Increase A. Lapham

Increase Allen Lapham (March 7, 1811 – September 14, 1875)^[1] was an American author, scientist, and naturalist, whose work focused primarily on the what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin.^[2][3] He made maps of the area and published numerous books on the archaeology, biology, and geology of the region, and discovered both the Panther Intaglio Effigy Mound and Milwaukee Formation. He founded the Wisconsin Natural History Association, and served as the state's Chief Geologist for two years. He also lobbied Congress and the Smithsonian Institution to establish an agency to predict the weather around the Great Lakes and this became the National Weather Service.

Lapham examining a meteorite which had fallen in Wisconsin in 1868

Biography

 

The bivalve Nuculites laphami (Cleland, 1911) from the Milwaukee Formation, Middle Devonian, Wisconsin.

Born in Palmyra, New York, his family moved to Pennsylvania, back to New York, to Ohio then to Louisville, Kentucky (1827–1830) then back to Ohio while his father, Seneca Lapham, worked on the canals in various locations. Lapham was of entirely English ancestry, all of which had been in what is now the United States since the early 1600s. His ancestors were among the first English colonists to establish Rhode Island.^[4] He displayed a talent for scientific observation early on while working on the canals and their locks, producing drawings that he could sell at the age of thirteen.

In July 1836, Lapham moved to Kilbourntown (which soon incorporated into the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and worked closely with Byron Kilbourn in his business and development endeavors.^[5] The two had worked together previously on the Miami Canal and Lapham considered him a loyal friend and mentor. Before the end of the year, Lapham had published a Catalogue of Plants and Shells, Found in the vicinity of Milwaukee, on the West Side of Lake Michigan, perhaps the first scientific work published west of the Great Lakes.

In 1848,^[6] Lapham founded the Wisconsin Natural History Association, a predecessor of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters,^[7] of which he also was a charter member.

Many of his works and early maps were used for various civil projects such as canal and railroad development. In 1844 Lapham published the first substantial book on the geography of the Wisconsin Territory. His first map of Wisconsin was made in 1846.^[8] He published many more papers and books through his life, particularly on geology, archaeology and history, and flora and fauna of Wisconsin, including publication by the Smithsonian Institution.^[9]

In 1850, he discovered the Panther Intaglio Effigy Mound, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[10]

Lapham was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1853,^[11] and he was Chief Geologist of the State of Wisconsin from 1873 to 1875.^[12] He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1874.^[13]

Lapham was one of the first people to recognize the cement potential of certain rock strata seen along the banks of the Milwaukee River. Those strata, now known as belonging to the Milwaukee Formation, were later mined for high quality natural hydraulic cement. Milwaukee thus went on to become the country's leading producer of natural hydraulic cement from 1876 to 1910.^[12]

He was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.^[1]

Honors

Lapham is considered "Wisconsin's first great scientist"^[14] and the "Father of the U.S Weather Service,"^[15][16] based upon his lobbying to Congress and the Smithsonian Institution to create such an agency to forecast storms on the Great Lakes and both coasts.^[17] When the agency was created through the U.S. Secretary of War, Lapham made the first such accurate Great Lakes storm warning from Chicago.^[18]

Since his death, numerous landmarks throughout the southeastern Wisconsin area have been named after him, including Lapham Peak, the highest point in Waukesha County, Wisconsin,^[19] a major University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee building,^[20] and streets.^[21] In Madison, Wisconsin, he currently has an elementary school named after him.^[22][23]

A genus of North American plants, Laphamia,^[24] was named for him by Asa Gray.^[25] Several species of invertebrates from the Paleozoic rocks of Wisconsin, such as Nuculites laphami (Cleland, 1911)^[12] and Ekwanoscutellum laphami (Whitfield, 1877),^[26] were also named in honor of him. Certain markings found on iron meteors were designated by J. Lawrence Smith^[27] as Laphamite markings.^[28] A formerly existing glacial lake was provisionally named Lake Lapham.^[29] The Wisconsin Archeological Society awards the Lapham Research Medal,^[30] first doing so in 1926.^[31] The U.S. Navy named a ship SS Increase A. Lapham during World War II.^[32] The University of Wisconsin has an Increase A. Lapham Professorship.^[33] Lapham was inducted in 1992 into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame^[34] and in 2003 into the Wisconsin Forestry Hall of Fame.^[35]

