the end of the Revolution. He established himself in a shop at 33 North
Front Street in 1796, where he sold imported instruments as well as
stationery, Bibles, and cloth. He died in 1798.[20]
Thomas Dring, who migrated from England, settled in Westtown Township of
Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he was first noted in the tax
records of 1786. He married Hanna Griffith, a native of the region, and
their son, Jeptha Dring, subsequently was mentioned as a carpenter by
trade, and a vagrant by inclination, who could quote Shakespeare from
memory. According to local legend, Dring raised money from a number of
townspeople for the purpose of purchasing clocks for them in England. He
set sail for his homeland in about 1798 and never returned.
Although the tax records for 1796 described Dring as an "Optician" he
was also a clockmaker and maker of scientific instruments. At least
three of his tall-case clocks have survived, and a stick type of
barometer which he made for Edward and Hannah Hicks in 1796. The
instrument is now in the collection of the Chester County Historical
Society. It measures 39 inches in height, and is signed on the
thermometer dial THOMAS DRING/West Chester. This instrument (fig. 14) is
one of the very rare barometers produced in America in the 18th century.
Another craftsman who emigrated from England was Robert Clark, who
opened a shop at 5-1/2 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina, in
1785. In that year he announced himself as a
Math., Optical and Philosophical Instruments maker and Clockmaker
from London ... As the Advertiser has lately had an opportunity of
working and receiving instruction under the first masters in the
above branches in Great Britain, flatters himself that he shall
give satisfaction to those who may be pleased to favor him with
their orders ... for Surveyors compasses, Quadrants, Telescopes,
Microscopes, Spirit Levels, etc.[21]
W. Fosbrook was another craftsman originally from London. He was a
cutler and maker of surgical instruments, with a shop in Beekman's Slip
in New York City in 1786 or earlier. He specialized in leg irons and
rupture trusses, and he made instruments and files for setting the
teeth as well as standard items for surgeons.[22]
[Illustration: Figure 14.--Barometer made in 1796 by Thomas Dring of
West Chester, Pa., for Edward and Hannah Hicks. Photo courtesy the
Chester County Historical Society.]
Several immigrant instrument makers established themselves in
Philadelphia during the same period. John Denegan (or Donegan), stated
to have been "late from Italy," moved his shop in March 1787 to the
corner of Race and Fourth Streets at "the sign of the Seven Stars".[23]
There he made barometers and thermometers as well as glasses for
philosophical experiments. It seems too much of a coincidence that in
October 1787 an instrument maker named Joseph Donegany established a
shop at 54 Smith Street in New York City,[24] where--according to an
advertisement in the October 17, 1787, issue of _The New York Daily
Advertiser_--he made "thermometers, barometers and sold hydrostatic
Bubbles and hygrometers for proving spirits, and also ... glasses for
experimental purposes." It is probable that Denegan and Donegany were
one and the same; since Denegan was stated to have been of Italian
origin, the name may originally have been "De Negani."
Joseph Gatty advertised himself as an "Artist from Italy" with a shop at
341 Pearl Street in New York City where he "made and sold every simple
and compound form of barometer and thermometer as well as curious
Hygrometers for assaying spirits which show the actual strength with the
greatest precision and are not liable to be corroded, in addition to
several new Philosophical Instruments of his own invention, and all
types of artificial fireworks."[25] By 1796 Gatty (or Gatti?) had moved
to Philadelphia where he had a shop at 79 South Front Street and
advertised the same items that had appeared in his advertisements in New
York. The Philadelphia directory for 1800 listed Gatty as a "Weather
Glass Maker."[26]
Native American Makers
Comparatively speaking, the greater proportion of the early American
instrument makers were native born. Among these were to be found a
substantial number of artisans trained as clockmakers who subsequently
produced scientific instruments to meet the surveying and nautical needs
of their communities. Together with the other craftsmen throughout the
colonies who established and advertised themselves specifically as
instrument makers, they produced a large number of the mathematical
instruments used in the American Colonies in the 18th century. A careful
study of their regional distribution reveals that most of them were
concentrated in the major coastal cities of commerce.
[Illustration: Figure 15.--James Wilson, first American maker of globes.
From a sketch by John Ross Dix in _Ballou's Pictorial Drawing Room
Companion_ (Boston, 1857), vol. 12, p. 156.]
