Wyoming County village in the western part of the state and later his teacher at Madison. Following graduation in 1879, and study in the Seminary and ordination, he served churches in Stillwater and Utica. In 1888 he published a study of the geology of Oneida County and the next year joined the Harvard Summer School of Geology on a field trip in the Genesee Valley and the Catskills. This experience caused him to decide on his new vocation. In preparation for his duties at Colgate he took a year of graduate work at Harvard where his teachers included the famous William S. Shaler and William M. Davis and where he received his Master’s degree in 1892. “Brig”
brought to his new position industry, enthusiasm, energy, imagination and was to demonstrate “unsurpassed ability in the portrayal of his subject and the stimulation”
of his students. They gave him their best efforts and warm affection. He stressed field trips as an especially rewarding method for studying the rich variety of geological formations of the Hamilton area. Laboratory work, likewise, was emphasized and he was active in building up the museum collection of rocks and minerals. Somehow he found time for research and writing and by 1899 he had published 17 articles and syllabi. Brigham’s close associate in his department was Wayland M. Chester, ’94, who had earned a Master’s degree in 1896 under his direction and who taught the courses in Biology.
The increased attention being given to modern languages led to the appointment of Robert W. Moore in 1890 to give full time to teaching German and French. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he had studied a year at Strassburg and Berlin before coming to Colgate. For him the purpose of language instruction was to develop reading ability and to give the student background in literary history and the life and customs of the people; any conversational proficiency gained seems to have been incidental. He built up a large collection of stereoptican slides to supplement his lectures.
When Professor Ralph W. Thomas, appointed in 1893, took over instruction in public speaking and rhetoric, Professor Crawshaw was free to pursue his real interest, literature. “Craw”
ranks with Brigham as one of the outstanding teachers of his generation, one whom his students held in high esteem which sometimes verged on awe, especially if they had not seen his “human side.”
Without the advantages of graduate study, he had acquired a vast knowledge in his field from reading and travel which enriched his lectures and writings. He held
