Cyrus Thomas

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.

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.

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