Box 1, Folder 1: Autobiographies

Milwaukee May 16th 1859

Dear Sir

In compliance with your request, I will state that I, Increas A. Lapham, the Engineer, Botanist, Geologist, Vice President of the St. Historical Society, a member of various Antiquarian & Natural History Societies both in this country and in Europe, &c &c &c, was born third month (March) 7th, 1811 in Palmyra, Ontario (now Wayne) County New York. I am one of the sons of Seneca Lapham who during my youthful days was a contractor in various canals of N. York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Ohio, but afterwards a distinguished agriculturalist of Champaign County, Ohio. He was employed in the construction of the Black River Improvement, and of the Grand Erie Canal of N. York - The Schuylkill canal of Pennsylvania - The Louisville canal of Kentucky and the Miami and Ohio canals of Ohio. He superintended the building of the Lock between Lyons & Clyde - made the Ironwork, and ofne of the arches of the (first) Aqueduct at Rochester and the woodwork of the Locks at Lockport N. York. It was at this latter place in 1825 that I commenced the business of engineering by carrying the measuring rod for my older brother Darius. It was here also among the locks of the 'mountain ridge' that I acquired my first lessons in Mineralogy & Geology not from books but from observation. Quite a lucrative business was carried on at this early day in preparing plans of the 'Combined & Double Locks' which were sold to passing strangers, & they are now scattered far & wide over the country. In June 1826, I assisted Mr. Alfred Barrett and my brother in laying and estimating a road to be constructed down the steep rocky bank of the Niagara, a short distance below the Falls, on the Canadian side; and was employed for a brief pen...

...Marion Butler - the Historian of that state. The years 1827, 1828, and most of 1829 found me engineering on the canal around the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville. Here I fortunately had opportunities to pursue my studies and to make observations on the climate, geology, botany of the country. It was here in 1827 (aged 16) that I wrote my first scientific essay being a Notice of the Louisville Canal and the Geology of the Vicinity with plans, a map, geological sections &c.' which was published in Silliman's Journal of Science (1st series vol 14) of that year. In 1830, 31, 32, I was employed on the Ohio canal, chiefly at Portsmouth on the Ohio River. The years 1833, 34, 35 were passed fulfilling the duties of Scretary of the Board of Canal Commissioners at Columbus. This office afforded me more leisure to be devoted to scientific inquiries and pursuits. It was here that my Herbarium (now numbering about 8000 species) was commenced. I was elected an office in the Historical & Pil. Society of Ohio, since transferred to Cincinnati. It was in some measure through my influence that a resolution was adopted by the Legislature of Ohio appointing a committee to report on the subject of a Geological survey of that state. The committee consisted of Dr. I.P. Hildreth, Dr. John Locke, Dr. J.S. Roldell and myself. But my duties under this appointment were cut short by the determination to make the newly founded city of Milwaukee in the ...

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...then unorganized Territory of Wisconsin my future permanent home. On the first of July 1836 I arrived at this place having been carried around the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan and by Chicago occupying no less than ten days of steamboat navigation from Detroit to Milwaukee. Our city then numbered perhaps a dozen houses. The law of Congress organizing the territory took effect on the fifth day of the month. From that time to the present your studies in relation to the history of Wisconsin must have made you familiar with what I have done towards building up this now great state, and particularly our city of Milwaukee; you are doubtless familiar with the effects in regard to my efforts in former times towards the promotion of public schools, colleges, scientific and literary associations &c. &c. The 'Lapham's Wisconsin' 1844 and its second edition (1846) was of course out of date, and out of print had no little influence in directing attention of intelligent men to our state. Many have told me that they got their first clear accurate information from that work and that they were thus enabled to decide upon an emigration hither. My published maps of the state renewed almost as unusually have kept the people informed of the geography of Wisconsin; and it has been remarked that the people of our state are better posted in the details of the geography of their own state than are those of any other, and for this they are largely indebted to me or at least to my map and books. No citizen of Milwaukee, who has anything to do with real estate can get along without my map of the city. In 1855 I published a geological map of the state, much of the information on which , especially in the eastern part of the state laid down from my own personal observation...

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...made without fee or reward. This map has been largely distributed among scientific men, societies, & libraries in Europe & America, and has done much towards making our mineral resources favorably known to the world. But perhaps my most elaborate work is that on the 'Antiquities of Wisconsin' published in the __volume of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge with 55 quarto plates. This work you know all about. Many of the ancient works there represented are now injured or destroyed by the progress of [improvement?] and all knowledge of them would soon have been lost forever, but for this work of mine! It was in view of my contributions to the Transactions of the Wisconsin State Ag Society that a writer in Silliman's journal made this remark - 'Both to the matter which contain and the manner in which they are edited & printed, the legl trans. of the young state of Wisconsin compare most favorably with those of any of the older states. The communications, which make up a large part of the volumes are of a better, more correct scientific, and truly practical character than those which are generally met with in such publications, where the amount of chaff is apt to be grossly disproportianate to the grain.' My observations on the climate have all been furnished to the Smithsonian Institution and go far towards making known the comparative advantages of our state in this respect. They were furnished also to Mr. Blodgett and were used in making up his Climatology of the U. States. I was the first to decide from careful observations that there was a slight lunar tide on L. Mich. a tide which is so slight that it can only be detected by very numerous observations, and by deducing the mean average for long periods . These series of observations show other laws regulating...

...the fluctuation of the level of the Lake which I have never yet made known to the world. Very many of the scientific publications not excepting Agassiz's great work on the Natural History of the United States as founded in part upon contributions from our favorite State of Wis. for which acknowledgements are usually made to me. It must be remembered that all my services thus rendered have been almost without compensation; there being very little disposition on the part of public authorities to extend the aid of the government funds to the promotion of such object, even when it be shown that the public are directly benefitted. A large share of my time has also been devoted gratuitously for the benefit of my more immediate neighbors, by performing the duties of Register of Claims (upon the Goverment lands before the land sale); school commissioners; trustee of town, Alder of the city; President of the Female College; director of the Y. Men's Association &c &c &c.

Very truly yours, I.A. Lapham

Lyman C. Draper Esqur.