Cyrus Thomas (July 27, 1825 -- 1910)

Cyrus Thomas was a U.S. ethnologist and entomologist prominent in the late 19th century. He was born in Kingsport, Tennessee. He studied law and was lawyer early in his career until 1865. In 1850, he married Dorothy A. Logan; the Logan family were prominent Democrats in Illinois politics. Between 1850 and 1853, Thomas served as Deputy County Clerk. In 1854-55, he was Postmaster of Murphysboro, IL.

Thomas was one of the founders in 1858 of the Illinois Natural History Society. By 1860, He was Curator and Commissioner for Entomology and Ichthyology for that organization. His earliest publications were predominantly on entomology, but ranged widely over many natural history topics.

Following the death of his wife in 1864 he became an Evangelical Lutheran minister in Pennsylvania. He left the ministry in 1866; in his obituary, he was said to have abandoned the ministry because of his "intense independence of thought". In 1865 he married Viola L. Davis of Youngsville, Pennsylvania. He returned to Illinois, and was listed in the 1880 census as having five daughters aged 14 to 2.

Later in 1869 he joined the expedition of Ferdinand Hayden for the exploration of the Rocky Mountains. Between 1869 and 1873 he was entomologist for the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (with Hayden) and was a member of the U.S. Entomological Commission to 1876 to 1882

In 1873 he was appointed a professor of natural science at Southern Illinois University (SIU) and was the founder of its Museum of Natural History. He was Illinois State Entomologist between 1874 and 76. From 1876 to 1881 he was Professor of Natural History at SIU. In 1879 he was appointed state entomologist of Illinois.

Thomas was a leading early student of archaeology of Native Americans. In the 1890s he played a crucial role in debunking the common theory of the time that the Mound Builders were a separate lost race rather than ancestors of more recent American Indians. He also made early studies of Maya hieroglyphics. Thomas also wrote on climatology, a new field in the 19th century.

Publications:
The Problems of the Ohio Mounds. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology Bulletin 8. Washington, D.C. 1889
The Cherokees in Prehistoric Times. Fact and Theory Papers 4. N.D.C. Hodges, New York. 1890
Catalogue of Prehistoric Works East of the Rocky Mountains. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology Bulletin 12. Washington, D.C. 1891
The Story of a Mound; or, The Shawnees in Pre-Columbian Times. Judd and Detweiler, Washington, D.C. 1891
Introduction to the Study of North American Archæology, The Robert Clarke Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 1898

Publications with coauthor W.J. McGee:
The Indians of North America in Historic Times. History of North America series Vol. II. George Barrie & Sons, Philadelphia. 1903
Prehistoric North America. History of North America series Vol. XIX. George Barrie & Sons, Philadelphia. 1905

Works

• The Problem of Ohio Mounds