Thomas Lincoln Casey Jr. (1857-1925)

ca. 1885
photograph
Bequest of Edward P. Casey

Thomas Lincoln Casey Jr. was born at West Point and, like his father, attended the United States Military Academy there. He graduated second in his class and joined the Army Corps of Engineers in 1879. Although he was assigned to important projects like major river improvements and the Lighthouse Board, he is best remembered for his work in the study of beetles. He published a nine volume study, entitled Memoirs of the Coleoptera. This interest in the natural world began early on and is evident in the letters he wrote to his parents. During his youthful summers, he collected insects and also tracked astronomical movements. In 1882, he traveled as far as Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to track the transit of Venus.