_New Hampshire_
Among the artisans who combined clockmaking with instrument making
before the beginning of the 19th century was Benjamin C. Gilman
(1763-1835) of Exeter, New Hampshire. He made mathematical instruments
and clocks in addition to working as a silversmith, clockmaker, and
hydraulic engineer.
_Vermont_
A New England instrument maker who had a most unusual career was James
Wilson (1763-1855) of Bradford, Vermont. He was a native of Francestown,
New Hampshire, where he was born in a log cabin and brought up on a
farm. In 1796 he purchased his own farm, at Bradford.
[Illustration: Figure 16.--Globe made by James Wilson (1763-1855) of
Bradford, Vermont. Diameter is 13 in. Photo courtesy Houghton Library,
Harvard University.]
When a young man of 36 he saw a pair of globes at Dartmouth College in
neighboring Hanover and tried to duplicate them. He made balls of wood
turned from solid blocks, covered them with paper, and finished them off
with lines and drawings. He later improved this method by coating the
wooden balls thickly with layers of paper pasted together. He then cut
the globes into hemispheres, removed the wooden molds, and joined the
paper shells to make the globes.
Wilson next proceeded to procure copper plates of the necessary sizes
for his globes, and he projected his maps on them in sections. He
received a few lessons in engraving from Amos Doolittle of New Haven,
but he was otherwise completely self-taught.
Wilson exhibited the first edition of his globes in Boston in 1814. They
created a sensation, and many persons asked to see the maker, but Wilson
was reluctant to come forward because of his coarse clothing and rustic
manners. He was greatly encouraged, however, by the public interest in
his work, and he continued to make globes in Bradford (see fig. 16). In
about 1815 Wilson and his three sons, all of whom were as ingenious as
the father, formed a company to manufacture globes in Albany. There they
produced terrestrial and celestial globes, the latter showing as many as
5,000 stars. Wilson produced a new set of plates in 1826 and made globes
in several sizes. Even after he had reached the age of 83 years he
constructed an excellent planetarium, engraving the large copperplate
himself.
Wilson was married three times and was the father of 14 children. He
died at the age of 92 in March 1855 at Bradford.[27]
_Massachusetts_
A surprisingly small number of the Massachusetts craftsmen working
before the end of the 18th century produced scientific instruments.
Among the very earliest were several members of the King family of
Salem. Daniel King (1704-1790) was born in Salem on November 17, 1704.
At the time of his death Rev. William Bentley spoke of him as a "maker
of Mathematical Instruments" and a "teacher of Mathematics."[28]
[Illustration: Figure 17.--Brass surveying compass made by Stephen
Greenleaf (fl. 1745) of Boston. Photo courtesy New Hampshire Historical
Society, Concord.]
Following Daniel's death, his business in instruments was inherited by
his son Benjamin King (1740-1804), of Salem. Benjamin specialized in
producing nautical instruments, and several of his Davis quadrants have
survived in public collections. When he died on December 26, 1804,
Reverend Bentley wrote that King was "... a Mathematical Instrument
maker, in that branch which immediately regarded practical navigation by
quadrant and compass. He supported a very good character through life &
was much esteemed."[29]
Another of the very early mathematical instrument makers in
Massachusetts was Stephen Greenleaf (see fig. 17), who kept a shop on
Queen Street opposite the prison in Boston where
He makes and Mends all Sorts of Mathematical Instruments, as
Theodolites, Spirit Levels, Semicircles, Circumferences, and
Protractors, Horizontal and Equinoctial Sun Dials, Azimuth and
Amplitude Compasses, Elliptical and Triangular Compasses, and all
sorts of Common Compasses ... N.B. He sets Load Stones on Silver or
Brass, after the best manner.[30]
Jonathan Dakin worked as a mathematical balance-maker "at the Sign of
the Hand & Beam, opposite to Dr. Colman's Meeting House" where he made a
variety of scale beams in 1745.[31]
An interesting advertisement by Rowland Houghton appeared in the January
17-24, 1737, issue of the _Boston Gazette_. Houghton announced that he
had "lately improv'd on his new Theodolite, by which the Art of
Surveying is rendered more plain & easy than heretofore." Houghton was
active in the political scene in Boston, as evidenced by the fact that
in various issues of the _Boston Gazette_ for January and February 1739
he is listed variously as "Commissioner," "Proprietors' Clerk" and as
"Collector."
