Here is a paper published in 1890 written by Thomas Chamberlin.
The Method of Multiple Working Hypotheses – With this method the dangers of parental affection for a favorite theory can be circumvented.
Method of Multiple Working Hypotheses (PDF)
Thomas Chamberlin, a geologist, was president of the University of Wisconsin at the time this lecture was written. Later he was professor and director of the Walker Museum of the University of Chicago. In 1893 he founded the Journal of Geology.