The discussion concerning the discovery date is based on taking Elijah Hamlin and, therefore, Augustus Hamlin at their word. In The Tourmaline (1873) and The History of Mount Mica (1895), the discovery date is clearly indicated as 1820. Mis-statements, of course, abound in historical literature. Ezekiel Holmes went to Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine) where he was granted his M. D. in 1824, while Hamlin continued to work as a lawyer in Waterford and Paris. Hamlin did receive an honorary degree from Waterville (Colby) College (Waterville, Maine) in 1824. ( It is noteworthy that Hamlin is recorded as a cash benefactor of Colby College for that year.) [Holmes became a professor of chemistry, etc. at Waterville College in the fall of 1824.] Therefore, one might argue Holmes was still a student up to that time, as well. The first formal announcement of the tourmalines in Paris occurred when John White Webster visited Mount Mica and wrote a short article about his visit in 1823 and so the date is somewhat constrained by external sources. More will be written on this aspect of the discovery soon.
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