Isaac Greenwood, Jr. (1730-1803), was born at Cambridge, where he
married Mary I'ams in 1757. He maintained a shop where he combined the
business of mathematical instrument maker and ivory turner, and also
imported hardware. After the Revolution, he engaged in dentistry,
specializing in making artificial teeth and in the manufacture of
"umbrilloes." Paul Revere apparently did printing for him on five
different occasions between 1762 and 1774, and in about 1771 engraved
his trade card, which read:
ISAAC GREENWOOD, Ivory Turner Next door to Doctor John Clark's at
the North End Boston. Turns all sorts of work in Ivory, Silver,
Brass, Iron, Horn, Wood, etc. Such as Billiard Balls, Tea Boards,
Scallop^d and Plain Salvers, Decanters ...[32]
Isaac's father, Isaac Greenwood, Sr., was "Professor of Mathematicks and
Natural and Experimental Philosophy" at Harvard. In the _Boston Gazette_
for February 19-26, 1728, there appeared the following notice of his
installation:
On the 13th of this Month at Ten in the Morning, The Honorable &
Reverend Overseers of the College at Cambridge, met the Corporation
in the College Hall, to Inaugurate Mr. Isaac Greenwood into the
Office of Professor of the Mathematicks, and Natural and
Experimental Philosophy, lately founded by that great and living
Benefactor to this Society, Mr. Thomas Hollis of London Merchant.
The Rev. President being detain'd by illness, Mr. Flint the Senior
Fellow perform'd the part of Moderator, began with Prayer, and then
Pronounc'd a Latin Oration proper to the Occasion: Mr. Wiggleworth
Divinity Professor, read the Founders Instructions. Mr. Greenwood
took the Oaths and made the Declarations required in them: and
pronounc'd a Latin Oration. The Rev. Mr. Appleton Pray'd: and
Singing part of the 104 Psalm concluded the Solemnity. After which
the Overseers & Corporation repair'd to the Library; till the
Publick Dinner in the Hall was ready, where all the Gentlemen
Spectators of the Solemnity were hansomely Entertained.
Greenwood continued to teach privately for a decade. In various issues
of _The Boston Gazette_ of 1738 and 1739 he featured an advertisement,
the text of which always stated:
Such as are desirous of learning any Part of Practical or
Theoretical Mathematics may be taught by Isaac Greenwood, A.M. &c.
in Clark's Square, near the North Meeting House, where Attendance
will be given between the Hours of 9 and 12 in the Forenoon, and 2
and 5 in the Afternoons.
N.B. Instructions may also be had in any Branch of Natural
Philosophy, when there is a sufficient Number to attend.[33]
John Bailey II (1752-1823) of Hanover and Lynn, Massachusetts worked as
a clockmaker from about 1770. His father, John Bailey I, and his
brothers Calvin and Lebbeus also were clockmakers. Bailey married Mary
Hall of Berwick, Maine, and settled in Hanover where he made scientific
instruments and clocks. A brass surveying compass in the collection of
the New York Historical Society is inscribed "J. BAILEY HANOVER
1804."[34]
Undoubtedly the best known instrument maker in Massachusetts was Joseph
Pope (1750-1826), of Boston, who was described by contemporaries as the
"local mathematician, watch-maker and mechanical genius." In 1787 he
completed the construction of a gear-driven orrery displaying the
motions of the solar system in a horizontal plane with eccentric and
inclined orbits. At each of the twelve corners were mounted cast bronze
figures, claimed to have been carved in wood by Simeon Skillin and cast
in bronze by Paul Revere. Although the instrument was made for Harvard,
the university lacked funds for its purchase. Accordingly, it held a
public lottery which realized a substantial sum in excess of the
L450.3.0 paid to Pope, and the orrery was delivered in December
1788.[35] The orrery (fig. 18) has survived and is part of the
collection of historical scientific instruments at Harvard University.
According to a statement in the _Boston Gazette_ for February 16, 1789,
an apparatus for displaying planets in their proper orbits by means of
wires was made and exhibited in Boston by Bartholomew Burges.
Mention must also be made of several members of the Folger family of
Nantucket, Massachusetts. Peter Folger (1617-1690), founder of the
American branch of the family, emigrated from Norfolk, England, in 1635
and occupied himself in Nantucket as blacksmith, schoolmaster,
watchmaker, and surveyor. He was a grandfather of Benjamin Franklin.
