George Getz Shumard

George Getz Shumard (1823–1867) was an American geologist and surgeon.

Early life

George Getz Shumard was born on January 10, 1823 in Burlington, New Jersey. His father was John Shumard and his mother, Ann Catherine (Getz) Shumard. His brother, Benjamin Franklin Shumard (1820–1869), went on to serve as the first state geologist of Texas.

He graduated from medical school in Louisville, Kentucky.

Career

He moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he practiced as a surgeon. At the same time, he served as an assistant geologist to his brother and much of North and West Texas.

Together with Randolph B. Marcy (1812–1887) and George B. McClellan (1826–1885), he explored the Red River of the South in 1852. He kept a diary, which focused on the geology of the Northern plains from Fort Belknap in Young County, Texas to the Llano Estacado in the Texas Panhandle. His diary, together with a report on paleontology in the region, was presented to President Franklin Pierce (1804–1869), who served as the 14th President of the United States from 1853 to 1857. In 1858, it would appear in the Transactions of the Saint Louis Academy of Sciences. Several decades later, in 1886, it was published in its entirety by Hamilton P. Bee (1822–1897), who served as Texas State Commissioner.

He took part in several further explorations. In 1854, together with Marcy, he explored the Wichita River and the Brazos River. A year later, in 1855, together with John Pope (1822–1892), he travelled from Indianola to San Antonio, on to Fort Clark, up the Devil's River, up the Pecos River to Delaware Creek, and west to the Mimbres Mountains in New Mexico. From 1858 to 1861, he served as Assistant State Geologist for the Texas state geological survey, working on the Red River of the South.

He corresponded with pioneer explorer Gideon Lincecum (1793–1874), who gave a bottle of mustang wine as well as its recipe to thank Shumard for sending him a copy of his pamphlet entitled, Notice of Fossils from the Permian Strata of Texas to New Mexico.

In 1861, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he served as Ohio State Surgeon until his death.

Personal life

He married Isabella Clark Atkinson in 1859. They had two children.

Death

He died of general paralysis on September 29, 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

• The Shumard Mountain (a.k.a. Shumard Peak), in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas, is named in his honor.