History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Frank Leverett
FRANK LEVERETT, geologist, was born near Denmark, Iowa, March 10, 1859. He was reared in the atmosphere of the academy founded by the grandfather, Rev. Asa Turner, which he entered in 1872. Upon leaving the academy in 1878 the young man spent a year on his father's farm. In 1880 he was made teacher of natural science, a position which he held for three years. During this time he became especially interested in geology which led him to spend a year in Colorado, partly at Colorado College and partly in field work. In 1884 he entered the Iowa Agricultural College, and before completing his contemplated course preparatory to teaching, he became especially interested in glacial geology. Through the influence of W. J. McGee and Professor T. C. Chamberlain he received the position of Special Field Assistant on the United States Geological Survey. In 1890 he was made an Assistant United States Geologist. He has given his attention chiefly to glacial geology, considering the deposits both in their economic and scientific phases. In 1892 he spent some time in the service of the Illinois Board of World's Fair Commissioners, preparing an exhibit of the soils of the State. His scientific publications began in 1884 and he has since contributed numerous valuable articles to scientific publications, among which may be mentioned the “Water Resources of Illinois,” and two monographs published by the United States Geological survey, the first on the “Illinois Glacial Lobe,” and the second “Glacial Formations and Drainage Features of the Erie and Ohio Basins.”