Truman H. Aldrich
Encyclopedia
Truman Heminway Aldrich was a civil engineer, a mining company executive, and a paleontologist, and briefly served in the United States House of Representatives
and as Postmaster
of Birmingham.
in Troy, New York
. He graduated in 1869 with a degree in mining and civil engineering
and took a job with the railroads in New York and New Jersey. In 1870 he married Anna Morrison of Newark.
In 1872, Aldrich became a partner in a banking enterprise in Selma, Alabama
. While in the region, he investigated the existing coal-mining operations at Montevallo
and around the Cahaba coalfield. The next year he secured a lease on the Montevallo coal mines and set to work extracting coal that summer. He purchased the mines outright in 1875 and named the surrounding settlement Aldrich, leasing the operation to his younger brother William
while he prospected for new seams. He incorporated the Jefferson Coal Company in the town of Morris
, from which he supplied fuel for the first successful coke-fired furnace in the Birmingham District
, helping to establish the area as a center of iron and steel production.
In 1881 Aldrich founded the Cahaba Coal Company in Bibb County
. After building a railroad connector, the company laid out a "model community" on the bank of Caffee Creek. After seeing a "ton block" of coal brought from the mine, Aldrich named the town Blocton
. Blocton coal earned a reputation as an efficient fuel for steam locomotives and the profitable company embarked on a period of great expansion. Aldrich advertised widely for miners who arrived from all over the United States, as well as Western and Central Europe. By the summer of 1890 over 3,600 people were residents of Blocton and products from the companies' mines and overs were being sold to customers throughout the Southeast and parts of Latin America
.
In addition to his many business interests, Aldrich pursued a lifelong fascination with shell collecting, eventually amassing one of the largest amateur collections of his time, partly by purchase and partly by collecting in person. In the 1890s he joined a "Shell Syndicate" to support naturalists Herbert Huntington Smith
and Amelia W. (Daisy) Smith, who collected freshwater and terrestrial mollusks in Alabama and Georgia. State Geologist Eugene Allen Smith encouraged Aldrich to concentrate his efforts in the Tertiary paleontology
of the Coastal Plain, often sending him material to identify, and Aldrich collected thousands of fossils from now-classic sites along the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, such as Claiborne. He contributed an article to Bulletin 1 of the Geological Survey of Alabama on the state's Eocene fossil record, including nine plates illustrating new species. His collection of modern shells is now in the Florida Museum of Natural History
in Gainesville, and his fossil shells are in the Geological Survey of Alabama Paleontological Collection and the Alabama Museum of Natural History
.
Aldrich also supplied information on the coal fields he had surveyed to John Witherspoon Dubose and to Squire's Report on the Cahaba Coal Field published by the Geological Survey of Alabama in 1890.
. Aldrich became a second vice-president and general manager for TCI. As an executive of that company he secured investments that helped TCI survive the depression of 1893, including a contribution of grain and flour from B. B. Comer
. He moved his residence from Blocton to Birmingham.
In 1896 Aldrich secured a nomination to the 54th United States Congress
by contesting the election of Oscar W. Underwood. As a Republican in a largely Democratic state, Aldrich served for less than a year before being defeated by Underwood in the 1896 election. He returned to the coal business as president of the Cahaba Southern Mining Company, which operated mines at Hargrove in Bibb County. In 1899 be became a vice-president of the Birmingham Machinery and Foundry Company and, two years later, was named the acting president of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company. He also opened the Virginia mines, which were the site of a tragic explosion in 1905 in Hueytown, Alabama that killed over 100 miners.
In 1902 Aldrich joined his son in a prospecting venture in Tallapoosa County
called the Hillabee Gold Company. In 1905 he bought the Montevallo Mining Company back and served until 1910 as its president. In 1911 President William Howard Taft
, who had been a neighbor in Cincinnati, Ohio, appointed him as Postmaster of Birmingham.
Aldrich's paleontological hobby became his career in later life, when Eugene Allen Smith appointed him as Curator of Paleontology of the Alabama Museum of Natural History. He donated large collections of Southeastern fossils, many from sites that are no longer exposed today. Under Herbert and Daisy Smith, who were hired in 1909, the Museum continued his species-based cataloging system for fossils and Aldrich continued to write short articles on Tertiary mollusks. His research into the area's paleontology earned him wide esteem and he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Alabama
. He described over 200 species.
In 1930, the octogenarian Aldrich named new ichnogenera of fossil footprints that were discovered in a University of Alabama coalmine in Walker County, Alabama
. Although his descriptions were brief, the well-reproduced photographic plates brought this work to renewed attention when similar trackways were discovered in 1999 at the nearby Union Chapel Mine (now the Stephen C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site).
