John Casper Branner kept a record of all of the students who graduated with degrees in geology and mining between 1892 and 1920. The volume list the students by name and the year of their graduation. Each student was given a page in the book where Branner would follow their careers to the best of his ability. Some of the records are scant while other include printed information about their careers, newspaper clippings, and personal details such as their addresses and date of marriage. The book is held in the University Archives as Box 75 in the John Casper Branner papers, 1882-1921.

Carl H. Beal was born on July 16, 1889. He graduated from Stanford in January 1913 with a degree in geology. Branner notes that he was a "good draftsman." He received his Masters Degree in 1915 and wrote his thesis on "The geology of the Monterey quadrangle, California." This thesis work was obviously based on the work he did while doing summer field work in the Survey as numerous maps in this collection bear his name. In the summer of 1915 he assisted the Survey on its summer research in Salinas and Monterey. Beal graduated with his PhD in Engineering in 1920. His thesis is entitled, "A study of oil production factors and their relationship to oil land valuation." He carried out field research in California and Mexico, including Baja California. Dr. Beal was to be the first in a long line of petroleum engineers. His son, Carlton ('36), and great grandson, Barry ('85), both graduated from Stanford with degrees in petroleum engineering. The Beal family owns BTA Oil Producers of Midland, Texas.

Roderic Crandall received his Master's Degree in 1907. Shortly after his graduation he accompanied Dr. Branner to Brazil as his assistant. Together they "explored, mapped, and studied a large area in the states of Bahia, Alagoas, Sergipe, and Pernambuco." He was appointed to the position of assistant geologist of the Geological Survey of Brazil and remained there for many years. He married Ruth Foster (Stanford '09) in Rio de Janeiro on August 7, 1908. He published a book on the geology of the San Francisco peninsula in 1907.

It is unclear if J.A. Diggles graduated from the University. Branner's notes are cryptic stating, "Lacked__now graduating in__" with no further information. Branner pasted two published notes in his book. One states that Diggles was the foreman of the three large stamp mills of the Utica mine at Angels Camp, Calaveras County. He later moved to Australia where, in 1904, he was the superintendent of a mine at Coolgardie, West Australia. He died of heart disease in Australia on May 14, 1910 leaving behind a wife and a daughter. At the his death he was in charge of the Broken Hill Mine.

In the 1895 picture entitled "Geology Department" he stands in the back row with R.E. McDonnell. The photograph appears to have been taken in a studio as the background appears to be a curtain. The writing on the front notes that this was a geological expedition, Redding, Klamath Mts, California. The picture also includes Solon Shedd, R.E. McDonnell, J.P. Smith, and Pat Silverthorn. Pat Silverthorn, a man of color, is not listed in Branner's book nor is he found in Stanford's database of students. He may have a been a cook, a tracker, or a hired hand of some sort.

Harry Holly was born August 16, 1879. He graduated from Stanford in May 1901. Branner notes that he went to San Fernando, Durango, Mexico on July 7, 1901 and returned October 1st of the same year. While there he was an assayer and a millman. He then moved to Forbestown, Butte County, California where he worked as an assayer. He married Grace Bruckman (?) on July 2, 1906.

Byron Jackson was born on July 13, 1879 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania where he attended Hillman Academy. He entered Stanford in 1897 majoring in Electrical Engineering, but apparently changed his major to mining. He took classes in topography, drafting, assaying, and field geology. He graduated on May 29, 1901. He became an assayer and chemist in Bodie, California upon graduation. Branner's notes connect him in July 1906 to the Napoleon Mine, which was located in Calaveras County, California. By 1909 he was living in Los Angeles, California.

Solon Shedd received three degrees from Stanford earning his AB in 1896, MA in 1907, and his PhD in 1910. His PhD was entitled, "The clays of the state of Washington, their geology, mineralogy, and technology." In between earning his degrees he taught science at the State Normal school in Monmouth, Oregon (1890-1894) and was an assistant professor of geology and mineralogy at Washington Agricultural College and School of Science (1896-1901). He was the Assistant State Geologist at the Washington Geological Survey (1909-1913) and the Washington State Geologist from 1921-1925. Shedd came back to Stanford in 1925 and became the librarian of the Earth Sciences Library. He would remain in this position until his death in 1938.