The centennial of Lapham's birth was celebrated in 1911.^[36] In 2011, celebration of the bicentennial was planned, including an Increase A. Lapham Day at Aztalan State Park.^[37]

Lapham Junction (44°17′51″N 90°28′41″W / 44.29750°N 90.47806°W / 44.29750; -90.47806) in Knapp, Jackson County, Wisconsin is now defunct railroad junction on the Goodyear branch of the Milwaukee Road which branch ran to Zeda, where lumbering operations took place,^[38][39] and was named for Lapham.^[40]

Selected works

Some works of Increase A. Lapham:

Title	Date
Notice of the Louisville and Shipping sport Canal and of the Geology of the vicinity	1828	^[41]
A Catalogue of Plants & Shells, Found in the Vicinity of Milwaukee, on the West Side of Lake Michigan	1836	^[42]
A Geographical and Topographical Description of Wisconsin	1844	^[43]
Wisconsin: its geography and topography, history, geology, and mineralogy	1846	^[44]
Fauna and Flora of Wisconsin	1852	^[45]
The Antiquities of Wisconsin	1855	^[46]
On the Man-shaped Mounds of Wisconsin	1859	^[47]
Opening an Ancient Mound Near Madison, Wisconsin	1860	^[48]
Geological Map of Wisconsin	1855	^[49]
Report on the Disastrous Effects of the Destruction of Forest Trees	1867	^[50]
New Geological Map of Wisconsin	1869	^[51]
Oconomowoc and other Small Lakes of Wisconsin	1876	^[52]

See also

• Carte de visite
• Fox–Wisconsin Waterway
• Lapham Memorial
• Soldiers' Home Reef