Another notable descendant was Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), professor of
astronomy and director of the observatory at Vassar College.
The best known member of the family was Walter Folger, Jr. (1765-1849),
a self-taught clockmaker and watchmaker with great interest in the
sciences. A telescope that he produced about 1818 was considered to be
the finest in the country at that time. His greatest achievement was a
tall case astronomical clock that he devised and constructed; it was
completed in 1790 and is considered to be the most complicated domestic
clock on record.[36] Folger also produced quadrants and compasses, and
made astronomical observations. His observations of the solar eclipse of
September 17, 1811, were published in 1815 in _Memoirs of the Academy of
Arts and Sciences_.
Probably one of the most significant of the surviving early American
scientific instruments is a pair of gunners' calipers made and used by
PAUL REVERE (1735-1818) of Boston. The calipers are made of incised
brass, measuring 7 inches in length and 1-3/4 inches in width. They are
signed on the reverse side with the name "Revere" in the style of script
signature used by this maker in many of his engravings. The design of
the instrument is substantially different from that which is commonly
found in English, French, and German gunners' calipers of the period,
and was probably Revere's own. (See figs. 19, 20.)
[Illustration: Figure 18.--Orrery by Joseph Pope completed in 1787 for
Harvard University. Engraved plates and bronze figures were made by Paul
Revere. The orrery is 6-1/2 ft. in diameter and 6-1/2 ft. high. The
twelve figures at the corners are said to have been carved in wood by
Simeon Skillin and cast in bronze by Paul Revere. Photo courtesy Harvard
University.]
It is believed that these calipers, which are preserved in the
collection of the Bostonian Society in Boston, were probably used by
Revere in 1775-1776. This was the period during which he was in charge
of ordnance repairs for the Continental Army, and involved in various
ventures for the manufacture of gunpowder and the casting of cannon.
There is no evidence of other scientific instruments made by Revere,
lending some weight to the belief that these calipers were made for his
own use.
[Illustration: Figure 19.--Brass gunnery calipers made and probably used
by Paul Revere (1735-1818). The calipers are 7 in. long and 1-3/4 in.
wide.]
[Illustration: Figure 20.--Reverse side of gunnery calipers, showing the
inscribed signature. Photos courtesy the Bostonian Society, Boston,
Mass.]
Other Massachusetts instrument makers include Gideon Fairman (1774-1827)
of Newburyport who was a partner of William Hooker in the firm of Hooker
& Fairman, which dealt in mathematical instruments before 1810.[37]
Fairman later moved to Philadelphia, where he was associated with the
engraving firm of Draper, Murray & Fairman.
At the end of the 18th century Samuel Emery was making mathematical
instruments in Salem, at the same time that John Jayne was engaged in
the same work in that community.[38]
John Potter of Brookfield, Massachusetts, produced surveying instruments
in the last quarter of the 18th century. A graphometer signed with his
name and dated 1785 is in the collection of the firm of W. & L. E.
Gurley in Troy, New York.
_Rhode Island_
One of the earliest and most important of the instrument makers of Rhode
Island was Benjamin King (1707-1786), of Newport. He was the son of
Capt. Samuel King of Salem, Massachusetts, where he was born and
baptized on March 13, 1707. He was a brother of Daniel King of Salem.
Benjamin eventually moved to Newport, where he married Mary Hagger in
July 1742. They had four children: Benjamin, Mehitable, Samuel, and
Mary. He established himself as a respectable businessman in the
community, and in 1759 or 1760 he became the senior partner in the
importing and retailing firm of King & Hagger, "near the sign of Mr.
Pitt," dealing in general merchandise, mathematical and nautical
instruments, and stationery. William Hagger was probably the junior
partner, and may have been King's brother-in-law. King began making his
own instruments for sale, surviving examples dated as early as 1762. The
partnership was dissolved early in the 1760's. In 1766 Benjamin King was
importing, making, and selling quadrants and other instruments "At the
Sign of the Mathematical Instruments" next to the Golden Eagle on Thames
Street. His son Samuel King occupied the same premises, where he dealt
in paints and artists supplies.
