Press, Law- 115 pp. rence. 253 pp. Siegfried, R. and A. J. Hide 1953 Beginnings McPherson, W. 1931 History of the develop- of chemical education in Beloit, Lawrence ment of chemistry at Ohio State University. and Ripon Colleges. Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. J. Chem. Educ. 8: 640-651. Arts Letters. 42: 25-38. Miles, W. D., ed. 1976 American chemists Whitehead, D. 1968 The Dow story. The and chemical engineers. American Chemical History of the Dow Chemical Company. Society, Washington, DC. 544 pp. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. 298 pp.