References

1. "Increase A. Lapham born March 7, 1811 died Sept. 14, 1875.", Find A Grave Photo. Accessed October 24, 2010.
2. Hoy, P. R. Increase A. Lapham, LL. D., Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. v. 3, 1876, pp. 264–267. (copy) (copy)
3. Quaife, Milo M. Increase Allen Lapham, First Scholar of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Magazine of History, v. 1, n. 1, September 1917, pp. 3–15. (copy) (copy) (copy)
4. Graham Parker Hawks, Increase A. Lapham, Wisconsin's first scientist (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1960)^{[page needed]}
5. Barquist, Barbara; Barquist, David (1987). "The Beginning". In Haley, Leroy (ed.). The Summit of Oconomowoc: 150 Years of Summit Town. Summit History Group. p. 9.
6. Constitution of the Natural History Association of Wisconsin, 1848. Accessed October 20, 2010.
7. Shorger, A. W. The Wisconsin Natural History Association. Wisconsin Magazine of History, v. 31, n. 2, December 1947, pp. 168–177.
8. Smith, Alice E. Two Wisconsin Map Makers. The Wisconsin Magazine of History, v. 29, n. 4, June 1946, pp. 402–406.
9. Winsor, Justin. Narrative and critical history of America, v. 1, 1889, p. 400. (copy) (copy)
10. "Panther Intaglio". Landmark Hunter.com. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
11. American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
12. Gass, Kenneth C.; Kluessendorf, Joanne; Mikulic, Donald G.; Brett, Carlton E. (2019). Fossils of the Milwaukee Formation: A Diverse Middle Devonian Biota from Wisconsin, USA. Manchester, UK: Siri Scientific Press. ISBN 978-0-9957496-7-2.
13. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
14. Janik, Erika, Citizen Scientist – Wisconsin's First Renaissance Man, Increase A. Lapham Merits Renown... Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine, February 2007.
15. Hintz, Martin. Hiking Wisconsin. Human Kinetics, 1997, p. 159. ISBN 0-88011-567-X
16. "206th Birthday of Increase Lapham, Father of the National Weather Service". www.weather.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
17. Miller, Eric R. New light on the beginnings of the Weather Bureau from the papers of Increase A. Lapham. Monthly Weather Review, v. 59, iss. 2, February 1931, pp. 65–70.
18. First Official Weather Warning in the United States, November 8, 1870. Accessed October 10, 2010.
19. McGrath, Wm. Chad. Great Wisconsin Walks: 45 Strolls, Rambles, Hikes, and Treks. Trail Books, 1997, p. 108.
20. UWM Campus Maps, Lapham Hall Profile (Virtual Tour) Archived August 5, 2012, at archive.today. Accessed October 10, 2010.
21. Baehr, Carl & Baehr, Ellen. Milwaukee Streets: The Stories Behind Their Names. Wisconsin: Cream City Press, 1995, pp. 149–150. ISBN 0-9640204-4-0
22. Heggland, Timothy F. and Rankin, Katherine H. The Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood: A Walking Tour July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Madison Landmarks Commission, 1997, p. 35.
23. Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at its Fifty-Second Annual Meeting, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1905, p. 35.
24. Meehan, Thomas, Horticulture at Milwaukee, The Gardener's Monthly, v. 12, n. 2, 1870, p. 52.
25. "A Cabinet of Natural History": The UW-Madison Herbarium's Sesquicentennial, 1849–1999, Wisconsin Academy Review, v. 45, iss. 2, 1999, p. 31. ISSN 0512-1175
26. Bergland, Martha; Hayes, Paul G. (2014). Studying Wisconsin: The life of Increase A. Lapham, early chronicler of plants, rocks, rivers, mounds and all things Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Society Press. ISBN 978-0-87020-648-1.
27. Smith, J. Lawrence A New Meteoric Iron—"The Wisconsin Meteorites"—with some remarks on the Widmannstättan Figures. American Journal of Science and Arts, v. 47 (97), n. 140, March 1869, pp. 271–272. (copy)
28. Farrington, Oliver C. Handbook and Catalogue of the Meteorite Collection., Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, pub. 3, Geological Series, v. 1, n. 1, August 1895, pl. 2, fig. 1.
29. Edwards, Ira. Glacial Lake Lapham a Preliminary Announcement, Year Book of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee 1921, v. 1, July 1922, pp. 94–99.
30. Increase A. Lapham Award, Society Awards and Grants April 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Wisconsin Archeological Society. Accessed October 20, 2010.
31. Barret, S. A. The Lapham Research Medal, American Anthropologist, v. 28, iss. 3, 1926, pp. 576–577. doi:10.1525/aa.1926.28.3.02a00180
32. Alkes (SS Increase A. Lapham), Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Accessed October 12, 2010.
33. Memorial Resolution of the Faculty of the University of Wisconsin—Madison June 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, April 7, 2008. Accessed October 30, 2010.
34. Increase A. Lapham, Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame, inducted 1992. Accessed April 19, 2011.
35. Increase A. Lapham, 2003 Inductee March 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Wisconsin Forestry Hall of Fame. Accessed October 12, 2010.
36. The Dr. Lapham Centennial, The Milwaukee Sentinel, March 12, 1911, part 3, p. 4.
37. Nurre, Rob. Increase A. Lapham's Legacy and the Wisconsin Archeological Society^{[permanent dead link]}, WisArch News, v. 11 n. 1, Spring 2011, pp. 5–6.
38. "Ghostly post: The vanished logging post offices of Goodyear and McKenna".
39. "Poor's Manual of Railroads". H.V. & H.W. Poor. September 29, 1891 – via Google Books.
40. Callary, Edward (2016). Place Names of Wisconsin. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-299-30964-0.
41. Lapham, Increase A. Notice of the Louisville and Shipping sport Canal and of the Geology of the vicinity, American Journal of Science, v. 14, 1828, pp. 65–69.
42. Legler, Henry Eduard (1904). "Early Wisconsin Imprints: A Preliminary Essay". Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at Its Fifty-first Annual Meeting: 118–138.
43. Lapham, Increase A. A geographical and topographical description of Wisconsin. Milwaukee: P. C. Hale, 1844.
44. Lapham, Increase A. Wisconsin: its geography and topography, history, geology, and mineralogy. Milwaukee: I. A. Hopkins, 1846. (copy) (copy) (copy)
45. Lapham, Increase A. Fauna and flora of Wisconsin, Transactions of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, v. 2, 1852, pp. 337–419. (copy) (copy) (copy)
46. Lapham, I. A. The Antiquities of Wisconsin, as surveyed and described by I. A. Lapham, Civil Engineer, etc, on behalf of the American Antiquarian Society. Washington, D. C.: The Smithsonian Institution, June 1855. (copy) (copy)
47. Lapham, I. A. On the Man-shaped Mounds of Wisconsin. Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for the years 1857 and 1858, v. 4, 1859, pp. 365–368. (copy)
48. Lapham, I. A. Opening an Ancient Mound Near Madison, Wisconsin. Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, January 2, 1860. Reprinted in the Wisconsin Archeologist, v. 14, n. 3, September 1915, pp. 85–87.
49. Lapham, I. A. A Geological Map of Wisconsin, 1855. Great Lakes Maps exhibit of the Wisconsin's Water Library. Accessed October 26, 2010.
50. Lapham, I. A., J. G. Knapp, and H. Crocker, Report on the disastrous effects of the destruction of forest trees, now going on so rapidly in the state of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.: Atwood & Rublee, state printers, 1867. (copy) (copy)
51. Lapham, I. A. Geologic map of Wisconsin 1869. UWM Libraries Digital Collections, American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection. Accessed April 24, 2011.
52. Lapham, I. A. Oconomowoc Lake, and Other Small Lakes of Wisconsin, Considered with Reference to Their Capacity for Fish-Production, Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. v. 3, 1876, pp. 31–36. (copy) (copy)
53. International Plant Names Index.  Lapham.