E. A. Smith was a close friend of T. H. Aldrich, and named one of his sons Truman Aldrich Smith in his honor. J.H. Blake was also a close friend of Aldrich and named his only son Truman Aldrich Blake. J.H. Blake’s daughter, Laura Blake Murphy, named her first son Truman Burgess Murphy, and he named his first son Truman Burgess Murphy Jr.
Truman Aldrich died in 1932 at the age of 83 and was buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery
.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and as Postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
of Birmingham.
Early life and education
Aldrich was born in Palmyra and suffered from poor health as a young boy. He attended public schools and a military academy at Westchester, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteRensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
in Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
. He graduated in 1869 with a degree in mining and civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
and took a job with the railroads in New York and New Jersey. In 1870 he married Anna Morrison of Newark.
Alabama coalfield development
Aldrich's career was characterized by innovation and long-term vision. His strength was in finding new resources, developing them and then moving on to the next discovery. He was an honorable man in science as well as in business.In 1872, Aldrich became a partner in a banking enterprise in Selma, Alabama
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
. While in the region, he investigated the existing coal-mining operations at Montevallo
Montevallo, Alabama
Montevallo is a city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. A college town, it is the home of the University of Montevallo, a public liberal arts university with around 3000 students. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city of Montevallo is 4,825....
and around the Cahaba coalfield. The next year he secured a lease on the Montevallo coal mines and set to work extracting coal that summer. He purchased the mines outright in 1875 and named the surrounding settlement Aldrich, leasing the operation to his younger brother William
William F. Aldrich
William Farrington Aldrich was a U.S. Representative from Alabama, brother of Truman Heminway Aldrich and great-great-grandfather of William J...
while he prospected for new seams. He incorporated the Jefferson Coal Company in the town of Morris
Morris, Alabama
Morris is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover–Cullman Combined Statistical Area.-Geography:Morris is located at .According to the U.S...
, from which he supplied fuel for the first successful coke-fired furnace in the Birmingham District
Birmingham District
The Birmingham District is a geological area in the vicinity of Birmingham, Alabama where the raw materials for making steel, limestone, iron ore, and coal are found together in abundance...
, helping to establish the area as a center of iron and steel production.
In 1881 Aldrich founded the Cahaba Coal Company in Bibb County
Bibb County, Alabama
Bibb County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of William W. Bibb, the first Governor of Alabama. As of 2010 the population was 22,915. The county seat is Centreville...
. After building a railroad connector, the company laid out a "model community" on the bank of Caffee Creek. After seeing a "ton block" of coal brought from the mine, Aldrich named the town Blocton
West Blocton, Alabama
West Blocton is a town in Bibb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,372.- Geography :West Blocton is located at ....
. Blocton coal earned a reputation as an efficient fuel for steam locomotives and the profitable company embarked on a period of great expansion. Aldrich advertised widely for miners who arrived from all over the United States, as well as Western and Central Europe. By the summer of 1890 over 3,600 people were residents of Blocton and products from the companies' mines and overs were being sold to customers throughout the Southeast and parts of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
In addition to his many business interests, Aldrich pursued a lifelong fascination with shell collecting, eventually amassing one of the largest amateur collections of his time, partly by purchase and partly by collecting in person. In the 1890s he joined a "Shell Syndicate" to support naturalists Herbert Huntington Smith
Herbert Huntington Smith
Herbert Huntington Smith was an American naturalist and amateur conchologist.- External links :*...
and Amelia W. (Daisy) Smith, who collected freshwater and terrestrial mollusks in Alabama and Georgia. State Geologist Eugene Allen Smith encouraged Aldrich to concentrate his efforts in the Tertiary paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
of the Coastal Plain, often sending him material to identify, and Aldrich collected thousands of fossils from now-classic sites along the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, such as Claiborne. He contributed an article to Bulletin 1 of the Geological Survey of Alabama on the state's Eocene fossil record, including nine plates illustrating new species. His collection of modern shells is now in the Florida Museum of Natural History
Florida Museum of Natural History
The Florida Museum of Natural History is the State of Florida's official state-sponsored and chartered natural history museum. Its main facilities are located on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida....
in Gainesville, and his fossil shells are in the Geological Survey of Alabama Paleontological Collection and the Alabama Museum of Natural History
Alabama Museum of Natural History
The Alabama Museum of Natural History is the state's natural history museum, located in Smith Hall at the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. The oldest museum in the state, it was founded in 1831. The exhibits depict the natural diversity of Alabama from the Age of Dinosaurs, the Coal Age,...
.
Aldrich also supplied information on the coal fields he had surveyed to John Witherspoon Dubose and to Squire's Report on the Cahaba Coal Field published by the Geological Survey of Alabama in 1890.
