to John Cruger
President
of the Chamber of Commerce
Observations made at the Flag Bastion in Fort George in the City of
New York, principally with the sector belonging to the Province of
Pennsylvania, of six feet radius, by Messrs. David Rittenhouse and
John Montresor, Engineers, October, 1769.
Zenith Distance of Capella
October 9th 3h 50′ morn 5° 2′ 0½″
10th 3 46 do 5 1 59
Zenith Distance of Castor
October 10th 6h 6′ 8 19 51
12th 5 58 8 19 51
=== === ===
Declination of Capella 45 44 14
Zenith distance of Capella Refraction 5 2 5
——— ——— ———
Latitude 40 42 9
=== === ===
Declination of Castor 32 22 7
Zenith distance of Castor 8 19 51
Refraction 0 0 9
——— ——— ———
Latitude 40 42 7
=== === ===
The mean of the above observations ascertain the Latitude of Fort
George in 40° 42′ 8″.
I am, with respect
Sir, Your most Humb. Servt.
JOHN MONTRESOR.
John Cruger Esq.
President
of the Chamber of Commerce
of New York.
(End of extract of minutes.)
The Chamber of Commerce appropriated 20 pounds to pay Mr. Rittenhouse
for his services in the above matter.
In 1790,[30] Fort George was razed to the ground, part of the material
was used for filling in and enlarging Battery Park, the Government
Building was erected on part of the old fort site, and all trace of the
southwest bastion where the observations of Montresor and Rittenhouse
were made was lost.
The New York Historical Society, on June 10, 1817, therefore voted to
apply to the Corporation of the City to ascertain the site of the
bastion an which Messrs. Rittenhouse and Montresor made their
observations in 1769 and to erect a monument with suitable inscriptions
to mark the same. Messrs. John Pintard, Dr. John Griscom and Dr. Samuel
L. Mitchill were appointed a committee to prepare the memorial to the
Common Council and present it to that body. The memorial, dated June 16,
1817, recited the facts here given and said: “It is conceived by the
Historical Society that it is worthy the care of a cultivated and
enlightened people to ascertain and perpetuate by a monumental stone the
aforesaid site.” It also called attention to the fact that “Your
magnificent City Hall has been erected considerably to the northward of
the place where Fort George formerly stood,” and requested that its
latitude also be accurately determined and marked by a monument with
appropriate inscriptions.
On July 8, 1817, the New York Historical Society Committee reported to
the Society that the Committee of Arts and Sciences of the Common
Council, to whom their Memorial had been referred, had reported
favorably thereupon.
The report of the Common Council Committee, after reciting the facts of
the survey in 1769, proceeds as follows:
“The communication from the Historical Society having stated this fact
as taken from the minutes of the Chamber of Commerce, request that the
Corporation would endeavor to find the site of the Flag Bastion of Fort
George and erect on the spot a stone with an inscription stating the
latitude, when and by whom taken, and that a suitable person or persons
be employed to take the latitude of the City Hall and erect a stone in
front or near it with the latitude marked thereon which shall serve as a
monument or milliarium from which all distances shall be reckoned and
which will be considered the proper latitude of the place, being taken
from the largest and most elegant and permanent building in the City.
“Your Committee think that the subject of this communication is of great
importance and that so large and growing a city as New York, should not
longer remain without its latitude being accurately ascertained and that
a place of observation should be known and designated; wherefore they
recommend,
“1, That the Street Commissioner be directed to ascertain as nearly as
possible the site of the Southwest Bastion of Fort George and to erect
thereon a monumental stone on which shall be marked the latitude as
taken in 1769 and by whom;
“2, That a suitable person or persons be employed under the direction of
your committee to find the Latitude of the City Hall and to erect a
monumental stone near it with suitable inscriptions from which mileage
or distances from the city shall hereafter be computed.
“One other subject connected with the one before your committee, though
not in the petition under consideration, they beg to submit to the
Board. The City Surveyors frequently differ in their computations of
distances and direction in consequence sometimes of the different
variations of the magnetic needles used by them. If a place was fixed in
some elevated situation, (as the cupola of the City Hall, for instance)
from which some permanent object on Long Island or the Jersey Shore
could be observed, and the true direction ascertained, it might serve
the purpose of regulating surveys and in some measure of correcting
errors, as thereby the compasses of all surveyors might at any time be
adjusted. Wherefore your committee recommend the adoption of the
following resolution:
“Resolved, That the Street Commissioner be directed to ascertain if any
proper object can be seen from the Cupola of the City Hall which may be
fixed upon as a mark to ascertain the direction of the compass from the
said cupola; and that a stone slab be fixed somewhere on the top of the
Hall with marks thereon by which the true direction of the magnetic
needle of surveyors’ compasses may at all times be regulated and
adjusted.
“Respectfully submitted.
SAMUEL ACKERLY,
J. WARREN BRACKET,
THOMAS R. SMITH,
JOHN REMMEY,
ARTHUR BURTIS.”
The inscription originally drafted by the New York Historical Society
for the Fort George monument was as follows:
_To perpetuate
The site of the S. W. Bastion of
Fort George
The Latitude of Which, 40° 42′ 8″
was taken at the order of the N. Y. Chamber of Commerce[31]
by Capt. John Montresor and David Rittenhouse Esq.
In October, 1769
The Corporation of the City of New York
(at the request of the N. York Historical Society)
have erected
This Monument
A D 1817_
The monument was not erected until 1818, and the inscription actually
carved on it reads as follows:
_To perpetuate
The Site of the S. W. Bastion of
Fort George
In 40° 42′ 8″ N. Latitude
As observed by_
CAPT. JOHN MONTRESOR, AND DAVID RITTENHOUSE
_in October 1769.
The Corporation of the City of New York,
have erected
This monument
A. D. MDCCCXVIII._