• Hawks, Graham P. (1960) Increase A. Lapham, Wisconsin's first scientist. University of Wisconsin—Madison.
• Thomas, Samuel W. & Conner, Eugene H. (1973) . George Rogers Clark Press.
• Berquist, Goodwin & Bowers, Paul C., Jr. (2001) Byron Kilbourn and the Development of Milwaukee. Milwaukee County Historical Society. ISBN 0-938076-15-9

Further reading

• Lapham, Mary J. (January 1902). "Dr. Increase A. Lapham". Wisconsin Archeologist. Original Series. 1 (2): 32–34.
• White, W. B. (January 1933). "Eighty Years After Lapham". Wisconsin Archeologist. New Series. 12 (2): 48–54.
• Nurre, Rob (Spring 2011). . Wisconsin People & Ideas. 57 (2). Archived from the original on July 28, 2011.

External links

General

• Increase A. Lapham, 1836–1990, collection in the manuscript collection of the Milwaukee County Historical Society
• Increase A. Lapham Papers, 1825–1930, in the archive and Topics in Wisconsin History at the Wisconsin Historical Society
• Increase A. Lapham, Geologist, article in The Wisconsin Archeologist, 1936
• Increase A. Lapham and the Mapping of Wisconsin, article in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, 1985
• Lapham Peak marker from 1995; Lapham Peak marker from 1988 (with original 1916 marker)

Works

• The Antiquities of Wisconsin, Increase A. Lapham, 1855 – University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries
• A Geographical and Topographical Description of Wisconsin... (Milwaukee: P.C. Hale, 1844) online from the Wisconsin Historical Society
• Report on the Disastrous Effects of the Destruction of Forest Trees ... (Madison, Wis.: Atwood & Rublee, 1867) online from the Wisconsin Historical Society
• Selected letters on Indian Mounds, 1846–1852 Unpublished manuscripts online from the Wisconsin Historical Society
• Works by or about Increase A. Lapham in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Maps

• Milwaukee and Wisconsin maps at the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL) collection at UWM
• 1865, 1866, 1868, 1869 maps prepared for the Legislative Manual of Wisconsin
• Map Tracking a Tornado, 1857 at the Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) and note
• Map of Milwaukee, 1852 at the Harvard University Library