Later career
In 1890 Aldrich faced a major labor strike initiated by the United Mine Workers of America. He defeated this strike by hiring, for the first time, African Americans to operate the mine. In 1892 Aldrich sold the combined Cahaba and Excelsior Coal Company to the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad CompanyTennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company , also known as TCI and the Tennessee Company, was a major American steel manufacturer with interests in coal and iron ore mining and railroad operations. Originally based entirely within Tennessee, it relocated most of its business to Alabama in the...
. Aldrich became a second vice-president and general manager for TCI. As an executive of that company he secured investments that helped TCI survive the depression of 1893, including a contribution of grain and flour from B. B. Comer
B. B. Comer
Braxton Bragg Comer was an American Democratic politician who was the 33rd Governor of Alabama from 1907 to 1911.-Early Life and Education:...
. He moved his residence from Blocton to Birmingham.
In 1896 Aldrich secured a nomination to the 54th United States Congress
54th United States Congress
- House of Representatives :-Leadership:- Senate :* President: Adlai E. Stevenson * President pro tempore: William P. Frye - Majority leadership :* Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman- Minority leadership :...
by contesting the election of Oscar W. Underwood. As a Republican in a largely Democratic state, Aldrich served for less than a year before being defeated by Underwood in the 1896 election. He returned to the coal business as president of the Cahaba Southern Mining Company, which operated mines at Hargrove in Bibb County. In 1899 be became a vice-president of the Birmingham Machinery and Foundry Company and, two years later, was named the acting president of the Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company. He also opened the Virginia mines, which were the site of a tragic explosion in 1905 in Hueytown, Alabama that killed over 100 miners.
In 1902 Aldrich joined his son in a prospecting venture in Tallapoosa County
Tallapoosa County, Alabama
Tallapoosa County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. The name Tallapoosa is of Creek origin, and many Indian villages were along the banks of the lower river before the 19th century. As of 2010, the population was 41,616...
called the Hillabee Gold Company. In 1905 he bought the Montevallo Mining Company back and served until 1910 as its president. In 1911 President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, who had been a neighbor in Cincinnati, Ohio, appointed him as Postmaster of Birmingham.
Aldrich's paleontological hobby became his career in later life, when Eugene Allen Smith appointed him as Curator of Paleontology of the Alabama Museum of Natural History. He donated large collections of Southeastern fossils, many from sites that are no longer exposed today. Under Herbert and Daisy Smith, who were hired in 1909, the Museum continued his species-based cataloging system for fossils and Aldrich continued to write short articles on Tertiary mollusks. His research into the area's paleontology earned him wide esteem and he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
. He described over 200 species.
In 1930, the octogenarian Aldrich named new ichnogenera of fossil footprints that were discovered in a University of Alabama coalmine in Walker County, Alabama
Walker County, Alabama
Walker County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama.Its name is in honor of John Williams Walker, a member of the United States Senate. As of 2010 the population was 67,023...
. Although his descriptions were brief, the well-reproduced photographic plates brought this work to renewed attention when similar trackways were discovered in 1999 at the nearby Union Chapel Mine (now the Stephen C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site).
E. A. Smith was a close friend of T. H. Aldrich, and named one of his sons Truman Aldrich Smith in his honor. J.H. Blake was also a close friend of Aldrich and named his only son Truman Aldrich Blake. J.H. Blake’s daughter, Laura Blake Murphy, named her first son Truman Burgess Murphy, and he named his first son Truman Burgess Murphy Jr.
Truman Aldrich died in 1932 at the age of 83 and was buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery
Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)
Elmwood Cemetery is a cemetery established in 1900 in Birmingham, Alabama northwest of Homewood by a group of fraternal organizations. It was renamed in 1906 and gradually eclipsed Oak Hill Cemetery as the most prominent burial place in the city...
.
Publications
- Aldrich T. H. (1886). Preliminary Report on the Tertiary Fossils of Alabama and Mississippi. Geological survey of Alabama. 15-60, 6 plates.
- Aldrich T. H. & Cunningham K. M. (1894). "Paleontology". In: Report on the geology of the coastal plain of Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama.
- Aldrich T. H. (1895). Contested election case of T. H. Aldrich v. Oscar W. Underwood. Washington: Government Printing Office.
- Aldrich T. H. (1931). Description of a Few Alabama Eocene Species and Remarks on Varieties. University, Alabama: Geological Survey of Alabama, Bulletin.
- Aldrich T. H. Sr. & Jones W. B. (1930). Footprints from the Coal Measures of Alabama. University, Alabama: Geological Survey of Alabama, Museum Paper 9, 64 pp.
External links
- Praytor, Robert E. (2000) "Truman H. Aldrich – Founder of Blocton" at the Biographical Directory of the U. S. Congress
- Truman H. Aldrich at BhamWiki.com
- Truman Aldrich at Find-A-Grave