Franklin Benjamin Hough was born in Martinsburg, New York back in 1822 to Horatio and Martha. He graduated with a degree from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1843. He continued his education receiving a M.D. from Western Reserve College, Cleveland, Ohio in 1848. After graduation, he opened a medical practice in Somerville, New York.
In 1854, he was appointed superintendent of the New York State Census Bureau, the first complete census of the state. By 1861, he was an inspector for the United States Sanitary Commission, the next year you could find him as a surgeon in the 97th New York Volunteer Infantry. After the war, he returned to overseeing the 1865 state census. While working there he noticed something that would change him for the rest of his life. He died in 1885, he was 62.
What you may not know about Franklin is that during the 1865 census he noticed a declining trend in the availability of timber. He devoted himself to reverse that decline. For his action, he was the first chief of the United States Division of Forestry. He is considered by many to be the “father of American forestry”.
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