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Cyrus Thomas (July 27, 1825–June 26, 1910) was a U.S. ethnologist and entomologist prominent in the late 19th century and noted for his studies of the natural history of the American West. ==Biography== Thomas was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, on July 27, 1825, and was of German and Irish descent. He was educated in village schools in the Kingsport area and an academy student at Jonesboro, Tennessee, as well as being self-educated. His mother hoped he would join the medical field, so he studied anatomy and physiology, but he was uninterested in medicine and took to the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1851. Between his study of medicine and law his father appointed him to a county seat to “take charge of some business.” From 1851 to 1854 Thomas served as county clerk of Jackson County. He later abandoned the practice of law, and in 1865 became superintendent of some Jackson County schools. This lasted only for a few years. Also during this time he entered the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, but was forced to abandon the ministry, as well, due to his “intense independent thought”. Four years later in 1869 he joined the expedition of Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, who had organized a science corps for the exploration of the Rocky Mountains. Thomas gained a strong interest in natural history, and in 1858 he founded the Illinois Natural History Society. In 1869 his professional scientific career began with his appointment as an assistant in entomology in the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories under Professor Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. Thomas was also the agricultural statistician and entomologist on the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, whose work supported the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872. In 1873 Thomas was appointed a professor of natural science at Southern Illinois University, which gave him a public forum for his ideas. He was later named to the United States Entomological Commission in 1877 to serve alongside Charles Valentine Riley and Alpheus Spring Packard; at the same time he accepted the position of chief entomologist for the State of Illinois. He kept his title of chief entomologist until 1882 after the commission came to an end in 1879. At this time, 1882, he was appointed archaeologist to the United States Bureau of American Ethnology. Thomas was married twice, having lost his first wife, Dorthy Logan, sister of Gen. John A. Logan. He remarried in 1865 to Viola L. Davis. With her, he fathered five girls and one boy, who died in infancy. Thomas died on June 26, 1910, and was buried in Frederick, Maryland. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cyrus Thomas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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