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Overview

Charles Henry Smyth Jr. (1866–1937) was a Hamilton alumnus who earned his Ph.B. from Hamilton in 1888 and returned almost immediately as a faculty member. By 1891 he held the Stone Professorship of Natural History and the chair in Geology and Mineralogy, making him one of the younger faculty appointments in the college’s history at that time. He held that chair continuously through at least the 1904–05 academic year, appearing in every catalog during that period under the same title and with the date of appointment consistently cited as 1891.

Smyth went on to a distinguished career in petrology and mineralogy. He left Hamilton sometime between 1905 and 1908; by the 1908–09 catalog he no longer appears on the faculty roster. He subsequently joined Cornell University, where he became a prominent figure in geological science. His brother Delos DeWolf Smyth (A.B. 1890) was also a Hamilton alumnus, and their father, General Charles H. Smyth of Clinton, N.Y., served as a Hamilton Trustee from 1893 onward and is noted in the 1908–09 catalog as “Trustee, Charles Henry Smyth, 1839–Jan.”

Relevance to Research

Smyth’s career illustrates the pattern by which Hamilton produced and then employed its own graduates as faculty in the late nineteenth century. His long tenure in the Stone Chair — the college’s endowed professorship in the natural sciences — makes him a significant figure in the history of Hamilton’s science curriculum during that era. The donation of books from the Field Columbian Museum to Hamilton’s library under his name, noted in the 1897–98 catalog, points to his professional connections in the broader scientific community.

Notes

• Earned Ph.B. from Hamilton College in 1888
• Listed “Ex-Gratia” among graduates in the 1890–91 catalog (Clinton, N.Y.)
• Appointed Stone Professor of Natural History and Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in 1891; held the position through at least 1904–05
• Title in early catalogs: “Stone Professor of Natural History, and Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, 1891”
• Credentials listed consistently as Ph.B. 1888 (Hamilton), Ph.D.
• Brother Delos DeWolf Smyth (A.B. 1890) also a Hamilton alumnus
• Father, General Charles H. Smyth of Clinton, served as Hamilton Trustee from 1893
• The Field Columbian Museum donated books to Hamilton’s library in association with Prof. C. H. Smyth (noted in 1897–98 catalog)
• No longer listed on the faculty in the 1908–09 catalog; left Hamilton between 1905 and 1908
• Died 1937; the 1907 Hamilton Life obituary article about his brother Frederick DeWolf Smyth (‘82) mentions the family connection
• His son Frederick Hastings Smyth appears on Hamilton honor rolls in the 1907–08 catalog period

Related Sources

• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1890-91 — listed among graduates Ex-Gratia, Clinton
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1891-92 — first listing as Stone Professor of Natural History and Geology/Mineralogy, 1891
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1892-93 — listed as Stone Professor of Natural History and Geology/Mineralogy
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1895-96 — listed as Stone Professor of Geology and Mineralogy
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1896-97 — listed as Stone Professor of Geology and Mineralogy
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1897-98 — listed as Stone Professor; Field Columbian Museum books donated in his name
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1899-1900 — listed as Stone Professor of Geology and Mineralogy
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1900-01 — listed as Stone Professor of Geology and Mineralogy
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1902-03 — listed as Stone Professor
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1903-04 — listed as Stone Professor of Geology and Mineralogy
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1904-05 — listed as Stone Professor of Geology and Mineralogy; father Charles H. Smyth listed as Trustee from 1893
• yhm-arc-pub-cat-1908-09 — no longer listed as professor; father listed as deceased Trustee; Frederick Hastings Smyth on honor rolls
• Hamilton-Life-1907-05-04 — obituary for his brother Frederick DeWolf Smyth (‘82) mentions the Smyth family of Clinton

Related Topics

• curriculum-and-academic-departments — held the Stone Chair in Natural Sciences 1891–c.1907
• early-campus-and-buildings-pre-1922 — active faculty during this era
• course-catalogs-collection — appears in catalogs 1890–1908

Related Entities

• albert-huntington-chester — colleague in natural sciences; Chester held the Childs Chair in Chemistry and Mineralogy during overlapping years