Benjamin Silliman (8 August 1779 - 24 November 1864) was an American chemist, one of the first American professors of science (at Yale University), and the first to distill petroleum. Wikipedia
Silliman College Benjamin Silliman's mother, Mary, was the largest slave owner in Fairfield county (85). www.yaleslavery.org/WhoYaleHonors/silliman.html
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Benjamin Silliman. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Silliman
With this background, and his conscientiousness, energy and ambition, Silliman would have become at least a competent instructor in his basic subject, chemistry. However, his appointment included natural history, which in those days was understood to cov www.peabody.yale.edu/archives/ypmbios/silliman.html
