New York State Museum of Natural History

James Hall was State Geologist (1837-1898), State Paleontologist (1843-1898), and Director of the State Museum (formerly Curator of the State Cabinet of Natural History), 1866-1893.

John M. Clarke was appointed as an assistant to State Geologist and Paleontologist James Hall in 1886. Subsequently, he held the positions of Assistant State Paleontologist (1890-1898), State Paleontologist (1898-1925), and State Geologist and State Museum Director (1904-1925).

In 1849 James Hall was shown a geological chart by a deputy superintendent of public instruction in Albany. "Foster's Complete Geological Chart" had been created and submitted to the superintendent for approval by James T. Foster, a school teacher living in Greenbush, New York. Hall was outraged by the chart, particularly because it did not include any New York rock formations, but instead used European names and fossils.

Hall took the chart and sent it to Louis Agassiz for his opinion. Agassiz wrote a blistering condemnation of it which Hall subsequently had printed (along with his own letter of outrage) in the Albany papers. Foster then sued both Agassiz and Hall for libel ($20,000 and $40,000 in damages, respectively). Meanwhile, Foster revised his chart by inserting New York names and including Ebenezer Emmons' "Taconic System", the validity of which Hall strongly opposed.

While Hall and Agassiz engaged lawyers and planned litigation strategy, Foster's chart was copyrighted and printed by a firm in Albany. It was sent by the Hudson River night boat to New York City where it was to be put on the market. Hall booked a passage on the same boat and, according to legend, surreptitiously dumped the whole shipment into the river. The charts never did reach New York.

Foster's suit against against Hall and Agassiz involved some of the most prominent geologists of the day as witnesses for the defendants. Foster eventually lost the case.

Hall was intrigued by the idea of a geological chart and quickly set about making his own, gathering endorsements from such authorities as James Dana, Benjamin Silliman, and, of course, Louis Agassiz. Hall's 1852 chart was both a commercial and scientific success. Although thousands of copies were printed and widely distributed, few copies are extant.