Memory Hill Cemetery
Bio

Dr. John Ruggles Cotting

1784 - Oct. 13, 1867

This simple marker stating "former State of Georgia Geologist" does not give John Ruggles Cotting sufficient credit for his accomplishments. Dr. Cotting was born in Massachusetts, was educated at Harvard and Dartmouth, and became a professor at Amherst and other colleges. He moved, in 1835, to Augusta, Georgia, having been convinced by cotton planters to make an agricultural and geological survey of Burke and Richland counties. His report, published in 1836, contains valuable analyses of cotton lands and a table of fifty-seven genera of fossils. He afterwards entered on a similar survey of the whole state, but it was suspended in 1837 from lack of financial support.

Dr. Cotting published an "Introduction to Chemistry," used for several years at Harvard (Boston, 1822), a "Synopsis of Lectures on Geology" (Trenton, New Jersey, 1825), and a work on "Soils and Manures." He also was active in establishing St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Milledgeville, where he was a vestryman for over 20 years.

Side: East, Section: H