INTRODUCTION
The study of the minerals of the Franklin area spans more than a century and is still far from complete. In this paper, data scattered through a score of journals have been compiled and combined to prepare a consistent and detailed description of the many minerals already found. The author has endeavored to summarize what has been published on the minerals known in the area and has therefore made many references to the literature. In order to avoid numerous footnotes, the papers in the practically complete bibliography are listed chronologically and numbered serially, and references are made by inserting in the text, in parentheses, the numbers, as listed in the bibliography, of the papers cited.
It has also been possible, through the study of collections, to fill many gaps in the knowledge of some species, and the data regarding the place and mode of occurrence of all known species were obtained as completely as possible.
Of the numerous collections studied, four stand out preeminently. Easily first is the Canfield collection, now in the United States National Museum. Begun about 1850 by Frederick Canfield and actively increased by his son, Frederick A. Canfield, it was long preserved in the family home near Dover, N.J.. The suites of specimens from the earliest workings at both Mine Hill and Sterling Hill are very complete and are quite unrivaled. The collection is also rich in representative specimens of later discoveries. The frequent references to this collection in the mineral descriptions give some idea of the importance of the Canfield collection to the student of Franklin minerals.
The collection of Mr. E. P. Hancock, of Burlington, N.J., was particularly informing because most of its specimens were personally collected by him. During annual visits each mineral locality was watched and studied by him in company with Mr. Losey, of Franklin, and many new finds were made. Mr. Hancock was therefore able to furnish much valuable information regarding the occurrence of several minerals. After his death in 1916 his collection was acquired by Harvard University, where it is preserved intact as part of the Holden collection.
The Losey collection was long one of the mineralogic sights of Franklin. It had about the same range as the Hancock collection, as regards the earlier finds, but as the maker was no longer living when it was studied by the author it had to be viewed through Mr. Hancock’s knowledge of it alone. It was acquired by Mr. A. F. Holden in 1911 and came to Harvard University as part of his bequest.
The collection of Mr. W. J. I. Kemble, at Newton, N.J., was also interesting, particularly for its personal associations. It was rich in series of the earlier mineral discoveries, and as Mr. Kemble’s memories of Franklin reached back to the days when its mineral treasures were first being brought to light, and as many of his specimens had been collected on trips with visiting mineralogists of that earlier period, much valuable information was gained from study of this collection with its owner. The collection was dispersed after Mr. Kemble’s death in 1915.
Other collections that furnished valuable data regarding Franklin minerals were those of J. J. McGovern, T. Lang, G. Rowe, E. D. Shuster, H. H. Hodgkinson, and G. Stanton, all in Franklin; that of W. A. Roebling, of Trenton, N.J., now in the National Museum; the collection at Rutgers College; the Bement, Caswell, and Columbia School of Mines collections in New York; the Brush collection at New Haven, with its many types of Franklin species; the Fiss collection of microminerals at Philadelphia; and the collections at Harvard University, among which the Stanton collection is now included.
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© by Herb Yeates 1997-2006.
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