When the British occupied Newport, King moved to North Kingstown, but he
returned after the British vacated the city. He was 79 when he died in
1786, and his son Samuel King succeeded him in business.[39]
William Guyse Hagger (c. 1744-1830?), born in Newport, is believed to
have been the son of William Hagar and Mary Knowlton. He was a quadrant
maker (see fig. 21). In 1774 he headed a household that consisted of
his wife, five children, and a colored servant. Whether it was he or his
father who was the partner of Benjamin King cannot be determined with
certainty. When Newport was occupied by the British, Hagger moved to
Cranston, where he joined the Pawtuxet Rangers and served as a sentinel
at Pawtuxet Fort in 1778. No members of the Hagger family appear in the
1790 census of Newport, but a William Hager is reported as having died
in Boston in 1830 at the age of 82. It seems likely from the age and
dates that it was William Hagger the elder who worked as a partner in
the firm of King & Hagger, which was established in 1759 or 1760.[40]
[Illustration: Figure 21.--Davis quadrant or backstaff made and signed
by William Guyse Hagger of Newport, Rhode Island, about 1760-1770. USNM
319029.]
Another instrument maker of Rhode Island was William Hamlin (1772-1869).
He had established himself in Providence by the beginning of the 19th
century in the manufacturing and repairing of mathematical and nautical
instruments, for which there was an active market in that city. Hamlin
was one of the first engravers in America and the first in Rhode Island.
He designed and engraved banknotes for many banks in the State and for
other institutions. At the same time he carried on a general trade in
the sale of musical instruments. Hamlin moved his shop several times,
but from 1847 until his death he worked at "The Sign of the Quadrant"
(see fig. 22) at 131 South Water Street. He was equally interested in
optics and astronomy, and it has been claimed that he constructed the
first telescope in America. It is well established that he worked for
many years to perfect a reflecting telescope for his own use.[41]
Instruments were made also by Paul Pease, who may have been the husband
of the daughter of Nathaniel Folger of Nantucket. This Elizabeth Folger
Pease, wife of a Paul Pease, was born in 1720 and died in 1795. Little
is known about Pease except for the name "Paul Pease 1750" inscribed on
a quadrant in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society.[42]
_Connecticut_
The clockmakers who worked in Connecticut during the span of the 18th
century numbered almost a hundred. Yet only a half dozen appear on
record to have made or sold instruments in addition to clocks. Among
these were several members of the Doolittle family, including Isaac
Doolittle (1721-1800) of New Haven. In 1763 he advertised that he sold
surveying compasses in addition to clocks, watches, bar iron, and
chocolate.[43] His son Isaac Doolittle, Jr. (1759-1821), also of New
Haven, established a shop of his own, which he advertised in 1781 as
having
Compasses of all kinds, both for sea and land, surveyors scales,
and protractors, gauging rods, walking sticks, silver and plated
buttons, turned upon horn; also clocks and watches made and
repaired ...[44]
Although not very active as a clockmaker, Isaac Jr. appears to have
specialized more in the production of surveying and nautical
instruments. He took over his father's business just before the latter's
death, and in 1799 he advertised[45]:
[Illustration: Figure 22.--Trade cards of William Hamlin (1772-1869),
engraver and instrument maker of Providence, Rhode Island. In collection
of Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence.]
The subscriber having commenced business at the shop lately
occupied by Mr. Isaac Doolittle, in Chapel Street, where he repairs
watches, makes and repairs Surveyors Compasses and Chains, Brass
Amplitude, plain brass and common Ship's Compasses, Gauging Rods,
Quadrants, repair'd &c. every favor gratefully received by the
public's humble servant, Isaac Doolittle, jun.
Enos Doolittle (1751-1806), a nephew of Isaac Doolittle, Sr., made,
sold, cleaned, and repaired clocks and surveying and marine compasses
from 1772 through 1788 at his shop in Hartford. He also sold these items
through agents in Saybrook and Middleton.[46]
One of the best known of the Connecticut clockmakers was Peregrine White
(1747-1834), of Woodstock. White was a descendant of the first Pilgrim
child, and a native of Boston. After serving an apprenticeship, he
worked as a clockmaker and silversmith in Boston. He was accused of
forging silver spoons and left the city to settle in Woodstock. He
established his own shop west of Muddy Brook Village.[47] In addition to
fine tall-case clocks, for which he was noted, White also produced
surveying compasses, one of which is in the collection of the U.S.
National Museum (fig. 23). A similar specimen in Old Sturbridge Village
is reputed to have been used for surveying the town of Southbridge,
Mass.